God’s Children Are Being Regularly Led by the Holy Spirit

This week we will consider two further ministries of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer: daily guidance in the path of God’s will, and the impartation of life and health to the believer’s physical body.

The first of these ministries, daily guidance, is described by Paul.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14)

It is important to see that Paul here uses a continuing present tense: “as many as are [being regularly] led by the Spirit of God.” He is not talking about a few isolated experiences but about an ongoing way of life.

Many professing Christians, even among those who have been truly born again, do not attach sufficient importance to these words of Paul. They tend to place their whole emphasis on certain one-time experiences, such as the new birth or the baptism in the Holy Spirit, on which they base their claim to be considered Christians. It is certainly important to emphasise these decisive experiences, but not to the point where no mention is made of the need to walk daily in the grace of God.

In order to become a true Christian, a person must be born again of the Spirit of God. In order to become an effective witness for Christ, a person must be baptised in the Holy Spirit. But the work of the Holy Spirit should never end there. In order to live daily as a Christian, a person must be led by the Spirit.