How to Be Led by the Spirit
Also, the Holy Spirit agrees with the Word. Not only is your spirit the lamp of the Lord, but the “Word is a lamp unto my feet.” The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, so He won’t guide you in direct opposition to the Word. If you are in doubt, stay with the Word.
The Holy Spirit is also gentle like a dove. He does not push. If you feel pressured to do something you feel is the guidance of the Spirit, then you know to back off, because the Spirit does not push; He gently guides.
The Human Spirit
Since the Holy Spirit is going to use your own human spirit to enlighten you, you need to understand the function, operation and purpose of the human spirit. To understand the human spirit, you must understand the three-fold nature of man. Genesis 1:26 clearly says that mankind is made in God’s image. Jesus said, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). So if mankind is in God’s image and God is Spirit, mankind essentially must be a spirit as well.
God is also a trinity. There are three personalities to God: the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Mankind is a trinity.
“May the very God of peace sanctify you completely. And I pray to God that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23)
May your whole SPIRIT, SOUL and BODY be kept blameless. Man is a three part being like God. There are three parts to man. It is important we do not confuse our spirits with our souls. The soul is the mind. The word for soul in the Greek is the word psuche, which we derive our word psychology from. Psychology is the study of the soul or the mind. Can you see how the soul has been the predominate feature of man? It is understandable that the soul is the main force of man; after all, man is an eternal soul. That is who you are. Your personality is comprised of your soul. After God breathed into man, “man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7).
The spirit part, which God breathed into man, is the part of man that is godlike. The god-side to man is his spirit. Tell me, which is more likely to be trusted, the soul or the spirit? Obviously the spirit is more trustworthy. The only people who can be led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, because only they have reborn spirits. The only trustworthy part of the reborn man is his spirit. The soul is not completely reliable, because the soul needs salvation.
James writes to believers, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and remaining wickedness and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). The soul still needs saving or else James would not need to write to believers to save your souls. Sometimes we hear people say that X amount souls were saved, but really, the soul is in the process of salvation. The soul is the mind and personality. Can anyone of us really say that our minds and personalities are completely saved? Not really.
However, when we were born again, our spirits were saved. Our spirits is the part of us that has been saved. So becoming a child of God enables the Holy Spirit to testify with our spirit that we are God’s children. The Spirit does not testify to our minds. Our minds may not receive this testimony, but our spirits can.
Now you understand how vital your spirit is to hearing from God.
Tom Brown is the founder and pastor of Word of Life Church in El Paso, Texas. He and his wife, Sonia, host a weekly television program, The Bondage Breaker, available online.
