these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.Piper gives an interesting illustration of the differences between the two doctrines. Before reading the illustration, the following definitions of the two doctrines provide a context to understand the illustration better.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:10-16 ESV)
Wayne Grudem defined the clarity of scripture as:
The appropriate conclusion from these passages is that Scripture repeatedly affirms that it is able to be understood—not only certain verses or statements, but the meaning of the whole of Scripture on many topics is able to be understood by God’s people. These affirmations are not limited to understanding the basic way of salvation, or understanding only major themes, or understanding certain topics or certain parts. These are affirmations about the nature of Scripture in any part, apparently grounded in a deep assumption that the Scriptures are communication from a God who is able to communicate clearly to his people.(http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the_perspicuity_of_scripture)John MacArthur makes the following points about illumination from this passage.
Unlike God’s revelation and inspiration, which were given to the biblical writers, His illumination is for all Christians. We all can rightly appraise the Word when rely on the Giver of the Word.
The doctrine of illumination does not mean we can know and understand everything (Deut. 29:29), that we do not need human teachers (Eph. 4:11-12), or that study is not hard work (2 Tim. 2:15). It does mean that Scripture can be understood by every Christian who is diligent and obedient.John Piper in a sermon on 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 on May 20th, 1984 provided a good illustration on how the two doctrines work together.
The manual of operation for the Christian wartime mentality is the Bible. It contains the truth needed to win us over from the enemy to Christ, to deprogram our old thought patterns, to train us in strategies of righteousness, and to equip us with armor and weapons to defeat Satan and liberate his captives. But we have a natural aversion to this truth. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit is utterly indispensable as we make use of this manual. But now we can see more clearly what this work of the Spirit is and what it isn't. The work of the Spirit is not to tell us what the manual of operation means. That we must determine by a disciplined study of the text. The Spirit inspired these writings and he does not short-circuit them by whispering in our ear what they mean. When we pray for his help, we do not pray that he will spare us the hard work of rigorous reading and reflection. What we pray is that he would make us humble enough to welcome the truth. The work of the Spirit in helping us grasp the meaning of Christ's manual of operation is not to make study unnecessary but to make us radically open to receive what our study turns up, instead of twisting the text to justify our unwillingness to accept it.Some people interpret the 1st Corinthians 2 passage and the doctrine of illumination as a way to skip diligent study of the bible. However, according to other passages of scripture, diligent study, meditation, prayer and memorization of scripture is important in growing in our relationship to God. According to Piper who is explaining the 1 Corinthians 2 passage above, Illumination is one of the Holy Spirit's ministries. He clarifies to the Spirit-led believer what the Bible says and helps the believer to discern what the Bible says is true and valuable. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus Christ through the scriptures and these truths are the most precious truths in the universe.
The lessons are plain for those who long to fight the fight of faith and be an integral part of the war effort. We must be diligent students of the Commander's manual. And we must soak all of our study in prayer that his Spirit would humble us to submit to every truth and commandment in it. The work of the Holy Spirit is to make us say from the heart as we take up the manual, "Far be it from me that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world was crucified to me, and I to the world." If our pride has not been crucified by the Holy Spirit, the Bible will be a wax nose and we will call it foolish or mold it to fit our own natural desires. In either case, the word of the Commander will not be obeyed and the war effort will languish and the cause of the enemy will go unchecked. (Piper, sermon notes).
Some verses to reflect upon:
Paul is exhorting Timothy to do his best to understand and to clearly explain the word of truth.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV)The psalmist is exhorting young men to memorize scripture to help fight the battle for purity in their lives.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9-11 ESV)Peter points out that Paul is hard to understand, which we can infer that diligent, prayerful, careful study will allow us to understand the Pauline epistles.
as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.(2 Peter 3:16 ESV)Notice here is Paul is exhorting Timothy to "think" and the Lord will give understanding.
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Timothy 2:7 ESV)The psalmist delights in the scriptures and encourages the reader to meditate on them:
I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. (Psalm 119:46-48 ESV)
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