For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
To be led by the Spirit of God is to be kept under His control in continual surrender and obedience, not merely touched by Him at times or holding truth as theory. That leading puts to death the deeds of the body through the Spirit, turning the life from living after the flesh unto death to living unto God. Those so led have received the Spirit of adoption instead of bondage and fear, so they call upon God as Father in trust and the Spirit witnesses with their spirit that they are His children. As children they are made members of the royal family and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, to share His sufferings and be glorified together with Him. This sonship is shown in a Christlike character of peace, meekness, holiness and love, and in doing His word rather than profession alone.
Setting in Romans 8
Romans 8:14 stands in the call to be debtors not to the flesh, for to live after the flesh is death while to put to death the deeds of the body through the Spirit is life. That putting to death leads into receiving adoption instead of bondage and fear, crying Abba, Father, with the Spirit witnessing sonship. With sonship comes heirship as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ through suffering with Him unto being glorified together, since present suffering is not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed. Being led belongs with having received the Spirit of adoption and not the spirit of bondage to fear, enabling believers to call God Abba, Father and to approach Him as Father in trust in His love. The Spirit bears witness with their spirit that they are God's children, and as children they are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, sharing His sufferings and looking toward being glorified with Him in glory.
Being led is connected with having Christ's Spirit dwelling within, turning from life in the flesh, and through the Spirit putting sinful deeds to death and living for God. To live after the flesh is to die, but to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit is to live in sonship, and mere acceptance of a theory of truth or partial confession is not enough. This Spirit-led putting to death of sin is the experience of every repentant sinner after the holy law has convicted the soul and exposed sin as exceeding sinful. The Spirit's work in this leading produces a life shaped by Christ's character, revealed through unselfish actions and kind words with the whole heart serving Him.
To be led is to follow Christ and heed the words of Christ sent to save the soul, taking His yoke and learning His meekness and lowliness of heart to find rest. It is to have the Spirit of Christ, without which a person is none of His, and to have the liberty found where the Spirit of the Lord is, while refusing to heed that leading is departure from the faith. The chapter is to be considered in family life, where God's converting power is needed.
Meaning of Being Led
To be children of God is to be continually led by the Spirit in surrender and obedience, not merely to have hearts touched by the Spirit or to yield to it now and then, and only those who are so led meet the condition of sonship. Being led is a life of surrender to God's will expressed in righteous action rather than in profession alone. It is doing the words of Christ, with faith made manifest in works of righteousness, because character is built through action and salvation rests not on profession merely but on obedient doing. Such obedience and works do not earn God's favor but follow the gift of His love as the response of those who have received it.
Being led means accepting the Word, following its guidance, and taking heed to directions given in God's Word, which requires moving understandingly with increasing faith. Being led and guided by the Holy Spirit is seen in magnifying God's law and advancing the kingdom of grace. It is being led into all truth and living constantly into the Bible's true doctrines, with living near God and in the light of truth. The Spirit's fruits in heart, life, and character give evidence of this leading, and through that witness souls are reached and saved. Those so led are joined to Christ and do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, are like Christ because He dwells in them, are willing and obedient, and reveal Christ through meekness and blamelessness in heavenly conversation and conduct as branches united to the living vine, as the light of the world and the salt of the earth whose wisdom and strength are the help of the Spirit and the words of eternal life.
Becoming sons is a privilege given to all who will be led, and Jesus Himself does the leading. The leading shapes character to be like Christ, because Christ as the Son of man stands as the ideal of humanity and the pattern of what God wants people to become, and when people yield to become like Jesus He works most earnestly for them. Those who are led can hold perfect faith and confidence in God and refuse the tempter victory even while temptations come. The Spirit's leading is linked with being changed into the Lord's image from one degree of glory to another.
Being led means yielding heart and mind and powers to God's control to do His work in the power of the Spirit under Christ's guidance and direction as workers together with God. It means putting away differences and light talk and speaking and acting righteously. To all so led God imparts His righteousness, and His glory goes before them and behind them as front guard and rear guard. Being led means uniting in asking God for wisdom and giving oneself up to be led and guided by Him, desiring the Holy Spirit to work within and bring mind and will under His control. It is walking humbly with God, valuing His favor more highly than everything else, and remembering Jesus as best Friend and constant Guardian, and those servants who need His guidance and yield in this way will not be disappointed.
