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Led by the Spirit – Theory or Practice?

Published since 26. Feb. 2025
Bible passages:
Romans 8:13,14

“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:13,14).

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God, and what does this leading by the Holy Spirit have to do with our sonship? We want to explore these questions a little.

 

Pay attention to the context

It is undisputed that the guidance of the Holy Spirit plays a major role in the life of a born-again Christian. Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord in faith possesses the Holy Spirit. Every decision we as believers make should be made under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and based on God's will, as revealed in the Bible. This applies both to our personal lives and to our collective life as a local assembly. The verse quoted from Romans 8:14 is sometimes cited as a biblical reference.

It is certainly permissible to apply this passage practically. However, the context of this statement shows that Paul is referring to a different aspect of the Holy Spirit's guidance in our lives. Therefore, it is important to consider the context if we want to grasp the actual meaning of a biblical statement.

 

In the flesh - in the Spirit

Romans 8:5-11 makes it clear that with God, there is a fundamental difference between a person in the flesh and a person in the Spirit. A person in the flesh—that is, an unbeliever—obeys the impulses of his old sinful nature (the flesh). He cannot do otherwise. He lives by the dominant principle of man's fallen nature.

In contrast, the believer is a person in the Holy Spirit. He lives by the Holy Spirit and follows his impulses. The born-again Christian is no longer in the flesh. He is in the Spirit. This is how God sees us.

This divine view is linked to an important practical responsibility for us. Paul comes to this from verse 12 onwards: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12).

If God no longer sees us “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit,” then we have His grace to thank for this. It is not our merit. Nevertheless, God's grace takes nothing away from our responsibility. However, it is important to understand that God does not appeal to our responsibility to receive grace but rather because He has met us in grace. If we are preoccupied with what God has done for us in grace and how He sees us now, then our practical lives will inevitably be affected. Here lies our practical responsibility: to be led by the Spirit by not giving room to the flesh in us, i.e., not allowing sin to have its way in us.

In other words, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are to become what we are in terms of our position in the practice of daily life. We cannot be content with our position before God and continue to live as we please. God wants us to realize our Christian position in everyday life—at work, at home, and in our leisure time. We are no longer “in the flesh” to do and not do what our ego wants. We are “in the Spirit.” That is why the Spirit of God wants to guide us in our lives.

 

Living according to the flesh

No longer being “in the flesh” does not mean that we cannot “live according to the flesh” in everyday life. We can be carnal—and unfortunately, we are far too often. In Romans 13:14, Paul urges us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” The flesh (the sin in us) will immediately stir and produce evil fruit if we give it the opportunity. The danger is that, although we are “in the Spirit,” we “cultivate” the flesh. The results are referred to as “the deeds of the body.”

We are incapable of living according to the flesh in our own strength. We can only do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. Imagine a seagull that overcomes the law of gravity and seems to glide effortlessly over the waves. It has the power within itself to fly like this. But what happens when it gets caught in an oil slick? Then it is unable to take to the air again. Its feathers are smeared with mud and sludge. It can no longer fly and is dependent on outside help. Someone has to come and free it from the oil. Like the seagull, we also have a fundamental power within us. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, which Paul calls the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” in Romans 8:2. This enables us to lead a life to the glory of our God. But woe betide us if we get involved with the filth of sin again and follow the desires of the flesh! Then we need help from outside. We cannot free ourselves from the filth that comes with living according to the flesh. We only have the power to do this again through the Holy Spirit.

 

A way of death

“If you live according to the flesh, you will die” (Romans 8:13a). We have seen that the believer does not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. He knows that God has judged and condemned the flesh and believes that he is dead to sin (Romans 6:11). But he can still live according to the flesh as far as his practical behavior is concerned. He then moves on the ground of the old nature, and the end of such a path is death.

Death means separation from God. He who lives according to the flesh has no fellowship with God. If a believer lives according to the flesh, he is on a path that ends in eternal death. But because he has life from God, he is drawn back from it. A child of God cannot be lost. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). But the path he is on leads to death. That is what makes the matter so serious.

This verse does not want to make anyone feel insecure. No one can snatch a child of God out of the Father's hand and out of the hand of the Lord Jesus (John 10:28-29). But none of us should be lulled into a false sense of security. There have always been people who, according to their confession, gave the impression that they were children of God—and yet they were not. This verse serves as a warning and self-examination.

A small example illustrates the point: a sheep and a pig fall into the mud somewhere. The pig feels comfortable in it and makes no effort to leave the mud. The sheep, on the other hand, will try to get out of the mud as quickly as possible. What is the reason for this difference in behavior? The nature of the two animals. It is the same between a believer and an unbeliever. The nature of the unbeliever feels comfortable in sin. The new nature of the believer is not at all comfortable in it.

