Led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14)
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In the book of 1 Kings, we read of a rare time when both the kings of Judah (Jehoshaphat) and Israel (Ahab) were in a military alliance against the king of Syria. Together, they were planning to recapture the city of Ramoth-Gilead. As part of their planning council, Ahab (at Jehoshaphat’s request) had his prophets come out and give them a word from God, and to ask for direction (1 Kings 22:5-6). However, good King Jehoshaphat was not content with Ahab’s prophets who were united in telling the kings that God would bless their efforts with stunning victory (6). Instead, Jehoshaphat wanted to know if there was a prophet of the Lord, of Yahweh (7). Ahab’s response to Jehoshaphat was both humorous and tragic: “There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil” (8). But Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from him, and so he was called.
Micaiah did not disappoint. He foretold that tragedy would befall Ahab (14-23). This was of course totally contrary to the predictions of all the other prophets, who were apparently led by one Zedekiah, and who took special umbrage at Micaiah’s prophecy. He came up to Micaiah, slapped him in the face, and said, “Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?” (24).
We know that Micaiah was right, and even thought king Ahab put him in prison, he apparently did not completely write him off, because he went into battle disguised. In fact, he had Jehoshaphat dress in his robes. But this did not save him, for we are told that “a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot” (34-35). Micaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled and Ahab died.
Despite all this, Zedekiah had apparently been convinced that he spoke by the authority of the Spirit of God. But it was a false prophesy. As Micaiah himself explained, Zedekiah and all the other four hundred prophets were speaking according to the influence of a lying spirit. They were speaking lies from demons and calling it the Spirit of God.
Now I open with this OT story, because the same sort of thing is still going on. Men and women are still speaking lies inspired by demons and calling it a word from God. Why did the apostle Paul, for example, have to say, “no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed” (1 Cor. 12:3)? It is most likely because there were people running around doing that very thing – calling Jesus accursed – and yet claiming to speak by the Spirit of God.
And this is not just a danger for preachers. How many people have you heard say, “I believe God is leading me to do . . .” and then they say something that is completely contrary to Scripture: “marry an unbeliever,” or “have sex before marriage,” or “have an abortion,” or “tell a lie (it’s just a white lie)” or “mistreat this or that person,” or “not go to church,” or to spread gossip or something else forbidden by the clear word of God. What is happening is that we are not taking counsel from God; we are taking counsel from the parliament of our own lusts and then re-branding that as a leading from the Spirit.
Perhaps one of the most common errors that religious people make is to confuse a strong impression or feeling with the direction of the Holy Spirit. They clearly think that they wouldn’t feel so strongly about something if the Spirit wasn’t for it, or if the Spirit wasn’t causing that emotional attachment to a certain outcome. To think this way is dangerous, and unbiblical. It sets us up to be spiritually ambushed by the devil. It is to put our trust in a heart that that Bible says is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9).
Therefore, I think it is of utmost importance that we understand what it means to be led by the Spirit of God, and that is what I want to speak to you about this morning. And it is fully fitting that we should do so this first Sunday of 2026 because there is no greater blessing than to be led by God by his Spirit. One of the prayers I pray over and over again is Proverbs 3:5-6: May the Lord cause us to trust in him with all our hearts and to lean not upon our own understanding, and in all our ways to acknowledge him so that we can have the blessing of his promise that he will direct our paths. Oh to have our paths directed by God! Better to walk with him through a wilderness than to dwell without him in the palaces of Pharaoh. As the hymn puts it,
Or, as another hymn reminds us:
Now the apostle Paul is teaching us about the leading of the Spirit in the midst of his description of life in the Spirit and his exhortation to put the deeds of the body to death by the Spirit. Note the word at the beginning of verse 14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” This alerts us to the fact that this verse serves in some sense as a ground for the statement of verse 13. How is it a ground, or reason, of that? I think the connection is this: it tells us why it is that those who mortify the flesh, who put sin to death, will live. They will live precisely because those who are led by the Spriit to mortify the deeds of the body are in fact the children of God. We know that all God’s children will live and have eternal life. But in the previous verses (2-11), Paul has also made it clear that all God’s children mortify the flesh, and they do so by the Spirit of God. Therefore, those who are led to kill sin by the Spirit are God’s children and will live. That’s the connection. To be clear, Paul is not saying that the mortification of sin is what makes us the children of God. That’s not what he is saying. What he is saying is that killing sin and pursuing holiness is the inevitable fruit and evidence of being a child of God. It is the fruit of being led by the Spirit.
