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There are many Christian believers who profess to being led by the Spirit. On a daily basis they speak in such a manner as to say, “God told me to do this today,” or “The Spirit told me to do this for you just now.” This article will address whether this is the kind of faith ‘walking in the Spirit’ believers are supposed to have and will warn on the dangers of being misled by evil and false spirits.
1 JOHN 4:1:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but TEST THE SPIRITS, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The ‘spirits’ 1 John 4:1 refers to are living spirits: ministers. Many false prophets (teachers) are in the world, so we are commanded to test them. The test for angelic spirits, demonic spirits, or living beings is the same. The proper way to test the spirits, whether they are living beings or celestial spirit beings, is through Scripture.
GALATIANS 1:6-9:
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Messiah (Christ), to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Messiah (Christ). But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
In the Apostle Paul’s time, just as today, there are many who possess the Scriptures, but they are turned away to a different gospel, to a gospel and belief system that is far different than the written word contained in the Scriptures that they possess. Many are turned to a perverted gospel salvation message through the false teachings of many false prophets. Paul instructs us to not listen to the preaching from an angel of heaven, or even himself* if what is preached is a message that goes against the Scriptures.
*Many ministers twist Paul’s words to overturn the laws of Scripture (2 Peter 3:16).
ISAIAH 30:9-10:
Children who will not hear the law of YHWH (the Lord);
Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.”
MATTHEW 7:15:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
There are many false prophets, who like extremely hungry wolves, make a living catering to Christian children who will not hear the law of YHWH (the Lord) or are misleading the ignorant, lost, and naïve who are genuinely searching for the truth. Mainstream Christianity has, to a greater or lesser extent – depending on the denomination, rejected God’s laws. A believer seeking God’s true ways are not likely to learn about them in most mainstream Christian congregations today. Test today’s end time ministers through the Scriptures to see whether they are of God, because many of them are false prophets.
BEING LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF GOD
ROMANS 8:14:
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
FRIVOLOUSLY BEING LED
There are many today who proclaim that the Spirit is leading them in just about all activities during the course of their daily lives. “God told me to order this for lunch,” or “The Spirit led me to ask you this question…” are not uncommon statements by people claiming to be led by the Spirit.
The problem with this type of being ‘Spirit-led’ is that people seem to be turning off their God-given brains, of which God gave us free will to make choices and decisions in our lives, and they claim to be completely submitting to the will of the Holy Spirit. The truth is, God doesn’t really want to control every aspect of our life, as long as we live within His commandments. Many Christians, who believe that God’s commandments have been abolished as a burdensome yoke, take on a much more extreme form of bondage, a mindless servitude mentality, losing all sense of identity, independence, and individuality, believing that the Holy Spirit commands and guides their every activity throughout the course and routine of their daily lives. When believers constantly talk by saying, “God told me to do this,” or “The Spirit led me to ask you this,” what they may actually be doing is speaking with empty words and / or breaking the third commandment, to not take God’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11; Ephesians 5:6).
This is not to say that God’s Spirit does not lead persons to do things, great things, but His Spirit likely doesn’t tell most people to brush their teeth in the morning. That’s what God gave us brains for.
BEING LED BY FALSE SPIRITS, BY ONE’S OWN HEART, AGAINST THE LAW
GALATIANS 5:18:
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
When Galatians 5:18 is taken out of context, many have understood it to mean that if the Spirit leads them, they do not need to comply with the commandment laws of God.
The Spirit of God is ‘of’ God and God cannot lead any believer to break any of His laws.
What law then, are those who are led by the Spirit not under? The various laws of the lusts of the flesh that sinners are imprisoned under (in bondage to)…
ROMANS 8:12-13:
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
GALATIANS 5:16-21:
I say then: WALK IN THE SPIRIT, AND YOU SHALL NOT FULFILL THE LUST OF THE FLESH. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law [OF THE LUST OF THE FLESH]. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
There are many who have deceived themselves into believing that they are led by the Spirit and are no longer under the commandment laws of God. Such ‘believers’ marry divorced women in adultery, commit fornication, pray over unclean creatures before consuming them, and engage in many other lawless acts of the flesh, some of which could bar them from inheriting the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
LED BY THE SPIRIT OR DECEIVED BY THE HEART?
PROVERBS 28:26:
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.
JEREMIAH 17:9:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
Oftentimes believers will proclaim that the Spirit led them to do something that is unscriptural. God’s Spirit will never cause believers to break God’s laws, so either an evil spirit is leading them or their wicked heart is leading them.
THE APOSTLE PETER TESTED THE HOLY SPIRIT
ACTS 10:10-14:
Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
BUT PETER SAID, “NOT SO, LORD! FOR I HAVE NEVER EATEN ANYTHING COMMON OR UNCLEAN.”
ACTS 11:7-8:
And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ BUT I SAID, ‘NOT SO, LORD! FOR NOTHING COMMON OR UNCLEAN HAS AT ANY TIME ENTERED MY MOUTH.’
Peter knew God’s dietary laws and put the vision he received to the test and was not ‘led by the Spirit’ to break God’s dietary laws. Peter never ate anything unclean as a result of receiving this vision, did not break any dietary command, and came to understand that God cleansed the Gentile people of the world. Peter recognized that God used unclean creatures as a metaphor for the Gentiles in his vision (Acts 10:28,34-35,43).
FALSE APOSTLES, DECEITFUL WORKERS, AND EVIL SPIRITS
2 CORINTHIANS 11:13-14:
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Messiah (Christ). And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:13:
God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
The Holy Spirit is NOT the Spirit God and believers should not pray to God’s Spirit as God. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit ‘of’ God, and believers should pray to God alone. Satan has always wanted believers to believe in the trinity, to believe that God’s Spirit is God, so his demons could masquerade as angels of light or as the Holy Spirit and deceive God’s people from believing in the truth of His laws and His word.
EZEKIEL 36:26-27:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of 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 keep My judgments and do them.
God’s Spirit within Spirit-filled believers causes them to walk in His statutes, to obey His commandments, not to live contrary to them (1 John 2:3-6). If any believer thinks that he or she is being led by the Holy Spirit to break any of God’s laws, then he or she should understand that this is NOT the Holy Spirit, but an evil spirit.
TEST THE SPIRITS!
