TCC–1380
1
LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
A. Introduction: When Jesus was here on earth, He called men and women to follow Him. To follow
Jesus meant to learn from His teachings and to imitate Him, or seek to be like Him. This is the same
call that Jesus gives to all of us: Learn from me. Imitate me. Seek to be like me.
1. If you claim to be a Christian, the Bible says the standard for your character and behavior is that you
walk as Jesus walked: I John 2:6—If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ
(CEV). We are working on a series about developing Christlike character and behavior.
a. Character is the sum total of the features and traits that form an individual. Your character is
expressed through your behavior and governed by your standard of morality (right and wrong).
b. God created human beings to be His sons and daughters who live in loving relationship with
Him. Jesus, in His humanity, is the pattern for God’s family. Rom 8:29—For God knew his
people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son (NLT); (chose them) to bear the
family likeness of his son (J. B. Phillips).
1. Jesus summed up the kind of character and behavior that God the Father wants from His sons
and daughters: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And love your neighbor as
yourself. Matt 22:37-40
2. To love God means to obey His moral law (His standard of right and wrong). To love
people means to treat others as you want to be treated. Jesus perfectly modeled this love.
2. For the last few lessons, we’ve been talking about the fact that after we give our lives to Jesus, even
though we’re sincere about following Him, we still have unChristlike behaviors and character traits.
a. We still have habits and desires that lead us to violate God’s standard of right and wrong. And
we still sometimes treat people in ways that we would not want to be treated. In these recent
lessons, we’re asking the question: Why does this happen and what can we do about it.
b. We pointed out last week that Paul the apostle’s answer to this issue was: Walk in the Spirit,
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal 5:16, NKJV). We have more to say tonight.
B. Almighty God created human beings with the capacity to receive Him, His Spirit and uncreated eternal
life, into our being, and then live in dependence on Him for everything.
1. As part of His plan, the Lord created human beings in His image and likeness, to image or reflect
Him (express Him) to the world around us, and thereby bring Him glory. Gen 1:26; Eph 1:12
a. God has communicable and non-communicable attributes. His non-communicable attributes are
His alone as God. God is Eternal (no beginning or end), Infinite (without limits), Omnipotent
(all powerful), Omniscient (all knowing), and Omnipresent (present everywhere at once).
b. God’s communicable attributes are sometimes called His moral attributes—righteousness, love,
joy, peace, patience, compassion, etc. God created us with the capacity to express these traits.
2. God created us to be dependent beings who depend on Him for everything. But, beginning with the
first man, Adam, all humans have chosen independence from God through sin. Isa 53:6
a. Because of sin, we are cut off from God, from the life in God. That’s why the Bible calls
human beings apart from God dead in sin (Eph 2:1), and alienated or cut off from the life in God
(Eph 4:18). Jesus came into this world to bring us life from God, the life in God (John 10:10).
1. Rom 6:23—For the wages which sin pays is death; but the [bountiful] free gift of God is
eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord (Amp).
2. When we bow our knee to Jesus, the Holy Spirit unites us with the life in Jesus and we are
made alive with God’s life. We are born anew—born from above. John 3:3-5; John 1:12-13
b. Christianity is more than a belief system. It is a living, organic union with God through faith in
Jesus. Now, through the power of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of life in us) we can bring forth
TCC–1380
2
fruit—Christlike character, God’s communicable attributes. John 15:5
3. God comes into us by His Spirit begins a process of restoration that will ultimately fully restore us to
our created purpose as God’s sons and daughters who are like Jesus in character and behavior.
a. Right now, we’re finished works in progress. We’re fully God’s sons and daughters through
faith in Jesus, but not yet fully Christlike in every part of our being (I John 3:2). We need to
remember this when we fall short in our character or behavior.
b. And we need to remember that our origin is in God. We exist because He wants us. Yes,
we’re prodigal sons who have chosen independence from Our Creator through sin, and lost to
our created purpose as offspring who glorify Him. But we’re sons and daughters by creation.
1. And, we still bear the image of God, even in our fallen condition (Gen 9:6; James 3:9), but
we can’t bear the fruit of Christlike character and behavior without God’s life in us.
2. We’re cut off from the Vine who can enable us to walk as Jesus did by the power of His
indwelling Spirit, the Holy Spirit. But God’s attitude toward us is mercy and forgiveness, if
we will come back to our Father’s house in repentance and faith in Jesus.