Sonship Adoption and Heirship
Those guided by God's Spirit belong to God as His children, and this childship brings freedom from fear and assurance of belonging rather than bondage. It gives confidence in God's love, greater than the love of earthly parents, and calls believers to trust God rather than rely on human beings to define their duty.
When a sinner is converted he receives the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit makes him a child of God and fits him for the society of the redeemed and the angelic host. Being made a child makes him a joint heir with Christ. Everyone who gives himself to Christ and hears the truth and obeys it becomes a child in one family, whether ignorant or wise, rich or poor, heathen or slave, white or black. This is because Jesus paid the purchase price for every soul and His cleansing blood is applied to all who believe, with each believing name written in the book of life side by side. All are one in Christ, and birth, station, nationality, or color cannot elevate or degrade anyone, but character makes the person.
This sonship comes by daily receiving the grace of Christ and acting it out in words, in spirit, in deeds, by exercising faith and cherishing the hope and comfort Christ has provided. It is conditional on walking in the light as Christ is in the light, with each person on test and trial to perfect a character after the divine similitude. To be sons of God is to be members of the royal family and heirs of heaven with names written in the book of life. This standing is gained in this world as probationers on test and trial by using the help God has furnished and the capacity and grace He has entrusted to improve time and powers and become like Christ in spirit and word and character, overcoming evil hereditary and cultivated tendencies through the grace of Christ. Jesus looks upon such an overcomer with pleasure, declares him redeemed, covers him with a robe of righteousness, and promises he will walk with Him in white because he is worthy.
Those who belong to God are His sons and daughters, adopted into the royal family as children of the heavenly King. They are members of the family of the redeemed joined by an unbreakable bond, and believers are God's children by spiritual adoption, called by Christ to be His representatives by living in conformity to God's will and representing Him in life and character. This sonship is reflected in obedient lives shaped by love for Jesus and in the growth of a noble, useful character. Becoming the sons of God is the dignity and honor and high destiny to which youth are called, for which the discipline of this life prepares them. That sonship means understanding the object of creation, to honor God and bless fellow men, and seeing the tender love the Father in heaven has manifested. When grasped, it turns thousands from low and selfish aims and frivolous pleasures, and teaches hatred of sin and shunning it not merely from hope of reward or fear of punishment but from a sense of its inherent baseness, because sin degrades God-given powers and stains God-like manhood.
To be among the sons of God is to have privileges far greater than any advantages and honors the world offers. Those privileges include enduring by faith as seeing Him who is invisible, receiving a precious experience from the Lord, having a work from God to do, seeking a higher sense of eternal things, and having God nigh to all who call upon Him with the whole heart. The privilege of being God's children holds the hope of eternal inheritance, yet that privilege can be bartered away when worldly gain is put first. Faith lifts the repenting soul to share the adoption of the sons of God, while sin brings only shame and loss and unbelief means failure, and God's mercy reaches to the deepest depths to do this. Elijah proves it, for by one failure of faith after three years and a half of famine and standing alone for God on Mount Carmel he fled before Jezebel and prayed in the desert that he might die, cutting short his life-work so that God bade him anoint another in his stead, yet God had marked his heart-service and did not let him perish in discouragement and solitude, giving him not descent to the tomb but ascent with God's angels to the presence of His glory.
The Holy Spirit leads people into God's service and, through sanctifying and cleansing them, gives them power to become sons of God. The Spirit turns them from the destructive tendencies of sin and brings their will into harmony with God's will. Being called a son of God is tied to a deep religious experience shaped by the Spirit of God, not self-confidence or mere claims of fitness. The Spirit's work renews and converts a person wholly, revealing defects of character and forming a humble, self-denying, Christlike life, and without that renewal a person is unworthy to be trusted with eternal responsibilities or called a son of God. Those who belong to God are His children, and their obedience is a son's duty and honor, not something forced upon them. As heirs of heaven they serve God gladly and wholeheartedly, and obedience to His commandments reveals love for Him, as it did in Christ's life and work.
