INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to biblically define and state the
doctrine of Illumination. In recent years there has been and
continues to be a great degree of misunderstanding and abuse of
doctrines relating to the Holy Spirit. This has produced much
confusion and damaged the credibility of the visible church, making
our gospel efforts more difficult. It is my conviction that we
must constantly reform our understanding of all biblical doctrine,
including the ministry of the Holy Spirit, bringing our thoughts
into conformity with God's revealed, inscripturated Word. By
this we may accomplish much in our ongoing battle to come to an
understanding of these doctrines of Scripture as they exist in
the mind of God. In this we will no doubt fail to the degree
that our creaturely imperfections prohibit a perfect understanding
of any thought of God. It is, therefore, my prayer that our loving
heavenly Father will grant, by His abundant grace, the true illumination
of His Word necessary to accomplish this task.
WHAT ILLUMINATION IS NOT
First, illumination is not "inspiration"; it is not God-breathed, nor is it newly revealed truth:
"It (inspiration) differs from spiritual illumination, in that spiritual illumination is an essential element in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit common to all true Christians. It never leads to the knowledge of new truth, but only to the personal discernment of the spiritual beauty and power of truth already revealed in the Scriptures." - A. A. Hodge.
Second, illumination is not "revelation;" it is not
supernaturally revealed truth, otherwise unattainable, given by
visions or language directly from God. These, I believe, are the
two most commonly made errors in thinking related to our subject.
These distinctions are important and must be kept in mind as
we deal with what, exactly, we mean by biblical illumination.
ILLUMINATION DEFINED
God has delivered to us His inscripturated Word, inspired both
verbally and in plenary form, infallible, without error, and complete.
It follows that His desire is that we utilize it for His purposes.
"All Scripture," we are told, "is given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16,
17). This is the purpose of illumination. However, we are also
told that, "…the natural man does not receive the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him;
nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
(1 Cor. 2:14). So, unless the Spirit of God has already done
the salvific, regenerative work in an individual, illumination
is impossible. The "natural man", one without the Spirit
of God, even in possession of a working knowledge of the Christian
faith, is still without the effective understanding of God's Word.
These "natural" men are dangerous people, as Jesus
said, like the blind leading the blind (Mt. 15:14). Only the
Holy Spirit can bring this understanding to the minds of men which
are veiled by the stains of sin. It is the Spirit's work to unveil
our minds and hearts and enable us to comprehend and embrace the
"things of the Spirit."
Briefly, then, biblical illumination is a work of the Holy Spirit
by which He imparts understanding to God's elect (1 John 2:20).
It is the effective application of God's revealed truth to our
own hearts in such a way that we grasp the reality and meaning
of the inscripturated Word. This is a two-fold process: First,
the Spirit of God opens our minds and hearts in such a way as
to enable us to embrace the Scriptures for what they are; and
second, the Spirit enlightens us as to their true meaning for
the sake of understanding and articulating the revealed truth
of God. The Spirit's work in the believer then continues unending
by His guiding and sanctifying power.
ILLUMINATION AND THE ORDO SALUTIS
At this point it is apparent that the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit is pervasive in the life of the believer. Indeed, regardless of what specific order one views the mechanics of salvation, there is no place found where the Spirit of God is not at work, and especially in His enlightening and enabling of the believer. Justification and regeneration are accomplished and applied to God's people (at least in part) by the illuminating power of the Spirit of God. Conversion, repentance and faith are all functionaries of illumination by the Spirit of God. So, too, adoption and ultimate glorification are the results of His illuminating of the minds and hearts of God's people.
Although illumination by the Spirit begins the process, or order, of salvation (Heb. 6:4; 10:32), it continues throughout the life of the believer. The Holy spirit leads us to a deeper understanding of God (John 16:13), prompting both repentance for the sins that we commit and assurance of God's grace and the certainty of our election. We receive this illumination through the ministry of the Word and through prayer, meditation on God and His revelation, and the struggle to live our lives in a manner consistent with revelation.
-From the New Geneva Study Bible
THE NECESSITY OF ILLUMINATION
Since the "natural" man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14) and believers have an "unction" or "anointing" from God to know all things (1 John 2:20), it follows that we are totally dependent upon God for the "knowing" of anything. The illumination believers enjoy is essential to the understanding of all things relating to God and His Word. But that is not the end of it. Holy Spirit illumination is essential to the understanding of all things relating to God and His Works. No part of Creation, supernatural or natural, may be rightly understood without the grace of illumination.
It is the Spirit of God that opens our minds to the understanding
of anything. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit inserts
the multiplication tables in our minds, it simply means that He
enables us to see the meaning and implications of those tables
in a way unattainable by any and all other means.
One of the more common Biblical symbols is sight. To "see" is to understand, to be blind is to not understand. Salvation and regeneration is sometimes compared to sight (Mark 8:18; John 9:39). Calvin put it this way:
What the Apostle here denies to man (1 Cor. 1:20 and 2:9), he, in another place, ascribes to God alone, when he prays, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Eph. 1:17). You now hear that all wisdom and revelation is the gift of God. What follows? "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened." Surely, if they require a new enlightening, they must in themselves be blind.
-John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, pg. 240
To be regenerated by the Spirit of God is a historical and moral
fact, but moreover, it is an epistemological fact. Our being
born of the Spirit opens our eyes that we may see. Believers
are enlightened, illuminated by the Spirit of God in all things.
CONCLUSION
It is a mistake to examine any of the doctrines of the Holy Spirit cut off from the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the agent of the great work of accomplishing the redemption of God's people. He is especially the One who applies the redemptive work which Christ accomplished by the will of the Father to His elect.
Though this work (of the Holy Spirit) stands out in the economy of redemption as the work of the Holy Spirit, it cannot for a moment be separated from the work of Christ. It is rooted in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and carries this to completion, …
-Berkhof, Systematic Theology, pg. 424
"… when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things
to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and
declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine.
Therefore I said He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
(John 16:13-15)
Finally, the preaching of the Word of God should be the ultimate
example of biblical illumination applied. Obeying the Word of
God illuminated should be the proper result.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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