Had a good discussion the other day with a brother, and his question was: “Why can’t I just read the Bible and do what it says? Why do I have to follow the Spirit?”
Putting aside the many biblical commands to follow the Spirit, the question is a valid one. The Bible says I should do something. Do I need to hear from God to obey that or can’t I just do it?
Well, you can, but there is a dangerous assumption within the question, which is that if I follow the Spirit, I might not do what the Bible says.
I will never condone doing something other than what the Bible says, nor will I condone finding something righteous that the Bible calls sin.
But the mature and safe perspective is to realize that the Spirit inspired the scriptures. The Spirit, therefore, will confirm the scriptures and will never contradict them. Also, the Spirit Himself will understand more clearly and distinctly how to fulfill those commands.
Left to our own devices of “reading and following”, dangerous things like legalism and placing heavy, undue burdens upon the Body happen. And you may find yourself not actually fulfilling the scripture at all if you “lean on your own understanding.”
I’ll give an example. In Joshua chapter 9, we have a very important story about the nation of Israel and the Gibeonites. I’ll try to quickly summarize.
Joshua and the nation of Israel were told, unequivocally, that they were to completely wipe out every nation and individual within those nations in the Promised Land. They were not allowed to make peace with any one of those nations.
Well, Joshua is in the midst of kicking butt and taking names – Jericho and Ai go down easily enough – and the men of Gibeon say, “Hey, we’re next. What are we gonna do?”
They dressed in tattered clothes, supplied themselves with old and moldy bread, and traveled to see Joshua at Gilgal. When they got there, the Gibeonites told Joshua and Israel that they were from this far away land and wanted to make peace with Israel.
Fine, Joshua says, no problem, and the elders of Israel all swear an oath of peace.
Of course the truth comes out and the Israelites were deceived, but they swore to peace and therefore honored it, although they made the Gibeonites slaves – woodcutters and water carriers (showed you!).
But there is a really important verse that hinges the whole thing. Joshua 9:14 says “… but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.”
The Law from Moses had been written down by that point. They knew what it said and could read it. Based on the evidence in front of them, they were not going against the written word.
But God also gave them the method by which to ask His counsel, through the High Priest and also a very mysterious Umin and Thummin. The point is His personal counsel was available to them in every situation and they did not go to it. They ended up actually disobeying the written commands from God instead of obeying them.
Believe it or not, even though we have the Bible in our hands, God still knows more than we do. You’re safer asking and hearing from and getting your revelation straight from the source, the Spirit who inspired the scripture and wants us to obey and do what is right more than we understand.
Peace.
Great line:
“Believe it or not, even though we have the Bible in our hands, God still knows more than we do.”
Sometimes the most profound statements are made simply by stating the obvious.
I told our guys the other day that we need to do more writing with our finger on the ground before we give our opinion, no matter how Scriptural our opinion is. It would definitely have been Scriptural for Jesus to say, “You’re right. Go ahead and stone this wicked adulteress and purge the holy nation of Israel.”
Since he didn’t do that, I think it’s safe to say that it would have been Scriptural but wrong.
Oh, and hi, by the way. I keep thinking about trying to get down to visit y’all.
Saji Joseph
i would also add that the assumption of ” if i follow the Spirit only then i might not follow the Scriptures” could incicate that the Spirit Himself is Flighty and Unstable, and needs some other text to Balance Him out. This is a very unhealthy view of the Spirit of God, who is wholly Stable and the Rock of Ages…He is the One who wrote the written word and is wholly complete without them…this then begs another question….Why the Scriptures then?
2 Timothy 3:16 ” All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
… See More
This shows the value and purpose of Scriptures. It is Profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, etc..it does not mean that it replaces or is any substitute for the Spirit. In fact it is the Spirit that is the One who does the work of these things. Scripture alone cannot do the work, or any work for that matter.
It says that the Scriptures are inspired by God and to me is therefore incomplete without the unction and interpretation of God. However, the Spirit in no way is incomplete without the Scriptures. He was the One who is from the beginning, before texts, before prophecy, before human language, hovering above the chaotic waters. Do you think He was incomplete then? Again, i do not undermine the value of Scripture, i’m only putting it in its proper perspective and proper relation to the One who wrote it. I pray that through the Scriptures, the Spirit would cause us to be perferct, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
I think this is a great post, Britt, and I totally agree. I think most people would intellectually agree with this, but the problem arises that people have not been discipled and mentored in the ways of the Spirit. So, it’s one thing to acknowledge that they should follow the Spirit and feel safe in that. It’s another thing to feel confident that they can actually hear Him accurately. It can seem a lot easier to “just follow Scripture” in the sense that it’s easy to read words on a page, but hard to supernaturally discern the leadership of the Holy Spirit. So it seems to me real discipleship — spiritual apprenticeship where this is modeled and passed down by those who have gone before — is so needed in our modern Christianity. Great post.