Day 17: The Holy Spirit Helps You Understand God’s Word

The Holy Spirit is both the author and the interpreter of the Word of God. In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul says:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

The word translated there “by inspiration of God” is literally “inbreathed by God.” It’s a single word. And the word “breathed” is directly related to the word for “spirit.” Spirit is pneuma, breathed is pneustas. They’re from exactly the same root. So, what it tells us is that the Holy Spirit was the author of all Scripture. No matter who was the human writer, the Holy Spirit was the one who gave the Word, who breathed it into the writer so that the authority behind all Scripture is the authority of the author and the author is the Holy Spirit.

Peter touches on this also in 2 Peter 1:20–21 when he says this:

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Here we see again that prophecy, the prophetic revelation of Scripture, came from the Holy Spirit. It was never just a product of a human mind or human thinking or rationalisation. But it always had the power and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit behind it.

None of us can approach the Scripture and say, “Well, this is how I understand it, this is how I interpret it.” There’s only one authorised interpreter and that is the author Himself.

But consider God’s wonderful provision for us: He has given us the author to interpret for us!

Jesus said: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26

The author will be your teacher! Isn’t that marvelous?

Reflect: When I reading the Word of God, I am dependent upon the Holy Spirit to guide me, teach me, and to lead me into all the truth.