3. Jesus, through His sacrifice on the Cross, has freed us from the guilt and power of sin. Now,
He is in us by the Holy Spirit to help us increasingly live free from sin. Rom 3:23-25
C. Back to Paul’s statement about walking in the Spirit. Paul wrote these words to Christians who were
destroying each other through strife, arguing, and fighting. He told them to “serve one another by
love…walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:13-16, NKJV).
1. To appreciate what Paul was saying, we must understand what he means by the terms flesh and
Spirit. The word flesh as it is used here means human nature. Spirit means the Holy Spirit.
a. Human nature is what we are by birth—everything that makes us human, with all of our moral
and physical weaknesses and desires. My nature is me—everything that makes me, me.
b. Because of the sin of the first man, Adam, we are all born with a corruption in us, in our makeup
or nature. We have an inclination or bent toward selfishness, and we naturally put our will
above God’s will when His will conflicts with ours.
1. Because of this inclination toward selfishness, we obey God’s Law only when it suits us, and
we put ourselves above others and mistreat people we don’t like or who get in our way.
2. We indulge our God-given natural traits and desires, and they become over-developed. Our
desire for food (hunger) becomes over eating. Sexual desire becomes lust. Our desire for
life’s necessities becomes greed or jealousy. We do things that aren’t natural to humans
(like smoking), and create unnatural desires in ourselves that compel us to indulge.
c. Even though many of us consider ourselves good people, we’re still selfish and highly developed
and practiced at getting our way. If we’re honest, much of the good we do comes out of selfish
motives—to get what we want and to be praised by men or by our own self.
2. When we believe in Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit comes into us. He begins the process of restoring
us to what we’re meant to be, sons and daughters who are pleasing to God our Father in character
and behavior. To walk in the Spirit means to follow His leading and guidance in this process.
a. The Greek word that is translated walk means to conduct one’s life—the entirety of the activities
of our life. This same word is used in I John 2:6 where we are told to walk as Jesus walked.
We are to live our lives following the Holy Spirit’s leading and guidance in every area of life.
1. Paul explained: Gal 5:16-17—What I say then is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and
do not satisfy the desires of the human nature. For what our (selfish) human nature wants is
opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what (selfish)
human nature wants (GNB).
2. Paul notes that fallen, corrupted, selfish, human nature expresses itself in sexual immorality,
TCC–1380
3
fighting, jealously, anger, division, etc., but that the Spirit produces love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control (Gal 5:19-22. GNB).
b. In other words, Paul told these people: When your natural, but corrupted desires conflict with
the Spirit of God, follow His leading and guidance instead of your self-focused, selfish desires,
depending on Him to help you. That’s walking in the Spirit. That’s being led by the Spirit.
3. The primary way that the Holy Spirit leads and guides us is through the Scriptures, the written Word
of God. Remember that the Holy Spirit inspired the words that the authors wrote. II Tim 3:16
a. The Holy Spirit is here to reveal Jesus and to glorify Him (John 16:13-15). The number one
way the Holy Spirit reveals the Lord Jesus (the Living Word) is through the written Word, the
Bible. So, in the pages of Scripture, we see what Christlike character and behavior looks like.
b. And, as we read the Bible, and look to the Holy Spirit to help us understand it and obey it, we’re
gradually changed and restored to what we were created to be, Christlike sons and daughters.
1. II Cor 3:18—And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the
Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His
very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this
comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit (Amp); And as the Spirit of the Lord works within
us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more (NLT).
2. John 6:63—The words that I (Jesus) speak to you are spirit, and they are life (NKJV); All the
words through which I have offered myself to you are meant to be channels of the spirit and
of life to you, since in believing those words you would be brought into contact with the life
in me (J. Riggs Paraphrase).
c. God’s glory is a manifestation of His person or power in any way He chooses to show Himself.
One of the ways He shows Himself is through His indwelling life and Spirit in us.
4. Before continuing, we need to talk about what it does and doesn’t mean to be led by the Spirit. Paul
wrote: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God (Rom 8:14, NKJV).
a. The primary meaning in this passage is that God’s sons are led by the Holy Spirit in moral issues
—what is right and wrong according to God’s standard as it is revealed in the Bible.
b. If we read the verse in context, this meaning is clear. Rom 8:12-14—My brothers, we have an
obligation, but not to live as our human nature wants us to. For if you live according to your
human nature, you are going to die; but if, by the Spirit, you kill your sinful actions, you will
live. Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons (GNB).
