Will The Spirit Contradict The Bible?

Is it possible for the Spirit of God to teach us something different from the Bible’s statements? Must I choose between Bible knowledge and spiritual power? Is it pleasing to God to base my beliefs on my feelings and experiences? Should I discard a belief if it does not match the Bible’s statements? These are real questions sincere Believers grapple with on a regular basis. This is largely because “Christianity” in the modern world is extremely diverse in its practices. This is not only true when considering the entire country, but also within the average size city. In addition, there are a number of methods employed by Christians to interpret the Bible. Different groups have come to different conclusions based on their system of interpreting the Bible. Some movements emphasize Bible content, others the fundamentals of the faith, while yet others place more stock in experiences and feelings. As a result worship styles vary vastly across the land. My point here is not to debate worship styles, but to look at something more foundational to our spiritual formation. What is that you ask? Well…how we view the ministry of the Spirit of truth and His usages of the Word of truth to develop and mature disciples for the Lord Jesus. More specifically, should we be satisfied with any beliefs that do not match the Bible’s teachings? Is what we believe the same as what God believes? Such considerations focus our attention on the Author and the best Teacher of the Bible. Yes, God wants to teach us the Bible to establish how we view all of life.

THE INSPIRER OF SCRIPTURE

Think with me about the thoughts of Paul beginning in 1Corinthians 2:13, where we discover the Spirit inspires the truths He teaches to believers. So the Spirit is the Revealer, Investigator, and Inspirer of Truth! That is correct; the Spirit is the divine Author of the Holy Scriptures (2Pet. 1:19-21). Consider carefully Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:13, “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” Recall how the Lord Jesus promised that the Spirit would faithfully teach His followers (John 14:26) and skillfully guide us into all facets of God’s eternal truth (John 16:13). It is also important to note carefully the sequence here: the Spirit taught Paul from the Word, and Paul then taught the believers. The truth of God is found in the Word of God because of inspiration. The Word is truth! Being taught by the Spirit is not a subjective intra-personal subliminal mental exercise! No, it is attention to objective inspired truth! The words of a self-proclaimed prophet may not be true at all, and the words and comments of a sincere pastor may be entirely wrong as well.  Truth is always found in God’s written Word. You may not be able to trust what well intentioned men say, but you can trust the Word of God.  Specifically, I trust my King James Bible.

In addition, it is very important to note that these spiritual truths Paul is referring to are given in specific “words.”  Yes, like other faithful Bible students, I believe in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. In the Bible, we Christians have much more than inspired thoughts; we have inspired words—words from the heart of God. Read carefully and thoughtfully what the Lord Jesus says, “For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest” (John 17:8). Jesus was referring to the verbal units that comprise thoughts and concepts; Beloved, He recognizes them as having belonged to God. By Verbal Inspiration is meant the very words of Scripture are God’s words. Inspiration goes beyond the concepts and message to the actual words. It is through specific words that we convey our exact meaning and message. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew  4:4,  “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Again Christ places extraordinary weight on the actual wording of a sentence of Scripture and not merely the general concepts. In this light it is utterly consistent to conclude the Bible is actually God’s Word. Yes, the Bible’s content testifies to the fact that God is its actual Author. Like anything God communicates, His words and message to us Christians is absolutely reliable and free of any error because of the Great Inspirer—The Holy Spirit.

THE INSTRUCTOR OF SCRIPTURE

Still how does the Spirit teach the believer? First of all Paul employed the word “teacheth” (1Cor. 2:13) to describe the Spirit’s work. The Spirit is the Teacher; He desires to instruct and guide every genuine child of God through the wealth of the Scriptures. Robertson (1931, Volume 4, p. 88,) in Word Pictures in the New Testament viewed this word as a reference to the teaching ministry of the Spirit.  Note his comment, “Paul claims the help of the Holy Spirit in the utterance … of the words, which the Spirit teacheth… in words taught by the Spirit”. Therefore one taught by God would be considered ‘instructed’ from a subjective standpoint, but objectively they were given spiritual insights ‘communicated by teaching.’ Thus the apostles were Spirit taught. The Spirit of God taught them objective spiritual truth.

The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Zodhiates 1993) says this Greek word means “to teach” and states,

In 1 Cor. 2:13 it refers to things or lessons taught or imparted or suggested by the Holy Spirit as contrasted to the things taught by words of human wisdom. There are things that are not taught by human wisdom but by God's Spirit, and the possibility of that learning is with everybody as the word "all" makes clear in John 6:45.

One natural implication is that all believers are taught by the Spirit as they yield to Him. One more comment here will suffice to communicate most conclusively the teaching ministry of the Spirit directly and through human instrumentality. Paul emphasized that the intellectuals of this world could not teach the knowledge he was giving to the Corinthian believers. It has been further suggested (Nelson Study Bible 1997) that the Spirit did not simply dictate words to Paul and the other apostles; He taught them. The apostles related with their own vocabulary and style what they had learned from the Spirit. Thus in many regards they wrote and taught Scripture from highly developed understandings of the material.

