Since the quarantine, I’ve been teaching through the book of Romans online in daily chapels four days per week. I’ve loved being back in Romans! (The talks are collected on our Videos page)
It has been a strong reminder of the opportunities we all have to simply share the Scriptures, to unfold their truth, and to trust God for the results.
Prepare to Be Illuminated
I prepare each day’s chapel message by praying for God to give me illumination. I want to be illuminated by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:14) so that I can understand the day’s passage. JI Packer described illumination in this way:
It is not a giving of new revelation, but a work within us that enables us to grasp and to love the revelation that is there before us in the biblical text as heard and read, and as explained by teachers and writers. Sin in our mental and moral system clouds our minds and wills so that we miss and resist the force of Scripture. God seems to us remote to the point of unreality, and in the face of God’s truth we are dull and apathetic. The Spirit, however, opens and unveils our minds and attunes our hearts so that we understand (Eph. 1:17-18; 3:18-19; 2 Cor. 3:14-16; 4:6). As by inspiration he provided Scripture truth for us, so now by illumination he interprets it to us. Illumination is thus the applying of God’s revealed truth to our hearts, so that we grasp as reality for ourselves what the sacred text sets forth.
Concise Theology
Illumination is essential to sound biblical understanding.
Be Careful
Without this illumination, my historical-grammatical hermeneutic will make me become foundered like a horse that eats too much grass without digesting it properly. What ought to be nutritious (the Word of God) becomes too potent and powerful if it is not taken in with humility (James 4:10, 1 Pet 5:6) and faith (Heb 11:6).
We need to take care to read the Scriptures, asking for them to be illuminated to us. Jeremiah announces:
Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
Jeremiah 23:29
For this reason, I want to pray for illumination when I am prepping studies in the book of Romans or working through any portion of Scripture.
The Lion Has Roared
Famously, Amos described the revelation of Scripture from God as being like the roar of a lion. Amos said:
The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
Amos 3:8
This reminds us that the spiritual dynamic of God’s revealed word will impel us to spiritually respond. Now a prophet like Amos would respond by prophesying. A non-apostle, non-prophet like us today would simply respond in believing obedience to start with, and then Spirit-empowered witness flowing out of that.
Charles Spurgeon has been misquoted about this biblical analogy. But what he did say was this:
“Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best ‘apology’ for the gospel is to let the gospel out.”
Christ and His Co-Workers, 1866 sermon
The Scriptures are like a lion’s roar, and we ought to ask for God’s illuminating protection (!) as we read the bible.
This is the kind of illuminated bible study I want to do as I study the book of Romans. I pray that you will be illuminated too.
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