SINCE WE HAVE THE SPIRIT TO INSTRUCT US, DO WE STILL NEED THE SCRIPTURES?

Everything in the Scriptures cries out “Scripture!” God actually places His Word on par with His very Personhood:

·       I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name [You Yourself] and your word. (Psalm 138:2 ESV)

However, some cite this verse as proof that we only need the Spirit:

·       But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. (1 John 2:20, 27)

This leaves us questioning, “Do we have this knowledge through the Spirit alone or by the Spirit working through the Scriptures and the preached Gospel?” Scripture requires the latter solution. It tells us that the Church also needs teachers and pastors of the Word to bring us to maturity in the faith (Ephesians 4:11-14). It shows us how the Spirit works in conformity with the Word. Paul wrote Timothy that the Lord would give Him understanding through the Scriptures had had written to Him:

·       Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Timothy 2:7)

After His resurrection, Jesus supernaturally revealed truth to His disciples, but here too, it was through the Scriptures:

·       Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

The Scriptures alone weren’t enough. Jesus had to “open their minds to understand” them properly. As far as we can tell, He always worked in conjunction with the spoken and written Word, not apart from it. He even promised them that the Spirit would bring His Words back to His Apostles. He would instruct them but not apart from the Word of the Scriptures.

Even in regards to salvation, God has ordained the Word to communicate the Gospel of salvation:

·       For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18, 21-24; Romans 1:16)

We see that the “power of God” works in conjunction with the Word of the Gospel, not apart from it, to bring salvation.

It is clear that the Word cannot stand alone to accomplish God’s purposes. Instead, God the Spirit has to prepare the soil of our hearts to receive it. The Hebrew Scriptures weren’t enough to open the eyes of the Israelites. Paul informs us that there had been a veil over their hearts preventing them from receiving the Gospel. This veil had to be removed by the Spirit so that they could see it:

·       But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)

This is another illustration of the Spirit opening eyes and saving through the Word, not apart from it. Saving faith entails a verbal revelation of the Gospel. Our minds must be informed of the truth. The Lord works wholistically in our lives, changing both hearts and minds through His Word:

·       May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:2-3)

We require both His grace through His knowledge and not apart from the knowledge of the Word. For a church to rely only on private messages from the Spirit would create chaos. Everyone would be receiving different messages, allegedly from the Spirit, with no way to resolve them and to restore harmony, apart from the Scriptures.

Why then did John write, “you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” (1 John 2:20, 27). He must have meant that we have all knowledge by the Spirit through His Word! If this church didn’t also require the Word, there would be absolutely no reason for John to write to them, since they have “all knowledge” already. This is an absurdity.