 Not only does the Spirit teach directly and indirectly, but He combines and compares “spiritual things with spiritual” realities (1Cor. 2:13). He habitually shows the relationship between concepts and truths. The Spirit repeats and reminds the student of the insights, messages, and truths He has taught us previously (John 14:26). He relates the formerly learned truth to something new he desires to educate and edify with. Then the Spirit wisely leads the child of God into new discoveries, new insights, and new applications of old truth. The grandness of this privilege cannot be overstated—believers are taught by God! What a blessing it is to research, compare passages, cross reference verses, and grasp Bible terms as the Spirit of the Living God reveals truths about the Father, the Lord Jesus, Himself, redemption, sanctification and on and on the wonderful list goes. One of the joys of Bible study is suddenly seeing a concept in broader biblical usages. Another blessing is realizing that I have been brought to a certain conclusion by the Spirit’s teaching ministry in my life. Beloved, how cool is that!

What a wonder to witness the Spirit combining, connecting, and linking spiritual realities to other truths. With awesome skill He carefully synchronizes, blends, inculcates, compares, distinguish, contrasts, and harmonizes God’s truths to the benefit of the believer’s comprehension of God and His will. The tragedy of all tragedies is many Christians are too busy or too distracted by the entertainment world for this kind of research and quiet meditation before the Word.  The priorities of worldliness, materialism, and personal achievement have effectively crowd out any faint ambitions to know God intimately. The result is a spiritually bankrupt brand of Christianity where all types of maladies further and hasten its deterioration. This is why Christians are so impoverished, weakened, and ignorant of God. It is not that Christianity is irrelevant, or inconsequential. No Christians are attempting to live without a Spirit-taught knowledge of God. What enrichment they forfeit, what peace they forego, and what principles they live without! Warren Wiersbe (1989, Vol. 1, p. 576) in The Bible Exposition Commentary said further,

The Holy Spirit is like a householder who “bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matt 13:52). The new always comes out of the old and helps us better understand the old. God gives us new insights into old truths as we compare one part of Scripture with another. Jesus based His teaching on the Old Testament, yet people were amazed at what He taught because it was so fresh and exciting.  I suggest that you make time every day to read the Word and meditate on it. Follow a regular schedule in your reading and give yourself time to pray, think, and meditate. Let the Spirit of God search the Word and teach you. The study and application of basic Bible doctrine can transform your life.

Beloved, life was designed to be experienced with God; God created us for Himself. We are grossly incomplete without Him. The Holy Spirit’s teaching and instruction ministry in our lives brings us into some realizations of this original design of God. Mentoring and coaching are intimate interactions among people. The same is true of the Spirit’s mentoring and teaching ministry in our lives. Some lessons we will enjoy more than other. There will be occasions when the Spirit confronts our sin and seeks restoration with God. While this may feel uncomfortable it is so vital to our spiritual formation. We can count on the Spirit to always be timely and relevant in what He teaches us because He knows us far better than we know ourselves. Trust His guidance from one subject to the next knowing He always has our highest good in mind.

Lastly, prepare yourself for a few surprises. The Spirit will correct our misconception about God more than once. You and I do not know yet what we presently know wrongly. Again trust the Spirit of God to carefully guide you through the applicable Bible passages to help you come to the correct conclusions. Honestly, all of us without any exception have some misconceptions about God that requires tweaking. Just be honest with God and submissive to the Scriptures.

Remember, what the Spirit of God teaches will always be consistent with what is taught in the body of Scripture. The Holy Spirit is not confused. He does not impress us with ideas or concepts that contradict His own statements in the Bible. The Spirit teaches from the Bible. If we think or believe something and it does not align with the Scriptures, then we have believed a lie. The Spirit of God is the Author and Teacher of the Bible. He will not lead you and me to contradictory conclusions. He always agrees with the Bible He wrote. I have heard sincere Christians say, “I do not care what the Bible says…I know what the Spirit of God told me!” I have also witnessed Christians saying, “I just go with it…I cannot explain it from the Bible, but I believe it is of the Spirit of God.” May I say with all humility of heart, that the Bible’s statements matter most to the Spirit of God, and He will not show us or teach us anything that is not consistent with His Bible. Our experiences do not establish truth; the Bible is truth. Our conclusions do not establish truth; the Bible is truth according to the Lord Jesus (Jn. 17:17). The Spirit of Truth (Jn. 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1Jn. 4:6) will only communicate truth from the Word of Truth (2Cor. 6:7; Eph. 1:13; 2Tim. 2:15; Js. 1:18) as written in the Bible. Beloved, when we believe something claiming it is from the Spirit of Truth, but cannot substantiate that conclusion from the Word of Truth, it is quite likely we have believed a lie. Listen carefully…have the faith and holy courage to take what the Bible clearly says when correctly interpreted over what you feel, have experienced, or think. Submit yourself to the teaching and instructing ministry of the Spirit of God on that subject with the hope of emerging from that study with a correct perception of God and His Word. Whenever you open your Bible, ask the Spirit of Truth to teach and guide you into all truth. He will teach you wondrous things out of His holy Book. May you know wonderful blessings as you chose to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus and a student of the Spirit in the Word of God.