John 16:
12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13When 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.
14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Holy Spirit says what Jesus is saying (what He hears He will speak). And He declares what isn't His (He will take what is mine and declare it to you). Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. A Kingdom divided against itself can not stand. But Holy Spirit will contradict our wrong interpretations.
This is why it is ABSOLUTELY without a single doubt critical that a person understands that Holy Spirit is the Teacher. He speaks through people. He speaks in people. He speaks through circumstances. He speaks through Scripture. But at the end of the day it is fully and completely Him. Without this understanding a lot of things get wonky.
We have to first look to the PURPOSES of God. What is His Will? He tells us in Scripture. Why did He gives us the Spirit? He tells us in Scripture. What about those who are mislead? He tells us in Scripture.
A lot of problems occur when we take complex passages to reinterpret simple ones. This is the first error of hermaneutics. It is usually the sign of a theology (belief about God) being interpreted into the text instead of being taken out of the text. For that reason we do need to know the context and the whole of Scripture, but we also need to accept simple statements in light of other simple statements to build our foundation.
For instance, Scripture itself says that we must be led by the Spirit, follow after the Spirit, hear the Spirit, be upheld by the Spirit, but so many people interpret this through the lens of Scripture = Spirit.
We must understand that we are all different, we all have a part to play, we all have unique revelations, and we are called to test the spirits for
ourselves not
for others. Unless of course we have relationship with them (
we are a father/mother) not just an instructor. Which there are thousands.
So why is it open for interpretation? Because Scripture is not a simple collection of stories, commands, teachings, principles, to'do's, etc. it's a God-Breathed Book that the Spirit of God uses to lead us into encounter and relationship with the Author, Himself.
C.
