Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
As leaders we lead people to become expressions of God. We lead them to become testimonies of the work of Holy Spirit in their lives. We don’t lead them to be obedient to the written word of God. We lead them to be obedient to the faith, and thus they become expressions of God. They become expressions of the principles, patterns, and values that are found in the written word of God. They are a letter written by the Spirit, not merely people trying to mimic some form of obedience to the law.
2 Corinthians 3:2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
The Scripture is not our teacher; Holy Spirit is our teacher. This is probably one of the most important things when it comes to understanding God’s word and receiving a revelation of the secrets hidden in it. This is a great principle: Scripture is not our teacher; Holy Spirit is! Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures thinking that in them is salvation. But let me tell you the truth. The Scriptures, they testify of Me” (Jn. 5:39).
In the Scriptures, when you’re reading about people and you encounter pronouns such as them, they, him, her, you, he, she, or any pronoun, it is a reference to someone at that time. Any pronoun or noun from that time that refers to a human is not you or me.
There is no place in Scripture where it says, “And I say to you,” and the term “you” refers specifically to you or me. Now, Holy Spirit can speak that Scripture to you right now, and in that moment, the term “you” is you. But when you’re reading Scripture concerning something Holy Spirit wants to say to you, what you’re reading first applies to someone at the time the Scripture was inspired. It might even be the exact same words that God is choosing to use with you right now, but only because it is true to the principle, pattern, or value of the voice of God. God can use Scripture to speak to you, but there is no Scripture in the Bible where the pronoun in the text is directly referring to you or me.
Pronouns in Scripture are relevant to the people present at the time of each story. So, when you read about Jesus speaking to a crowd, the noun refers to the crowd of that day. When He is talking to His disciples, the people He is addressing are His disciples.
When we’re talking about application of Scripture, Scripture is always applied by principle, pattern, and value. It isn’t applied by fact. So, there’s no place in the 66 books of the Bible where the literal verse is talking to you or to me. There’s no place—not even the book of Revelation is talking to you or me—but it has principles, patterns, and values that apply to you and me.
As leaders, we don’t lead people to live their lives in obedience to the Bible or in fear of warnings they find in the written word of God. We lead them to know God personally in their hearts. The Scriptures are essential to our learning, but only because they are a witness to the voice of Holy Spirit in our lives today.
2 Corinthians 3:16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are being changed from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord within. Leaders set an example for others to follow, and leaders inspire those they lead to know the work of Holy Spirit within their own hearts.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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