How can God's will be known? Can we tell His requirements with certainty and exactness? Yes, said the Puritans, there is a way to harness our conscience to Holy Scriptures, in which the mind of God is revealed to us...But, it might be said, such a formula is unrealistic and empty. The Bible is a very old book, the product of a now-vanished culture. How can it throw light on the problems of life today? It can do so because the God who wrote it remains the same, and His thoughts about human life do not change. If we can learn to see what principles He was inculcating and applying to His recorded dealings with Israel and the early church and reapply them to our own situations, it will constitute the guidance we need. And it is to help us to do this the Holy Spirit has been given. Certainly, seeing the relevant principles and applying them correctly in each case in practice is an arduous task; ignorance of Scripture and misjudgment of situations constantly lead us astray, and to be humble enough to receive the Spirit's help is not easy either. But it remains true nonetheless that in principle Scripture provides clear and exact guidance for every detail and department of life, and if we come to Scripture teachable and expectantly God Himself will seal our minds and hearts a clear as to how we are to how we have to behave in each situation that faces us....Baxter said God has appointed means to cure blindness and error. Come into the light, with due self-suspicion, and impartiality and diligently use all God's means and avoid causes of deceit and error, and the light of truth will show you the truth.

~ J I Packer [A Quest For Godliness]