[Continued from last week]

I will start by asserting that the Holy Spirit is able to speak through any means of his choosing. The Holy Spirit is not limited to the inspired meaning of Scripture in its original context to communicate with us. Otherwise, how would the Holy Spirit speak directly into our personal lives about anything? So the Holy Spirit can speak through the voice of meditation as well as through inductive study.

The question is not if the Holy Spirit can speak through the voice of meditation, but if He has indeed done so in any particular instance. I know that Scripture is inspired, therefore when I properly understand its meaning in its original context, I know I am hearing truth from God. I cannot say the same thing about what I “hear” through meditation on a Scripture passage. There is another step I must engage, the task of determining whether that meaning is truth from God or not.

If the meaning derived from meditation on a passage is different from the context of that Scripture, I do not think the meditation meaning carries any more credence simply because it is Scripture. The meaning derived from meditation is not inspired in the same way that Scripture in its context is inspired. Inspired Biblical writers cannot be misguided, but I can be misguided in what I hear in meditation.

And if I do determine I have heard from God in my meditation, that is a communication for my life at that moment, but not necessarily a truth for others taught by Mt 22:32. I can share the experience of what I “heard” from God in my meditation on Mt 22:32. But I cannot say that Mt 22:32 is teaching that truth to everyone because that is not what it is teaching in its context.

I thought of Phil 4:13 ( I can do all things through him who strengthens me.) as a verse that often “speaks” to people in ways that are not consistent with the context of that verse. People sometimes use this verse as a message that they will enjoy great success in a particular endeavor that they are taking on. However, the context of this verse is referring to the ability to have contentment through trials. This is very different from a promise of success.

Phil 4:13 is not a promise of success that anyone can claim in Scripture. That would be a misinterpretation or wrong application of its meaning in its context. It is possible that the Holy Spirit could speak a promise of success to someone in a certain situation through this verse. However, I would question whether the Holy Spirit would use a verse that has been wrongly understood to guarantee success in order to convey a personal word of success to someone. I would expect the Holy Spirit to use another verse that does not have the history of misapplication (a verse from Joshua 1 perhaps).

In conclusion, I know that the Holy Spirit is always speaking through Scripture properly understood in its original meaning. I believe that the Holy Spirit can speak through the meanings that emerge from Biblical meditation practices, even when those meanings are out of context. But with those meditation meanings, I need to discern whether the Holy Spirit is actually speaking or if I have created that meaning with my own mind. I believe that the Spirit will help us to discern whether he is speaking. But we have to realize the need for this discernment rather than just going with the meaning that was impressed upon us in meditation.