The Holy Spirit and His Ministry of Illumination

The Holy Spirit speaks to each one of us, Christian or Pagan. Some people mistakenly refer to this as revelation. I say mistakenly because revelation speaks of a new message that has never been revealed before. I think that what most people are referring to is in fact illumination. Some people do indeed believe that God has given them a special message, apart from Scripture. Because God completely His revelation to man through His Word (the Bible) and His Word become flesh (Jesus Christ), this is a whole other matter to be addressed later; for now we will just deal with illumination.

Illumination is the on-going work of the Holy Spirit, by which God’s word is received and understood. A person is able to apply God’s word to their individual life in a manner pleasing to God and according to His will by illumination. The Scripture may be properly interpreted apart from illumination by scholarly and careful study and the use of valid interpretative methods. However, one must have faith that the information contained in the Scripture is the word of God for it to be properly applied. The ability to live according to the precepts and principles found in the Bible is only by the grace of God.

The prerequisite to receiving illumination is the regeneration that the Holy Spirit works in one’s life during conversion. For one to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, they must understand spiritual things; things which are only discerned by the work of the Holy Spirit. Some would argue that the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit that occurs at the moment of conversion is required for illumination. I disagree on this point, because in order to be converted the Spirit must already be at work in one’s heart revealing the nature of man’s sin and depravity.
Illumination can be described as an “Ah,ha” moment. A time when a person has studied a passage of Scripture and upon returning to it again sees it in a new light. It seems as though this knowledge has been possessed all along, but there is not recollection of possessing it. It was simply obtained by the Spirit of God speaking to one’s heart.

The basis for my view of illumination is found in John 16. Here, Jesus teaches us that the Spirit will come and make the truth known to us. Also, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2 that God has revealed the thing that He has prepared for us through His Spirit. Paul also teaches in this passage that spiritual things are only discerned through the work of the spirit and the natural, or unregenerate, man cannot receive spiritual things.

In my own life if have experienced illumination in a like fashion. Prior to my conversion experience I understood that the Bible taught that all people were sinners and earned the wages of sin, death. I understood it intellectually, but it was only through the conviction of the Spirit that I was able to fully grasp what it meant to be a sinner and to be living in opposition to a God who loved me so greatly.

It is the understanding that comes through illumination that drives one to dedicated pursuit of academics and Bible study. By coming to a fuller understanding of the love that God has for the world, He becomes the chief pursuit of their heart. One seeks God in the only way they are able, through prayer and study of His word. One also seeks out education in an effort to become better equipped to serve God and glorify Him.