We do not primarily put the responsibility for explaining the Bible on people. People are used by the Holy Spirit to explain the Bible, but ultimately it’s the Holy Spirit who causes people to understand the Bible. We’re seeking to get away from the fashion in church which says that preaching is just explaining the Bible, and that’s what preachers are for—ir as it’s often put—no one can understand the Bible unless they have a textbook to explain the Bible to them.
That’s not quite right. The Holy Spirit illumines the believer’s mind to grasp what is objectively there in the text. He uses people—be in no doubt about that—but let’s get it right… The order is important: it’s the Holy Spirit who causes us to understand the Bible.
Which liberates us when we’re sharing the gospel with others. Someone comes to us and says, “Well, I don’t understand this thing from the Bible—can you explain it to me?” And naturally we freeze up, because we think, “Well, I can’t help someone understand the Bible, because I have no idea what the Bible means in so many places!” But if we have the Holy Spirit, it’s okay, he can do it.
So, both you and your friend who’s asked for help can be taught together by the Holy Spirit as you go through the Bible. Someone wants help to read the Bible and you can say, “Open it—I don’t know, but the Holy Spirit knows, and he’s the one who helps us understand the Bible. So let’s open the Bible together and learn together.” And there are things that the Holy Spirit then, will have shown you that you can share with someone who wants to understand the Bible. But the onus is on the Holy Spirit, not on us.
So, my (Rhodri) job here on a Sunday, as I’m preaching, is not to be a Bible explainer primarily. There is Bible explanation—which the Holy Spirit enables me to do—but my primary job is to preach, to be God’s mouthpiece, to expound what the Holy Spirit is saying in Scripture, which he very clearly states. So, my role in preaching is not just to explain the Bible academically, but to proclaim it with clarity, urgency, and faithfulness, trusting the Spirit to work through that proclamation.
These are important distinctions. It’s God’s word which is used. Our attention is being drawn to the Bible, not to people primarily.
And then, of course, we need to be drawn to what the Bible says.
