I'm writing pragmatically in this paper concerning what I call "God's Unspoken Yes." I thereby refer to an understanding of how we, as the genuine, literal, rebirthed "children of God," are free to live and have our daily walk in accord with the automatic inner sense we have of Christ's indwelling "Spirit of life."

We are to live in absolute spontaneous freedom to follow the indwelling Christ. Gal. 5:1 "...it is for freedom that Christ has set us free…"

This are free from the need to follow any outer religious laws or precepts (cf., Rom 6:14). Chris in us is our law, as confirmed by the words we have of "the Apostle to the Gentiles," Paul. Paul says those Christians who are "led by the Spirit" are the grown "sons of God" (Rom 8:14), otherwise they remain as "children of God" (Rom 8:16).

How is it that we as believers can actually learn to live by the indwelling "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:2) in righteousness? We as believers today, in fact, live under the relationship terms or paradigm of the "dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph 3:2) that Christ gave Paul for us.

Paul tells us we've been made "free" from "condemnation," "the Law" and "the operative power" of the "sin (nature) in the flesh"... by our co-death with Him.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 8:2 For the law (operative power) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from (operative power) the law of sin and death.

Romans 6:6-7 (AMP)  We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, (so) that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. ⁷ For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin [among men].

Now we are free to "walk" in that union with the "Spirit of Christ" in our spirit.

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:25 If we live in (since we have life in) the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

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

Christ, by His Spirit abiding within us, guides us in our walk... as we abide in Him. We are then empowered by His "Spirit of life" and we have His Spirit "anointing" to teach us "all things" that we need to know.

1John 2:20 ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

1John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, 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.

Believers are free from "the power of Sin" by their co-death with and in Christ's "body" (Rom 6:3, 6-7, 7:4). Paul tells us we are to walk according to the indwelling Spirit of Christ (cf., Gal 5:16, 25). We are not to walk by any outer law since it is "the law" that empowers the flesh dwelling nature of "Sin in the flesh."

1 Corinthians 15:56 ...The Strength (Gk., Dunamis, Power) Of Sin Is The Law. 

Romans 8:3b ...God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned Sin (located) In The Flesh:

We are to learn to conduct our daily "walk in the spirit" (Gal 5:16, 25) by obeying the indwelling grace that we have by "Christ in us" as "our life" (cf., Col 1:27, 3:4b, Gal 2:20).  Being "led by the spirit" we grow from "children of God" to become the grown up "sons of God."

By our co-death and resurrection to "newness of life" with Christ (Rom 6:3-4)... has made us free from the power of "Sin in the Flesh"...To Live In and by Christ's life as our only legitimate life. We were baptized not in water but into death with Him.

Romans 6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized (placed) into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Every Christian, as the rebirthed offspring of God their Father, and as by Christ's death as them, is absolutely free "to live, move and have their being in Christ" (Act 17:28) who is now their "life" (Col 3:4a). We as believers have died to our "old" Adamic life so that that "the last Adam," Christ, is now our only genuine life and nature. Our death, by our co-crucifixion in Christ (Rom 6:3), makes us free from sin's power over our "old man" (Rom 6:6-7), permitting us now to spontaneously live by His resurrection life now resident within our spirit, as the life of our "new creation" (2Cor 5:17). 

Guided By The Inner Sense of Christ's "Spirit of Life":

Many Christians spend great deal of time and effort trying to determine God's will for them in a particular decision they are about to make. They wait for instruction from the Lord as to what they should do in the matter at hand. They live as though it were still "time past" when men of God did not have the abiding indwelling "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." So they seek to live by outer guidance and confirmation of God's will. Today we live in what Paul calls "But Now." "Now the Lord is that spirit" (2Cor 3:17); we have by the indwelling "Spirit of Christ" (cf., Col 1:26-27).

I find that most often in my life that He rarely guides me by telling me what He wants me to do, I just do as I inwardly feel free to do. I'm free to live in accord with Christ! Yet, He is faithful to let me know what He does "not" want me to do. We have an example of this from our prior life when we served the Sin-nature. I formerly functioned as a sinner quite naturally, automatically, as a self-loving and self-seeking person as a getter. I just did what I reasoned and wanted to do. Now, my proper living and doing ought to be as spontaneous as was my former fallen inclination. Now, by His life within us, we have an automatic innate sense that prompts us and guides us, without bells and whistles. Now we are absolutely free "to live, move and have our being in Christ" (Act 17:28) who is now our "life" (Col 3:4a).

