The Holy Spirit and the Word
The Word Is Inspired By The Holy Spirit, And The Holy Spirit Works Through The Word.
by Matt Richard
“Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given. Our churches condemn [those] who think that through their own preparations and works the Holy Spirit comes to them without the external Word." (AC V, 4)
These words from the Augsburg Confession are essential to a Lutheran understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Word is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit works through the Word. Consider the following questions regarding the interrelationship of Word and Spirit.
1 Read 2 Tim. 3:14-17 and 1 Thess. 2:13. Where does the Word of God have its source? What does it accomplish in the life of a Christian’?
2 Many in our time desire (or even claim to have) a direct and unique connection with the Holy Spirit apart from the Word, Read Jer. 23:23-32. What danger is inherent in seeking or believing to have a divine revelation apart from the Word?
3 Some of Jesus‘ last words to His disciples before His crucifixion, as recorded in the Gospel of John. had to do With the Holy Spirit. Read John 14:26, 15:26 and 16:8-14. What things does Jesus promise that the “Helper” will do for the Church? What common Christian expectations concerning the Spirits work do we not see promised here?
4 Read John 6:60-65. How does faith come to us? What are “spirit and life" for the believer?
5 There are many who look for signs of the Spirit's Work in their own emotions — and who use their emotional responses to interpret Scripture. Read Luke 24:25-32. What made the disciples‘ hearts burn within them? What does this episode teach us about the relationship between Spirit, Word and human emotion?
6 Read Ezek, 37:1-10, watching closely for the interplay of Gods prophetic Word and the work of the Spirit. How do we see the Spirits action willingly bound up with the Word of God in this familiar passage?
The Word is the only channel and route by which the Holy Spirit has promised to come to us. A word without the Spirit is no Word of God but mere human words. A spirit that comes without the Word is not the revealing Spirit of God (1 John 4:1-6). May we uphold the Word and the Spirit, who counsel us, teach us, convict us of sin, guide us and point us to Jesus — and may we eagerly pour ourselves into the Word, that the Holy Spirit may be poured out into us.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard is pastor of St‘ Paul's Lutheran Church in Minot, N.D., and author of Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? 12 False Christs (CPH),
Reprinted from The Lutheran Witness, May 2019