The Leading of the Spirit

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

~ Romans 8:14

This is not a drawing or dragging of a passive weight toward a goal which is attained, if attained at all, only by virtue of the power residing in the moving Spirit; but a leading of an active agent to an end determined indeed by the Spirit, and along a course which is marked out by the Spirit, but over which the soul is carried by virtue of its own power of action and through its own strenuous efforts. If we are not borne by the Spirit¹ out of our sin into holiness with a smooth and easy movement, almost un-noted by us or noted only with the languid pleasure with which a child resting peacefully on its mother’s breast may note its progress up some rough mountain road, so neither are we dragged by the Spirit as a passive weight over the steep and rugged path .We are led. We are under His control and walk in the path in which He sets our feet. It is His part to keep us in the path and to bring us at length to the goal. But it is we who tread every step of the way; our limbs that grow weary with the labor; our hearts that faint, our courage that fails – our faith that revives our sinking strength, our hope that instills new courage into our souls – as we toil on over the steep assent…

We are not, indeed, relieved from the necessity for healthful effort, but we can no longer speak of “vain hopes.”² The way may be hard, but we can no longer talk of “the unfruitful road which bruises our naked feet.”³ Strenuous endeavor may be required of us, but we can no longer feel that we are “beating aimless wings,” and can expect no further response from the infinite expanse than “a sterile echo of our own eternal longings.”⁴ No, no — the language of despair falls at once from off our souls. Henceforth our accents will be borrowed rather from a nobler “poet of faith,” and the blessing of Asher will seem to be spoken to us also:

Thy shoes shall be iron and brass,

And thy days, so shall thy strength be,

There is none like unto God, O Jeshuran,

Who rideth upon the heavens for thy help,

And in his excellency on the skies.

The eternal God is thy dwelling-place,

And underneath are the everlasting arms.”

Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, The Leading of the Spirit

1. Warfield emphasizes the Apostle’s use of the greek term which we translate as “led” gives us insight into the Spirit’s work of sanctification. Positively, he writes “this term, as those skilled in such things tell us, is one which throws emphasis on three matters: (1) on the extraneousness of the influence under which the movement suggested takes place; (2) on the completeness of the control which this influence exerts over the action of the subject led; and (3), on the pathway over which the resultant progress is made.” Negatively, Warfield shows the Apostle could’ve used other greek terms that would suggest being “carried”, “dragged” or “borne up” by the Spirit, which is what is done by the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:21 where the Spirit is described as “carrying along” those who were inspired to write Holy Scripture. He goes on to provide examples where this term is used elsewhere in Scripture which serve to illustrate the diverse manner of the Spirit’s leading: in emphasizing the Spirit’s compelling power in our leader, he cites a man’s power to lead an animal (Matthew 21:2) or a guard a prisoner (John 28:28, Acts 6:12, Acts 9:2); in emphasizing the Spirit’s influence over the powers of our own will, he cites when “Barnabas took Paul and led him to the Apostles” (Acts 9:2) and when “Andrew led Simon to Jesus.” (John 1:42) In each case “the controlling influence which the Holy Spirit exercises over the activities of the children of God in His leading of them” is meant to be shown by Paul’s usage of the term “led.” These observations require the conclusion that while “we have been emancipated from the law of sin and of death by the advent of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus into our hearts” still we are not free in an absolute sense but are under the controlling power of Christ by his Holy Spirit.
2. This appears to be a quotation from a poem expressing despair at our spiritual plight and future. I could not find the source, but instead only found excerpts from this sermon. In my eyes, this is a testimony to the enduring value of Warfield’s meditations and the Christian faith over and against these apparently introspective, despairing meditations from the poem which do not acknowledge the Holy Scriptures.
3. Ibid
4. Ibid