The Bible has a few things to say about the Spirit in relation to the Body and maturity.

This speaks of how the Spirit also has a role to help us understand the Bible. As discovered in the series "Spirit AND the Word", the Spirit points us to the Word.

But we cannot miss how the Spirit also "declare[s] to you the things that are to come". This is the individual guidance that the Spirit gives to people to, for example, talk to that person over there about this, as Jesus also talked about:

And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Luke 12:11-12, ESV

Since this is limited to specific individuals in specific situations, and is not binding for all believers for all time, while it is revelation from the Spirit, it is not at the same level as Scripture. Though binding for that believer at that time, it is not binding for all. Therefore, there is a distinction.

There are a few examples in Scripture of this:

• Peter being told by the Spirit to go with three strangers (Acts 11:11-12)

• Paul being led to the Macedonians (Acts 16:6-10)

• Paul being told by the Spirit he would suffer (Acts 20:22-23)

These are words in Scripture, and helpful for us to see as an example of what the Spirit might do, but are not binding on us to do. They are specific to their times. There are more biblical examples, and many more today that particularly Pentecostals experience.

But Pentecostals can often fall into an error here and assume listening to the Spirit is the only way we can know what God wants for us. This needs to be examined more closely.

Can we just ask the Holy Spirit and be done with study?

Sometimes Pentecostals will take to a discussion an attitude that they don't have to think anymore, or study anymore (or at all), or engage in any sort of planning because the Holy Spirit will tell them what to do when the time comes. This can be a good thing, as many a Conservative has planned so much regarding evangelistic activities that they rarely have time to do it. But this is dangerous too because the Holy Spirit could use thinking, planning and studying to tell you things—words that you would otherwise miss.

I find the concept of being satisfied in God a good way of finding the balance.

Some people have been created by God with more an intellect than others. They are going to find the most satisfaction in God through study of the Word, because they'll learn the most from the Spirit by studying it, asking hard questions, delving deep into research, and at the end of it, coming up with rich answers.

Others, however, haven't been created with a big head (!), but have a big heart instead. They prefer to engage with people. So they are going to find the most satisfaction in God through encouraging others, serving others, building friendships and loving others—helping people experience something of God.

Different people are satisfied in God in different ways—and that is okay. The problems arise when the heady group says to the hearty group "I don't need you", or the hearty group to the heady group "I don't need you" (1 Corinthians 12:21 and surrounding). So, we're allowed to not be interested in the same things—that's natural! But I would say that when it comes to understanding a particular passage, we would naturally defer to those more intellectual, just as we would find it more natural to walk on our legs rather than our arms. It may be possible to use our arms to walk, but it's going to be a struggle. And similarly, when it comes to relational things, we should defer to those who are people-oriented, just as we would normally do for any topic: seek the expert.

Now this is not to say that there are complete divides. One informs the other. So, I'm not a musician, but I can come up with some good theology that helps shape good music. A musician may not be an evangelist, but may come up with ways that engage unreached people through music. I therefore see value in single-gift groups like a prophetic workshop, and also groups that bring everyone together to solve an issue, or indeed a church gathering.

Being alert to our worldview

I heard a cessationist argue we don't need to "cast lots" anymore (Acts 1:26, and numerous Old Testament passages), because we now have the complete Bible and also the Holy Spirit. Not knowing anything much about the spiritual realm, I was surprised this cessationist (who believe the gifts have ceased, including that the Spirit doesn't talk to us) came to such a conclusion. But this comes back to your worldview.

Cessationists are practical deists. So God wound up the world at the beginning of time and then just let it go. He doesn't actively sustain the world, but only ocassionaly intervenes in a miraculous event here and there. God intervenes in an otherwise natural-law-abiding world (as opposed to actively sustaining the world moment by moment). So casting lots or rolling dice according to this worldview is pure chance. God is not part of that decision.

But Pentecostals are practical New Agers. The physical is controlled by the spiritual. What's done in the spirit is about to manifest in the physical. To get anything done, then, requires starting in the spiritual. Rolling dice or casting lots is, then, purely a physical thing, and pure chance. Unless God directed you to do it.

But the Bible presents the spirit and physical realm as being purposely made to interact with each other, being actively sustained by God every moment of every day. The minutaie of life is controlled by God, as can be seen by how Jesus fulfilled dozens or even hundreds of prophecies down to even his clothes being divided up by lot (John 19:23-24, fulfilling Psalm 22:18). In fact, Scripture already gives a positive theology of the use of the lot via Solomon:

How is the decision from dice from the Lord? Because God is sovereign over, and actively sustains, all of life, all the time.

Thus a very physical thing can be done with the Spirit, in much the same way that you can study Scripture with the best of your intellect, being led by the Spirit and being open to the ideas the Spirit might want to show you. God made the physical and spiritual to interact freely, and many Christians show they understand this by continuously relying on God throughout the day in many and various ways.

This is why we do not put aside studying of the Word of God, though it is very physical and intellectual. God wants us to use the brain that he gave us! But he also gave us the Spirit, to lead us into all truth. If you're more gifted in one, then use that. But when we gather together, we should expect to have a mix of these gifts, and make allowances for that fact, not pitting spirit over the physical, or the physical over the spirit. Any word should be tested by Scripture, regardless of the realm it came from, and prophecy should not be despised (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).

Concluding this section

The Spirit leads us back to the Word. Thus, we can at once say that the Spirit matures us, in the same way that we can say that the Word matures us. The Spirit points us to the Word that we need for that moment, and that is how both are true at the same time. The Spirit also teaches us how to be like Jesus in the particular moment that we're in—"talk to that person about this" is an application of how Jesus heard the Father and acted from that (John 12:49-50; 5:19).

So the Spirit leads us to the Word, sometimes directly but other times through the Church. The Spirit graciously gives the Church gifts, which are there for the maturing of the believers. The gifts are different aspects of Jesus, given to us. As we express them, we become like him, and point to him. This is maturity.

We can add to our (incomplete) maxim like so:

We hold to: The authority of Scripture alone, administered through the Body of Christ, as interpreted with the Body of Christ's help, as led by and taught through the Spirit of God.

The clarity of Scripture

A quick word on the clarity (often called perspicuity) of Scripture.

Another reason why it's important to not denigrate the physical, in our pursuit of the truth with the Spirit, is the idea that God will speak to us in a way in which we will understand.

John says:

In order to follow Jesus, we not only need to hear God, or read his words, but also understand it well enough to respond.

The Reformers transformed the world by repudiating the Catholic idea that the common people could not understand the Bible. They translated the Bible so that the Latin Vulgate was not the only translation in circulation, and there was a Bible in the common language, allowing them to bypass the corruption of the church of that day.

The Bible is not for the elite to do their will, but for the everyday person to do God's will. This is not to say that there can't be a specialisation of sorts, such as God giving someone gifting in wisdom like Solomon, or teaching like Paul. The church is blessed by these people, as long as they continue to humbly rely on God and God's provisions such as the church. But those teachers should explain things in a way in which normal people can understand—thus reflecting God's way of teaching.

The everyday Christian is given clarity over the essentials of the faith, as understood from Scripture, but not everything in Scripture is clear. For that, God sends teachers and prophets. So that's the clarity of Scripture in a nutshell.