Galatians 5:16-18 “I say then: Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (18) But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul once again confirms the truth to us that the New Testament saints are to be led by their spirits. The spirit that Paul is referring to in this passage is the born-again spirit and not the Holy Spirit, for it is the spirit of the born-again believer, and not the Holy Spirit, that lusts against their flesh. Nevertheless because our spirits are themselves being led by the Holy Spirit, ultimately we are being led by the Holy Spirit if we follow the guidance of our spirits. The apostle Paul teaches us in this passage that to walk in the spirit and to be led by the spirit are one and the same thing, for obviously one cannot walk in the spirit if one chooses not to follow the leading of their spirit. Something else that Paul teaches us in this passage is that those who walk in the spirit are not under the law. So what does that statement mean? In context Paul is comparing walking in love and the fruit of the spirit rather than walking in the flesh, and he goes on to say that there is no law against the fruit of the spirit. And so those who choose to walk in the spirit are therefore not subject to any law, whereas those who choose to walk in the flesh will obviously then transgress the law. In another passage of scripture the apostle Paul highlights the difference between the New and Old Covenants by telling us that our spirits know how to rightly divide the word of truth, and will therefore always walk in the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law (Romans 7:6). Our Lord Jesus demonstrated the difference between the spirit and the letter of the law on many different occasions when He walked on the earth. For example, there was the occasion when our Lord healed the man with the withered hand, on the Sabbath. Before our Lord healed the man He asked the congregation if it was lawful on the Sabbath to do good or evil, to save life or to kill. The congregation kept silent because they wanted to accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath, because they were following the letter of the law which prohibited any form of work to be done on the Sabbath. Jesus on the other hand followed the spirit of the law, which allowed good works to be done on the Sabbath, and He thus healed the man’s hand (Mark 3:1-5). And so in the same manner the spirit of the born-again believer would also counsel the saint in accordance with the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law.
Romans 8:14-16 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (15) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
We have already seen that when we follow the leading and guidance of our spirits that ultimately we are also being led by the Holy Spirit. And so in the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul confirms the truth to us that born-again believers are ultimately led by the Spirit of God. In this passage Paul gives us further insight into how the Holy Spirit leads the New Testament saint, for he teaches us that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are God’s children. And so in the same manner the Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirits in every area of our lives. We can therefore see very clearly from this passage that God guides the New Testament saints through their spirits. To have the witness in our spirit means that our spirits will either agree or disagree with our proposed course of action, depending on whether that choice falls in line with God’s will for our lives or not. And so clearly saints should never choose a course of action that makes them feel uncomfortable on the inside i.e. in their spirits, for that is a clear indication that the saint is making an incorrect choice in life.
Michael E.B. Maher
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