Scripture Part 4: What About The Spirit?

One of the most ignorant false teachings in the history of Christianity has become mainstream today. This false teaching is that scripture isn't a big deal or can be ignored entirely because "we have the Spirit" to guide us. That is self-contradictory. Scripture is the Holy Spirit inspired word of God. In 2 Timothy 3:16 it says that scripture is theopneustos in Greek, which is literally "God breathed". And the word for the Spirit in Greek is Pneuma, which is literally wind, breath, and Spirit. Scripture is the work of the Holy Spirit. We have His word written down for our guidance. In other words, these ignorant people are saying they don't need the word of the Spirit because they have the Spirit. That is nonsense. Anyone who truly follows the Spirit's guidance finds that guidance first and foremost in scripture.

2 Timothy 3:13-17 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Put simply, there are bad people who have been deceived and are deceiving others. We are to hold to scripture and not be misled by false teachings. Scripture gives us wisdom that leads to salvation. And scripture is what makes us good Christians, equipping us for every good work. Paul was one of the most Holy Spirit filled people in history, and his instruction in 2 Timothy is to read and know scripture.

Saying we don't need to pay attention to scripture because we have the Spirit is like saying we don't need to pay attention to the written instructions from the boss, we can just ask him. That is sure to get the boss angry. He didn't write things down for no reason. But it's much worse than that. The Holy Spirit does not override our will like we are robots. We are to use our knowledge of scripture and the wisdom we get from it to figure out what is right ourselves. Do not be deceived, the Holy Spirit is not the only one talking to you.

1 John 4:1, 5-6 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

People who ignore scripture cannot tell the difference between the Holy Spirit and worldly spirits. This is because they have no reference to check it against. In my experience they often they mistake their own spirit for the Holy Spirit. Although I wonder whether this is really a mistake or a deliberate attempt to justify the sin they want to do. Regardless, the only real way to test every spirit is with the word of God, scripture. Some will try to say they can tell in their heart what is real. However, their heart is more likely to tell them the wicked things they want to do are okay in contradiction to God's will and morality.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Matthew 15:18-19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.

Our hearts are not trustworthy. They are fickle and, in the words of Christ, the source of all kinds of evil. The person who trusts their heart to guide them is a fool headed for disaster. Those who put scripture as the first authority are wise and headed for salvation. Anyone that accepts something they heard from a "spirit" that contradicts scripture is not listening to the Holy Spirit. That is their own spirit or an evil spirit. God does not contradict Himself. He does not give a word to someone that contradicts what He said before.

Another false argument is that "in Acts they just followed the Holy Spirit." Really? Anyone who thinks this is referring a different book of Acts. It's probably a fake one taught from the stage of a fake church. If you actually read Acts in a legitimate translation it's clear that this is not the case.

Paul was so filled with the Holy Spirit that handkerchiefs he prayed over could be taken to the sick and heal them. He was bitten by a deadly viper and didn't even get sick. And the power of the Holy Spirit in him was so great it was this that convinced people he was really teaching about God. But it wasn't the Holy Spirit that educated him. Before Paul's encounter with Jesus and conversion on the road to Damascus he was a rockstar scholar among the Pharisees. And that was saying something as the Pharisees were a sect of Judaism based on and known for their scholarship in the Tanakh, (what we call the Old Testament.) Jesus appeared to Paul and revealed to him that He was the Messiah. Paul was then able to connect the dots of the Old Testament with the events of Jesus' ministry. According to accounts of this time, Paul went to his hometown of Tarsus and spent considerable time and effort studying the scriptures and the gospel, connecting one to the other. The apostles in Jerusalem checked him to make sure he was teaching the true gospel and approved of him. They didn't take Paul's word for it or rely on some claim of Holy Spirit approval. They didn't even rely on his demonstrations of the gifts of the Spirit. They questioned him and checked him for accuracy in his teaching using their own knowledge of scripture and their wisdom.

Apollos was another Jewish man who was well educated in the Tanakh. He was a gifted speaker who could win people to his point of view with his rhetoric. He had become a Christian and taught what he knew. The problem was he was ignorant of a lot of things and wasn't teaching the gospel correctly. Apollos lived in Alexandria in Egypt during Jesus' ministry, so he didn't see these things for himself. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and taught the way of God, the full gospel message. Apollos took this correction on board and taught more accurately after this. It wasn't the Holy Spirit that corrected him. It was better educated Christians that were his correction.

When the apostles went to replace Judas they didn't just leave it up to the Holy Spirit. They put in the work and narrowed the field from a couple hundred good men that had been with Jesus throughout His ministry to the two that were the best qualified. Either one was a good choice. When they couldn't decide between the two excellent choices they prayed that the right one would be chosen and cast lots. But whether the Spirit intervened and guided the lots or not, they had done the work. Since either was a good choice the result would be good.

In The Acts of the Apostles Dr. Luke made it clear that people used scripture and the wisdom they got from studying scripture as their standard and guide. Everything was held up to that yardstick. Thus they stayed true to the gospel. And they discarded what was false because they could recognize it as violating scripture.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.

How are we to examine everything carefully? How are we to know what is good or evil? Our hearts are deceitful and full of wicked desires. False spirits, false preachers, false prophets, and false teachers are all around us. The standard by which we can compare every person and spirit to is scripture.