Understanding the Work of the Holy SpiritSample

The Holy Spirit’s Illuminating and Interceding

God is kind to His people, and this kindness shows up concretely in two ongoing works of the Holy Spirit: His illumination of Scripture and His intercession for Christians.

Illumination

Not only did the Holy Spirit inspire the Bible, He also illumines it. That is, He superintended the biblical authors as they wrote the Bible such that it is God-breathed, true (inerrant), authoritative, sufficient, necessary, clear, and life-transforming. In addition, the Spirit illumines inspired Scripture, helping believers understand and apply the Word of God.

As the word illumination itself implies, this work of the Spirit has to do with enlightening the eyes and hearts of its readers. Such illumination is necessary, first of all, for unbelievers to understand and embrace the gospel.

Unbelievers find themselves in a dreadful situation. They are blinded by Satan, the god of this world, so that they cannot grasp the light of the gospel. The Spirit’s illumination is necessary to open their eyes so that they can believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.

As Luther notes, this illuminating ministry of the Spirit continues for believers to enable them to understand all of Scripture. Whereas the Bible itself is clear, even believers still beset by sin need light to shine to overcome the darkness of their misunderstanding of it.

Scripture underscores the Spirit’s work of illumination, which is second in a chain of two events. First, God inspired the writing of His Word. Second, God illumines the reading/hearing of His Word.

This work of the Holy Spirit does not just engage with understanding Scripture. Beyond helping believers to grasp the meaning of Scripture, the Spirit softens their hearts so that they are ready to apply Scripture properly.

Intercession

A second ongoing work of the Holy Spirit is His intercession on behalf of believers. When they don’t know how or what to pray, the Spirit prays.

Christians struggle to pray because they live as still sinful believers in a sinful world. Especially as they have their backs against the wall—they face trials, temptations, loss, persecution, and other afflictions—they don’t know how to pray or don’t know what to pray. As they try to hold back the tears of despair, they can’t even mouth the words of a prayer to God. Paul’s description of our desperate reality in Romans 8 is honest.

Paul is also full of hope that, in these times, the Holy Spirit prays on our behalf. He intercedes for distraught Christians, not using human words—English, Korean, Spanish, Italian—but addresses himself to God “with unspoken groanings.” This is a divine communication that humans cannot—nor need to—understand. The Spirit appeals on their behalf that the Father will grant comfort, direction, encouragement, hope, relief—whatever is needed in the moment. And the assurance is that the Father, who eternally loves and listens to the Spirit, grants the Spirit’s request. Christians have that for which the Spirit prays.

Thanks for reading!

We hope you enjoyed reading this devotional plan, which is based on God, Gift, and Guide: Knowing the Holy Spirit by Gregg Allison (B&H Publishing, 2023). Click here to learn more.