Learning to be Led by the Holy Spirit - Part II
by Dr. John Tetsola

Last month we examined how God leads us through our recreated human spirit by means of two guides: the inward witness and the inward voice. The inward witness is an inward knowing. It is intuition—knowledge derived by the spirit without analysis. The inward voice is the voice of the conscience. We noted that once you’re born again, your conscience demands conformity to God’s Word and becomes the faculty which decides upon the moral qualities of your actions. Now let’s look at some of the pitfalls of the inward witness.

Pitfalls of the Inward Witness

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

1 John 4:1a

One of the pitfalls associated with the inward witness is that this kind of leading is the most mystical and subjective of all of the various ways that God leads and directs. It is totally based on what you feel, what you sense, what you see, and what you hear in your own spirit. According to 1 John 4:1, we are to try or test the spirits to see whether they are of God. A word is tested and proven to be true when it lines up with the Word of God. Failure to follow this principle can cause you to fall prey to the many false spirits that are gone out into the world. While God does speak and will continue to speak to us, we must be watchful of the pitfalls associated with the inward witness because of its subjectivity and mysticism.

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Proverbs 11:14

Another pitfall of the inward witness is that it allows one to live without the safeguard of accountability. While God leads us through our recreated human spirit, there are guide posts to line up with before running off the cliff with a word from the inward witness. Proverbs 11:14 tells us that “where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Anything as subjective as the inner leading of the Holy Spirit has to be properly balanced because there is an inherent danger in just following the Spirit subjectively.

A third pitfall is that it places less emphasis upon the checks and balances of spiritual leadership and wise biblical counselors. Because this form of leading is so very subjective, you should check it with the other ways God leads for more clarity and insight. You should submit your “word of the Lord” to the scrutiny of spiritual leadership. The reason most believers don’t go to leadership or consult the other ways God speaks for more clarity is that they are afraid that they will hear the word “no.” If you are afraid that someone in leadership or one of the other forms of leading will produce red lights or restrict you, then just admit to yourself that you really don’t want to do the will of God. If you really want to do the will of God, the word “no” will never scare you.

A final pitfall of the inward witness is that it does not give room to the boundaries of Scripture or to any of the other ways God speaks. It allows one to live subjectively and mystically without the boundaries of the Word of God and without the protective covering of spiritual authority. Any word received by the inward witness must be subjected to the other ways God speaks to produce accuracy and direction. Anyone bent on having their own way will always tell you that God told them to do this or that, and to their own hurt they will crash and burn because they have violated the boundaries of Scripture and have excluded the other protective measures of the ways God speaks
 

by Dr. John A. Tetsola