The Spirit Guides Us into All Truth

 
We live in a time of GREAT DECEPTION and it is imperative to be anchored in the TRUTH. Lives and souls and eternities are at stake.

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth." - John 16:13

Jesus said it is the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth. In my 27 years as a Christian, I have never been to a church or ministry that taught the full meaning of this verse or how to implement it in practical terms. Yet it is fundamental to walking with God. This is an enormous failing of the modern church. For the most part, what I know I learned directly from the Spirit as He opened my eyes to the truth in the Scriptures.

Let me ask a question that may challenge your core beliefs. Did Jesus say it is the Bible that leads us into all truth? No, He didn't. He said it is the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Bible is the inspired word of God and we need its truths to grow our faith. But we only discern the meaning and application of the Scriptures by hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit always comes first, even before the words in the Bible. That's what Jesus said. 

That's what the Apostle John said too:

"As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him." - 1 John 2:27

The anointing is the Holy Spirit, who abides in us and teaches us about all things. We don't need anyone to teach us if we are born again and have the Holy Spirit.

The prophet Jeremiah said it too, as he looked to the future and wrote about the new covenant God would make with his people:
 
"'But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' declares the Lord, 'I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' declares the Lord, 'for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'"- Jeremiah 31:33-34

So, do pastors or ministers lead you into all truth? No. How about really smart geniuses with PhDs in theology from brand-name seminaries? No, absolutely not. How about churches and denominations? No. Does having the "perfect" Bible translation or the best scriptural analysis tools lead us into all truth? No and no.

The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. 

The Apostle Paul said the wisdom of God is a mystery. It is hidden, not of this world, and revealed only by the Spirit:

"We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory." - 1 Corinthian 2:7

"For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:10

How do we hear the voice of the Spirit? Jesus put it simply:

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." - John 10:27-28    

If we are born of God, in our heart of hearts we know the voice of our Shepherd and follow him. The recognition comes naturally if we are reborn supernaturally.

Hate, discord, confusion, fear and doubt are not God's voice. They are the enemy speaking.

God's voice is peaceful and pure, gentle and bears good fruit:

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." - James 3:17-18

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

Learning to hear God's voice comes with faith and practice. Do we trust him to speak?

Trust Your True Heart and Spirit

Many times I have heard religious people say, in effect, "You can't trust your heart! Don't listen to your feelings. Just submit and follow these rules." And so begins the breaking of your spirit and shackling of your soul by the spirit of religion.

The spirit of religion is NOT the Holy Spirit. It is the spirit of the Pharisees. Run from it!

While the Scriptures say "the heart is deceitful above all things," they are talking about a heart that is not regenerated or reborn. What happens when you believe in Christ?

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
 - 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Apostle Paul says we are transformed into an entirely new being. The old things are gone and the new things have come!

This passage in Ezekiel describes the same internal renewal:

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
 - Ezekiel 36:25-27

The Lord cleanses our souls and renews our hearts and spirits. God puts his Spirit in us and causes us to walk in his ways.

Yes, we still live in corrupted bodies, so there is an internal battle between the spirit and the flesh. As Jesus said, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." But if you are reborn in Christ, your spirit is made alive to God and is the good guy in this battle. You can trust your true heart, thanks to the heavenly renewal made available by the blood of Christ. 

Live by the Spirit, Listen to Your Heart

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
Ezekiel 36:26-27

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
Romans 8:16

The center and power of the Chrisitian experience is the Presence of God in our hearts, known as the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). Christians have different ideas about the Spirit of God. Some think of the him in an abstract way as the third person of the Trinity. We believe God exists as three persons functioning in unity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some might imagine a gentle dove fluttering down from the heaven and landing on Jesus as mentioned in the Gospels. Others associate the Spirit with an intense emotional experience or perhaps bizarre behavior like rolling around on the floor or blurting out words no one understands. For the moment, try to set aside your preconceived notions and start with idea that the Holy Spirit is simply the Presence of God within us, dwelling in our hearts, the deepest part of our beings.

Now imagine a light emanating from within that illuminates your whole being and shines into the world. This light is God's Spirit, and he is there in every Christian. Moreover, he has a voice and speaks to us. If we are to have the fullness of life that Jesus promised, we must learn to trust and respond to his voice. Another way of saying this is that we must listen to our true hearts, as this is where the Spirit dwells.

However, many Christians today are like guests sitting at a table expecting a meal. On each plate are a few peanuts. They quickly gobble them up but the hunger remains. So the people tell each other the peanuts ought to be enough to satisfy, though the longing on their faces betray their true hunger pangs. Some people sit there and tough it out, repeatedly telling themselves this should be enough. Some give up and leave the table. But no one is truly content with the paltry meal.

