THEME: HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
LESSON: FIVE
TEXT: Rom 8:14-16, John 16:13-15, Rom12:1-2, Gal 5:16
MEMORY TRACK:
By God’s grace, in our last lesson, we learnt that as believers, there is a need to deliberately/consciously pay keen attention to living from our spirits. Our regenerated born-again human spirit possesses the nature and the measuring rule of Christ. Our spirit is not ignorant of the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. So, when we live from our spirit, we are living from a source that God is at peace with, and that God can trust its judgment at the level of Christ’s life. Our carnal mind has been trained over the ages to be an enemy of God by dumb idols that have led us for many years. Hence, the need to exercise ourselves in deliberately living from our spirit
Attitudes/Behaviors of the Recreated Born-Again Human Spirit (Heb 5:14)
These senses are developed by reason of use (constant use).
- Stirring within one’s spirit (Acts 17:16): Apostle Paul was stirred up because of constant use. His spirit could not find comfort in the location where he was (2 Pet 2:8).
- Restlessness in one’s spirit (2Cor 2:13-14): Apostle Paul did not have rest in his spirit because he did not see Titus, his brother 2Cor 2:11,14. There was a device of Satan, but God the triumph.
- Troubled in one’s spirit (Acts 18:5): Apostle Paul was compelled to minister the gospel of Christ.
- Joy in one’s spirit (Col 2:5): Apostle Paul was joying with them in the spirit.
All the above are feelings of the spirit which can be developed and become stronger by use.
The Inward Witness (Rom 8:14-16)
The promise of the Father that Jesus our Lord guaranteed us is the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:14, Lk 24:49). He in-dwells our recreated born-again human spirit, seals it, until the redemption of the soul and body which was purchased at new birth (Eph 3:16, Eph 1:13-14, Act 20:28, 1Cor 6:19-20).
There could be many secondary and ancillary ways the Lord could lead us as New Testament saints e.g., through prophets, prophecy, angelic visitation, dreams etc. All these are all spectacular kind of leading, but the primary way the Lord designed to lead us in the New Testament is through our regenerated born-again human spirit. It is the surest and safest way the Lord leads His children (Rom 8:14-16). This type of leading is a supernatural kind of leading.
Man, from after the fall of Adam, has been led from generation to generation by evil spirits, which Apostle Paul called dumb idols (1Cor 12:1). The dead spirit of man had the nature of hell and trained the soul by leading it to become hellish in nature (John 8:23). Satan trained us in the way of death, so man’s soul became compatible with death. At the new birth, our regenerated born-again human spirit has the righteousness as both a nature in the spirit and a standard gauge measurement for our soul, to bring our souls out of the trained hell nature (Rom 8:10, Rom 8:1-3, Rom12:1-2).
The voice of the Holy Ghost becomes stronger and louder as we obey (John 16:13-15). The more we yield in obedience to the Holy Ghost through the Inward Witness, the stronger the witness becomes. The simple training of “living by sight” is a high devilish wisdom of evil spirit to make it difficult for us to believe the supernatural leading by the Inward Witness and place a stronger emphasis and believe in spectacular leading that comes via encounters (1Cor 2:11-12). The Holy Ghost in us is God Himself in us. He is another comforter. He is a thousand times out of a thousand most accurate. The trouble is with the retraining of our mind to live by faith. Faith is a supernatural life, it’s not spectacular, because we have to believe in the invisible.
Conclusion
It is good to stress again and again that the surest way and the primary way God ordained to lead His children in the New Testament is through their regenerated born-again human spirit. It is safe, it is sure and can be trusted. Following the leading of the spirit would guarantee constant victory over flesh life (Rom 8:13) and ultimately salvation guaranteed (Gal 5:16,25).