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"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Pet. 1: 20, 21).
This statement as to the origin of the Word of God is obviously complementary to that
of the Apostle Paul in II Tim. 3: 16, 17 and it is noteworthy that both Peter and Paul, at
the end of their lives, stress the divine authorship of the sacred Scriptures which are the
sole basis for a knowledge of the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Revealer of Truth.
Not only is the Holy Spirit the inspirer and author of God's Word, He is the only one
Who can give illumination and understanding of its divine contents. In our last study we
note how Paul stresses the fact that man without the aid of the Holy Spirit, is unable to
receive and comprehend what God has caused to be written. "The things of God knoweth
no man, but the Spirit of God" that by His enlightenment "we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God" (I Cor. 2: 11, 12), for "God hath revealed them unto us by
His Spirit" (verse 10), and these words are described as "words which the Holy Ghost
teacheth" (verse 13). The Lord Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would
`guide them into all truth'. "He shall glorify Me; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall
show it unto you" (John 16: 13, 14).
Here is something then which is absolutely vital, something which neither intellectual
ability nor theological training can give by themselves, namely divine understanding of
the Bible.
The witness of the Holy Spirit.
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God"
(Rom. 8: 16). In this work the Holy Spirit makes real to the believer what has been
taken by faith and gives the consciousness of that reality. It is with this in mind that
the Apostle John says "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself"
(I John 5: 10). The enjoyment of this precious witness is conditioned upon our walking
with the Lord. If we get spiritually cold or backslide, we must not expect to experience
the assurance that we are really sons of God, although the fact of our sonship rests
squarely upon what the Lord Jesus has accomplished for us and not upon our
experiences, however precious they may be.
Anointing.
In II Cor. 1: 21, 22 Paul wrote:
"Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who
hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
John, likewise in his first epistle wrote:
"But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things"
(I John 2: 20).