Character Marks of Children
Those led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and a spirit of peace with a Christlike character is evidence of connection with heaven that reveals to others that they belong to God. A life marked by peace and by leading others to renounce sin and yield to God identifies people as God's children. A holy life quietly reveals Christ and shows the world that its follower is a child of God.
Their character and conduct reveal Christ through meekness and blamelessness, for they are joined to Christ and do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and are like Christ because He dwells in them. This sonship is seen in the spirit and character of Christ manifested in them by heavenly conversation, meekness, and blameless conduct. They are united to Christ as branches are united to the living vine, they walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, and they are called Christians because they are like Christ and Christ is in them. They are living examples of Christianity, the light of the world and the salt of the earth, whose wisdom and strength are the help of the Spirit and the words of eternal life, and because they are willing and obedient they are led into all truth.
The Spirit's presence and Christ's grace in the heart mark this relationship with God and lead to a holy life shaped by God's will. God's power is revealed through unselfish actions and kind words, with the whole heart serving Him. Those who are led by God's Spirit are sons of God who resist temptation, break free from Satan's power, and reverence God, and through Christ they become consecrated workers cooperating with God to restore His moral image in humanity.
Being led by the Spirit is essential for every person, and a life and work guided by the Spirit testify to that guidance. The Spirit's molding must be accepted, and the mind must be closed to Satan's suggestions. To be led is to receive individually the earnest of the inheritance, to walk in all humility of mind, to walk in love as dear children with subdued heart crying unto God, Teach me Thy way, and to listen for every whisper of the Holy Spirit. Those so led are carried by the Lord to a higher, holier standard, where self is merged in Christ, and this shows how to advance spiritually and how to know individually that God is in a person of a truth. Being led and taught of God is known with certainty by those who are grounded and established in the faith, and believers need this sure and certain established spiritual experience.
Freedom From Human Control
To be led by the Spirit is to come under the control of God and not to be bound to do any man's will, for the human mind is God's property. God has a wider outlook for each person than any man or educator can discern. No mortal, even in the highest place of responsibility, may draw a chalk line for another to walk on, or lord it over him and command what he shall do.
Each person bears individual responsibility for his own course of action and must take control of his own time, mind, and conscience. He is to learn all he can from teachers, yet never be under domination, for there is one Master, Jesus Christ, and every heart and mind is to be lifted up to God. The Spirit's leading gives assurance of belonging to God rather than bondage and fear, and calls believers to trust God rather than rely on human beings to define their duty. They are to be guided by the Spirit and not controlled by other people.
God's people are to be guided by the Holy Spirit, not by the erratic, perverse spirit of unsanctified people, for their allegiance and direction belong to God and not to human authorities who presume to control them. No one mind is the only mind the Lord accepts and works through to carry forward the school work, for God leads and uses other minds also. Therefore all who are led treat the opinions of others with deference and respect just as they want their own opinions respected. Those who are guided by the Spirit must not insist on their own will but follow where the Spirit leads, and seeking God with penitence and humility enables this guidance. Those who humbly seek God, confess their wrongs, and stop insisting on their own will are guided by the Spirit of the Lord.
Guidance for Life and Service
To be led by the Spirit is to commit the way to God and labor together with Christ, and those so led are equipped with grace, truth, love and persuasive power for service, even for gathering souls to Christ. That leading appears in carrying a burden for souls and sharing the message of Christ, in walking in the light and obeying God, whose righteous requirements are fulfilled through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Those who are born again and willingly follow the Holy Spirit, doing what they can in the way of Christ, are the children of God. They do not depend on their own strength, for holy angels accompany and instruct them and prepare the way for their work.
Right service of God depends on being led by the Spirit, for those who carry the remedy for sin to others must themselves first be moved by the Spirit and act under divine direction. They seek wisdom from God rather than leaning on human sources or their own plans, and workers in the institution are to act under the Spirit's guidance so that God is glorified in them. This leading is to be visible in the work itself, with teachers and instructors revealing it in every task, whether agricultural or mechanical. Through the grace of Christ that leading forms Christlike character, so that God is honored when social and business dealings reflect the principles of heaven.
