John 16:13:
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

This reading follows from the Sunday morning sermon concerning the need to provide God’s word to the whole world.

When someone reads the bible, the Holy Spirit guides them into all truth. Jesus is able, through His Spirit, to talk, teach, and guide them through the word, and this makes the word of God unique.

Question: How do the bible and Holy Spirit work together? What is your experience of this?

The Source of the Bible is the Holy Spirit

2 Peter 1:20-21, “…no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Mere humans may have recorded the words of the bible, but only as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, what they wrote was given to them by the Holy Spirit.

We have the gift of the Holy Spirit

Jesus promised in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
The same Spirit who wrote the bible now dwells in us as our Helper. We know the author, and He gives understanding as we read the words of the Bible.

We cannot understand the bible by our human intellect

1 Corinthians 2:14:, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
The crucial aspect of the gospel, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us, is folly according to worldly wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:18-21, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing”

In my experience, it is only by faith that we can put aside the worship of our own intellect, and come before God with a humble readiness to receive His wisdom. And faith itself is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

As we saw in the Garden of Eden, the critical and questioning aspect of the human brain is easily misguided by Satan into worship of our own self, and leads to a desire to put ourselves in the place of, or above God, and be able to judge Him according to our limited logic. But we cannot know the ways of God in our own power.

The secular influence of this world blinds us to the truth

2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Our faith and our understanding are not built on human logic, but are a gift from God through His Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:11, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:4-5, “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Personal experience

I have not been conscious of receiving great understanding as I read the bible, I am more often aware of the severe limits to my knowledge, and the need to pray for patience to wait for God’s wisdom.

But I have had a continual hunger to read His word, which has kept me linked into bible study groups for over 40 years. And during that time the bible has never become repetitive or monotonous. Even with passages I have often read, I am given new insights as I read them again. So, the bible is a living document, it is always new as the Holy Spirit speaks through its words what God wants me to have to equip me for the new tasks and challenges He gives.

And it is a joy to share what the Holy Spirit gives with other people, both in this group and with everyone whom God prepares to receive His word as He brings them into my life.

Praise God for the gift of scripture, and for His Holy Spirit who brings it to life!