By contrast, we clearly know what we are NOT to do by the inward restraining sense that we have by Christ's indwelling spirit. This I call His "NO"! We all hear Him. "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (John 8:47). It just that we need to recognize His NO! This NO is an inward restraint, an inner knowledge, an intuitive sense. It most commonly known to us by the "conscience" of our spirit speaking into our mind's consciousness. His inward restraint is the "NO" that we have by Christ within us. We innately know when we should not pursue or say this or that. We may also have this awareness by a sense of an inward limitation, a heaviness, a restraining sense as we consider "doing" or "saying" this or that.

Most often the sense of "no" is contrary to what we in ourselves would "want to do" in the matter. The word "conscience" in Greek is "sundenesis," meaning "a co-perception." This another indwelling sense is deeper than our mind and entirely a function that we have by Christ speaking in us as our new life. When we agree with the restraining sense we are then "dying to self." That dying to self permits His life to come forth and accomplish whatever He wants.

Our Failures Do Not Invalidate Who We Are As God's Children

We now and always have Christ as our life whether we succeed or fail in our obedience and doings from day to day. Allegorically, my own physical children are mine by my life which is irrevocably in them, be they good or bad. We do have His life in this earthen vessel (2Cor 4:7), so yes, at times we, "as" a so-called independent self, leave who we really are in Christ to seek our own way. We at times turn away from the Lord within our spirit, but we always remain a child of our Father by His life within us, whether abiding with Him or apart from Him.

We see this by the story of the prodigal son who left his father, while still possessing his father's life in his veins. Christ's life is in and one with our spirit, irrevocably as our only legitimate life (Gal 2:20). Oftentimes, what we may "do" has nothing to do with who we are, since we may live beneath our true status in Him – we are a work in progress so far as the renewing of our soul's will and mindset. Sometimes we choose to disobey and violate what we know (James 4:17) by His spirit within; nevertheless we remain still His children, by birth – being born of the Father's spiritual loins by His "Seed (sperma), which is Christ" (Gal 3:16, cf., 1Pet 1:23).

Being Sealed with His Spirit (Eph 1:13), My Salvation Is Eternally Secure In Him.  

My being born the first time, physically, never was dependent upon anything I did. It was the result of the procreative work of my earthly father, Joe Licursi with my mother. Likewise, my heavenly Father brought me to be who I am entirely by His work through Christ for me and now in me. All I did was "receive Him" (John 1:12), as the Father's Only Begotten "Seed, which is Christ" (1Peter 1:23, Gal 3:16) into the womb of my human spirit. I was regenerated with Christ's life in my spirit.

When we turn away to disobey the sense we have of Him, we should ultimately come to learn by the distress it brings that we should return to abide our soul in Him who "is our life" (Col 3:4a), just as the prodigal ultimately "came to himself" and returned to his father. Our Father's life in Christ is now within our spirit and that's where we are to abide in blessed union with Him. We ultimately return to who we are at our core – as the rebirthed "children of God." In our spirit we enjoy "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:2), as "our life" (Col 1:27) with His power and guidance. At our rebirth Christ's indwelling resurrected Spirit swallowed up our human spirit, such that we are now "one spirit" (1Cor 6:17) with him. Paul very often refers to this "one spirit" in us as "the spirit" (Rom. 1:9), being the one eternally mingled spirit within us. Imagine, God dwelling in us, as the new us!

Our Spirit Now Is Spontaneously & Eternally Alive By Christ Indwelling Us.

God's life is spontaneous, innate, and intuitive and our spirit is now alive by Christ's life as our new nature (2Pet 1:4), with His "unspoken yes" as we "live and move and have our being in Him." We are free to live, as our spirit permits us. Life always flows spontaneously, or it's not life. A tree lacking the flow of sap is dead. Likewise, Christ is our life, always flowing in us, spontaneously. We'll ultimately learn to know and not question this living, inner, intuitive sense that we have by His life. What we sense may be contrary to the logic of our mind; after all, it's of a life that's deeper than our mind – its Christ alive within us. It is the impulse of Him within our spirit. We have the inner anointing of His Spirit within us, by which we" know all things" (1John 2:20, 27) pertaining to our life. His Spirit "teaches us" and "is the truth." We simply abide in His living unspoken yes by abiding in accord with (staying obedient to) His life flowing in us (Rom 8:4).

