“The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's Life”
“The Holy Spirit Wants to Lead Us”
Dr. T. Dewitt Smith, Jr.
President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Trinity Baptist Church of Metro Atlanta,
Atlanta, GA
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust
of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other:
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:16-17 KJV).
Can you imagine the Holy Spirit standing outside the Church because the people will not let Him in? They are afraid He might take control (albeit, voluntarily). His rightful place is that of Leader of all the leaders in God's Church. He charts the course and designs the methods and means for getting things done for the Kingdom. He wants to lead us. Let's allow Him to do it.
Paul uses four words to describe the Holy Spirit’s interest in taking the churches of Galatia where they should be, and thus, taking us to where we should be. The first word translated “walk about,” refers to how we conduct ourselves and our affairs, personally, corporately, and when we are churching." The second word translated refers to us being “led about” by the Holy Spirit. The third and fourth words are translated to speak to the life we get from the Spirit that issues forth in being in agreement with what He says and does among us. Now that's following where the Holy Spirit leads!
Paul does not make things easy on us. There is no middle ground in his mind. If we are going to live by the laws of men, enforced and used as regulations for matters of faith and practice, then we are living contradictory lives; condemning ourselves through fleshly works. All of that leads to frustration and a life of law, apart from God. Since the Holy Spirit is in every believer, why not allow Him to take over, and live out our lives truly content, that we can trust His leadership. His leadership will never result in licentious living that comes from guiding ourselves.
How does the Holy Spirit lead us, you ask? He works through His Word, through wise advice from those He can use; through circumstances, from which we awaken with a new sense of understanding about the way to go, or the thing to do; through our prayer lives, where we surrender our total selves to His use, knowing this is the Lord's Church, and we are blessed to be in it.
Most of us do not agree with the Holy Spirit. We do as we please in the local church, and then say what we have done is for the good of all. However the outcome, the results cause conflicts that are not easily healed. In order to agree with the Spirit, He has to have the first and last say in everything. It is His program for promoting Christ and God the Father. What makes us grieve Him and disobey Him? Stubbornness, unwillingness to relax ourselves and submit everything to Him. Of the primary things that stop us, we do not recognize His voice, and most of us don’t study Him to learn how He works. It would make the local church with all of her problems a better place for worship and work, if He could lead us.
I. When the Holy Spirit leads His churches, our desires for wrong are checked (vs. 16-17). This portion of the passage refers to our manner of the life. Paul calls them fleshly lusts. Paul explains the internal struggle churches get into when they insist on things that mean bondage, rather than liberty. The Holy Spirit helps God’s Church over come conflicts our spiritual nature and fleshly nature war over. The Holy Spirit wants us to “walk about” learning where He needs control and then giving it to Him.
According to Bible scholar Scot Knight (NIV Commentary: Galatians) this goes against the grain of western democracy and the rugged individualism we are so used to. All of our votes cast in favor of what we do have not been at the heart of the things God wants done.
We scrap and fight about issues of control, group supremacy and supremacy of the individual, domination, finance – how much we will not give; if . . . many Baptists have been guilty in this area, a long time, we don’t have to stay wrong. It’s time to wise up! Let's help ourselves by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us, and put our wrong desires in check.
II. When the Spirit leads, fleshly matters are kept from being exercised to our detriment (vs. 18-21). It seems that those who fought the Holy Spirit's leadership, in the text, thought Christianity left room for loose living. Paul combats the thinking of the Judaizers again, by calling for the churches in Galatia to remember that the works of the flesh always lead to harm. Paul names four categories indicating the lists are far from exhaustive. Paul lists sexual sins, 3; religious sins, 2; social sins, 8; and sins that result from drunkenness, 2; and any other unnamed sins that cause lax moral and spiritual standards.
In all, these sins represent the failure of the Church to see how she divides herself, by allowing the members to believe that we have license to do anything we please. Paul had warned them before, and he warns us now, that people who do such things will not inherit heaven. We don't need to have a law or list of rules to stop us; the Holy Spirit has become our Guide. He will teach us. This is both warning and encouragement.
III. When the Holy Spirit leads, we move from detriment to Christian development (vs. 22-26). Paul now provides a list he calls the fruit of the Spirit. Each part is from a single Source: the Holy Spirit bringing these nine graces to their fullest potential in us. They are listed nine-fold: the first three are “habits of the mind” 1 which come from God Himself (Bible Knowledge Commentary). The second three are graces, which cause us to touch the lives of others 2 . The last three guide us in our spiritual walk so that our lives are always going in the right direction. When the Holy Spirit is controlling and leading the way, there is no regret from being under the Holy Spirit’s tutelage. Now, who would try to “raise a law” that condemns God’s virtues in us? No one can!
We don’t have to give negative things license for expression. What about what we can’t do on our own? Let the Holy Spirit help us. Our old life was crucified with Christ long ago. We let the Spirit work in us by cooperation, and our old life never gets the limelight to condemn us again. Hallelujah! You see, we get our life from the Spirit. He is the One who causes us to have life because of Christ.
Churches that refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to unite them; churches that keep on dividing and splitting the membership, Paul sees as going the directions of conceit, causing envy to be provoked, and human vanity taking the front seat in the sanctuary, instead of Jesus Christ being Lord to the glory of God in the sanctuary of our souls.
The Church lives because the Holy Spirit is in us. So, why not let Him lead us. Why not agree with all that He says and does. We need to get in step with Him. We need to agree with Him.
Growing churches keep growing because the Holy Spirit has finally taken over. Whatever mistakes they make, they recognize they didn’t hear Him clearly. They stop; they apologize to Him, and wait to hear Him make things clear. And He makes things clear if we are truly ready to go forward, if we are finally ready to accept the unlimited blessings God has for us in Christ. Then, the Holy Spirit really wants to lead us: at home, in the church house, in our choice and position on the job, in every aspect of our lives, and He definitely wants to control our nation (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Footnotes
1 Walvvord and Zuck (Editors), David K. Campbell, Galatians, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Vol. 2 The N. T. (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983) p. 608; 2 Ibid, p 608
