Paul speaks of a second divine provision in 8:14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” In this verse we have the leading of the Spirit. Some Christians have received inaccurate teachings concerning the leading of the Spirit. They may think that in order to have the Spirit’s leading they need to follow a certain procedure. However, the genuine leading of the Spirit is within our spirit. This means that in our spirit there is a divine provision called the leading of the Spirit. A divine Person, the Spirit of God, indwells us, and this indwelling Spirit is now leading us.
Suppose a young brother is considering what to do on the weekend. He may desire to engage in a certain kind of worldly amusement. But within him there is Someone—the Spirit—leading him, and this One does not agree with that desire. As a result, there is a struggle within this young brother, a struggle between his own desire and the leading of the Spirit. Although he cannot see the invisible Spirit, he can sense the Spirit’s leading within him. I would even say that he can sense not only the Spirit’s leading, but also the Spirit Himself. Deep within, this brother may sense the Spirit saying, “You want to do that thing, but I don’t agree with you. You should go to the church meetings.”
Praise the Lord that we have a Leader in us, and this Leader is the Spirit! Because we have the indwelling Spirit leading us, we are not under the control of some powerful person who exerts a strong influence upon us. No, we have a divine Leader, the Spirit who dwells in our spirit, leading us day by day.
Many of us can testify that we experience the leading of the Spirit even in such a small matter as a haircut. In our church life we do not have a regulation which says that the brothers should have their hair cut in a certain way. Instead of regulations, we have the indwelling Spirit leading us. Suppose a young brother wants to have his hair cut in a particular way, but the leading Spirit within him does not agree. The brother wants to keep his hair rather long, but the Spirit prefers that it be cut short. If this brother does not care for the Spirit’s leading and offends Him, he will have no joy within him. He will not be able to sing that song concerning being happy in the splendid church life. However, if he has his hair cut according to the leading of the indwelling Spirit, he will have joy. When he comes out of the barbershop, he may find himself singing about the splendid church life. This is the result of following the leading of the Spirit of God.
How can we know that we are sons of God? We know that we are sons of God because we are led by the Spirit. This leading is not accidental or occasional. Rather, the leading of the Spirit should be habitual, constant. Continuously in our daily life we should be led by the divine Indweller. If we are led by the Spirit all day long, then we are living as sons of God. This means that we not only are sons of God, but we are actually living as sons of God in a practical way.
If a brother needs to get a haircut, there is no need for him to pray for the Spirit’s leading. This brother does not need to say, “Lord, I’m going to the barbershop to get a haircut. How long should my hair be? Lord, show me the right length for my hair.” Instead of praying like this, the brother should simply go to the barbershop according to the Spirit’s leading. Because he has the leading of the indwelling Spirit, he will know spontaneously how he should have his hair cut. Have you not had similar experiences? We not only have the law of the Spirit of life within us—we also have the leading of the Spirit.