Being led by the Spirit is the normal Christian life. When we look back over our lives, we may find many instances when the Spirit led us, but we didn’t recognize it at the time. So, we need to understand what being led by the Spirit looks like and how to determine if we are being led by the Spirit. Verse 14 can be turned this around to say the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. Thus, if we are wondering whether or not we are a child of God, we need only to determine who leads us. Believers in Christ also need to understand that there is a war within; the Holy Spirit contends against the flesh. We know that the Spirit will ultimately win the role of leader, but we struggle as did Paul (See Romans 7:7-25 & Galatians 5:17).

We all are faced with decisions every day of our lives. We are unsure of the best decision. If we are children of God, we will go to Him in prayer, asking Him to lead us to the decision that will honor Christ and glorify Him. We want God to reveal His will to us. We want God to lead us by His Spirit, but we don’t always know how He will do so. The concept of being led by the Spirit is one aspect of His work that is the most difficult for us to comprehend. At best we approach God’s leading as a feeling, and at worse we understand it as some mystical experience that we seek. We will see that feeling does play a role in understanding God’s leading, but are there other ways? How do we know if the proverbial door is open or closed? How do we know if we are walking on the right path? 

The key to one of the most misunderstood aspects of the Christian life is found in verse 14. In this verse, Paul not only proclaims that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God, but he explains what being led by the Spirit means in verses 15-17. In its simplest form, to be led by the Spirit means to live a life that is pleasing to God. Paul wants us to see how the Spirit leads us. How do we know that the Spirit of God is leading us? Paul explains that it begins with a knowledge of the spiritual influence in our life. The right spiritual influence gives us access to God, and that access grants us assurance, and that assurance keeps us focused on the coming glory.

In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus warned the Ephesian church that unless they repented of their loss of love for God, their church would cease to exist. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he could foresee them heading down such a path. His prayer for this church was: “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). Praying that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened is tantamount to praying that they would be led by the Spirt. 

There have been times when we all have felt that God is not leading us and, as believers, we desire to get back to the place where we sense His strong leading in our life. There may have been times when you took great steps of faith because you sensed His leading, and there may have been times when you couldn’t even take a small step because you were unsure of His leading. If you don’t sense God’s leading, perhaps it is because He is teaching us to wait patiently for Him (Psalm 37:7), or perhaps He wants us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). Maybe we don’t sense His leading because we have grieved the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). If we don’t sense His leading, we need to go back and understand what it means to be led by the Spirit. This is where Paul takes us in verses 15-17. These fundamental truths not only help us find the right path, but they also help us stay true to the path.

D. Led Down a New Path (vv. 14-16)

• A New Influence (v. 14)

The strongest influence in our life leads us in a particular direction and keeps us going in that direction. In order to change directions, there has to be a new stronger influence on our life. That is what the Spirit of God does; He overpowers Satan and He pulls us in a new direction, a direction opposite of that of our natural, fleshly inclinations. Verse 14 begins, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God” but this is better understood as “Since all who are led by the Spirit of God”, referring to the opposite of those described in the two previous verses – those who “live according to the flesh.” Being led by the Spirit is understood as Him putting His hands on us and pulling us in a specific direction. A major work of the Spirit in a believer’s life is to point out that he is going in the wrong direction then pulling him back onto the correct path.

When we take a step of faith in our walk with God, trusting that God’s Spirit is leading us, we can be confident that His leading will not be ambiguous. His leading is not mystical; it is not a fuzzy path. His direction is clear, and we can be confident that He will never lead us in the wrong direction. Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Though we don’t initially see the entire path clearly, we can be certain that He will reveal to us the next step at just the right time. The Holy Spirit is described in Scripture as being calculating, He possesses wisdom and truth, He is organized and definitive in His actions. The path that He leads us on is one of righteousness. This is what David said in Psalm 23:3, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” Praise God, this is the path on which the Holy Spirit leads all believers in Christ.

Upon further examination of verse 14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” we see three things. One is that the Spirit’s leading is personal and intimate. God is jealous for His own righteousness and if His righteousness is in us, He is jealous to see His righteousness lived out well. This is stated succinctly in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God, who is righteous (Jeremiah 33:16) gave His righteous Son (1 John 2:1) to be the source of our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). God has a vested interest in the righteousness of the believer because He has placed His own righteousness in His child. If you are not being led in the path of righteousness, you need to question your family of origin. If you are not being pulled toward righteousness, maybe you are not a son of God.