All who take any part in the work of God must first be taught by God, humbling the soul before Him and walking and working in humility with the wisdom that God alone gives. To be led is not to stand in one's own strength, not to work out one's own plans, and not to follow hereditary and cultivated tendencies, but to bear responsibility with dignity while being circumspect, true, faithful and kind. It is not to watch for reports that institutional work is not advancing rightly and then carry such a report through the conference to leave the impression that the work is not properly conducted, for that course greatly hinders the work of God. Sons of God place themselves in the hands of God to be guided and controlled by His Spirit, including in the choice of marriage. That guidance comes through careful and prayerful consideration, with the fear of God before the eyes, seeking wisdom from God and receiving counsel from others, and overcoming personal wishes, inclinations and passion, while refusal to be thus led and insistence on one's own way and understanding endangers happiness in this life and salvation of the soul and brings years of anxiety and sorrow.
Being led means valuing the salvation of the soul and putting eternal considerations first, proved by refusing close, intimate friendship with those who have no religious experience, no serious regard for religious things and no practical godliness. Such intimacy is positively dangerous, for the example is not safe to imitate and its effect is to lead away from God, from devotion and from love of the truth. Association with vain and careless companions whose talk is of the world and vanity drives away serious impressions and convictions of the Spirit, and the more engaging such persons are in other respects the more dangerous their influence, because they cast pleasing attractions around an irreligious life. This marks the true missionary, who is consecrated body, soul and spirit to God, works together with God for the salvation of perishing souls, goes where the Spirit of God leads, and keeps free from earthly entanglements and consuming family responsibilities that would draw time and energy from the work.
One who entrusts the helpless soul to Jesus Christ and accepts Him as personal Saviour can know the will of the Lord and follow the direction of the Spirit, including guidance about where to go, and that leading guards against mistakes. The sons of God are led in practical decisions for His work, including guidance in beginning a new enterprise and in choosing its location. The beginning of the school work at Madison by Sutherland and Magan and their associates was in harmony with the leadings of the Spirit of God, with the Lord guiding the choice of the place, and being guided just right makes work for eternal life sure. Living as a Christian means being constantly led by the Spirit of God into the true doctrines of the Bible, and living near God and in the light of truth makes believers influential in helping others understand His word and share in His salvation. Those led by God may not be able to work harmoniously with a person whose conduct is objectionable, for being led by God shapes the manner of working.
To be led by the Spirit of God is to be kept under His control in continual surrender and obedience, not merely touched by Him at times or holding truth as theory. That leading puts to death the deeds of the body through the Spirit, turning the life from living after the flesh unto death to living unto God. Those so led have received the Spirit of adoption instead of bondage and fear, so they call upon God as Father in trust and the Spirit witnesses with their spirit that they are His children. As children they are made members of the royal family and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, to share His sufferings and be glorified together with Him. This sonship is shown in a Christlike character of peace, meekness, holiness and love, and in doing His word rather than profession alone.
Setting in Romans 8
Romans 8:14 stands in the call to be debtors not to the flesh, for to live after the flesh is death while to put to death the deeds of the body through the Spirit is life. That putting to death leads into receiving adoption instead of bondage and fear, crying Abba, Father, with the Spirit witnessing sonship. With sonship comes heirship as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ through suffering with Him unto being glorified together, since present suffering is not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed. Being led belongs with having received the Spirit of adoption and not the spirit of bondage to fear, enabling believers to call God Abba, Father and to approach Him as Father in trust in His love. The Spirit bears witness with their spirit that they are God's children, and as children they are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, sharing His sufferings and looking toward being glorified with Him in glory.
Being led is connected with having Christ's Spirit dwelling within, turning from life in the flesh, and through the Spirit putting sinful deeds to death and living for God. To live after the flesh is to die, but to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit is to live in sonship, and mere acceptance of a theory of truth or partial confession is not enough. This Spirit-led putting to death of sin is the experience of every repentant sinner after the holy law has convicted the soul and exposed sin as exceeding sinful. The Spirit's work in this leading produces a life shaped by Christ's character, revealed through unselfish actions and kind words with the whole heart serving Him.
To be led is to follow Christ and heed the words of Christ sent to save the soul, taking His yoke and learning His meekness and lowliness of heart to find rest. It is to have the Spirit of Christ, without which a person is none of His, and to have the liberty found where the Spirit of the Lord is, while refusing to heed that leading is departure from the faith. The chapter is to be considered in family life, where God's converting power is needed.
