Disobedience will keep us out of the spiritual
clouds quicker than anything; there is just no room for the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life in our bodies. If
eagles are soaring it’s because they are free from the entanglements of the world. I would like to address this
in a different kind of way, but I
have to lead us through a thick theological forest to get there. So, it may
come across as a little academic as we trek through the woods to the bluff, but
the hike will be spiritually healthy for us. Then we
will reach the overlook to see what we can do to get us back in the air where
we belong if that is our desire. You probably have already figured
out that we will have to strengthen our resolve and lighten up the load in
order to make it happen! Let’s begin.
As a believer, you have often heard the
terms like revelation, inspiration, and illumination. They are often used
interchangeably in our English vernacular as if they were synonymous. This is
unfortunate as well as misleading because these three words in a theological context
are interrelated but are not the same.
Because the revelation of God (1 Cor 2:10-11) is unknowable
(incapable of being known or known through human effort), it is unsearchable,
undiscoverable, and unobtainable either through empirical (hearing or seeing
observation, establishing fact, scientific) or rational (reasoning, introducing
theory, philosophic) approaches. When God created man, He took the initiative to reveal
Himself to His supreme creation. Just as we cannot exist without God, we cannot
know Him apart from Him. And this is where the role of inspiration (1 Cor 2:12-13) turns
revelation (spiritual ideas) into God-breathed words (the end result being the words
codified in the 66 books of the Bible).
For us to understand the Bible and apply
its truths to our lives requires salvation and afterward needed illumination (1 Cor 2:14-16) by
the Holy Spirit. Salvation is without works (Eph 2:8-9), but that is not the case with enlightenment (cf. Josh 1:8; Rom 12:2; 2
Tim 2:15, KJV; 2 Pet 3:18).
It demands a life that is holy and obedient and growing spiritually. The Spirit reveals the truth for
Christ-likeness, not for intellectual curiosity.
God chose two ways to reveal Himself
to man: general revelation or through His creation (cf. Psa 19:1-6; Rom 1:18-32)
and special revelation (the Bible through inspiration). Since revelation is
basically the disclosure of the knowledge of God to man, think of creation (the
physical universe) being a “self-disclosure” or an obvious revelation to all.
This means that all men have a limited capacity in the natural state to receive
certain truths about God through His creation.
Keep in mind the
Bible never argues for God’s existence. It is the great obvious based upon;
you got it, His creation! We see according to the Apostle Paul under
inspiration God’s awesome power and His divine nature or character (Rom 1:20).
We can detect that God’s character is faithful unlike man (Gn 8:21-22) and
that He is kind and gracious (Acts 14:17). God’s revelation of Himself in creation is a clear witness of His Deity,
existence, power, and character. Design demands a Designer; creation demands a
Creator! The thrust of our basic cosmological argument is that the Universe
demands the admission of an adequate external cause which is God. Anyone looking
upward and looking around can know there is a God and seek to know our God.
This is how important the Great Commission (Mt 28:19-20) is to the cause of
Christ (2 Pet 3:9).
This general revelation creates a global accountability
of all peoples of the earth to the
Creator whether or not they have been
exposed to the Gospel through special revelation; light rejected is light
denied. Paul concluded, “so that they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20), and Paul
proceeds to tell us why again under inspiration (Rom 1:21-32). On a personal
note, I do believe that if anyone earnestly desires to truly know the truth
(Jer 29:13), God will send someone to share the Gospel with that person (cf. Ethiopian
eunuch, Acts 8:26-29; Cornelius, Acts 10, and Acts 17:27).
When it comes to special revelation
(again, words codified in the Bible) think of it as “Spirit-disclosure” or not-so-obvious truths, unlike general revelation. What this means is that the
natural man (the man without the Holy Spirit living within the heart, Jude
1:19) does not have the spiritual capacity to receive the things of the Spirit
of God from special revelation (1 Cor 1:18; 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4). It is not obvious because the sensual man is spiritually blind to the truth of God. The natural man can
pick out our faults and shortcomings all day long, but he is unable to judge
the spiritual man; only God can do that (1 Cor 4:3-5). God will hold our judges
of the world accountable at the Great White Throne judgment.
