Holy Spirit and God's Word - Brad Anderson
I just finished watching a video by comedian John Crist about a new Bible app, the MeVersion app. The video is an obvious satire on people taking the Bible out of context and offers the option to change Bible verses to suit the individual. In it he says, “finally a bible that justifies my lifestyle,” and when rewording 2 Timothy 3:16 he says “All Scripture is God-breathed and… useful to take out of context to justify your actions.” This deserved jab shows how much many outside and even inside Christianity desire Scripture to conform to our wishes rather than us conforming to it.
Many are renewing their Bible reading plans at the new year, attempting to reestablish helpful, faithful patterns, and in doing so, let me encourage you not to leave the Holy Spirit out of those plans. If we leave the Spirit out of our Scripture reading, then we will expect Scripture to conform to us. It’s worth asking then: what is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Scripture?
God gives us his Word as a means of grace to accomplish his purposes, and promises that it will not return void (Isa. 55:10-11). The whole word of God, both Old Testament and New Testament, are to be read and preached, for it is in them that we search for, and find, eternal life (John 5:39). It is simply a means of grace because it is how God reveals himself. To further understand how that works, it is helpful to evaluate WSC, Q. 89:
Q. How is the word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God maketh [emphasis mine] the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.
Only the Spirit of God makes the reading and preaching of God’s Word an effectual means. It is the Spirit of God that knows and comprehends God (2 Cor. 2:11) and is the only one who can change a sinner’s heart in order to know the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16). Apart from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, the words of Scripture have no inherent value of their own and cannot save. As Vos states, “The Spirit is not helpless without the Word, but the Word is useless for salvation without the Spirit.”
The use of Scripture without the Holy Spirit might be able to produce, by common grace, a sense of morality and goodness. One can read the commands of God and decide to behave in a certain manner showing that the words affected the conscience, but we are by nature alienated from God and dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 4:21). A youth might read from the Ten Commandments to “honor your father and mother,” and in enacting that command might bring peace into his or her home. That peace might make the home more tolerable, but it will not bring salvation to the family. A modification of behavior is no marker of the work of the Holy Spirit. We need the life-giving and changing work of the Spirit to accompany God’s word.
The Spirit uses the Word to convince sinners of their sin, for by the “law is the knowledge of sin,” (Rom. 3:20). For “when the Spirit comes he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement…” (John 16:8). Only the Spirit is able to take us out of our self-centered reasoning and convince us that we are guilty before the God of this universe and in need of his redemption.
The Spirit makes the Word an effectual means of converting sinners by making use of it “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkens to light, and from the power of Satan to God,” (Acts 26:18). It is this special working of the Spirit and the word together that shows how dearly and deeply God communicates his grace to his people. Not only does he provide his word, his Spirit delivers the sinner from darkness to light. This is something only the Spirit can do as the word is delivered to the heart of one living in darkness. This is seen in the life of Paul as, in darkness, he thought his understanding of the law brought life, but once exposed to light he knew his love for the law was covetousness which brings forth death (Rom. 7:7-12).
The picture above is a painting by Rembrandt titled “An Old Woman Reading.” Many know that to appreciate Rembrandt is to understand his use of light. See how the light is directed in the painting. See that the pages of the book are lighting up the woman’s face? The pages actually light up everything under her hood, ans she is captivated. Is that not a perfect illustration of what God’s Word by the power of the Holy Spirit does to one who is united to Jesus. It is the word that illumines the reader, not the reader imposing their own light on the text. May we approach the Text with the humility desiring that it shapes us, not wanting the MeVersion of the Bible where we shape it into our likeness, which in the end, would only lead us into deeper darkness. May we all pray, as we approach Scripture, that the Spirit will use God’s word to change us—to enlighten our soulsand the very essence of our beings!