 

Putting to death the deeds of the body

“But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13b). Paul now shows us how we can avoid living according to the flesh: by putting to death the deeds of the body under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit. The result of this is a life of fellowship with God, now and for eternity. The life of the believer is preserved for eternal life.

The deeds of the body are the results of the flesh if we allow it to work in us. We must put these actions to death, i.e., deal with them radically. We find this in Colossians 3:5: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth.”

We do not have to condemn the flesh itself anew. God did that once when He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us and judged Him (Romans 8:3). Normally, a child of God has grasped this in faith and applied it to himself. “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). We do not have to do this again and again because the judgment has been pronounced and carried out. But we must radically clean up the actions that still arise from the flesh.

In this context, let us remember three important teachings from the letter to the Romans, which we must understand before we can follow the invitation of this verse:

  1. Nothing good dwells in our flesh (Romans 7:18). When God says “nothing,” He means it. The flesh is completely unfit and corrupt.
  2. God has condemned and judged sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). The judgment has been pronounced and carried out.
  3. We believe that we are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). It is not sin that is dead, but we have died. The old man—what we were before our conversion before God—is gone once and for all. He no longer exists before God.

Once we grasp this, we can kill the actions of the body. We do not do this in our own strength; we call on the power of the Spirit.

Of course, “killing” does not mean doing violence to our bodies. It means that we bring the actions of the body under the judgment of death, in which the old man has found his end. We sometimes call this “self-judgment.” This term does not appear directly in the Bible, but the issue itself does. If we compare the old man to a tree, then the tree is no longer there. But the rootstock is still intact as long as we live on earth. As soon as this stump tries to produce new shoots, we have to cut them off radically. If we don't do this, they will grow bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, when it comes to sins and transgressions, we are often very mild in our judgment of ourselves but harsh in our judgment of others. It should be the other way around.

 

Sons of God - led by the Holy Spirit

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Do we see the connection now? It is a characteristic of sons of God that they do what we found in Romans 8:13. They are people who the Holy Spirit leads to killing the actions of the body. A characteristic of the sons of God is that they are not led by the flesh but by the Spirit.

It is not for nothing that Romans 8:14 begins with “for.” The guidance of the Spirit here means that His power and help are there so that we can put to death the actions of the body. This is what the Holy Spirit leads us to do—and this is precisely what characterizes sons of God. The word “these” emphasizes this. Only these and no others are sons of God. They not only have the Spirit dwelling in them, but He leads them to put to death the actions of the body.

 

Sonship - filiation

Literally translated, sonship means that we have been brought into the position of sons. In Greek, the corresponding expression is made up of the two words “son” and “place.” We are “placed as sons.” In some languages, this is translated as “adoption.” Someone who is not a natural descendant is placed in the position of a son.

This immediately shows the difference in filiation. This has to do with birth. Through the new birth, we become children of God. Childhood is a relationship. Sonship is a position into which we have been brought. It has to do with the Holy Spirit. We are placed in this position through the possession of the Spirit.

Three aspects that the New Testament links to our sonship:

  1. A son has insight into his father's thoughts. He is interested in what is important to his father and understands him. In this way, we share thoughts with God the Father about his Son, our Lord and Savior. It is the Spirit of the Father who enables us to do this (Ephesians 3:16).
  2. A son can worthily represent his father. This speaks of representation. That is the case in earthly life. It is also true in the spiritual. We think of our manifestation as sons of God in this world when we will appear with the Lord Jesus in glory.
  3. A son brings joy to his father through his behavior. This aspect is before us here. Sons are to be enjoyed. Thus, God “has predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Ephesians 1:5-6).

Sonship is a blessing, with an emphasis on what we are for our God. It is not primarily about what it means for us, although this thought is also present. God wants to take pleasure in us. He wants to have sons of pleasure in us. We find this perfectly in the life of the Lord Jesus. God opened the heavens above Him and testified: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God - we, the sons

The Lord Jesus was perfect. With Him, there were no actions of the body that He would have had to kill. It is different with us. That is why the Spirit guides us to put to death the actions of the body. Thus, we are sons of the Father's good pleasure who the Spirit leads. This is the meaning of the statement: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” This applies to brothers and sisters.

 

One final question

Are we content to know that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and that we are sons of God? Or do we actually allow ourselves to be led by this Spirit to condemn, put away, and kill everything that comes from the old nature (the flesh)? If this is the case, our heavenly Father will already be pleased with us. The day is coming when we will be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). God has destined us for this beforehand. This will be fulfilled and seen by the world when the Lord Jesus appears publicly in power and glory—and we with Him. Should it not be our desire to become more like Him now—for the joy of our God and Father?

 

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