On Knowing God

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, 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 of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

"Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

John 16: 12-15; 17:1-3

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These excerpts from the passages I read this morning got my juices flowing when I ran into a comment on someone's blog, accusing me of bibliotry (the worship of the Holy Writ, according to his definition).

This commenter was maligning the authority of Scripture, questioning its interpretation and validity, and essentially creating a worship of "the Incarnation," as catholic liturgy defines it. I initially decided not to return his comment until, in answering an unrelated email, I stumbled across something rather cool about God.

I am beginning to realize that when I write, my readers will understand what I write in whatever manner they can relate to. Readers will always ask, “what is the author really saying here?” And depending upon their knowledge of the author, they make differing assumptions as to the meaning of the writing.

Which is when it hit me. That has happened with God's word for thousands of years! People read the Bible and create systems from it that fit their own needs at any given time, and in the process lose their thirst for truth in the arguments over who is *right.*

But God, in His wisdom, did not create a salvation by works that we could systematize or understand. He created so great a salvation in which we, humans that we are, can actually KNOW the God of the universe. We can read His Word, and instead of dogma, we find a picture of His heart. Scripture, taught by the Holy Spirit, is truth. For the first time, I am beginning to understand that what God meant when he explained that Scripture is not open to any private interpretation may actually mean that the only interpretation that is correct is His own interpretation, as taught by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who believe on His name.

Realistically, if Scripture is God's Word about Himself, then it would stand to reason that the better I know God, the better I will understand His Word. Perhaps that is why we walk by faith, and not by sight. And why we are told to walk in the Spirit, because the Spirit knows the mind of God. As believers, we HAVE the Spirit, and we are told that we "have the mind of Christ."

That's not really a to-do list, I think. It's not even philosophy. It's just God being God again. Which I think is kind of cool.