August 27

Job 6:11-8:22
Psalm 104:1-9
Proverbs 21:8-9
1 Corinthians 2:10-3:15

Divide and Conquer
What comes from God’s Spirit … is evaluated spiritually.
—1 Corinthians 2:14

Only the Holy Spirit can help us properly to interpret the Word of God. A person may have a fine mind, a good seminary training, even a theological degree, but none of these is a sufficient foundation on which to attempt to interpret the Word of God. Truth, as the above text tells us, is “evaluated spiritually.”

But there is one more thing we need to understand—only the Holy Spirit can show us how to use it aright. Doubtless, this was the consideration in the mind of the apostle when he penned this statement: “the sword of the Spirit … is God’s word.” It is one thing to know the contents of Scripture; it is another thing to know how to use those contents in a way that defeats the Devil. Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to do this.

The relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is an important one. Some tend to put the emphasis on one side or the other. But the moment we separate the Spirit and the Word, we are in trouble. The late Donald Gee once said: “All Spirit and no Word, you blow up. All Word and no Spirit, you dry up. Word and Spirit—you grow up.”

Without the Spirit, the Word is a dead letter; with the Spirit, it is a living and powerful force. The Devil has a policy of “divide and conquer.” And if he can get us to separate the Word from the Spirit, then he has us just where he wants us.

Prayer
My Father, I see that when I separate the Spirit from the Word and the Word from the Spirit, I am in trouble. Help me to be as open to the Spirit as I am to the Bible, and as open to the Bible as I am to the Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Further Study
2Co 3:1-6; Jn 6:63; 1Pt 3:18
What “gives life”?
What made Paul an able minister of truth?

Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible – August 27