Unlike general revelation, special
revelation obviously allows God to reveal much more about Himself to man
through the written word. Because all of God’s attributes are infinite,
eternal, and immutable, both creation and the Word are not “tell-all” books. Though
there is nothing to hide, God in His infinite wisdom imposed a limitation on
the revelation of Himself to man (Deut 29:29).
So, if a person ever gets behind a
podium and declares to have received a revelation
from God (not just figuratively speaking), he didn’t. If the speaker is being figurative and saying he received a revelation from God, it is better to say, "I have received illumination from God the Holy Spirit." All revelation is
codified and complete. Beware! Any group claiming to receive further revelation
(not just figuratively speaking) from God is false. They are nothing more than
old heresy in new clothing. Revelation is sourced in God, and all contents of
revelation are simply beyond the reach of man (cf. Isa 55:8-9; Rom 11:33).
Inspiration is nothing short of a miracle;
it spans over 1500 years on three continents involving 40 authors and three
languages. We tend to forget that inspiration is a bona fide miracle in our attempt
to explain it to the skeptics. But really, how do you adequately explain a
miracle anyway? Who will come forth and adequately explain how Jesus healed the
blind man in John chapter nine? Oh, mix up some spittle and clay on the ground
and smear it on the eyes! And don’t forget to wash it off in the pool (Jn
9:6-7); the next thing you know, twenty/twenty vision! The Pharisees hated
Jesus so much that they became blind to the miracle. I think many who oppose
Christianity are blinded by their hatred of Jesus to behold the wonders.
Paul said “All Scripture is given by
inspiration (Gk, theopneustos) meaning “God-breathed” or breathed
out by God and used only here in the NT (2 Tim 3:16). Paul gives us further insight into
this inspiration in 1 Cor 2:12-13. There is a gender question in verse 13
concerning the second word “spiritual” which gives two possible interpretations
of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
If you are aware of this
controversy, then you will quickly deduce that I prefer the neuter gender. So the
phrase “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” means that the Holy Spirit
taught the writers of Scripture by expressing or expounding spiritual things or
truth with spiritual words (neuter
gender). Some hold to “interpreting spiritual truths to spiritual men” (masculine gender). This passage
in Corinthians is the strongest passage on verbal inspiration, meaning that
every single word was given precisely by the Holy Spirit in the original manuscripts.
When you see Peter’s view of
Scripture under inspiration (2 Pet 1:20-21), he indicates that no scripture was
of human origin, “prophecy never came by the will of man,” but holy men of God
were “moved by the Holy Spirit” or were borne along by the Spirit of God like a
sailing vessel whose sheet is full because God-breathed. So with all of this Holy Spirit
activity going on during inspiration, people ask if this was nothing more than mechanical
dictation, or did the writers of Scripture play an active role other than being
an amanuensis?
When we look at the writing styles of John, Paul, and Peter we find
that they are different. Though the Spirit superintended the composition and recording of every word God wanted to be revealed without error, the different literary styles of the writers indicate that God preserved and utilized the individual personalities, thought processes, and personal vocabulary during inspiration! Again, how do you explain a miracle? Inspiration was an amazing, miraculous, unexplainable process!
As convenient as this may sound and no less true, only the original manuscripts of Scripture were verbally inspired (2 Tim 3:16) and without error. Thus, no translation is considered God-breathed and absolutely without error. There are some solid translations that are very reliable and trustworthy from an evangelical point of view. I think God allowed the originals to disappear from the scene because of the tendency to make a religious icon out of religious artifacts, causing believers to fall into idolatry, in this case, by worshiping the Word rather than the God of the Word – bibliolatry.
Would not having the original documents put an end to the endless debates on what translation is “the” translation? It’s doubtful because of the diversity of language and the penchants of liberal, moderate, and conservative translators interpreting words that fit their theology. This is one of the reasons why not all translations are equal. It is not a question of God’s ability to preserve His Word (cf. Mk 13:31). He chose not to preserve the original scripture that was God-breathed, but God allowed them to be worn out over time unlike the clothes and sandals in the wilderness (Deut 29:5).