Meaning of Being Led
To be children of God is to be continually led by the Spirit in surrender and obedience, not merely to have hearts touched by the Spirit or to yield to it now and then, and only those who are so led meet the condition of sonship. Being led is a life of surrender to God's will expressed in righteous action rather than in profession alone. It is doing the words of Christ, with faith made manifest in works of righteousness, because character is built through action and salvation rests not on profession merely but on obedient doing. Such obedience and works do not earn God's favor but follow the gift of His love as the response of those who have received it.
Being led means accepting the Word, following its guidance, and taking heed to directions given in God's Word, which requires moving understandingly with increasing faith. Being led and guided by the Holy Spirit is seen in magnifying God's law and advancing the kingdom of grace. It is being led into all truth and living constantly into the Bible's true doctrines, with living near God and in the light of truth. The Spirit's fruits in heart, life, and character give evidence of this leading, and through that witness souls are reached and saved. Those so led are joined to Christ and do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, are like Christ because He dwells in them, are willing and obedient, and reveal Christ through meekness and blamelessness in heavenly conversation and conduct as branches united to the living vine, as the light of the world and the salt of the earth whose wisdom and strength are the help of the Spirit and the words of eternal life.
Becoming sons is a privilege given to all who will be led, and Jesus Himself does the leading. The leading shapes character to be like Christ, because Christ as the Son of man stands as the ideal of humanity and the pattern of what God wants people to become, and when people yield to become like Jesus He works most earnestly for them. Those who are led can hold perfect faith and confidence in God and refuse the tempter victory even while temptations come. The Spirit's leading is linked with being changed into the Lord's image from one degree of glory to another.
Being led means yielding heart and mind and powers to God's control to do His work in the power of the Spirit under Christ's guidance and direction as workers together with God. It means putting away differences and light talk and speaking and acting righteously. To all so led God imparts His righteousness, and His glory goes before them and behind them as front guard and rear guard. Being led means uniting in asking God for wisdom and giving oneself up to be led and guided by Him, desiring the Holy Spirit to work within and bring mind and will under His control. It is walking humbly with God, valuing His favor more highly than everything else, and remembering Jesus as best Friend and constant Guardian, and those servants who need His guidance and yield in this way will not be disappointed.
Sonship Adoption and Heirship
Those guided by God's Spirit belong to God as His children, and this childship brings freedom from fear and assurance of belonging rather than bondage. It gives confidence in God's love, greater than the love of earthly parents, and calls believers to trust God rather than rely on human beings to define their duty.
When a sinner is converted he receives the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit makes him a child of God and fits him for the society of the redeemed and the angelic host. Being made a child makes him a joint heir with Christ. Everyone who gives himself to Christ and hears the truth and obeys it becomes a child in one family, whether ignorant or wise, rich or poor, heathen or slave, white or black. This is because Jesus paid the purchase price for every soul and His cleansing blood is applied to all who believe, with each believing name written in the book of life side by side. All are one in Christ, and birth, station, nationality, or color cannot elevate or degrade anyone, but character makes the person.
This sonship comes by daily receiving the grace of Christ and acting it out in words, in spirit, in deeds, by exercising faith and cherishing the hope and comfort Christ has provided. It is conditional on walking in the light as Christ is in the light, with each person on test and trial to perfect a character after the divine similitude. To be sons of God is to be members of the royal family and heirs of heaven with names written in the book of life. This standing is gained in this world as probationers on test and trial by using the help God has furnished and the capacity and grace He has entrusted to improve time and powers and become like Christ in spirit and word and character, overcoming evil hereditary and cultivated tendencies through the grace of Christ. Jesus looks upon such an overcomer with pleasure, declares him redeemed, covers him with a robe of righteousness, and promises he will walk with Him in white because he is worthy.
Those who belong to God are His sons and daughters, adopted into the royal family as children of the heavenly King. They are members of the family of the redeemed joined by an unbreakable bond, and believers are God's children by spiritual adoption, called by Christ to be His representatives by living in conformity to God's will and representing Him in life and character. This sonship is reflected in obedient lives shaped by love for Jesus and in the growth of a noble, useful character. Becoming the sons of God is the dignity and honor and high destiny to which youth are called, for which the discipline of this life prepares them. That sonship means understanding the object of creation, to honor God and bless fellow men, and seeing the tender love the Father in heaven has manifested. When grasped, it turns thousands from low and selfish aims and frivolous pleasures, and teaches hatred of sin and shunning it not merely from hope of reward or fear of punishment but from a sense of its inherent baseness, because sin degrades God-given powers and stains God-like manhood.
