(The underlined words represent the 13 words that made up the word splash)
One of the dangers of learning about the Bible, including how to study the Bible, is the potential that your learning only yields knowledge. The Bible should never be treated like just another subject to learn about. Unfortunately, this happens all the time. Some people approach the Bible like they might approach history or science. But the Bible is unique because it is God’s Word to us.
What makes the Bible different from a history or science book? There are several answers to this question. But we will focus on the unique relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Bible. There are three roles that the Holy Spirit plays regarding the Bible: inspiration, illumination, and sanctification.
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The c entral text relevant to relying on the Holy Spirit is 2 Peter 1:20–21: “ 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” From the scripture, the Word of God has remained to be one of the truths regarding prophecy . For to note, all scripture is God’s breath and not man. However, the Bible was penned by man, so man did play a role in writing down God’s Word.
The Holy Spirit moved men of God and this is another second truth about the Word of God. The Word of God is the act of inspiration and this is considered as the first role the Holy Spirit plays. Thus, the Bible is the product of God’s will, mediated through the Holy Spirit to the men who wrote it.
Moreover, Illumination is also another role of the Holy. Through the illumination, our ability to understand the Bible is explored. Holy Spirit convicts us of sin.
Believers, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, receive the ability to understand God’s Word. Another way to understand illumination is to consider the state of the unbeliever when it comes to spiritual truth. The fact that believers, must acknowledge that the Holy Spirit teaches us his Word and that we should not approach the Bible arrogantly , as if the act of spiritual understanding comes through self-effort. This is one of the important practical applications related to the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, unbelievers are also limited to what they can understand when they read the Bible. Perhaps they will understand as much as their cognitive abilities can handle.
Finally, sanctification is another role of Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sanctify the life of believers to enable them to grow in faith and become more like Christ. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit are indispensable to this process. In James 1:22–25, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves….”. This indicates the importance of obeying the Word of God rather than merely reading it. The Bible acts as a mirror in the life of believers. God, in his holiness, is absolutely without sin (or, as John puts it, “God is light”). When we sin, we are no longer in fellowship with him. However, the Holy Spirit brings the truth of God’s Word to bear on our hearts convicting us of our sins.
