The work of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures

The world is full of opinions concerning the Holy Spirit and how He functions in the realm of man’s knowledge of how he or she is to live in this physical life. There are four words that, when understood and appreciated, the understanding of how the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the inspired scriptures will become evident. Consider the following four words.

Revelation. The Greek word that is translated “reveal” is apokalupto. It means to “uncover or unveil”. Because of God’s extreme superiority above all humanity, the words of Isaiah ring true; His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isa. 55:8-9). From days of old, man has had no way of knowing God’s will without that being revealed to them in some way. Isaiah wrote, “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?” (Isa. 40:14). Paul made it clear with the rhetorical question, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? (Rom. 11:34), and “For who hath know the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? (I Cor. 2:16).

Without revelation of the mind of God by way of the Holy Spirit, no human being would know anything about the moral character of God, nor of His eternal purpose of the salvation of humanity in Christ Jesus. Isaiah said, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” (Isa. 64:4). Paul quoted that verse from Isaiah and added to it, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (I Cor. 2:9-11).

The second word describing the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the written word of God is the word “Inspiration”. The Greek word translated “given by inspiration of God” (II Tim. 3:16) is theopneustos (literally, “God-breathed”). The term has at least three significant implications. First, to be an inspired writer or speaker means that the message you were communicating was divine in its origin. It is an unveiling or revealing of the otherwise unknown mind of God. Second, to be an inspired writer or speaker means that although you are a fallible human being, when you are communicating by inspiration, your message was completely error free. Third, to be an inspired writer or speaker means that every word used in your communication of the mind of God was precisely the word God wanted you to use.

The Holy Spirit’s inspiration, therefore, ensured that the exact message God had in His mind was communicated precisely, accurately, and completely via imperfect human speakers and writers. In the most literal sense possible, the holy Scriptures are God’s word.

Our third word is “Confirmation”. When God’s message was communicated orally, an infallible, undeniable proof that the message and messenger were heaven sent was miraculous confirmation. When Moses was sent to God’s people in Egypt the miracles of his rod becoming a serpent and his hand becoming leprous were signs which confirmed his claim of being God’s authorized spokesman (Exo. 4:1-8, 30-32). When Jesus commissioned the apostles to take the gospel into all the world and preach it to every creature, they were given miraculous abilities as signs that the message they were delivering was indeed one sent from God (Mark 16:15-20; Heb. 2:4).

The last of the four words to note is Canonization. The word “canon” refers to the determination (made prior to A.D. 100) which separated the literary wheat from the chaff, or in other words, that which was truly inspired revelation from that simply written by men. The only way that such could be done was with the miraculous ability of discernment. One of the miraculous gifts that some received from the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:18 was the gift of discernment (I Cor. 12:10). The correspondence by Paul and others was shared among the early churches (Col. 4:16) and gradually assembled into those determined to be canonical books. The Roman Catholic Church did not give us the New Testament canon. The Holy Spirit via first century Christians did.

When we look into the Holy Bible, we are seeing the mind of God for man revealed to us by way of the work of the Holy Spirit.