To be among the sons of God is to have privileges far greater than any advantages and honors the world offers. Those privileges include enduring by faith as seeing Him who is invisible, receiving a precious experience from the Lord, having a work from God to do, seeking a higher sense of eternal things, and having God nigh to all who call upon Him with the whole heart. The privilege of being God's children holds the hope of eternal inheritance, yet that privilege can be bartered away when worldly gain is put first. Faith lifts the repenting soul to share the adoption of the sons of God, while sin brings only shame and loss and unbelief means failure, and God's mercy reaches to the deepest depths to do this. Elijah proves it, for by one failure of faith after three years and a half of famine and standing alone for God on Mount Carmel he fled before Jezebel and prayed in the desert that he might die, cutting short his life-work so that God bade him anoint another in his stead, yet God had marked his heart-service and did not let him perish in discouragement and solitude, giving him not descent to the tomb but ascent with God's angels to the presence of His glory.
The Holy Spirit leads people into God's service and, through sanctifying and cleansing them, gives them power to become sons of God. The Spirit turns them from the destructive tendencies of sin and brings their will into harmony with God's will. Being called a son of God is tied to a deep religious experience shaped by the Spirit of God, not self-confidence or mere claims of fitness. The Spirit's work renews and converts a person wholly, revealing defects of character and forming a humble, self-denying, Christlike life, and without that renewal a person is unworthy to be trusted with eternal responsibilities or called a son of God. Those who belong to God are His children, and their obedience is a son's duty and honor, not something forced upon them. As heirs of heaven they serve God gladly and wholeheartedly, and obedience to His commandments reveals love for Him, as it did in Christ's life and work.
Character Marks of Children
Those led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and a spirit of peace with a Christlike character is evidence of connection with heaven that reveals to others that they belong to God. A life marked by peace and by leading others to renounce sin and yield to God identifies people as God's children. A holy life quietly reveals Christ and shows the world that its follower is a child of God.
Their character and conduct reveal Christ through meekness and blamelessness, for they are joined to Christ and do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and are like Christ because He dwells in them. This sonship is seen in the spirit and character of Christ manifested in them by heavenly conversation, meekness, and blameless conduct. They are united to Christ as branches are united to the living vine, they walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, and they are called Christians because they are like Christ and Christ is in them. They are living examples of Christianity, the light of the world and the salt of the earth, whose wisdom and strength are the help of the Spirit and the words of eternal life, and because they are willing and obedient they are led into all truth.
The Spirit's presence and Christ's grace in the heart mark this relationship with God and lead to a holy life shaped by God's will. God's power is revealed through unselfish actions and kind words, with the whole heart serving Him. Those who are led by God's Spirit are sons of God who resist temptation, break free from Satan's power, and reverence God, and through Christ they become consecrated workers cooperating with God to restore His moral image in humanity.
Being led by the Spirit is essential for every person, and a life and work guided by the Spirit testify to that guidance. The Spirit's molding must be accepted, and the mind must be closed to Satan's suggestions. To be led is to receive individually the earnest of the inheritance, to walk in all humility of mind, to walk in love as dear children with subdued heart crying unto God, Teach me Thy way, and to listen for every whisper of the Holy Spirit. Those so led are carried by the Lord to a higher, holier standard, where self is merged in Christ, and this shows how to advance spiritually and how to know individually that God is in a person of a truth. Being led and taught of God is known with certainty by those who are grounded and established in the faith, and believers need this sure and certain established spiritual experience.
Freedom From Human Control
To be led by the Spirit is to come under the control of God and not to be bound to do any man's will, for the human mind is God's property. God has a wider outlook for each person than any man or educator can discern. No mortal, even in the highest place of responsibility, may draw a chalk line for another to walk on, or lord it over him and command what he shall do.
