13. To be "led by the Spirit of God" means, then, to be given a heart
which gladly hears God's Word and believes that in Christ it has
grace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves
its faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things,
the glory of God, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to
serve others and to be obedient, patient, pure and chaste, mild and
gentle; a heart which, though at times overtaken in a fault and it
stumble, soon rises again by repentance, and ceases to sin. All these
things the Holy Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word,
and does not wilfully resist the Spirit.
14. On the other hand, the devil, who also is a spirit, persuades the
hearts of the worldlings. But it soon becomes evident that his work
is not that of a good spirit or a divine spirit. For he only leads
men to do the reverse of that which the Spirit of God leads them to
do; then they find no pleasure in hearing and obeying God's Word, but
despise God, and become proud and haughty, avaricious, unmerciful.
15. Let every one therefore take heed that he do not deceive himself.
For there are many who claim to be Christians and yet are not. We
perceive this from the fact that not all are led by the Spirit of
God. Some spirit there must be by which men are led. If it is not the
Spirit of God leading them to oppose the flesh, then it must be the
other and evil spirit leading them to give way to the flesh and its
lusts and to oppose the Spirit of God. They must, therefore, either
be God's own, his dear children, his sons and his daughters, called
to eternal life and glory; or they must be rejected and abandoned,
children of the devil, and with him heirs of eternal fire.
16. Paul takes occasion to speak more at length on the words "sons of
God," and proceeds in beautiful and comforting words to describe the
nature and glory of this sonship. He only begins the subject,
however, in today's text. He says:
"For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye
received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
17. This is a noble and comforting text, worthy of being written in
letters of gold. Because ye now through faith, he means to say, have
the Holy Spirit and are led by him, ye are no longer in bondage as ye
were when under the Law; ye need no longer be afraid of its terrors
and its demands, as if God would condemn and reject you on account of
your unworthiness and the remaining infirmity of your flesh. On the
contrary, ye have the consolation that, through faith, ye have the
assurance of God's grace, and may consider God your Father and call
upon him as his children.