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Glory · The Holy Spirit
The Spirit leads every child of God, and His leading never whispers against His own Word. He guides through Scripture, through wisdom and godly counsel, through doors opened and closed in the course of obedience, and through a deepening inner witness of peace and fruit as we walk with Him.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/how-do-i-know-the-spirit-is-leading-me · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Romans 8:1-17
As you read: Being led by the Spirit is what it means to be a child of God; it is not a special elite calling.
1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
4that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
8Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
15For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
17and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
Galatians 5:16-26
As you read: The daily walk: keep in step with the Spirit, and His fruit grows in you.
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
21envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
25If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
26Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.
Acts 15:22-29
As you read: The whole council seeks wisdom together, and concludes it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to them.
22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers.
23They wrote these things by their hand: “The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings.
24Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment;
25it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth.
28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:
29that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”
Acts 16:6-15
As you read: The Spirit forbids one path and opens another; the gospel moves forward through real decisions.
6When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
7When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.
8Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
10When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.
11Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
12and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.
13On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together.
14A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.
15When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
1 John 4:1-6
As you read: Not every impulse is the Spirit: there is a test, and the test is Christ.
1Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.
4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
5They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
6We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Paul does not describe being led by the Spirit as an unusual experience for unusually spiritual people: 'as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.' Every child of God is led by the Spirit. The call is simple and daily: walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.”Romans 8:14
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.”Galatians 5:16
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”Galatians 5:18
“If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.”Galatians 5:25
The Spirit who inspired Scripture does not contradict Scripture. John's test for any spirit is about Christ: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ come in the flesh is of God. Paul urges us to test everything against the Word, and the Bereans were praised for examining the Scriptures to check what they were taught. A leading that fights the Bible is not the Spirit's leading.
“Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness,”2 Timothy 3:16
“Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,”1 John 4:1-2
“Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”Acts 17:11
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.”Psalm 119:105
Direction is rarely a mystery dropped from heaven; it comes as wisdom sought, asked for, and weighed. James promises that God gives wisdom generously to all who ask. The early church made its great decisions together, and the council at Jerusalem could say, 'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us.' Listen for the Spirit in Scripture, in prayer, and in the counsel of godly brothers and sisters.
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.”James 1:5
“Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is victory.”Proverbs 11:14
“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:”Acts 15:28
Paul did not receive a blueprint for his journeys; he received a prohibition here and a door there. The Spirit closed the road into Asia and Bithynia, and opened a vision of a man in Macedonia calling for help. The leading came while they were already moving with the gospel, not standing still waiting. Obedience is the atmosphere in which guidance is given.
“When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them. Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.”Acts 16:6-10
“For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.””James 4:15
The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children, and His fruit grows in lives walked by Him. The peace of God rules in hearts that belong to His body, and His peace guards hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The leading of the Spirit deepens with the walk of the Spirit: conviction moves toward settled peace as it lines up with the Word.
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;”Romans 8:16
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”Galatians 5:22-23
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”Colossians 3:15
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 4:7