Allegorically, our awareness of His unspoken yes within is much the same as when we are physically healthy. When we are healthy we're not conscious of any restraint in our body, we simply move spontaneously until we are ill or injured we feel a limiting sense of discomfort or restraint in body. Likewise, God's unspoken Yes is most often without a conscious sense; but His "No" is known to us by a conscious co-perceptive sense within – that sense of heaviness, a knot in our gut, or simply a inner restraint whereby we just know that "we should not do this or that…" Ours then, is to obey this innermost living Word, which is Christ speaking within us. We should yield to Him, knowing that His will is best for us. Now, in faith, we love God our Father and His indwelling Son. We freely live according to our love relationship with Him.

His "No," however, may be an inner or spoken NO. He speaks NO first by the inner sense of His life attempting to restrain or suppress us from within. We are free to live according to the liberty we have in our spirit... so long as He does not restrain us by His NO. We're not free to do as we will. Christ's YES in us automatic by an OK sense of normalcy, but His NO, is known to us by a sense of distress within. We all must come to know and heed His No! How often I've ridden roughshod over His NO only to suffer the consequences. This is part of "learning Christ" (Eph. 4:20). The only Christ you can learn or come to know experientially is the Christ who lives and speaks within you. 

Ignoring His… Inner Speaking of "NO!" Brings … His Outer Speaking... and then Consequences.

If we neglect to heed His inner speaking of restraint as His No to us, He will be faithful to speak louder; perhaps by the words of others in our path of life, our spouse or friends. Often He speaks to us via our circumstances, clearly saying, No! We should not push through obstructions when He is saying No! If we still do not heed His inner restraint, and then not heed His outer speaking, we may be left to learn by bearing the consequences of our refusal to listen and obey. He will allow us to reap what we sown, not as punishment, but as of a loving Father, to train us in learning to live by the indwelling Christ. 

We enjoy God's protective sphere as we abide "under His wings."
Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers (wings), and Under His Wings Shalt Thou Trust: His Truth (Heb, met, faithfulness) shall be thy shield and buckler. 

I see it this way; the Father has made us absolutely free to live and "learn Christ" as our only legitimate life by placing us in His God-ordained broad protective pen of our life, whereby "all things are lawful" but "not all things are expedient" (1Cor 10:23). Within the perimeter of our bounds we can learn to live and move spontaneously in freedom in Christ. Therein we can safely learn by our mistakes, and we are never to be "condemned" (Rom 8:1a). These failings will not destroy us.

While a young child is free to move about and is safe in a protective area, he may skin his knee, or cut his finger with a jack-knife, but not be killed. But if he insist on jumping the perimeter fence he is in danger of oncoming traffic. Likewise by us refusing to heed the restraining inward "No" and then the Lord's "outer No" that we hear from Him we will bear the consequences, just as a child may when he jumps the fence. Sadly, the consequences of our rebellious free-will choices may harm us with lingering effect, or even destroy us in this earthly realm. Yet, all the while, whether in or out of the pen, God is still our loving Father and Christ remains as His ever-present loving life within us. Whenever we turn back to Him He waits with open arms to embrace us. We are forever His child and "nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ" (Rom 8:39).

'Jumping the fence' would be when we may refuse to heed Him by insisting on our own selfish ways of self-interest.

• Perhaps it would be to marry one whom God has not chosen for us and which may then ultimately results in abuse, pain, hurt and a lifetime of regret.
• Consider the one who against God's No, still chooses to partner in a business venture with someone God has not chosen, only to wind up in prison together.
• Consider one who will not listen to His inner spoken No and outer circumstantial No, and then puts a needle of drugs in his arm only to get HIV. All these lead to unnecessary harm, pain, and quite possibly a premature physical death.

Paul warns the Ephesian believers to "put off" the remnant of their "old" nature and to "put on" the "new man... renewed in mind" (see below).

¹⁷ ... henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸ Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: ¹⁹ Who being past feeling (sensitivity) have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. ²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ; ²¹ If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation (manner of living of) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; ²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; ²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Eph 4:17-24

We as regenerated believer are absolutely free to live spontaneously within the protective sphere of our life in union with Christ. We are also, however, cautioned to heed the sense of "hearing Him" (v21). We are to adopt the renewed mindset (v23) of Christ,  and then deny or "put off" the former soulish self-desires of our "old man" (v22).

All this we do by learning to heed Him and to "walk in accord with the Spirit" of "Christ who is our life." Thereby we yield to Him within, to abide in His resurrection life, as our "new man." We then live as a co-operator with Christ in His purposes for us.