Though any proper translation reconstructed from extant manuscripts cannot claim to be God-breathed and absolutely without error, the nearly 25,000 manuscripts in existence today supporting the New Testament allow for the reconstruction of those God-breathed manuscripts with a high degree of accuracy (http://evidencetobelieve.net/reliability_of_the_bible.html). What this means to you and to me is that even though no one translation is inspired or God-breathed and without error, a proper translation rises to the level of being the supreme rule and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Any discrepancies like misspellings, variations in the spelling, scribal errors, number variances, et cetera of the Bible are infinitesimal in number considering the volume of revelation and unrelated to any major doctrines. Truly, the Bible is trustworthy and reliable to base life decisions upon, particularly concerning eternal salvation, even though a high quality, highly reliable translation is not inspired like the original manuscripts. To be sure, equating inspiration with preservation is problematic and unsustainable. There are at least three types of translations: literal, dynamic equivalent, and contemporary (paraphrase).
Now, we come to illumination (1 Cor 2:14-16). I like the simple definition of John Owens on illumination; it’s “the process by which God’s Holy Spirit enables us [believers, added] to understand His word and apply it to our lives.” Below are a couple of verses on illumination.
As convenient as this may sound and no less true, only the original manuscripts of Scripture were verbally inspired (2 Tim 3:16) and without error. Thus, no translation is considered God-breathed and absolutely without error. There are some solid translations that are very reliable and trustworthy from an evangelical point of view. I think God allowed the originals to disappear from the scene because of the tendency to make a religious icon out of religious artifacts, causing believers to fall into idolatry, in this case, by worshiping the Word rather than the God of the Word – bibliolatry.
Would not having the original documents put an end to the endless debates on what translation is “the” translation? It’s doubtful because of the diversity of language and the penchants of liberal, moderate, and conservative translators interpreting words that fit their theology. This is one of the reasons why not all translations are equal. It is not a question of God’s ability to preserve His Word (cf. Mk 13:31). He chose not to preserve the original scripture that was God-breathed, but God allowed them to be worn out over time unlike the clothes and sandals in the wilderness (Deut 29:5).
Though any proper translation reconstructed from extant manuscripts cannot claim to be God-breathed and absolutely without error, the nearly 25,000 manuscripts in existence today supporting the New Testament allow for the reconstruction of those God-breathed manuscripts with a high degree of accuracy (http://evidencetobelieve.net/reliability_of_the_bible.html). What this means to you and to me is that even though no one translation is inspired or God-breathed and without error, a proper translation rises to the level of being the supreme rule and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Any discrepancies like misspellings, variations in the spelling, scribal errors, number variances, et cetera of the Bible are infinitesimal in number considering the volume of revelation and unrelated to any major doctrines. Truly, the Bible is trustworthy and reliable to base life decisions upon, particularly concerning eternal salvation, even though a high quality, highly reliable translation is not inspired like the original manuscripts. To be sure, equating inspiration with preservation is problematic and unsustainable. There are at least three types of translations: literal, dynamic equivalent, and contemporary (paraphrase).
Now, we come to illumination (1 Cor 2:14-16). I like the simple definition of John Owens on illumination; it’s “the process by which God’s Holy Spirit enables us [believers, added] to understand His word and apply it to our lives.” Below are a couple of verses on illumination.
Psa 119:105 Your word is
a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psa 119:130 The entrance
of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Psa 119:18 Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things
from Your law.
Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the
light of the LORD.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The ultimate purpose of illumination is to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18); it is grace and knowledge that produces Christ-likeness (Rom 12:2). The illumination of the believer by the Holy Spirit comes through reading, meditating, and studying the Scriptures which requires being still (Psa 46:10); unfortunately, these activities are not something many Christians like to spend much time in doing; it’s far easier and more convenient to simply strut with the turkeys by simply hearing from the pulpit via church, TV, or radio or some other medium and go on about our rat killing because it is easier than doing all of that stuff above, and we don't have time for that anyway. Since I slipped in the word still, let's not forget the importance of prayer in all of this. Ever notice how we will speak to any and everybody but God (cf. Col 4:2; 1 Thess 5:17). A life without prayer is a life lived independently of God in Turkeyville. There are a lot of audible gobbles without any gobbling of the Word!