Each person bears individual responsibility for his own course of action and must take control of his own time, mind, and conscience. He is to learn all he can from teachers, yet never be under domination, for there is one Master, Jesus Christ, and every heart and mind is to be lifted up to God. The Spirit's leading gives assurance of belonging to God rather than bondage and fear, and calls believers to trust God rather than rely on human beings to define their duty. They are to be guided by the Spirit and not controlled by other people.
God's people are to be guided by the Holy Spirit, not by the erratic, perverse spirit of unsanctified people, for their allegiance and direction belong to God and not to human authorities who presume to control them. No one mind is the only mind the Lord accepts and works through to carry forward the school work, for God leads and uses other minds also. Therefore all who are led treat the opinions of others with deference and respect just as they want their own opinions respected. Those who are guided by the Spirit must not insist on their own will but follow where the Spirit leads, and seeking God with penitence and humility enables this guidance. Those who humbly seek God, confess their wrongs, and stop insisting on their own will are guided by the Spirit of the Lord.
Guidance for Life and Service
To be led by the Spirit is to commit the way to God and labor together with Christ, and those so led are equipped with grace, truth, love and persuasive power for service, even for gathering souls to Christ. That leading appears in carrying a burden for souls and sharing the message of Christ, in walking in the light and obeying God, whose righteous requirements are fulfilled through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Those who are born again and willingly follow the Holy Spirit, doing what they can in the way of Christ, are the children of God. They do not depend on their own strength, for holy angels accompany and instruct them and prepare the way for their work.
Right service of God depends on being led by the Spirit, for those who carry the remedy for sin to others must themselves first be moved by the Spirit and act under divine direction. They seek wisdom from God rather than leaning on human sources or their own plans, and workers in the institution are to act under the Spirit's guidance so that God is glorified in them. This leading is to be visible in the work itself, with teachers and instructors revealing it in every task, whether agricultural or mechanical. Through the grace of Christ that leading forms Christlike character, so that God is honored when social and business dealings reflect the principles of heaven.
All who take any part in the work of God must first be taught by God, humbling the soul before Him and walking and working in humility with the wisdom that God alone gives. To be led is not to stand in one's own strength, not to work out one's own plans, and not to follow hereditary and cultivated tendencies, but to bear responsibility with dignity while being circumspect, true, faithful and kind. It is not to watch for reports that institutional work is not advancing rightly and then carry such a report through the conference to leave the impression that the work is not properly conducted, for that course greatly hinders the work of God. Sons of God place themselves in the hands of God to be guided and controlled by His Spirit, including in the choice of marriage. That guidance comes through careful and prayerful consideration, with the fear of God before the eyes, seeking wisdom from God and receiving counsel from others, and overcoming personal wishes, inclinations and passion, while refusal to be thus led and insistence on one's own way and understanding endangers happiness in this life and salvation of the soul and brings years of anxiety and sorrow.
Being led means valuing the salvation of the soul and putting eternal considerations first, proved by refusing close, intimate friendship with those who have no religious experience, no serious regard for religious things and no practical godliness. Such intimacy is positively dangerous, for the example is not safe to imitate and its effect is to lead away from God, from devotion and from love of the truth. Association with vain and careless companions whose talk is of the world and vanity drives away serious impressions and convictions of the Spirit, and the more engaging such persons are in other respects the more dangerous their influence, because they cast pleasing attractions around an irreligious life. This marks the true missionary, who is consecrated body, soul and spirit to God, works together with God for the salvation of perishing souls, goes where the Spirit of God leads, and keeps free from earthly entanglements and consuming family responsibilities that would draw time and energy from the work.
One who entrusts the helpless soul to Jesus Christ and accepts Him as personal Saviour can know the will of the Lord and follow the direction of the Spirit, including guidance about where to go, and that leading guards against mistakes. The sons of God are led in practical decisions for His work, including guidance in beginning a new enterprise and in choosing its location. The beginning of the school work at Madison by Sutherland and Magan and their associates was in harmony with the leadings of the Spirit of God, with the Lord guiding the choice of the place, and being guided just right makes work for eternal life sure. Living as a Christian means being constantly led by the Spirit of God into the true doctrines of the Bible, and living near God and in the light of truth makes believers influential in helping others understand His word and share in His salvation. Those led by God may not be able to work harmoniously with a person whose conduct is objectionable, for being led by God shapes the manner of working.