Illumination of the Holy Spirit

And other false doctrines

Most denominational churches teach a false doctrine referred to as “Illumination of the Spirit”.

This is taken, in part, from

1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)

            14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are             foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

            To a person who has limited Bible knowledge, this can be a difficult passage to understand. It is easy for a person who is skilled with words and who appears to be knowledgeable about the Bible to confuse the meaning of this Scripture in the minds of those who have not studied it. This is how the false teaching of “the illumination of the Spirit” has been spread throughout the religious world.

            The Calvinist would teach here that because man is so hopelessly deprived of salvation because of the natural sin he has inherited from Adam, he cannot understand Spiritual things even if they should pertain to his own salvation. Furthermore, they would teach that this man would have no ability to “work out his own salvation” until the Holy Spirit entered him and indwelled him and gave him the understanding he needed to be saved. Of course they would not teach that just anyone could receive this gift, but only those who have been selected and predestined to receive it as God Himself would decide.

            But if we apply even the tiniest bit of common sense and logic to the doctrine of “Illumination of the Spirit”, anyone can see that there is no truth in it.

            For instance, if our ability to understand the words and teachings of the Bible come from a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit such as the “Illumination of the Spirit” doctrine teaches, then the person who received the supernatural illumination would become infallible and unable to be wrong in his understanding of Bible doctrines. But anyone can see that this is just not the case with any who claim to have this “illumination” gift from the Spirit. There are hundreds if not thousands of denominational churches who each teach different doctrines, most of which disagree with one another and many of which actually contradict one another. Even an unskilled Bible student can readily see that this could not be possible if these churches received their understanding of the Bible as a supernatural gift from God.

            2 Tim. 3: 16-17 gives the true story of where our Bible knowledge comes from.

            ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

            Notice that verse 17 tells us that the inspired Scripture is all a person needs to make him complete as a Christian. The Bible is all we need and nothing else is required. There will be no need for special revelations, special supernatural gifts, or any other books that men through the ages will write. The Bible is complete and it is all we will ever need to teach us what we need to do to be saved and how to live our Christian lives.

            Another false Doctrine, Somewhat related “Spiritual Gifts”

            Many denominations teach that once a person is saved, the Holy Spirit enters their lives and imparts to them their own Spiritual Gifts and that becomes their personal ministry. This is a comfort to people who do not understand or do not want to live a committed life for religious things. With this doctrine a person can avoid any parts of religious service they don’t want to obey. Such as;

            “I don’t attend church like you do, but that is not my Spiritual Path”

            “I don’t follow everything that the Bible tells me to do just like you do, but that is not my                        Spiritual Path”

            “My Spiritual gift is playing a musical instrument in the worship service”

            “My Spiritual gift is holding church in the bars and night clubs for the sinners there”

            And anything else you can imagine, since who can criticize the Spiritual Gifts from God?

            How simple it is to side step and to avoid many things you need to do in order to live your Christian life in full harmony with the teaching and commandments revealed to us in the New Testament. All a person has to do is convince himself that whatever he is doing is “approved” and “permitted” by a direct gift of God and has become his “personal ministry”. Who then could criticize anything someone might want to do, no matter how it might contradict Scripture?

Carl O. Cooper