In the middle of the table is an enormous bowl of colorful, ripe fruit. The bowl is piled high with every fruit imaginable - pears, apples, grapes, mangoes, pomegranites, pineapples, plums, bananas, watermelons, oranges. The fruit appears absolutely delicious. "Oh, this is just decoration," the people say. "We don't actually eat it. Isn't it pretty though?"

My friends, the bowl of fruit is the meal! It is not just pretty; it is sustenance and life. The Christian meal is to trust in God's Spirit and live by faith from the heart. This truth is plainly taught in the Bible, right in front of everyone, though many are fearful to accept it. The idea of trusting an intangible Spirit who is so powerful and moves like the wind (John 3:8) is scary. They would rather settle on a tame religion with a concrete set of rules, habits and expectations. They prefer stability and status quo over the wildness and infinite love of the Almighty. So they choose not to partake of the fruit, but wonder why their stomachs are still hungry, why the Christian life seems to lack the power and abundance that Jesus promised.

If you want to partake of the fruit, you have to trust that:

(1) The Spirit of God lives in your heart,
(2) The Spirit speaks to you and gives you power and
(3) You are able to discern his voice.

First, the Spirit of God lives in the heart of all Christians. When a person believes in Jesus, the Spirit enters in. This is what it means to be "born again," as Jesus talked about in John 3. The Spirit's presence is the defining mark of a Christian, as the Apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 1:13-14 and Romans 8:9. He renews our heart (though entanglements of darkness still remain) and provides direct, intimate access to the Presence of God. We do not need a priest or mediator. He is there!

How do we know the Spirit is there? Some say they know because their lives changed for the better - they became more loving, gracious and generous people. This is certainly positive evidence! However, on the most fundamental level, the Apostle Paul says that God's Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are his children (Romans 8:15-16). In other words, the Spirit speaks to our heart and reassures us that we belong to him.

This begs the question, how do we hear his voice? This might sound like circular reasoning, but you first have to believe you can hear his voice. As Jesus said (John 10:27-28):

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

Jesus is the Good Shepherd is his sheep know his voice. We inherently know when he is speaking. On a practical level, God is a God of peace, mercy, joy, power and righteousness. If the voice we hear is peaceful, forgiving, encouraging, joyful, empowering and/or corrects us in living a better life, we can trust it is the Spirit's voice. (Yes, as his sometimes wayward children, we will receive plenty of correction to help us mature.) If the voice you hear is guilt-ridden, fearful, hateful or doubtful, it is not his voice. This is the voice of darkness and we should learn to ignore it.

The form of God's voice can be anything he chooses. In my experience it is usually an impression on the heart - a quiet, intuitive sense he is moving me in a certain way. This sense can be general or involve specific words. God can also speak more dramatically through dreams, visions and object lessons. He spoke to Moses through a burning bush, to Gideon through dew on a wool fleece and to King Belshazzar through a hand writing on the wall. He is Lord Almighty and may speak however he chooses.

Only trust that the Spirit is present and you can hear his voice, even if you do not understand how it all works. The essence of faith is a heart that says, "I trust you, Lord, even though I don't understand." No doubt you will grow in learning to hear his voice, however imperfect and humble the beginningss. The Spirit will lead us into all truth and empower us to love one another.

So let us live by faith from the heart. Let us listen and respond to God's Presence within.

What About Right and Wrong?

How then do you determine right and wrong or good and bad? How does one know what to do? The Bible is filled with brilliant moral teaching. It virtually explodes with wisdom and direction for life. This book leaves no stone unturned, no ill motive unexposed, no good deed unpraised, and no important issue unaddressed. If you want insight about relationships, money, career, church, love, sex, life, death, heaven, hell – it is there. Every book in the Old and New Testaments has great lessons to offer.

The issue is how to interpret this moral teaching. There are two distinct approaches, and one represents the way of law and the other of the Spirit:

1. Read the Bible to assemble a set of absolute rules by which to live and then try to follow them. The thinking goes that if a person follows the rules well enough, he or she will have an abundant, successful, and righteous life. This is why many Christian books have titles like “Ten Steps to a Deeper Walk” or “How to Share Your Faith”. We want a tidy program to follow. However, if a person does not follow the prescribed rules, the result is sin, failure, spiritual decay and unrighteousness. A corollary is that if life is not going well for some reason (e.g. marital, financial, work problems), the likely problem is not having the right set of rules or not following them rigorously enough. This creates a temptation to judge others, if things are going well, or to feel like a spiritual loser if they are not.
   