This shows us that in Paul’s mind being led of the Spirit is not some vague spiritual experience, not some feeling of exhilaration, not some mystical experience, but involves the process of sanctification by which we daily kill the sins in our lives.
Now all this, we must remind ourselves, is in the larger context of Paul’s theme of the total and complete assurance that God’s people have in Christ. The people of God are not just waiting for justification; they are justified right now. They have peace with God right now. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. And here in verse 14, the apostle is reminding us that the presence of the Spirit in us causing us to obey the will of God in his word and putting sin to death ought to give us hope and great encouragement because it is the evidence that we are the sons and daughters of the Most High, and there surely is no greater benefit or blessing or honor or cause for joy and hope and peace than that.
So with this in mind, I want us to consider what it means to be led by the Spirit of God.
To be led by the Spirit means we are not in charge.
In Matthew 21, the word translated “led” here in Romans 8:14 is used there to describe the disciples bringing a donkey to Christ upon which he would ride into Jerusalem. They led the animal. They dictated the direction the animal would go. They were in charge, not the donkey. Now God does not treat us as dumb animals, but the usage of the word there is still clarifying in the sense that it shows that being led by the Spirit is a description of people who are not in charge. God is in charge, and their lives reflect that. If you are led by the Spirit, that means you are not leading yourself. You are not “having it my way.” You are not going to “just do it,” as the commercials tell us to do. It means living a life that is submitted to God’s will and God’s way.
And sometimes that means doing hard things. I think you can tell if someone is really submitted to the leadership of the Spirit if they are willing to submit to things that are disagreeable to themselves but which they know are the right thing to do. In Luke 4:1 we are told that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (same word “led” is used). There he fasted 40 days and in his state of weakness was tested and tried by Satan himself. That had to be incredibly difficult. But he did it. Why? Because he was being led by the Spirit. What about you? Do you always end up doing what is easiest for you, or most pleasing to your flesh, even though you know the more difficult thing is the right thing? Those who are led by the Spirit are willing to do hard things when God calls them to it.
Sometimes the hard thing is not very glamorous, but involves the daily, exacting, and difficult task of rooting out the besetting sins in our lives. A lot of this is heart work, so it’s not like it can be seen by others anyway. Working to root out your anger or your impatience or lust or pride or bitterness or unforgiving spirit is not going to make you famous! But it is utterly necessary, and as we have seen this is primarily what the apostle is thinking about when we talks about being led by the Spirit. Do you do that? Are you working every day at eliminating the sin in your life? Of course we are not going to be perfect his side of heaven. But that is no excuse to ignore the clear and plain teaching of Scripture that this is to be a priority. Make it a priority this year to pursue holiness with all your might. And work at it not in some vague and general sense, but identify specific sins in your life and seek to mortify them.
All this begs the question, however: how does the Spirit lead us? Let me suggest that above all it means being led by the word of God in the Scriptures. The word of God is called the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:18). For all the talk of being “moved” or “impressed” by the Spirit to do this or that, we can’t be certain that this is actually the work of the Spirit. But we can be certain that “scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake” (Acts 1:16), or which he spoke by Moses or any of the prophets or by the apostles. The apostle Peter writes that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). We cannot be inspired the way the Spirit inspired the prophets and the apostles. The most sure way to tell how to be led by the Spirit, then, is to follow the path laid out for us in the Scriptures (cf. Ps. 119:105, 133). And though Scripture doesn’t tell us everything about everything, it is sufficient for life and doctrine, by which we may be mature and thoroughly furnished to every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
We see this confirmed by looking at a couple of parallel passages in Paul’s writings. In Eph. 5, the apostle exhorts us to “be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (5:18-21). So this is about being filled with the Spirit and its evidences, which certainly is involved in being led by the Spirit. But then the parallel passage in Colossians reads this way: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col. 3:16-17). You see that singing and giving thanks are the outcome of being filled with the Spirit in Eph. 5, but in Col. 3 they are the outcome of letting the word of Christ dwelling us richly in all wisdom. So we are filled with the Spirit when the word of Christ dwells in us richly in all wisdom. This is not a bare possession of God’s word, but applying it in wisdom.
