“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:1
In the book of Isaiah we read where the Lord speaks of weapons of the enemy that will face the believer. There is a promise associated with those weapons which are formed against the people of God, specifically, the disciple of Christ, and it is this: “Now weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn.” (54:17) The reason for this is that the weapons of OUR warfare which the Lord Jesus has given to the believer, and the church, by the Spirit, are “mighty through God,” and thus being more effective and surer. There is a promise in the passage in Isaiah which then follows the declaration concerning the weapons, and the warfare. The Lord declares through His servant, Isaiah, “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” Why is the matter of “heritage,” or inheritance, the promised powerful provision by God a certainty? It is because God has provided by this word the very means and reason for which the believer can go forward in victorious faith to do the will of God, believing Him for the coming of His kingdom and the doing of His will. How then does this matter of weapons and opposition in the warfare relate to being led by the Spirit? What is the great similarity and importance?
The inheritance, or heritage of that which belongs to EVERY believer as declared by the Lord in Isaiah’s day, is the same, and even more so in the present day. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus of his day, he wrote extensively concerning the overall arching plan of God’s purpose when speaking of every believer’s inheritance, or the blessing of God, the riches of Christ. Every believer is blessed with “all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.” (1:3) The revelation of the great blessing of redemption by the blood of Christ opens up the extensive, eternal resources found in Christ. Paul then writes: “In whom (Christ) also we HAVE OBTAINED an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.” (v.11) What is Paul saying here, and how does it apply to those IN Christ?
God is sovereign, and all-powerful, all-knowing, for whom nothing is a surprise, or something is not known. The revelation of Christ as the Savior of the world, and the particular Savior of every believer, means that by redemption the calling of every believer is to receive all from Him, from Christ, for all has been provided in Him for the accomplishment of His purposes on this earth. Earlier we looked at the weapons of the Christian’s warfare which have been provided by God in Christ. They are perfect and powerful by virtue of the fact that they are IN Christ. With regard to the specific matter of being LED BY THE SPIRIT, this blessing and reality is just as perfect and belongs to that long list of blessings in Christ which are part of the inheritance given by God. By the intervention of God, being led by the Spirit is part of that certain and absolute working of the Spirit’s ministry to every believer in the body of Christ. The moment the believer was born of the Spirit, Christ became Lord of the life by the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul writes: “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17) In what should be the “normal” Christian life, there should be the utter reliance upon the Spirit of Christ to lead, guide, direct, teach, and reveal the path that one is to take. The “sons of God” possess this inheritance, that the Spirit will lead in response to faith.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to follow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.