NO BIBLE KNOWLEDGE IF YOUR NOT SAVED

BY ILLUMINATION

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. (2:14–16)

The third step in the Spirit’s transmission of God’s truth is that of illumination.
It is possible to read the Bible—even many different copies and versions of the Bible—and yet not understand it. It is possible to study the Bible for many years, memorizing much of it, and still not understand it. The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day were highly trained in the Old Testament, yet they missed its central message. They completely failed to recognize the promised Messiah when He came and lived among them (John 5:37–39). They did not believe Jesus because they did not truly believe Moses, the great lawgiver in whom they placed their hope (vv. 45–47). They did not accept the things of the Spirit of God because those things seemed to be foolishness. Because those men did not belong to God, they could not understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. Those scribes and Pharisees, like everyone who rejects God, lived only in the realm of the natural man. They had no means and had no desire to understand the spiritual nature of God’s Word.
The natural man cannot know or understand the things of the Spirit of God because they can only be spiritually appraised. Spiritual is in opposition to natural, and thus refers to the inner capacity of the redeemed to grasp God’s truth. God’s Word is spiritually evaluated, spiritually discerned, spiritually understood—and the natural man is spiritually dead.
The psalmist understood the need for God’s illumination of His Word. He prayed, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law” (Ps. 119:18). He did not need the Lord’s help to read His Word, but he knew he needed His help to understand it.
Martin Luther said, “The Bible cannot be understood simply by study or talent; you must count only on the influence of the Holy Spirit.”
John Calvin wrote: “The testimony of the Spirit is superior to reason. For … these words will not obtain full credit in the hearts of men until they are sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit.”
Someone else has suggested that the best man can do on his own is to “gnaw the bark of Scripture without getting to the wood.”
God must open the eyes of our understanding before we can truly know and rightly interpret His truth. His truth is available only to those with a regenerate spirit and in whom His Spirit dwells, for only the Spirit can illumine Scripture. Just as the physically blind cannot see the sun, the spiritually blind cannot see the Son. Both lack proper illumination. Martin Luther said, “Man is like a pillar of salt, like Lot’s wife—he is like a log or a stone, he is like a lifeless statue which uses neither eyes nor mouth, neither senses nor heart—unless he is enlightened, converted and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.”
He who is spiritual, on the other hand, appraises all things. The believer has a resident Truth Teacher to enlighten him about all the things of God about which he needs to know. “As for you,” John wrote, “the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him” (1 John 2:27). The Holy Spirit takes God’s Word, the Word which He has revealed and inspired, and illuminates it for those in whom He dwells.
Unlike God’s revelation and inspiration, which were given to the biblical writers, His illumination is for all Christians. We all can rightly appraise the Word when we rely on the Giver of the Word.
Because the natural man cannot rightly appraise God’s Word he cannot rightly appraise God’s people, either. He who is spiritual … himself is appraised by no man. It is just as impossible for the world to understand faithful Christians as it is for them to understand God Himself and His Word. They try to appraise believers, of course, but they are always wrong. They may accurately evaluate our faults, shortcomings, and our living that is inconsistent with our faith. But they cannot accurately evaluate our faith. If the gospel itself is a stumbling block and foolishness to them, so is faith based on the gospel.
The person in Christ will be misunderstood and mistreated just as Christ was misunderstood and mistreated (John 15:20). The world will laugh at us, mock us, and, in many places of the world still today, even kill us. The world crucified Christ and it will crucify His followers.
Paul asks, Who has known the mind of the Lord? What natural man thinks God’s thoughts? None. Unbelievers frequently want to correct believers, to argue about the truths we believe and follow. But when they contradict scriptural teaching, they are not arguing with us but with God, whose thoughts they do not understand. They are trying to instruct Him. What folly.
As Christians, however, God instructs us. We are able to understand all things of His Word because we have the mind of Christ. Christ thinks God’s thoughts, understands God’s wisdom. We have His mind (nous). This term is translated “understanding” in 14:14, 15, 19. Its usage here may best be understood from its use in Luke 24:45 of Jesus’ revelation to the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
The doctrine of illumination does not mean we can know and understand everything (Deut. 29:29), that we do not need human teachers (Eph. 4:11–12), or that study is not hard work (2 Tim. 2:15). It does mean that Scripture can


MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (pp. 63–65). Chicago: Moody Press.

1 jn 3

KEYS FROM THE BIBLE TONIGHT''

3 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Jesus is pure (without sin). So if we place hope in Jesus he makes us like pure and holy. But in practice we still sin but we do not need o sin Our sins are gone and we r made right in Jesus as he forgives. However do I still sin?

⁴ Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. ⁵ And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

We do not sin. One day this is going to be the truth as sin will be gone. We are not to sin. Christians are not sinners as we r found in the Lord. If we struggle we need to look at Jesus and him on the cross. Note our life is dead and our new life is given and we ought to walk out the new life in Jesus.

⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸ He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

Note we cannot sin because if we r in Jesus the works of the devil are gone on the cross. Wee ought look at this truth when we want to look to our life. A man who does not know Jesus is going to sin and not feel bad or see what is done to take sin away but if anyone be in Jesus they are going to work not to sin and know God has done work to take our sins out of our life.

¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. ¹

1 The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 3:1–10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.