Holy Spirit Interactive: Discover the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Word

Memory Passage
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:10-15
.. but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: ..

Insights
"Our entire study of life in the Spirit will be built, not on theories drawn from personal experience, but on the foundation of what the Bible says about the work of the Holy Spirit. In other words, at every step of our study, we'll apply the principles of the "revealing" activity of the Spirit we've just considered. ...because it is God who revealed truth we wouldn't otherwise know (revelation), the Bible is fully trustworthy and demands our obedience (authority). God gave this revelation by doing a special work by His Spirit in those chosen to author Scripture (inspiration) and it is our privilege and responsibility to determine what each passage means (interpretation). Then we can discover how God wants us to respond to the teaching of a passage (application). For interpretation and application we have the assistance of the Holy Spirit, guiding us into all the truth we need (illumination)." -Robertson McQuilken, Life in the Spirit

Consider this! The truth given to us in scripture is more solid than theories built on our life experiences. That is a difficult statement to grasp. How can you disbelieve what your experiences have taught you? What do you do when God's Word contradicts a belief based on your personal experience? The truth of the Bible spans time, cultures and world views, allowing it to be relevant, active, and powerful in the life of every believer.

Personal Reflection

1. Theories built on life circumstances rather than on the truth about God and the work of the Holy Spirit will falter. Can you think of a time when your experience contradicted what God's Word said? How did you reconcile the differences?
2. As you think about the following, reflect on the importance of each one and how it has impacted your study of the Word. Write down any key thoughts that you want to remember.
   1. Inspiration/Revelation
   2. The Bible's Authority
   3. Illumination (Interpretation and Application)
3. Write a prayer to God expressing your desire to understand the Word correctly.