What does being led by the Holy Spirit look like in our lives.
For a long time I had looked at Romans 8:14 (ESV) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, as proof that I am a son of God, because I believe that I am led by the Holy Spirit.
And when I would be asked what does it mean to be led by the Holy Spirit, I would say that I talk with God daily and I consult with God about everything in my life and I try to obey Him and follow His directions and guidance, as I understand it.
For example, when I wake up in the morning, I ask God what should I do today for Him and for His Kingdom, I also ask God what to do today in general, where to go, who to talk with, who to help.
I sometimes consult with Him about where to go with my wife for a romantic dinner so she likes it the most. I ask how to close an especially elusive client at work. Sometimes I ask if I should watch a certain movie or if I should avoid it.
A long time ago I’ve asked if I should date a certain person, who is now my wife.
We ask if we should buy this car or that one. We ask about starting a business, or whether we should participate in a certain project, or go to a missionary trip we got invited to.
We ask whether God put it on our heart to help a certain family financially, and then we ask how much should we give them.
Pastors ask if they should preach on this subject or that one, bosses ask if they should fire this person or give him or her another chance.
We all ask many questions and often we receive a quick answer from God in form of peace in our heart, or a dream, or a verse that just jumps at us, or through our spouse or a friend, or some other way.
Sometimes we don’t get a clear answer and we make a decision ourselves just trusting that our action is the right one, believing that we are in God’s hands.
All this, as I understand it, is how we are lead by God (and this may be expanded in a different article later), but in the light of the verse in question, does such leading prove that I am a son of God?
The bother.
There was something that bothered me about this understanding of the verse, and today, during my morning Bible reading, I understood what it was.
The problem.
Here is the problem that I see.
Based on this verse I would say that me being led by Holy Spirit is proof that I am a son of God, but then its up to me to prove that I indeed am led by the Holy Spirit in my life.
And I prove the leading of me by the Holy Spirit using my daily walk with God, suggesting that such a walk with God means that I am led by God.
Do you see what I mean, that there is a problem here? I’m basing the proof of my being God’s son on my own opinion, my interpretation, and my experience of what it means to be led by God.
You see the problem?
Why did I arrive at this verse being proof that I am a son of God?
The mistake.
This happens because we often hear and even quote Bible verses that are taken out of context.
We then hear many interpretations and opinions and experiences connected to that verse and its meaning. And in the end there is a confusion in our mind, and understanding and application are all over the place.
There is a mixture of: God’s true revelation, people’s thoughts and opinions, people’s interpretations and experiences, people’s disappointment, and whatever else — and all this makes its way to us through sermons, blogs, YouTube videos, cute images, clever titles, commentaries, things we hear at dinner, and our time with God alone. Good and bad.
Not just good, but good AND bad.
Not just truth that we will personally answer to God for, but a mixture of everybody’s truths and possibly even lies. And this is how deception crawls in.
Devil cannot touch the Word of God, devil cannot manipulate it, he cannot change it.
But he can influence and manipulate people’s understanding and interpretation and how they see for themselves based on their research and sources they choose, and NOT on what God actually says in His logos Written Word or rhema Spoken Word into a certain situation, personally for them.
The solution.
That is why we must rely on God personally revealing His truths to us, when we read the Bible and spend time with Him, alone.
We must bring what we hear in the sermon or blog or YouTube or prophecy or other source to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help us sift through what we got, and so He would help us decide what we should accept and internalize and what we should drop, so God would help us to discern what is food and what is poison.
Holy Spirit has the responsibility to teach us the truth and remind us of the truth (John 14:26) and Holy Spirit will make sure we have our mind renewed with truth and not lies (1 John 2:27).
All this happens in our daily reading of the Bible and in prayer in humility before God, one-on-one with Him, who is the Source of all wisdom and understanding and who is our Creator.
(A little warning here is due. Don’t rely on you receiving the truth on your own only, we are a body of Christ, we work together, we are interdependent, and we need each other to make sure we don’t get ‘revelations’ that are not from God. So, check your revelations against the Bible as a whole so it doesn’t contradict the Written Word of God, as well as tell your revelations to other members of Jesus’ body, to Christians, so they help you discern the source.)
The answer.
Ok, back to the Romans 8:14.
Is this verse trying to tell us that being led by the Spirit of God MAKES me a son of God.
No.
And I thank God for opening my eyes to this today.
The simple truth is that being led by the Spirit is a RESULT of being a son of God, not the other way around.
Lets read the whole block of text, and please take your time to understand every statement here that Paul is making (take a day or two reading it, if needed). Here we go:
Romans 8:1-17 (ESV) 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
I hope after reading and studying the passage above you will see that first comes the BEING a God’s son and then the LEADING of the Spirit of God will come.
The resolution.
Bottom line is:
I don’t live nor seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in order to become a son of God (or prove to my self that I am a son of God). Its the other way around.
I’m already a son of God when, by faith, I accept what Jesus did for me on the cross, I’m already adopted, I’m already born again, Holy Spirit already lives in me, and I already call God my Abba, my Father, and because of all this I seek God’s guidance, and because of being God’s son I seek to be and I am led by the Spirit of God.
Being a son is the beginning, and being led is the result.
I hope this helps and puts things in the right order for you, so you don’t seek God’s guidance in life TO BECOME His son or a daughter, but rather seek His guidance because you ALREADY ARE His son or a daughter.
The action.
I pray that God would confirm to you in your spirit that you are already His son or His daughter as you are reading this article.
IF you are not His son or His daughter, or if you have doubts or are unsure, let someone in your local church know, or let your Christian friend know, or you may contact us by sending an email to libraryoflives@gmail.com, and we can help you come to God and help you receive Jesus as your Savior, so you’d surely be adopted into God’s family.
May God bless you!
Amen.
Audio version here.