THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT
From Days Of Praise, a Daily Devotional
The Word and the Spirit
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:12).
How is it that some people can read a Biblical passage and find
it either tedious, confusing, or even foolish, whereas others
will receive great understanding and blessing from the very
same passage? The answer is that the first group are animated
only by the spirit of the world, "the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2),
whereas the others are indwelt by the Spirit of God, having
received the Holy Spirit when they trusted Christ for
forgiveness and salvation.
It was, after all, the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures
to begin with. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:21). "All scripture is given
by inspiration of God...." (II Timothy 3:16), that is,
"God-breathed," where the "breath of God" is none other than
the "Spirit of God." Concerning his own divinely inspired
writings, Paul said: "We speak, not in the words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth"
(I Corinthians 2:13).
Likewise it is the same Spirit indwelling each believer who
illumines, and confirms, and applies His own Scriptures to the
individual Christian who reads or hears them. "The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned" (I Corinthians 2:14).
On the other hand, Jesus promised His disciples that "when
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all
truth" (John 16:13).
This He does through the Scriptures He inspired, with
blessings abundant as we study them prayerfully and with
believing and obedient hearts. HMM
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