"Led by the Spirit"

What does it mean to be "spiritual"? The apostle Paul gives us some insight in the eighth chapter of Romans into what it means to be led by the Spirit. What we will understand is that being spiritual is far more than just how often I attend worship.

Led By The Spirit

(Rom. 8:9-14)

Introduction:

A.   I asked 20 people by email what it means to “be spiritual.”  What I got back was a great many open hearts that admitted it was difficult to define what it means to “be spiritual.” It is much more than a technical definition like “following the Holy Spirit” or “being like Jesus.”  When I asked them to give me a practical understanding of the concept and how it applies to us, many agreed that it was more complicated than what they expected.

B.  So I ask you to stop and think about this question, “What does a spiritual person look like?”  For many, a spiritual person is one who attend the collective worship services faithfully, who is a leader in the local congregation by either title or action.  They tend to be the ones who talk a lot about prayer, Bible reading and they attend all the social functions and small group studies.  Some people talk about being spiritual as though it was an emotion:  the Christian who raises her hands is spiritual or the one who says “amen” is spiritual.  I hear people talk about how spiritual a worship service was to them, but the truth is, it connected to them emotionally.  That’s not bad!  As I examined scripture, those wonderful attributes were external.  For example, were the Pharisees and the scribes spiritual people?  They attended all the collective religious gathers, they were the teachers of the Law, they prayed publicly, had strong emotions and even wore Bible verses on their clothing, but were they spiritual?  It has to be more than the external actions that make a person spiritual.  You can do a lot of spiritual think and very little spiritual living.

C.  To start the journey of this question it became evident to me that all Christians are by nature spiritual.  As our reading stated, when we became a Christian and were saved from our sin, we put to death our sinful nature and took upon us a spiritual nature.  We were born again through the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead and also gives life to our mortal bodies because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

I.  To Be Spiritual Means “Not My Will But Thine”

A.  The first step to being spiritual is to make sure that it is the Holy Spirit that is leading us and not our own will or nature.  Look again at our reading in Rom. 8:12-14.  The idea is that if we are being led by the Spirit than we submit to the will of the Spirit.  I see no difference in the phrases “will of the Spirit,” “the will of God” or “the will of Christ.”  They are all one God.  When we submit to the Spirit we are submitting to the Father and the Son.

B.  Flip over to Gal. 5:16-18; 25.  You can not “live by the Spirit” or “keep in step with the Spirit” unless you submit to the working of he Spirit in your life.  It is truly, “not my will, but thine be done.”  As we submit to the Spirit we become more sensitive to His working, leading and teaching.  His work is confirmed by the Word of God so that we know it is the Holy Spirit we follow and not some other spirit that will lead us away from God.

C.  Submission is difficult because it requires us to let go of self.  The only way to do that is the next step in this journey, “to think as God thinks.”

II.  To Be Spiritual Means to Think As God Thinks

A.  Let me go back to Rom. 8:5-6.  To be led by the spirit means we have to start thinking more like God.  When I set my mind on what the Spirit desires I think differently.  This is where we really see our spiritual life begin to grow.

B.  I like the way Paul puts it in 1 Cor. 2:6-16.  God has revealed wisdom to us by his Spirit.  Paul says that he did not teach words taught by human wisdom buy in words taught by the Spirit.  He ends that section by saying “but we have the mind of Christ.”  Our spiritual journey requires a change of thinking.  I know human wisdom, human understanding, and personal gratification.  The Bible talks about that as our sinful nature.  As I submit to God’s will outline the Bible, I change the way I think.  A drunk has to change the way he thinks.  Paul says in Eph. 5:17-18 that we need to be filled with the Spirit and in doing so, we come to understand the Lord’s will.

C.  Or as 2 Cor. 10:5 puts it, “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  This journey we are on challenges us at the very core of ourselves.  When I think more like God, then I will walk as Jesus walked.

III.  To Be Spiritual Means to Walk As Jesus Walked

A.  The fruit of the Spirit is seen in our character and action.  As we walk in the Spirit we walk in love, joy, and peace because that is what the Spirit is producing in us.  He is changing us from the inside out and the outside in.

B.  Let finish by reading Phil 2:1-13.  I want to be united with Christ and to have fellowship with Spirit.  I do that by walking as Jesus walked and thinking as Jesus thought.  Submission was a part of his human characteristics. He gave up equality (that is submission), he humbled himself (that is submission), he became obedient (that is submission).  But the last verse I read (vs 13) says that God is at work in you to will and act according to his purpose.  God directs us through the Spirit and the Word.

Conclusion:

A.  Not all who profess Christ really possess Christ.  Do we as a church and individuals need to become more spiritual?  The only answer to that is “yes.”  I will not achieve the fullness of being spiritual until my body is recreated into an immortal spiritual body and I am with the Lord forever.  Until that time I will need to work on submitting to the Spirit, thinking along spiritual lines, and living out my life in fruit of the Spirit.

B.  How can I get all the air out of this jar?  I might be able to put a cap on the jar and pump the air out, but that could create a vacuum and break the jar.  Let me show you one way of getting the air out of this jar.  (fill the jar with water)  The air is gone.  Victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by sucking out a sin here and there, but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.

C.  “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants” (Isa 44:3).
“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28).  Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

D.  We are given the Holy Spirit when we were baptized into Christ.  He came to transform and live in us.  If you have not received the Holy Spirit in your life, then we invite you to come to Christ, to repent of your sins, be baptized into his body and receive God’s gift of the Spirit to live in you.