EXPERIENCE vs SCRIPTURE?

(Volodymyr Sukhanych)

How do we put the two together in regards to growing in Jesus? Which do we pursue? While the Mystics insist that we can be transformed by techniques leading to experiences, apart from beliefs, others insist that Scripture is the necessary ingredient.

I'd like to argue that our lives in Christ must begin with the Spirit. If the Spirit does not begin to regenerate our heart and mind, we cannot receive the instructions of Scripture. They are automatically rejected as foolishness:

• The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-15)

It is Christ who gives sight to the blind. He opened the eyes of a blind man, who experienced the working of God. However, by the grace of God, this experience produced knowledge and wisdom:

• The man answered [the religious leadership], “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:30-33)

This illustrates the value of experience. However, its value is greatly diminished if it does not lead to Godly understanding.

I had been bleeding to death as a result of a chainsaw injury. In the midst of this, I experienced the glorious presence of Christ. I knew I was safe and loved and knew that He would be with me even if I died. I was ecstatic as a laid in a pool of blood.

However, if this experience wasn't accompanied by the knowledge of God, it would have been meaningless and perhaps even destructive. Instead, it caused me to seek out the identity of this God who had rescued me, instead of trying to discover a technique by which I could re-experience this ecstasy.

The truth of God - Scripture - is key. However, it is useless unless the Spirit illuminates it for us. 

It has been useless for much of Israel. They had the Scriptures, but their hearts and minds remained closed to it:

• But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)

Yes, we are being transformed by Scripture, but the Spirit must implant it within us. This is the very thing Jesus performed for His disciples:

• He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

It doesn't matter whether we are scholars or not. Our Lord must open the understanding of our mind. He works supernaturally within us to illuminate the Text. Without this experience, we go astray.

Many had abandoned John's congregation and also the faith. This had caused great pain and confusion. However, John explained that they had never been part of Christ. They were never born from above having the anointing of the Spirit of Christ:

• They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. (1 John 2:19-20)

Without the work of the Spirit, Scripture remains lifeless and unable to transform.

While the experiential work of God is essential, it must lead to the transforming knowledge of the Truth. This is why we are never instructed to seek experiences or techniques. Meanwhile, their are many verses encouraging us to seek the truth, wisdom, and the knowledge of God.

Why are we not instructed to seek mountain-top experiences? Because these are given sovereignty by God, as we need them. While He has often quickened my mind to understand Scripture, sometimes He doesn't. It's up to Him. 

However, the wisdom of God and the things of God must head our wish-list:

• “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)