In the last write-up, I stressed that revelation knowledge is not a re-invention of the wheel of biblical interpretation, especially when it cannot be shown that the commonly held understanding of a text contradicts either the text itself or apostolic doctrine.
I have often heard people appeal to Martin Luther’s defense of the doctrine of “justification by faith apart from works” as a basis for embracing new and subjective interpretations of Scripture in the name of revelation knowledge. What is often missed in that argument, however, is that Luther’s position was not a re-interpretation of the biblical texts he argued from. The church’s position at the time was not rooted in faithful scriptural interpretation. Practices such as purgatory, penance for the dead, and the intercession of saints stood in direct contradiction to apostolic teaching.
Luther’s conclusions were arrived at by honestly examining the texts (the scriptures) and recognizing how far many prevailing beliefs had departed from it. This was one reason the Reformers laboured tirelessly to translate and distribute the Scriptures so that ordinary people could read them for themselves. Like the Bereans who listened to the apostle Paul with readiness of heart while searching the Scriptures daily to verify his teaching (see Acts 17:10-12), they believed that truth could withstand honest examination. And as the Scriptures became more widely available, it became increasingly difficult to sustain unscriptural doctrines (practices) within the church.
There are also those who argue that revelation knowledge is rooted in personal and subjective interpretation, often appealing to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV: “…the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” According to this view, “the letter” refers broadly to the written words of Scripture, while “the Spirit” supposedly authorizes interpretations beyond the plain meaning of the text. But this understanding ignores the context of Paul’s statement.
In 2 Corinthians 3:3, Paul contrasts “letters engraved on stones” with that “written by the Spirit on human hearts”. The reference to “the letter” in verse 6 therefore is not a rejection of Scripture itself, but specifically a reference to the Mosaic law written on tablets of stone (see Romans 2:29 and Romans 7:6 where Paul also references the law with the term “the letter”). All that the apostle was trying to communicate is that the law produced death because fallen man could not live up to its perfect requirement, whereas, the Spirit gives life through the gospel (as fallen man hears or reads of the same gospel that was announced by Jesus and his disciples and is captured in our bibles).
Paul’s argument, therefore, is not that careful attention to Scripture is dangerous, but that righteousness cannot come through the law. The same apostle who wrote that “the letter kills” also continually reasoned from the Scriptures to proclaim Christ (see Acts 17:2, Acts 18:28). The Spirit does not lead believers away from Scripture, but through it, illuminating the truth already revealed in Christ and taught by the apostles.
This is also consistent with the words of Jesus Himself when He said, “…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). The very words spoken by Jesus are what we now have preserved and codified for us in the Scriptures. These words continue to breathe life into believers today in the same way they did to His immediate audience, by bringing us into the same understanding that Jesus intended for those who first heard Him. The life-giving work of the Spirit, therefore, is not separate from the words of Christ preserved in Scripture, but is experienced through them as they are rightly understood and believed.
Revelation knowledge, then, is not the liberty to detach ourselves from apostolic doctrine in pursuit of novel interpretations. It is the Spirit-enabled understanding of the truth already revealed in Scripture. True revelation does not contradict the apostolic witness; it confirms and illuminates it.