The Revealed Word
The Revealed Word
“Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
“And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:9)
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13)
“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” … “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:10-13)
The Bible is known as the revelation from God to men. What, then, does the expression “revealed word” used in the title of this article mean? The Bible, the word of God itself, allows us to understand that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the reader to accurately understand the truths transmitted in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments.
Why did it please God not to allow that the exact comprehension of these truths be acquired by a mere historical and grammatical examination of the Holy Scriptures? The Lord Jesus revealed the reason to His disciples when they asked Him why He spoke to the multitude in parables: “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” It is, therefore, the privilege of the Church to have the correct understanding of biblical truths.
Another question arises: what is necessary for the church to be able to receive this exact knowledge of the Scriptures? It is necessary that the Church be assisted by the Holy Spirit, whose mission is to lead the believers to “all truth”. This is one of the great goals of the baptism with the Holy Spirit: to grant the Church an essential resource to reach all of God’s will.
God’s Word, the Bible, teaches that there is a fundamental difference between, on the one hand, the merely rational knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and on the other, the spiritual knowledge. As a biblical passage is studied simply using human resources – intellectual knowledge of the Scriptures, linguistic, historic and grammatical analysis, rational consideration – all the council of God cannot be reached and the knowledge can be wrong or only superficial.
This wrong or superficial knowledge is what the Scriptures call the knowledge of the “letter”. Man’s reason, even if assisted by linguistic, grammatical and historical knowledge, only reaches the understanding of the “letter”. But the “letter kills” (II Cor. 3:6), that is, the “letter” does not transmit eternal life, but leads men to eternal death. The knowledge of the “letter” deceives man, making him think that he found the understanding of God’s will.
On the other hand, only the Spirit transmits life through the spiritual understanding of the Scriptures. In order to have the true understanding of God’s will contained in the Holy Scriptures, it is necessary to receive “revelation” from the Lord. This means that, through the Holy Spirit, God needs to reveal the true meaning of the Scriptures.
When Luther opened the Bible and read that the “righteous will live by faith” and that salvation is transmitted to men “through faith, and not by works”, the Holy Spirit “revealed” the true and profound meaning of those Scriptures for the reformer to be able to understand them. Only by using his reason, even if assisted by linguistic, grammatical and historic knowledge, Luther would never have reached the saving knowledge of those biblical passages. He would be limited to the knowledge of the “letter”.
But would there be a biblical foundation to affirm that to understand the Bible – which is the revelation of God to men – an operation of the Holy Spirit is necessary “casting light” to man’s mind?
In this regard, the passage in which the Lord Jesus clarified to his disciples about the reason that he spoke to the multitudes in parables is very revealing. The Lord Jesus revealed that He did not want the mysteries of the kingdom of God to be understood by the multitudes; He wanted them to be understood only by those who wanted to do God’s will. “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” (Matthew 13:11).
In another occasion, the Lord Jesus showed once again that the understanding of the spiritual truths is a privilege of the true Church, of the true disciples: “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” (Matthew 11:25). But all men who are literate and educated can have access to superficial knowledge of the Scriptures, a knowledge insufficient for salvation. But only the Church, that is assisted by the Holy Spirit, knows the “revealed word”, that transmits eternal life. “You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).
There is a number of passages in the Holy Scriptures that are clearly hidden, making clear the need for the “revelation” of the Holy Spirit so that their true meaning may be reached, like for example: the majority of the parables in the book of Matthew 13. Historically it can be verified that there are several possible interpretations of the many parables, and no agreement, even among the true believers, regarding their meaning.
Likewise, several passages in the book of Daniel and in the book of Revelation can only be understood in their depth by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Books such as Song of Solomon and Esther, on the other hand, do no appear to have an eminently spiritual content. Only by revelation can all the depth of these books be reached and the spiritual lessons that they contain be received.
A greater understanding of the prophecies that dial with the last days and the signs that characterize the return of the Lord Jesus, also, can only be obtained when there is the “revelation” of the Holy Spirit. In this regard, it is convenient to bear in mind that the Lord wants the Church to be watchful of these signs. Once He censored those who did not recognize the signs of the times: “You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.”(Matthew 16:3).
In case the Church does not receive the “revelation” of the Holy Spirit, how can it benefit from the passages and books referred to above: The Word of God states that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) To the Church that does not know the Word “revealed by the Spirit”, the majority of the passages and books mentioned above do not transmit any kind of edification, against what is taught in this passage in 2 Timothy.
On the other hand, the Word states, that in the appropriate time, the Church would have to understand passages whose meanings were hidden: “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:9). If it weren’t so, how would the Church benefit spiritually from the knowledge of these biblical passages? Why would these passages have been included in the Scriptures in case the church never had the possibility of understanding their meaning? There would be a time in which the true meaning of these passages would be revealed.
The Spirit Guides to the Truth
When Jesus promised to baptize His servants with the Holy Spirit in the last days, He said that they would be used in prophecies, dreams and visions (Joel 2:18). Therefore, it was prophesied that they would receive spiritual gifts through which God reveals Himself to men, God speaks to his servants. Although other gifts, such as tongues and healing are also important, God referred to, through Joel, only to the gifts of “revelation” (prophecies, dreams and visions).
This point can be better understood when it is observed that the Lord Jesus, when He promised to send the Holy Spirit said: “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). For God, the knowledge of “truth” is important for the Lord Jesus himself is the truth – “I am the truth, the way, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) – and the Word of God is the truth – “Your word is truth” (John 17:17).
It can be concluded that, when as He baptizes His servants with the Holy Spirit, the Lord wants to grant the Church the spiritual gifts, which are the necessary resources to reach a greater understanding of the Truth, the Word of God, and of the Lord Jesus (Acts 2:32, 33, 36). Without the “revelation” of the Holy Spirit, this knowledge cannot be obtained.
In another occasion, dealing with the complete knowledge of the true Son of God, Jesus said: “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). In this passage, the Lord Jesus makes it clear that, if someone does not receive the revelation from God, he/she will never have true knowledge, which is the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Without revelation, no one is sure that Jesus is truly the “son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). God’s Word expressly states that “no one can say “Lord Jesus!” if not by the Holy Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:3).
The letter kills, but the Spirit edifies. The intellectual, religious or theological knowledge of the Scripture does not transmit life; rather, it transmits skepticism, apathy and spiritual death. On the other hand, the revealed knowledge of the Scriptures transmits life, and abundant life.
The mind and the intellect are satisfied with theology and biblical studies in the level of reason. Emotions are satisfied with biblical stories transmitted with emotion and enthusiasm. However, only the Word revealed by the Holy Spirit has the power to feed the soul. This because the soul thirsts for God, the living God. And only the Word revealed by the Holy Spirit transmits the genuine knowledge of the living God.
A small piece of the revealed Word, only one verse (Matthew 15:27) are enough to completely satisfy a human being. It satisfies much more than the modern “biblical studies”, done only in the intellectual level, without the adequate knowledge of the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
But praised be the Lord because it pleased God to reveal His secrets to the little ones, having sent His Holy Spirit who guides the Church to “all truth”. Only the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Holy Scriptures, has the authority to interpret the Word of God and, therefore, can transmit to the Church what is “beyond the letter”.