Is it? Is it Not?

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons

of God.” (8:14 ESV)

A sister in Christ asked me a great question. How do we know the Spirit and not the Beast is leading us? I relied on two of my favorite Puritans to answer this question—first, John Owens (1616 –1683). Owens gave four ways to distinguish the movement of the Spirit.

1) The Leading of the Spirit is regular. Owens said the Spirit guides in regulum or in accordance with scripture. The Spirit does not bring us anything new. The Spirit guides us by the constant, unchanging Word of God. So, when faced with the movement of the Spirit, ask yourself, is this in line with scripture? Does it oppose the will of God?

2) Dangerous commands do not come from the Spirit. The Spirit works in concert with the Word of God. The works of the Spirit are harmonious with God’s Word, not in conflict. The burdens of Christ are uplifting; they never hold us down or place a crushing weight upon us.

3) God’s promises are orderly. Jerimiah wrote, “Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name.” God is orderly; everything He does is with purpose. There is nothing haphazard about the movements or actions of God. Therefore, when we are moved and begin to feel uneasy, anxious, or restless, these are not the moving of the Spirit; they are the moving of evil. The Spirit’s movements bring us peace and understanding.

4) The moving of the Spirit always glorifies God. I have prayed about moving from one church to another, starting this blog, and joining a ministry to which I was courted. In each one of these things, I glorify God. Even if only one person reads this blog, God is glorified. If I minister to one person, I am glorifying God. The movement of the Spirit will never undermine the glory of God.

Second, Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758). Edwards gave us five ways to identify the movements of the Spirit.

1) The Spirit exalts the true Christ. The Spirit lives in us, and we learn from the His activities. Through the actions of the Spirit, we grow closer to Christ, and we love and adore Christ more. The Spirit will never distance us from the true Christ.

2) The Spirit opposes the interests of Satan. When the Spirit moves you against the interests of Satan, things of the world, and things contrary to Christ, you can rest assured that it is the movement of the Holy Spirit. Any action against Christ and the Word of God is demonic in nature.

3) Points towards scripture. All movement of the Spirit points us to scripture. When we pray on an issue, the movement of the Spirit will point us to scripture so that we may understand God’s direction. Satan would never point us to scripture, although he twists scripture in an attempt to lead us away from God. The guile of Satan is why we must read and meditate on scripture so that we know what scripture means. Jesus defeated Satan during the 40 days of temptation by His knowledge of Deuteronomy.

4) The Spirit elevates truth. Satan will never promote truth. On the contrary, Satan will try to obscure the truth hiding it beneath lies. Edwards wrote, “Another rule by which to judge spirits is that whatever operates as a spirit of truth, leading people to the truth, convincing them of those things that are true—we may safely determine that it is a right and true spirit.”

5) It results in love for God and others. The movement of the Spirit will always help us to grow in love for God and others. As the Spirit enlightens us, we grow in love. As we become a beacon for Christ, we lead others to the Spirit. The growth of love confirms the work of the Spirit. In this, we must be careful. Another love leads us from God, destructive self-love. It leads to a love of the world, and self-promotion. Edwards wrote, “When, therefore, we see a love attended with a sense of one’s own littleness, vileness, weakness, and utter insufficiency; when it is united with self-diffidence, self-emptiness, self-renunciation, and poverty of spirit-those are the manifest tokens of the Spirit of God.”

The Spirit does move us. He lives in us, comforts us, and guides us. Learning to trust the Spirit can be difficult. When you can finally trust the Spirit, a new world of faith opens up. The blessings of God become more evident, and the path to the narrow gate is less obstructed.

Trust the Spirit!

Peace and Grace!!!