The second thing we see in those who are led by the Spirit of God is that the Spirit produces righteous fruit in the believer (Philippians 1:11). The Holy Spirit begins to clean out all the unrighteousness in our life. We saw in Romans 1:17, a quote of Habakkuk 2:4, probably Paul’s greatest statement regarding the gospel, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’" A person who does not display godly fruit in his life cannot reveal the righteous character of God and an unbeliever will not believe the message of righteousness by faith. The Holy Spirit will produce righteous fruit in your life so that you can share the message from faith to faith, representing the righteousness of God well. The Holy Spirit will root out of your life unrighteous attitudes, unrighteous thoughts, unrighteous actions, unrighteous words. He will lead you to confess and repent of the unrighteousness in your life.

The fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our life leads us to obey the righteous, objective truth of Scripture. This is the Spirit leading us in paths of righteousness that David speaks of in Psalm 23. This is one way in which the Holy Spirit ministers to us. He puts within us a hunger to know Scripture and then helps us understand the meaning therein. Once we know the truth we desire to share it with others (Romans 10:14-17). Knowing that the truth sets us free is a source of great comfort and joy. (John 8:32) Free from being a slave to sin, free to live righteously (Romans 6:22), and free from condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are made righteous “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to discern spiritual things that the natural mind is incapable of understanding. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) The Word of God, illumined by the Holy Spirit, is a lamp for our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm 119:105). This is the primary way in which He leads us today.

Trusting in God’s guidance can be scary at times. We may be unstable as we begin to walk in obedience to the Father. New believers or those who have not matured in their faith are like children learning to walk; they lack confidence, are unsteady, and fall frequently. Through persistence they do learn to walk and begin to fall less frequently. This is true of the Christian life as well. It is not easy. We have to condition ourselves; we have to be ready; we have to train ourselves to keep focused on the ultimate goal. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27, “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control…” For example, Paul said in Ephesians 4:26 to be angry but do not sin, and in Matthew 5:44, Jesus told His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Who can do this? Only the person who is led by the Holy Spirit!

We are admonished to put off our old self (Ephesians 4:22) and to count others more significant than ourselves. Then to add to these the demonic temptations and spiritual battles that we face, the Christian life can be challenging. However, we are not alone; the Holy Spirit leads us in paths of righteousness. The amazing truth is that the path includes God’s presence with us. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be with us forever (John 14:16).

• New Access (v. 15)

Believers have access to God, not just as a friend, referring to Abraham (James 2:23), but as a son! Verse 15 says, “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!’" Adam and Eve had a personal, intimate fellowship with God and unfettered access to Him. However, when Adam sinned, this intimate fellowship was broken, and Adam and Eve were forced to leave the Garden (Genesis 3:24). The consequences of Adam’s sin continue to plague all mankind. Man was created to live forever in God’s presence but, when Adam sinned, death came to him and to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12). The death was both physical and spiritual. Death, disease, the effects of aging, murder, war, hostility, etc. are all consequences of Adam’s sin, and all these affect us either directly or indirectly every day. 

The most devastating effect of Adam’s sin was the loss of mankind’s intimate fellowship with God. God continued to have intimate fellowship within the godhead, with the angels who remained loyal to Him (Luke 1:19) and with the cloud of witnesses described in Hebrews 12:1; however, He desired such a relationship with the crown-jewel of His creation – mankind. God’s plan from eternity past was to send the Son into the world to restore the broken fellowship. John explains this in verse 14 of Chapter 1, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The night before Jesus completed His work, He told His disciples that He was going to leave them. They were understandably upset and confused, but He promised that another Helper would be with them forever. One attribute of the Holy Spirit is that He is our comforter.

The disciples had a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus but not like that which Adam and Eve initially enjoyed. At that time, Adam and Eve were without sin, however the disciples were sinners. God can have a full intimate relationship only with sinless beings. Even for a time, the relationship between the Father and Son was broken. Jesus anticipated this in John 17:5 when Jesus prayed, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Jesus knew that a moment was coming when fellowship with His Father would be broken, and it greatly troubled Him. As He hung on the cross, becoming sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) feeling abandoned (Mark 15:34), Jesus desperately longed to be back in heaven and enjoy the intimate fellowship with His Father that He had had from eternity past.