If the Spirit of God is leading the way, if that is what we want, then we should not want to grieve the Holy Spirit by sin and careless words (Eph. 4:29), or quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19), or resist his influences in our lives (Acts 7:51). We cannot take his influence for granted. So how do we keep from doing these things? By obedience to the word of Christ. By mortifying the sins in our lives. It is simply vain to claim the work of the Spirit in our lives when we will not listen to his word.
Who is in charge of your life? Those who are being led by the Spirit don’t hold the reigns. God does. And the Spirit-inspired word applied with wisdom in its fulness is what leads them. Does that describe us? May this year find that to be the reality in our lives more and more!
To be led by the Spirit means that we are not inactive.
We must not take the leading of the Spirit to refer to some kind of experience in which we are entirely inactive and passive. It is through the Spirit that we mortify the deeds of the body (13). That’s active. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling as God works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil. 2:12-13).
A parallel passage to Romans 8:14 is found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. There walking in the Spirit (something in which we are very active) is parallel with being led of the Spirit (5:16, 18). It is bearing “the fruit of the Spirit” which “is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (22-23). Just to take the first thing on that list is a lot of work. It means being “patient and kind.” It means that we do “not envy or boast” and that we are “not arrogant or rude.” It means that we do “not insist on [our] own way,” that we are “not irritable or resentful,” that we do “not rejoice at wrongdoing, but [rejoice] with the truth.” It means that we bear all things, believe all things, hope in all things, and endure all things (1 Cor. 13:4-7, ESV).
And then the apostle says that “they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). This is followed by the statement, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (25), which the ESV translates as, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Keep in step with the Spirit! That’s not passive. That’s very active. It’s almost sounds like an exercise regime, doesn’t it? Didn’t Paul say, “But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:7-8)?
Therefore, being led of the Spirit doesn’t mean to “let go and let God.” It means that we strive with all our might, with “fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12), to kill the sin in our life, to conform our ways to Christ, to taste and see that the Lord is good, to live as salt and light, to glorify God in our words and ways, and that we do so by letting the Spirit-inspired word of Christ lead us through faith in our Savior.
Faith in Christ really is a big part of walking in the Spirit. Back in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, in chapter 3 he writes that we receive the Spirit, not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith (3:2). I think Paul is talking about the total work of the Spirit in our lives there. How does he work? Through hearing with faith. What we hear is the gospel, and this is directly connected by Paul to it, for he goes on to point to Abraham, and writes, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (6-9). Spirit-inspired living is gospel-centered living. We cannot disconnect the work of the Spirit from the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ is the center of gravity for our lives; everything revolves around the glorious truth that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief” (1 Tim. 1:15). The gospel is not something that we believe and then move on from; it’s something we live on and come back to again and again. In fact, we never leave it! There is a prayer of John Calvin, the last part of which goes like this: “Help me to rest always upon my Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation and life.” That’s what all of us need to do. We need to rest always upon the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation and life. It is then that we will walk in the Spirit and be led by him in all our ways.
So we are not passive. But neither are we trusting in our own resources! Christ is the vine; we are the branches. Without him we can do nothing; with him we can do all things.
Brothers and sisters, let’s make this year a year of trusting in Christ, holding to the gospel. In this chaotic and restless world, in the year 2026 may our feet be shod with the stability given to us by the gospel of peace.
To be led by the Spirit means that we are not alone.
We are living in one of the most connected times in world history. It’s actually been this way for a while now, with 24 news cycles from the 90’s that have been replaced today with constant, continuous and at-your-finger-tips news on any number of social media platforms. I remember 30 years or so back, an older widow in our church called her son totally freaked out and panicked because of a tornado that had made landfall. This was in Texas where tornadoes are more or less a way of life. But the day she called, the sky in our town was completely clear. There couldn’t possibly be a tornado anywhere near us. What had happened was that the weather channel had been warning that a tornado had touched down that day, although it was in another state altogether. But she had missed that; she was used to news like that being local news! And it freaked her out.
