What is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Bible Interpretation? Giving an Answer

What is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Bible Interpretation? Giving an Answer

It is true that many who are devoid of the Holy Spirit are nevertheless interpreters of the Bible. That reality of interpretation shows that hermeneutics is not a process restricted to whether or not one has the Holy Spirit. We must remember that false teachers have always built a system of doctrine from the scriptures (hermeneutical conclusions), but do so without the aid of the Holy Spirit, people who are as Jude plainly says "devoid of the Spirit" (Jude 1:19). James also warns that hermeneutics is more than an intellectual assent to facts when he reminds us that "even the demons believe- and shudder" (James 2:19). Therefore, Scripture presents to us that hermeneutics is a reality for both Christians and non-Christians alike. So what does the Holy Spirit do in the process of interpretation?

To put it simply, I borrow the words from Klein et al. "The Spirit convinces God's people of the truth of the biblical message, and then convicts and enables them to live consistently with that truth" (4). In other words, the Holy Spirit does the work of bringing the Word of God from our heads to our heart. There is no supernatural correlation between learning biblical Greek and the Holy Spirit any more than there is between learning English and the Holy Spirit. Though learning the biblical languages is a great help in understanding the message, it is the Holy Spirit who 'brings home' the message by teaching God's people the significance of the message. Many non-Christians have the ability to learn biblical Greek and gain an advantage in grammatical understanding of the Bible, and many non Christians have the ability to learn the historical climate of the Roman Empire, giving them an advantage in the historical understanding of the events of the New Testament. These are both elements of what we would call sound hermeneutics in the "historical and grammatical methods" (Klein et al. 13). Further, we can say along with the same authors that "The Spirit does not inform us of the Scripture's meaning." (4).

Yet, only those who have the Holy Spirit can truly have their eyes open to the beauty of God's word (Ps. 119:18) or find life and strength in the word of God (Ps. 119:25, 28). These are those supernatural interpretations within the Bible that are only through those who have the Holy Spirit. Most striking and wonderful are the words of Jesus regarding this subject: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come" (John 16:13). And to be sure that this 'truth' spoken of by Jesus relates to the Bible, He later says plainly "Your word is truth" (John 17:17).

So then a quick summary. Although it is not wrong to pray to God and ask Him for help in understanding the intellectual side of hermeneutics (grammar, context, history, etc... ), and although He may be pleased to help us, we do not say that this is the direct role of  the Holy Spirit in hermeneutics since people may do well in these interpretive categories who do not have the Holy Spirit and would not hesitate to identify as non-Christian. This is the so called 'limitation' of the Holy Spirit. Yet these same people cannot meditate on the Bible, nor pray through the process of reading the text for illumination, nor see the practical implications for the text upon their own lives (their vocation, family, work, town, etc...). They are also not involved in the hermeneutics that brings conviction of sin and the glories of God in Christ. Instead, these are all the work and role of the Holy Spir

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