1 John 5:10-11 “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. (11) And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle John confirms the same to truth to us that the apostle Paul teaches, i.e. that we know that we are children of God because we have the witness in ourselves. In this passage John teaches us that we know we have eternal life because we have the witness in ourselves. The witness in ourselves that John is referring to is the witness in our spirits. In other words the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that because we are sons of God, we can be assured that we have eternal life. As I have already mentioned, the Holy Spirit does not only witness with our spirits about our salvation but also about every other area of our lives, and so saints need to learn to listen to their spirits and not make decisions in life unless they have the witness in their spirits to go ahead with that decision. And so we can see very clearly from these passages that under the New Covenant that God leads His saints through their spirits.
2 Corinthians 2:13 “I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.”
Because the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits regarding God’s counsel, the spirit of the saint always knows what the leading of the Holy Spirit is for any given situation. The question is then asked how the saint can know with their understanding what the leading of their spirit is. One of the ways is whether their contemplated course of action produces peace in their spirits or not, for the scripture declares that the wisdom of God always follows the paths of peace (Proverbs 3:17). The apostle Paul learnt to follow the guidance of his spirit, and in the above quoted passage of scripture he gives us some insight into how he did that, for in this passage he tells us that because he had no rest in his spirit he recognised that he was outside of the will of God at that time and had to thus change course. And so we can see that if our contemplated course of action produces restlessness in our spirits that it is an indication that our spirit is not in agreement with that course of action, and we therefore need to consider other alternatives until that sense of rest and peace prevails in our spirits once again.
Romans 8:5-6 “For 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. (6) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
Walking in the spirit is a deliberately chosen lifestyle. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us how to live in the spirit (i.e. walk in the spirit), when he tells us that those who walk in the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. In this passage Paul contrasts the two opposing mindsets that believers can have, i.e. they can either have a fleshly mindset or a spiritual mindset. The fleshly mindset is what scripture also calls a carnal mind, or natural thinking. In other words it is a mindset that thinks as this world thinks. The spiritual mindset is completely opposite to this world’s thinking however, for the scripture teaches us that as believers we are to look at the things which are not seen (2 Corinthians 4:18). In other words we live by faith, for faith is the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The world on the other hand look at the things which are seen i.e. their circumstances, and live according to that. Sadly many believers walk just as the world does. Nevertheless to set one’s mind on the things of the spirit, one has to set their minds on that which cannot be seen i.e. the word of God, and live according to that. And so, one who is spiritually minded will always be open and receptive to the leading of their spirit, whereas one who is carnally minded will more often than not ignore and reject the leading of their spirit. I want you to notice from this passage that the apostle Paul confirms to us that one of the results of a spiritual mindset is that it produces peace. And so we see that to be spiritually minded is a conscious and disciplined decision that the saint takes and puts into constant practice. The reason why our Lord Jesus walked in the spirit when He was on the earth was because He always set His mind on the things of the spirit, for He said that God’s word was His meditation all day long (Psalm 119:97).
Michael E.B. Maher
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