Romans 8:14-15 “To be Led”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God, ¹⁵for you did not receive again a spirit of slavery into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, in which we are crying, “Abba, Father!”

In the last post I tried to demonstrate that this “Abba, Father!” relationship is something far different and far better than the asceticism all religions seem to encourage. There is another error we all seem to fall into which I would like to expose. I don’t have a name for it, but it seems to me it has been robbing Christianity of its power for at least two hundred years. Every time I’ve ever read through Romans 8, I read, “For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God,” and it left me asking, “What does that mean?” What does it mean to be “led by the Spirit of God”?

What does that mean to you? I confess that question has bothered me my entire Christian life. What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? We’ve all heard the horror stories of people who think that means the Holy Spirit will tell me every tiny move to make, whether to turn right or left, whether to sit down or stand up, to the point where they can’t even put on their socks thinking the Holy Spirit is going to tell them which one to put on first.

We all might excuse that sort of excess, but then Evangelical preaching is filled with all the stories of how God “led me” to do this and do that, and it leaves us all thinking we’re waiting for some sort of voice or “urge” to do something. On the one hand, the idea is very appealing to me as a believer. I sincerely would love to have God just tell me all day every day exactly what to do. I feel keenly aware that I am clueless and I feel I would welcome direct guidance like that from Him

On the other hand, I learned early that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” that the Scriptures are the Word of God which “thoroughly furnish me unto every good work.” I firmly believe in the doctrine we call “the Sufficiency of the Scriptures.” I was early convinced if I would know the will of God, I need to know the Word of God. That very thought is what has driven me to study the Bible all these years. I am convinced those Scriptures are sufficient, that I will find in the Bible everything God wants me to know, everything He wants me to do, everything that is truly important to Him. The will of God is the Word of God.

All that said, I’m still asking, what does it mean here in verse 14 to be led by the Spirit of God? The very words would seem to draw me back to the idea that somehow I should have this connection with God where the Holy Spirit is minute by minute telling me what to do. However, if that is true, then why do I need the Bible? Again, I hear in my head, the will of God is the Word of God. How can I reconcile these two ideas? I want to be “led by the Spirit,” but I also want to live the Sufficiency of the Scriptures. For me this has always been a point of confusion. I don’t know if I’m communicating this very well, but this very issue has always bothered me a lot.

Having studied thus far through Romans chapter 8, I think, for myself, I finally see the answer. If someone is “led” by the Spirit of God, what will they do? The will of God. And what is the will of God? What was Jesus’ answer? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…and love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:37-40).  Love God and love people. That is the will of God, clearly stated in the Word of God, spoken by Him who is the very living Word of God

If someone is truly being led by the Spirit of God, what should we expect to see in their lives? Is it not the fruit of the Spirit? What does it mean to “walk in the Spirit”? Is it not to love God and people and live a life of love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, faithfulness, etc.? What is the answer in Col. 3, where we are told to “set your hearts on things above”? Are we not told there to “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthy nature…” and instead to “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility…” Is that not simply expanding on Jesus’ admonition to “Love God and love people”?

Does anyone else see that what the Holy Spirit is leading us into is not what to do, it’s a matter of who we are. I would suggest to you He doesn’t really care if you turn to the right or to the left. What He cares about is when you do, no matter where that takes you, what kind of person will you be?

As I was pondering this dilemma in my mind, I thought to myself, “I really do want to do the will of God,” then what came to my mind was Jesus’ words, “Love God/Love people,” and the question seemed to linger in my heart, “Why do you need anything else?” Yes, God has already spoken. He’s already told me what is important to Him. Now the question is, will I live it

I find that enormously liberating. God really doesn’t care so much what I do and where I go, and exactly who I talk to. What He cares about is who I am as I do and go and talk. If I can get to the end of my day and honestly say I tried today, no matter where I went, to love God and love people, then I have done the will of God, I have been “led by the Spirit.” If my life exhibited the fruit of the Spirit, then the root was the Spirit. That is an enormous freedom. He is, in effect, saying to us, “No. I will not tell you every step of the way what do and where to go. You decide. I gave you a brain. Use it. Now, go and do whatever you think is best. Just be sure, as you do it, you’re living the heart of Jesus both in your own mind and as you relate to people you meet along the way.

What this all comes back to is living this “Abba, Father!” relationship. That is the will of God. That is what the text says the Spirit leads us to. It’s not about locking ourselves in a cell to hide us from the world. It’s not about waiting for a voice to tell me which sock to put on first. It’s about living the life God has given me, being the kind of person He wants me to be. In effect, the entire Bible answers the question, “What does it mean to love God and love people?” God says, “I’m glad you asked. Start at Gen. 1:1, and I’ll explain it to you.” What the Bible would teach us is how to love well. To be led by the Spirit is to live what is important to God. He’s already told us in the Bible what that is. We just need to do it. That’s what it is to be led.