Because of the willing sacrifice of Jesus, we are not only reconciled back to God in a right relationship and justified, we have access to God. This access removes the fear of God, which was brought about by the spirit of slavery to sin. The spirit of slavery to sin means that sin was our very nature; all that we thought about, all that we said, all that we did was sinful, a rebellion against God. Sin gives birth to more sin. The last portion of 1 John 4:18 says, “For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” Unbelievers know that God exists and that He has a standard they can’t meet, so they are fearful of the punishment that is coming. They don’t fear God – just the punishment they deserve. Unbelievers don’t see themselves as slaves to sin, rather they think they are free; however, they are trapped in a cycle of sin. According to R.C. Sproul, the only way out is for Someone with a freer will than ours and Someone with more power than us to free us from this downward spiral. This is the work that Jesus performed for believers, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

Paul doesn’t just say that we have been set free from slavery to sin and adopted by God, but that we have received the spirit of adoption as sons. Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:7) that God gave believers “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control”. The first portion of 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” We can have access to God without fear because Romans 8:1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is amplified in Hebrews 4:16 which says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Being reconciled to God means that we have access to Him and He begins to restore the intimacy that was lost when Adam sinned.

When we understand what God has done for us in Christ, our spirits will automatically cry out Abba, Father. This is a super-natural reaction, not something we can create. Calling out this way is driven by the Holy Spirit; it is totally objective and highly emotional, and it reflects a new understanding of the true love of God. When we cry out Abba, Father we are telling God that we love Him. In essence we are saying to God, I am Yours and You are mine. God loves His children, and He wants them to know it. The spirit of adoption allows us to feel God’s love, not just know it as fact. Only the Holy Spirit can persuade a person to love God, we cannot do it. If we are in Christ, loving God comes naturally; however, unbelievers only think of God as an over-demanding ogre who is never pleased; no one could love such a god. Jesus told us in John 17:23 that the Father loves His children in the same way He loves Jesus. This is astounding! 

Prayer is the demarcation in the Christian life. Prayer is directly linked to our understanding of Abba, Father through our adoption. When we pray this way, bearing our soul before Him, we are celebrating our reconciliation with God. We acknowledge that we trust and love Him, for He has shown us what true love is and He has removed our fears. A believer’s soul cries out to God, He responds back by His Spirit and our soul longs to be with Him, away from this world. Through the Spirit of God, we have a new position which leads us to call out to God with whom we now have access. This new position is one that moves from slave to son, and the result of this new position is joy. Joy is a gladness of heart that comes from God, and it results when we experience His love – a love which will never be taken away. This joy helps us to know that we are His adopted child, and He will never reject us nor forsake us. True joy comes from our position, which can never be taken away. Nehemiah encouraged the builders by stating that “the joy of the Lord is your strength”. (Nehemiah 8:10) This is good advice for us also.

• New Assurance (v. 16)

We begin to see the assurance of our position before God in verse 16, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” The joy that we have becomes deeper rooted, the love of God becomes more understood, and our position before God becomes clearer. As we live out our Christian life, and as we study God’s Word, the Holy Spirit increasingly gives us confidence in the intimacy that we have with the Father. The true believer in Christ will want to know and apply Scripture in his life. 2 Corinthians 3:18 increases our assurance because we are being transformed into the image of Christ. We are crying Abba, Father when we count trials as joy (James 1:2), when we worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24), when we trust Him to deliver us (Philippians 1:19), and when we put to death the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13). The true believer – the adopted child – delights in the Law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night (Psalm 1:2). Whenever he reads The Word of God he experiences Abba, Father. The true child of God will recognize the Spirit’s moving in his life, moving him along the path of righteousness. A study of Scripture will either increase our assurance or convince us that we are not in the faith. Which is it for you?

E. New Glory (v. 17)

Verse 17 tells us that the child of God is an heir of God, a fellow heir with Christ, and we are being led along a path of righteousness that leads to glory. But the path always incorporates things we don’t expect, including suffering. The suffering that we endure in life helps us stay grounded, looking toward glory. Even in this life, the Holy Spirit gives us glimpses of the glory to come. As we experience all of life, our soul increasingly desires to be with the Father. Believers in Christ are assured of a glorious future glory because, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14) Think about it: sealed, promised, guaranteed! All by grace through faith. The Spirit helps us experience a portion of this reality now and He keeps driving us to the future glory. Hebrews 11:1 explains that faith is a continual assurance of things hoped for and a continual conviction of things not seen. The faith that we possess is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). This faith is an expression of His love for His children. God saves us, washes us, regenerates us and gives us a view of the future reality reserved for His children. The non-believer isn’t excited about singing and worshiping God forever; he is more attracted by the things of earth. His only hope is for annihilation when he dies, not an eternity in hell. Future glory is what the soul of God’s children desire more than anything else and this is a true reality, as true as anything we can see or touch.

Selah:

1. How do you know who is leading you?

2. What assurance do you have that you are walking in righteousness?

3. How great is your hunger to know the Word of God?

4. How would you rate your intimacy with God?