Well, we are finally out of the
theological forest and have reached the high rocky bluffs overlooking an unending
azure sky. So you want to soar spiritually?
Imagine you are actually at this imaginative bluff. All you have to do is
launch out for all it's worth! Sounds a bit crazy, doesn’t it? Have you learned
anything from walking with me through that long stretch of the forest back there?
God went through a lot
of trouble to communicate the revelation of Himself to us so we could know Him in a personal, loving way. He created this incredible Universe in order to place a man on earth. Then He used creation and the Word of God to reveal Him to us! When we look at God's creation all around us, do we think of God (Psa 8:3-4; 19:1; Rom 1:20)? What are we doing
with our Bible? Is it simply collecting dust at the house? The sin of neglect toward the Scriptures reveals that we have no idea of the spiritual treasures we have access to and the blessings available to us if we would just seek to know Him with all of our hearts. We are all guilty of “the great neglect.”
Illumination is for us and a legacy we share and pass on to our children! The Holy Spirit will take us
as high and as far out as we want to go spiritually into Christ-likeness, but
we still have to address being overloaded by the things of the world before we are
to take to the air. We are so often burdened by the weight of being out of God’s
will that we need to desperately jettison the worldly cargo that is keeping us from
soaring spiritually (in the will of God). If only we would be willing to submit to a 1 Jn 1:9
experience, confess (agreeing with God about our worthless cargo) our sin, and dump
it out of our lives (repent) with the help of Jesus (Jn 15:5; Php 4:13). Then
we can mount up with the wings of an eagle and off the bluff (symbolic of the leap of
faith) we go.
The more we understand and apply the truths of God in life the
higher we will lift, not to some self-righteous stratospheric height, but to
the glorious and growing heights of Christ-likeness. In the inner man, we desire
to stay there in the boundless, lofty band of air moved by the gentle wind of
the Spirit. Such a foretaste of the celestial begs us to wonder why it took so
long for us to stretch our wings and fly rather than hang around with the turkeys far
below – “… come out from them and be separate, says Yahweh” (2 Cor 6:17; cf.
Isa 52:11).
Coming back down to reality, alas, this is
something hard to do when we are living on the fly in lower atmospheres,
leaving a contrail of in one ear and out the other. To read, to meditate, and to
study with a prayerful heart are cutting against the grain of our conditioned, learned,
and ladened life of motion and commotion! Sadly, you see the fruit of such a life in the talk and walk of the great neglect
far below the reaches of open space and freedom in Christ to living life below the clouds where the smell of pollution in the air reaches the nostrils, and the cancer of worldliness thrives.
How do you conform to the image of
Christ apart from being holy, wise, and applying elbow grease in the Word? We
put up such a barrage of excuses on why we can’t. When we get to the
point where things are more important than being like Christ we have dipped
to an all-time spiritual low of insulting the Majesty of our LORD –
“Father, there are simply more important
things than learning to be like You, but You understand; life happens. Right now, I am surrounded by
turkeys.”
What is keeping us from surrounding ourselves with eagles? If we are not consistently becoming
more like Christ, we are regressing to the image of worldliness; a place where
God’s will is not under consideration or valued; it is there where we crash and burn. If Jesus has the words of eternal
life, and He does, why would we return to the polluted air of the disastrous former life (cf. Jn 6:68)? We have a choice to either gobble or grow, yes?
When was the last time we were
touched by the Holy Spirit’s illuminating work to move beyond ourselves and
reach for Christ-likeness? Why settle for the smog and the gobblers? James M. Boice once said, “The Word without the
illumination of the Holy Spirit remains a closed book.” Also, illumination can't take place if we keep the Book closed from neglect!
When either happens, we
are grounded. I think it was Moody who once said that sin will keep you from the Bible, or the
Bible will keep you from sin. The Bible being closed in our lives is
tantamount to the heart being opened to worldliness. This is when it’s way too hazardous
to fly when we are overloaded by the things of the world and pretending to
spiritually soar. This kind of winging is nothing more than a recipe for a crash and burn. Sin will clip our wings, but there is healing in His (Mal
4:2). It's high time to soar again but to greater heights (Isa 40:31)! <><
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