   It is difficult even for sincere truth seekers to sort out which rules are best or right. Each church has a slightly different rule set. In fact, many denominations and church splits have their origins in these differences. The Bible is a large and multi-faceted book. Good-hearted, intelligent people have studied it thoroughly and still disagree on interpretations. Culture and church traditions also influence the rules. While mainstream Christianity agrees that we no longer live under the law of Moses (e.g. we are not obligated to sacrifice animals, we can eat pork), many comb the New Testament to decipher a new set of moral laws. Churchgoers are encouraged to study the Bible and/or church doctrine to learn their particular rules. These are many and varied:
   
   Be kind to others. Be generous. Share your faith with unbelievers. Communion is for church members only. Communion is for everyone. Everyone should seek to speak in tongues. No one should speak in tongues. Tithe ten percent of your income. Give how you feel led. Do not go into debt. Debt is only okay for a durable asset, like a house. Divorce is always wrong. Divorce is wrong except in the case of adultery. Divorce is regrettable. Pastors can marry and have children. Priests cannot marry nor have children. Elders must be men, not women. Christians should vote Republican. Christians should vote Democrat. Saturday is the Sabbath day. Sunday is the Sabbath day. It is good to take a day off sometimes. And so on.
   
2. Read the Bible to understand God’s ways and moral principles, and then trust his Spirit to direct when and how to apply them. This way acknowledges that religion is first a matter of the heart. We live from the inside out, not by merely following an external framework or program. The heart of a man or woman is the core of their being, seat of the Holy Spirit and wellspring of life. It is where we discern truth and wisdom. The heart of a Christian, a person who has been “born again”, is good and can be trusted, even though the “flesh” or sinful nature still vies for influence. (See Romans 7:21-25 and Ezekiel 36:26-27. These verses refute the teaching that a reborn Christian’s heart is still evil, implying that we cannot trust our hearts and therefore need an external laws to follow. )
   Moreover, this way acknowledges that the moral teachings of the Bible are principles that shape our values, not absolute laws to be applied in all situations all of the time. There is a big difference in practical terms. Love is the only absolute, and there are more ways to love than grains of sand in the ocean. We trust the Holy Spirit to show us how to apply these teachings and principals in all the complexity of life. The Spirit actively speaks and, as Jesus said, is the one who illuminates truth and wisdom (see John 16:13). We can trust him to lead us in the moment.
   
   Life is not simple. Navigating it cannot be reduced to a set of magic formulas and cookie-cutter sound bites. The world is complex, multi-faceted and usually colored in shades of gray. Cartoon caricatures of good and evil are found only in the realm of fantasy and fairy tales. The real world contains striations of good and evil that blend and mix through people and events. Life is full of mystery, paradox and contradiction. Pain, suffering and loss share the stage with joy, triumph and gain. Clear-cut black and white is a welcome exception, but not the rule! Every situation is different; every person is unique; every life has a special purpose. We have to exercise judgment and discernment. We need God’s infinite and wise Spirit to see through it all. Living by a simplified set of laws short-circuits his participation and essential influence in our faith.

The second approach describes living by the Spirit. It is quite different from legalism. It is quite different from how mainstream Christianity tends to operate. It assumes a deep, personal, intimate, powerful connection with our Creator. And that we have because of Christ! Today is Easter, as I write. I am reminded that he rose from the dead and established this connection to God. He made it all possible. We must lean on this connection and trust the Spirit. Such an act of faith feels like stepping onto a tightrope strung taught between two skyscrapers. Don’t look down! Look at him. He is there and will keep us balanced and upright.

Mercy, Not Sacrifice

To begin, consider the Gospel account where Jesus and his disciples were walking through grain fields on the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day of rest (Matthew 12:1-8). The disciples picked heads of grain and ate them, and the religious Pharisees accused them of violating the Sabbath by doing work. Technically, the Pharisees were right. The law of Moses forbade doing any work on that day – on punishment of death! In fact, when Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness and God rained down bread (or manna) each day as food, the Lord instructed the people to gather two days worth on the day before the Sabbath, so they would not have to do any work by even gathering food (Exodus 16). But this is exactly what Jesus’ disciples were doing.

