Being led by the Spirit doesn’t mean what you think it does!

When we hear the phrases "walk by the Spirit" or "led by the Spirit," most Christians immediately assume that the subject matter is about hearing God's voice in order to find out if Suzie is the one to marry, or if they should work for Apple, or move to another city. We have been programmed by the influences of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements to such an extent that we find it difficult to think any other way!

But, what do those phrases really mean? Do you know where they are found in the Scriptures? Of course, the only way we can truly know what these phrases mean, is to actually study the passages in question, where these phrases are used.

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A few years after I was saved I started attending a pentecostal church where the gifts of the Holy Spirit were big. Of course, this had a real influence on me, since I was only 17 when I started there. By the time I had finished my time in the army, having fought in the Angolan bush war, I returned to join a charismatic church in the same town as the pentecostal one. These people tried even harder to hear God's voice. Through them I was put in contact with the Bible school that I attended. Here we attended seminar's on how to hear God's voice, and how to hear that still small voice. We also attended seminars on how to "move" in the prophetic and the like.

Sure, some "heard" God and did things and it worked out for them. Yet, for many others who "heard" God, it never worked out! This created an extra pressure on Christians to hear God better. If you did not hear God, Who was to spell out your life's journey for you, then you just were not spiritual enough! Of course, we learnt that we could not do anything unless God gave the go ahead. If God did not tell you to change jobs, you simply stayed put, no matter how unbearable the situation. If God did not tell you to marry Suzie, no matter how you felt, you simply had to stay away from the love of your life. You even had to resist telling people about Jesus in case you ended up telling the wrong person! It became the new law: hear God's voice, or stay put!

However, I would like to show in this post, that the phrases "walk by the Spirit" and "led by the Spirit", as used in the New Testament, have nothing to do with hearing God's voice in some form or another, in order to find out your next step in life, or what your vocation should be, but all about your Christian conduct in this life.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Some of the passages we will look at:
Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:33; Ac 1:5; 11:16 (see especially v17); 1 Cor 12:13

To many I would be seen as a Reformed-Charismatic. However, I would rather be known as a Reformed-Non-Cessationist. The word "charismatic" includes too much baggage, in my opinion, and the world of charismania has been infested by heretics of all sorts, and the heart-breaking truth of it all, is that many (most?) charismatics do not even know about this infestation. I have written about this infestation here, and here.

Baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit

The Baptism and/or the infilling of the Holy Spirit is a very controversial subject in the church at large today. Those who do not believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a "second blessing" for the believing Christian (the have-nots), but that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is the same, or happens at the same time, as the conversion experience, feels that those who believe in such a second experience (the haves), see themselves as superior Christians to the have-nots. I have to admit that this claim of the have-nots is based on some truth. Many, if not most, of the haves have said before that the churches of the have-nots are dead churches. On the other hand, the haves have claimed concerning the have-nots that they only have head knowledge with no personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, and that the have-nots are not making a difference in this world. This claim also has some truth to it concerning the have-nots. However, both of these claims are based on perceptions, and are not necessarily the truth about all those of the opposing camps. In my experience, based on these claims, when it comes to the genuinely saved in the two groups, I have to admit that the claim of the have-nots is easier to verify than the claim of the haves. On the side of the have-nots, there are great men of God with great ministries, such as John MacArthur, J. I. Packer, James R. White, and many more. These men have proven the opposite of what the haves have claimed. Then again, among the haves, there have been men who supposedly had great relationships with the Lord, who have brought great shame on the haves, such as Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker (who has repented from his sins and his theological errors), and other Word-of-Faith men who have misappropriated funds, and taught great heresy, etc. So, the point is, the claim by the haves concerning the have-nots is simply an over-stretched generalisation without looking at the facts, and the claim by the have-nots concerning the haves has proven to be false, since it has been shown that the haves are in no way superior to the have-nots.