An Illustration of Following the Spirit (Part 3)

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery..."  Galatians 5:19
"But the fruit of the Spirit is....faithfulness..."  Galatians 5:22

As you can see, I'm taking one of the works of the flesh--adultery, and contrasting it with one of the fruit of the Spirit--faithfulness.  Marriage is so real and vivid that I feel it practically captures for us the deepest realities applicable in all relationships.  Imagine the Spirit leading a husband in relation to his wife and an adulterous woman.

Of course, this husband knows the scriptural command, "You shall not commit adultery."  This is the law of God.  He also knows his temptation to commit adultery is a work of the flesh.  But where does "the Spirit's leading" come in? Does he even need the Spirit to lead him?  Is it even relevant?  Very much so.  This is how:

The husband's approach to this temptation will determine his victory in overcoming his flesh.

Remember our focus:  Initiation and response.  Leading and following.

There are three possible leaders that this husband can respond to:
1. The law of God in his mind (See Romans 7:23)
2. The sinful desires of his body (See James 1:14)
3. The verbal or nonverbal initiation of the Spirit

NEVER FOLLOW THE LAW
If this husband focuses his mind on responding to the commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," he will eventually fail to resist the temptation.  Why is this?  Two reasons:

• The law was not given to conquer sin, but to expose sin.
• When two self centered desires are in conflict, the stronger will overcome the weaker.

If the husband simply attempts to keep this commandment in self-righteousness, he will battle another desire:  the lust that the commandment was given to expose. Just like Paul found out he was a coveter when he understood the command, "You shall not covet," so this husband will discover he is an adulterer if he doesn't exchange self trust for Christ trust.  If he responds to the law, he will not overcome the desires of the flesh

NEVER FOLLOW THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH
Of course this is obvious.  His body is initiating sexual arousal, so he should of course refuse to respond to his body, as the scriptures say, "Give no opportunity to the flesh." 

But if he is not to follow the law in self-righteous self-centered will power, nor is he to follow the desires initiated in his body, what is he to do?

FOLLOW THE INITIATION OF TH ESPIRIT, VERBALLY OR NONVERBALLY.
The husband's flesh is attempting to initiate an act: adultery.
But the Spirit is also attempting to initiate and act:  faithfulness to his wife.

When the Spirit leads the husband away from adultery and into faithfulness, it will resemble what we hear from Joseph when he resisted adultery:

“With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.  No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”  Genesis 39:8-9 emphasis mine.

Joseph resisted Potiphar's wife day in and day out.  He never yielded.  He wasn't responding to the law, because at that time there was no law of Moses.  He didn't simply use will power to say no over and over again. He considered the goodness of God in His life, and the vileness of sin in relation to God's goodness. 

This is how the Spirit will lead the husband.  The Spirit will not simply quote the law, nor will the Spirit simply tell the man to suck it up and hold out.  The Spirit will verbally or non verbally give the man the motivation of love for his wife.  He will remind him of the goodness of God in giving him a wife, and the vileness of being unfaithful to God and her.  The Spirit may say this to the man as plainly as I'm writing it, or he may drive the man away from the adulterous, as He drove Jesus into the wilderness. 

But this is certain:  The Spirit's initiation will be what he feels leading him AWAY from adultery and TO faithfulness. 

Whatever he feels in him that is leading him to faithfulness, a fruit of the Spirit, and leading him away from adultery, a work of the flesh, must by definition by the Spirit leading, for as Paul says, the flesh and the Spirit are always contrary to each other.

So the simplest way to know you are following the Spirit, or to know His leading and initiation, verbally or nonverbally, is to know what the Spirit alone will always lead you to do.  In other words, to know the fruit of the Spirit, or what the Spirit is like.  Any thing opposite of the fruit is not the Spirit, of course, but the flesh. Whether the Spirit told the husband, "Go to your car and wait until she leaves the office, and call your wife while you are in the car," or whether the husband felt driven to a location away from the temptation, where he could call his wife, this drive away from adultery and to faithfulness is the Spirit leading Him.  It is not an impersonal law being applied to his life.  Nor is it him simply running from adultery without running to his wife. 

The Spirit's leading and initiating will be relational and practical, a drive toward the fruit of the Spirit, and a drive away from the works of the flesh.  Your job is to respond to whatever He initiates, and you will know His initiations because they will lead you TO the fruit of the Spirit and AWAY from the works of the flesh.