Jesus responded to the accusation by saying the disciples were innocent, but he did not claim that they were not breaking the rule. It seems like a contradiction. Jesus cited a couple of situations in the Old Testament where people technically broke laws and were still blameless, as if the letter of the law were not of primary concern. Then he made a powerful statement to the Pharisees that hints at the distinction between the Spirit and law. Jesus said that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. It is actually a quote from the Old Testament book of Hosea. Now, mercy is grace and forgiveness that a person extends to another. It is a willingness to overlook a wrong done. Mercy comes from the heart and promotes healing and reconciliation. On the other hand, animal sacrifice was a requirement under Old Testament law to atone for sins. At certain points in history, the hearts of Israelites became hard toward God. They continued to sacrifice animals by requirement of the law, but they neglected to treat others with compassion, respect, and mercy. God expressed displeasure with this hypocrisy. By stating that God desires mercy, not sacrifice, Jesus was saying that he wants people to love from the heart, not just follow rules. The point of religion is to love God and others. Keeping the letter of the law – any law – is not the main point. In this light, the accusation of the Pharisees was technically correct but morally wrong. It was legalistic and made a mountain out of a mole hill. It also came from a harsh and critical spirit because the Pharisees’ real motive was to find fault with the disciples because they did not like how Jesus challenged their religious authority.

So here is one distinction: Living by the Spirit means loving from the heart, not following religious rules.

We Live by the Spirit, Not by Law

“We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
Romans 7:6

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”
Galatians 5:18

The New Testament directs Christians to live by the Spirit, not by law. This distinction is vast and profound. In fact, it shakes the foundation of what it means to be a Christian. The Spirit and law are like day and night, white and black. The difference is far more than academic or cosmetic. Living by the Spirit is at the heart of what it is to walk with God – each day and each moment.

Law is a set of written codes by which to live. Think of the codes that govern the state or city where you live: traffic laws, building codes, property rights and so forth. They help ensure safety, fairness and order in society. If a person obeys the law, then he is free to go about the daily activities of life. If a person breaks the law (and is caught), then he must pay a fine, go to jail, perform community service or other such penalty. No exceptions and no excuses – the law is the law. It is something we live under and that exists external to us. For instance, one can go to a law library and read the state and city codes in full. Law does not speak on its own, but only when a person actively reads or hears it.

When Christians see the word “law” in the Bible, they usually think of the Ten Commandments and the various other religious and societal laws that the Lord gave to the Israelites through Moses. Honor your father and mother; keep the Sabbath; do not murder; do not steal; etc. This is the prototypical law of the Bible. However, I would suggest this is the primary but not only meaning of law. It also references any set of absolute rules-to-live-by, even those derived from moral teachings in the New Testament. The error mainstream Christianity makes is interpreting these teachings as absolute law rather than moral principals to be applied in wisdom (more on this later).

In contrast, the Spirit is a person. Much more than words on a piece of paper, the Spirit is God’s very presence, power, and life. He is the third person of the trinity, as in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He moves like the wind through the affairs of humanity and in the lives of individuals. You see clear evidence of his activity – like trees swaying and ripples on the water – but there is mystery and wonder to his work. He does as he pleases and is by no means “predictable”. He is God Almighty.

The Spirit also lives in the heart of every child of God, every person who belongs to him. He is there – at the center of our being. This fact is not just a quaint sentiment or a bedtime story. God’s Spirit is the identifying mark of every true Christian (see Romans 8:9-10,16 and Ephesians 1:13). The Spirit speaks and we hear his voice. He reveals truth and wisdom, provides spiritual gifts, and empowers us to live out God’s love. He is at the center of the Christian experience.

The difference between the Spirit and law is immense, even mind-boggling (see The Spirit and Law in Contrast below for a summary). If one is a bowl of rice, the other is a five-course meal of the finest gourmet foods. If one is a firecracker, the other is a nuclear explosion. Equally immense is the difference between living by the Spirit versus the law. What does that mean, however? What does it look like in a person’s day-to-day experience? Frankly, the answer is as big as God himself. I can only hope to hint at it.

The Spirit and Law in Contrast

Spirit	Law
Person, God himself	Written moral rules
Lives in a person’s heart	Exists in a document
Mystical, moves like the wind	Concrete, rigid, set in stone
Infinite, expansive	Limited, narrow
Experienced	Read or heard
Engages whole being – heart, mind, strength, soul, spirit	Engages primarily the mind
Empowered by God	Enforced by men
Internally motivating	Externally restricting
Illuminates truth	Captures shadow of truth
Empowers love and righteousness	Dictates rules for living
Powerful	Weak
Active	Passive
Engenders freedom, creativity and power	Authoritarian and stifling
Inspires uniqueness and spontaneous action	Instills uniformity and centralized, man-made control
Motto: “Live by faith from the heart - God's commands are not burdensome.”	Motto: “Do what I say or else”