I hear folks in this forum write about how they know they are correct in their study of the word because they make sure the Holy Spirit leads them in their study. My question is, how do you make sure that you are being lead by the Spirit, just saying that you are being lead by the Spirit does not make it so. We will be judged by how we used the word of God, therefore it is up to us whether or not we are in truth or error. There is no voice that will say, you are wrong, God expects us to be honest enough to discover that for ourselves.
The Bible tells us very plainly how we know we are led by the Spirit
Romans 8.16
[SUP]16 [/SUP]The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
John 10.5 & 27
[SUP]5 [/SUP]A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. [SUP]27 [/SUP]My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
1 Cor 12.3
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1 John 2.27
[SUP]27 [/SUP]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.
John 14.16-17, 25-26
[SUP]16 [/SUP]I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; [SUP]17 [/SUP]
that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him,
but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. [SUP]25 [/SUP]“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. [SUP]26 [/SUP]But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 15.26-27
[SUP]26 [/SUP]“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,
that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, [SUP]27 [/SUP]and you
will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16.8-15
[SUP]8 [/SUP]And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; [SUP]9 [/SUP]concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; [SUP]10 [/SUP]and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; [SUP]11 [/SUP]and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now. [SUP]13 [/SUP]But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. [SUP]14 [/SUP]He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose
it to you. [SUP]15 [/SUP]All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose
it to you.
1 Cor 2:
2 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. [SUP]2 [/SUP]For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. [SUP]3 [/SUP]I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, [SUP]4 [/SUP]and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, [SUP]5 [/SUP]so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; [SUP]7 [/SUP]but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden
wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; [SUP]8 [/SUP]
the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; [SUP]9 [/SUP]but just as it is written,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And
which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
[SUP]10 [/SUP]For to us God revealed
them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. [SUP]11 [/SUP]For who among men knows the
thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the
thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. [SUP]12 [/SUP]Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, [SUP]13 [/SUP]which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual
thoughts with spiritual
words.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. [SUP]15 [/SUP]But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. [SUP]16 [/SUP]For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
This truth is predicated on the individual understanding the COMPLETE ministry of the Holy Spirit for today and his role in the life of the Believer. If you have been taught that the Holy Spirit only convicts sinners and seals you unto the day of redemption and nothing else, you will have no foundation to understand any of the scriptures above or understand how the Spirit leads us into study of the word and in our daily walk.
The Spirit speaks to us today despite religion saying he does not. The Holy Spirit is a he, not an it and is our helper, teacher, guide and partner in walking out our life with Jesus here on earth.
Jesus himself never did miracles because he was the son of God, he did them because he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power and that promise is made available to us today.