1. To kill your sinful actions means to resist your sinful, selfish desires and stop your sinful
activities by looking to the Holy Spirit in you to help you. Rom 8:14—You will live, if by
the help of God’s Spirit you say “No” to your desires (CEV).
2. Paul told the Galatian Christians the same thing: Gal 5:24-25—Those who are Christ’s have
crucified (subdued) the flesh with its passions and desires (NKJV); and because we belong to
Christ Jesus, we have killed (subdued) our selfish feelings and desires. God’s Spirit has
given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit (CEV).
3. These phrases (walk in the Spirit and not the flesh, be led by the Spirit, and crucify the flesh)
are simply different way of saying: Say no to yourself and yes to God when what you want
to do or say conflicts with God’s moral Law—with the expectancy that He will help you.
c. Some use this verse to say that, because we are God’s sons and daughters, He guides us in our
personal lives by speaking to us and telling us which car to buy, who to marry, what job to take.
1. I’m not saying that God doesn’t guide us in personal affairs, but that’s not Paul’s meaning
this passage. Reading the verse in context makes this clear.
2. People are way out of balance on this issue. Too many people attribute every thought, idea,
and dream to “the Lord told me”, and call that being led by the Spirit when it’s not the Holy.
TCC–1380
4
It’s actually their own thought or idea (lessons for another day).
5. Paul’s point in both Galatians and Romans is that if you say you are a Christian, in the affairs of life,
you should be following the leading of the Holy Spirit through His written Word (the Bible) and
through His influence. Let’s talk for a moment about how the Holy Spirit influences us.
a. The Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience through the Word of God. Conscience is that faculty
of our inner man which distinguishes between right and wrong, a knowing that there’s a standard
of right and wrong. It’s part of the image of God that we still bear even in a fallen condition.
b. To be enlightened means to see something or understand something you did not see or know
before. The Holy Spirit enlightens us through the Word of God.
c. John 16:13-15—When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth (NLT); Sanctify
them by the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17, NIV). Note some examples:
1. I Cor 12:3—No one is able to say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (NLT). When
the gospel (Jesus’ death and resurrection) is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit enlightens listeners.
2. John 16:8—When (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convince the world of the meaning of sin,
of true goodness, and of judgment (J. B. Phillips). He helps us see God’s moral standard.
3. I Cor 2:12—We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we
may understand what God has freely given to us (NIV). The Bible tells us what God has given us
through the salvation Jesus provides, and the Holy Spirit helps us understand it.
4. Rom 8:15-16—You have received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry “Abba, Father.” The
Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (NIV). The Holy Spirit testifies in
me to the truthfulness of God—who He is, what He says, and what He has done.
A. Without the objective standard of God’s Word and the influence of the Holy Spirit, our
standard of right and wrong is skewed. But as we read the Bible, we see God’s standard
and come in line with it. And, because of the Holy Spirit’s influence and presence in us,
we find a desire in us to obey God.
B. Paul wrote: Phil 2:12-13—Put into action God’s saving work in your lives, obeying God
with deep reverence and fear. God (the Holy Spirit) is working in you, giving you the
desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him (NLT),
d. To follow the leading of the Spirit means that I walk or order my life according to the Bible and
my Spirit-enlightened conscience. I obey the voice of my conscience in moral issues.
D, Conclusion: We have more to say next week about developing Christlike character and behavior, but
consider these thoughts as we close.
1. Salvation is much more than not going to Hell. Salvation is the complete transformation and
restoration and of human nature by the power of the Holy Spirit, on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice.
a. Growing in Christlikeness is a lifelong process that won’t be complete until our bodies are raised
from the dead and made like Jesus’ resurrected body—incorruptible and immortal. Phil 3:20-21
b. You are a finished work in progress. God has saved you—you are restored to relationship with
Him through faith in Jesus. And God is saving you—He is progressively restoring you to
Christlike character and behavior and you cooperate with Him. It’s better to shoot for the stars
and get halfway there than head for the lamppost and hit it.
2. God is aware of the weaknesses of human nature. But He is also aware that He who has begun a
good work in us will complete it, and we can be confident in that Phil 1:6
