The Leading the Holy Spirit

This is one of the fruits of preaching through Scripture verse-by-verse: being confronted with doctrines in their context. In the exposition of Romans 8:14, I mentioned that there are only two places in Scripture where the leading of the Holy Spirit is prescriptively mentioned for Christians. Remarkably, those two places are particularly concerned with sanctification, not unaccountable impressions for decision making.

That comment prompted quite a response. I fear that for some it may have eclipsed most of the rest of the sermon. My intention was to address popular misconceptions about the Spirit’s leading by drawing attention to what Scripture explicitly says about it. The study of the subject is quite surprising, challenging us to think more carefully and perhaps more profoundly.

I wrote an article to offer more thought on the subject. In the article, I include a brief discussion on the sovereignty of God, providence versus miracles, understanding Scripture descriptively and prescriptively, how the Spirit’s leading relates to decision making, the principle of illumination versus revelation in the Spirit’s leading, and the basic contextual emphasis on the Spirit’s leading in sanctification. In the conclusion, I offer a short list of questions to help guide discernment.

In sum, the Spirit leads us to make much of Christ largely by leading us to become more like Christ.
You can read the full article at the link below: