By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

Psalm 32:8 “The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”

The guidance of the Holy Spirit is central to how you live your Christian life. You need to be willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit because He will not force anyone to do the will of the Father. To live the spirit life and fulfill God’s will for your life, you must be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

The guidance of the Holy Spirit is only available to this dispensation of grace. The Holy Spirit was not available in the Old Testament. The Israelites in the Old Testament were led by angels and the laws of Moses. They had God with them but not in them. They were not the temple of the Holy Spirit like the believers of today.

Gal 5: 18 “But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.”

This dispensation of grace and the New Testament is the dispensation of the ministry of the Holy Spirit which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke so much about. Jesus told us that He needed to go so a change of Guard so to say will take place. He also told us about the mission of the Holy in very clear terms. See Bible verses below:

John 16:7-15 “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. 12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’ “

This is why we must not make the mistake of mixing up the ministry of Moses and the law with the present era of the Holy Spirit. The ministry of Moses (the law) ended when Christ came, long before the present dispensation of the Holy Spirit started.  

For the sake of clarity, let us review the three dispensations of God’s program.

• • THE TIME OF MOSES This is also known as the dispensation of the law. Animal sacrifices were constantly made as an atonement for sins. That was the major limitation of this dispensation. It was unprofitable and so, it was scrapped. God had something better for us. Hebrews 7:18-19 “For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”

Paul confirmed this in the Epistles. No one can be accepted by God by means of the law. The law was a dead end.

Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

• •  THE DISPENSATION OF CHRIST The second dispensation was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus himself when He came. By his blood, He opened a new and living way (different from the law) by which we draw nigh to God. Just as the curtain ripped in the temple, his death on the cross gave us unlimited access to God. We also became the living temple built by God for habitation. God literally moved out of the temple in Jerusalem INTO all believers. Halleluiah! This is exciting.

Hebrews 10:8-10” First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”

 Hebrews 10:19-24 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”

• •  THE LAST DISPENSATION We are currently in the last dispensation which is that of the Holy Spirit. We are now made holy by the blood of Jesus. We now have access to God by faith in Jesus Christ and we have also received the spirit of God. The spirit of God now dwells in us and guides us through all things. This happens once we receive salvation. God’s spirit is also called the Holy Spirit. A lot of Christians find this confusing. The scriptures clearly refer to the Holy Spirit as the spirit of God and the spirit of Christ.

 Romans 8:9-11 “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

 We received the Spirit of Christ at salvation. That is the Spirit of God that lives in you that guides you into all truth.

1 John 2:27 “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

 Being led by the Holy Spirit is the way every believer should live their life. The Holy Spirit will teach, guide, and lead you to all truth. Here are some truths the Holy Spirit will teach you.

• • The Holy Spirit will teach you the truth about Christ and how God makes you acceptable to Himself through Christ.

Rom 1:16- 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

• • This truth referred to as “Good News” provided you deliverance from all bondage and destruction. The son has set you free indeed. Only Jesus can save.

 1 Corinthians 15:2 “It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. “

• • All the promises of God for you have been fulfilled. They are no longer promises but fulfilled truths and realities. The Holy Spirit is here to reveal and remind you that nothing is required of you to experience them all. Just appropriate them with thanksgiving.

Acts 13:32-33 “And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, 33 and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus:’You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”

Heb 4:2-3 “For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. 3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said,”In my anger I took an oath:’They will never enter my place of rest,'” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.”

• • These truths set us free and change our lives when we understand and believe them

Col 1:6-7 “This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.”

The primary way the Holy Spirit guides us into all truths is to teach us about Christ. Christ is the only way to be saved and made holy.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor of Fountain Of The Living Word Church, New Jersey.