Well, our “connectedness” has done something like that to all of us. We are more connected to all the problems in the world, but less connected to other people in really meaningful ways. If you spend all your time talking to people on social media platforms, then you are not really connecting. And as a result, it has led to an “anxious generation,” a generation both profoundly connected and yet profoundly disconnected.
It just shows us that technology cannot replace God. Our fundamental need is to connect to others. That means people of course, but ultimately it means God. Adam and Eve were disconnected from each other the moment they ate the forbidden fruit and became disconnected to God. The church is God’s project in Christ by which he is reversing the effects of the fall by reconciling people together who were once at odds with one another by first reconciling them to himself by the cross (Eph. 2:11-22).
Since we are reconciled to God through union with Christ, we are truly connected to God. We can have fellowship with him (cf. 1 Jn. 1:3-4). We can enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with joy (Ps. 100:4). Part of that connection and privilege is being led by the Spirit of God. Let’s not miss the blessing that this implies. It means that God is with us. Those who are strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man are precisely those in whose hearts Christ dwells by faith (Eph. 3:16-17). There is not a day in our lives when we are separated from God, his love and his presence. As the psalmist puts it, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Ps. 46:1-3).
Dear saint, you are not alone. And not just not alone; you have the guarantee of the presence of God for you: God “hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5-6). Here is our sure source of peace, of courage, and of joy and hope. This year, be led by the Spirit to draw near to God.
It means that we are never without Divine support.
The Christian has many enemies. And they are not insignificant, for as Peter puts it, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Pet. 5:8-9). But we can resist him because “the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, [will] make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (10).
To be led by the Spirit is to be strengthened by him (Eph. 3:16). We need to remember this. We are never without God’s presence and that means we are never without God’s power. In fact, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians was that they would know “the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power” (Eph. 1:19). For the Colossians, he prayed that they would be “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Col. 1:11).
So whether we are facing tremendous trials, or powerful sins, or difficult circumstances, the Christian who is led by the Spirit can say, “Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4). Brother and sister, this year remember that God is with you to strengthen you and help you to persevere in the faith to the very end. He is not only with you; he is with you to help you and encourage you and strengthen you. That doesn’t mean we will be without trials. It means that in the experience of the thorn we hear the voice of our Savior saying to us, as he said to Pau, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” And then we go on to say, with Paul: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). Like our Savior, because we are led by the Spirit, we can do the hard things and go to the hard places. May the year 2026 find us faithful through the strength of our God.
Of course, let us never forget that those who are led by the Spirit must and will have God’s support because they are God’s children. He is our Father in Christ. He strengthens us because he loves us. Paul will go on in the following verses to elaborate on this. We are God’s sons and daughters, who can call him Father, and who are given an inheritance in Christ. God leads us because we are his children. He takes us by the hand, as it were, and wisely, gently, faithfully leads us through this wilderness to his eternal kingdom.
We are at the beginning of a new year. There are many unknowns before us, many opportunities in front of us, many plans to be accomplished, and many lessons to be learned. But may we lean into this year 2026 as those who are led by the Spirit. May we follow the leading of the Spirit, keeping in step with him by faith and obedience, and with hope and courage. We are not in charge, but that is good news because the one who leads us has all wisdom and is working all things for our good. It is not a call to be passive, but to embrace the privilege of joining God in his kingdom work. It means we are not alone for God is with us. It means we are never without support since God is for us.
Are you led by the Spirit? You cannot be led by the Spirit if you know not Christ. The Spirit leads us first and foremost to Christ. He is the Spirit of Christ. If you would be led by the Spirit you must put your trust in Christ. The good news of the gospel is that, though we are all sinners and worthy of God’s judgment, yet in grace Christ died for our sins upon the cross so that all who trust in him and turn from their sins will according to God’s promise be freely forgiven and receive his righteousness. If you have not yet come to the Savior in true faith, my prayer is that the year 2026 will find you a true follower of Jesus and led by his Spirit.
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