The Bible

 

The biggest obstacle to understanding our Lord’s message in the Bible is our attitude before we even open up the scriptures. Are we an inny or outie? An inny desires to be part of the Spiritual Kingdom of Jesus Christ, becoming spiritually one with our Savior. A Christian pushes aside their own will, their own human intelligence, previous non-Biblical church indoctrination, and all the worldly values they have. They humbly submit to the Holy Spirit to show us the will of our Father, to gently guide us through the truth of the scriptures. And that truth is surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ, trusting in His loving grace to save all who believe in Him.

An outie wants to be part of Christ’s Kingdom but refuses to totally give up their will, which is the ultimate condition to come into the Savior’s world. It is amazing how many people believe they can just use their own intelligence to find and understand God. They believe their human intellect can help redefine God, make His ways easier for all to follow. Others just follow the beliefs of the congregation they were raised in or belong to because it takes too much time or effort on their part to study the Scriptures. They put all their faith in their leaders to save them. Then there are those who believe they choose their God, their God does not choose them. They are part of the pick and choose generation. This group believes the Bible to be merely a menu for what fits into their lifestyles and beliefs. They only accept scripture that fits into their humanistic concept of compassionate behavior in today’s modern society. Surely all other scripture was meant for an older, less sophisticated society. All these superficial Christians are on the outside looking in, not taking the last step of surrendering their will to come into the body of Christ, to submit to God’s will as our Lord gave it to us in the scriptures. The physical world changes and we adjust to those changes. But since Christ died for our sins, the spiritual way leading to Heaven has not changed, nor will it changed until our Savior returns. Only the Holy Spirit enables us to forsake our own will and teaches us through the Bible to know our Master’s will. God’s plan of salvation in the New Testament, His commands of the Old Testament which were not altered in the New Testament, are not mere guidelines, but the very will of our Lord. Together all Christians strive to follow our Heavenly Father as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, Matt. 6:10 “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”   

The other problem in comprehending the Bible is how one interprets it. The Holy Spirit inspired leaders and prophets to write the Old Testament, while the apostles and evangelists were under His inspiration in writing the New Testament. The Scriptures were written over a long period of time, often many years after the events. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek. Jesus talked in Aramaic and many of the early Christian commentaries were done in Latin. Then all of these languages had to be translated into our everyday language. But despite the language obstacles, despite the human imperfection of the writers of the Bible, the Holy Spirit made the overall intent of the Bible true and perfect. But we can only understand this perfect intent when we let the Holy Spirit guide us through the Holy Scriptures. Below are some disciplines that must be utilized to help us understand and discuss the scriptures. Without these disciplines all merely float within their own human rational never allowing the Bible to hold us to specific truths:

  1. The Holy Scriptures are the only inspired word of God, the only reference book we have directly from God. The Bible tells us about the saving grace our Savior has given us, what our Lord would have us do, and how He would have us live. The oldest manuscript writings should take precedence over the same writings redone at a newer date. Actions and examples define the meaning of what has been said.  2Tim 3:16 – 2Pe 1:18-25
  2. The Bible should be used to interpret itself first. The total context of the Scriptures should be used to derive the intent and meaning from any verse or verses. Isolated verses by themselves can easily be taken out of context and redefined by human reason. Individual words can also have their meanings redefined and this may change the content or meaning of the verse. Any other Non-Scriptural information should be used only as secondary data to help clarify the scriptures, providing such information keeps the meaning in context with the rest of the Bible. Only when we look at the total picture of the Scriptures can we keep the spiritual meaning in them consistent with our Lord’s will. 1Cor 2:13 – Matt11:25
  3. Our Heavenly Father’s plan is from the beginning to the end of the world. It transcends the two covenants He made to us. We should follow the latest commands given in the Bible that directly alter any command previously given at an earlier date. But we should honor all commands that have not been changed. Heb 8:13 – Acts 11:1-18
  4. The Word of God is living, active and enduring. It judges the intent of your heart, whether you are submitting to the Lord or trying to work around our Master’s will using your own reasoning. God’s word should be read and studied instead of accepting what others say, that which we like to hear as the truth. Direct Bible passages should be read not just human interpretations assumed to be correct. For the Holy Spirit uses the very words of God to open our hearts and surrender our will to Jesus Christ. Heb 4:12 – Mk 12:24
  5. The true intent and predominant message through out the Bible must be used to explain less clear passages. We must quit trying to make the Bible contradict itself to rationalize away that which one does not want to accept. Matt 29:22 – Jn 10:35
  6.  Short verse excerpts cannot be interrupted by human concepts, then expanded into human ideology, and deemed to be the truth when it is not written in the Scriptures. Anything not written in the Bible is but mere speculation and should be treated as such. Speculation all too easily pulls us away from the truth. 2Pe 1:20-21, 3:16  

 

Try using the New International Version (NIV) or the English Standard Version (ESV), utilizing the King James and the American Standard Versions as cross references. All these translations can be found on this website’s home page under Search the Bible. Start in the New Testament with the gospel of John then Matthew. Then read Paul’s letters in Galatians and Ephesians. Then finish the New Testament. In between one may want to skim the Old Testament with the beginning in the first part of Genesis, the beauty of the Psalms, and the intellect of Proverbs. If you have troubles e-mail us, or join a Christian Bible based study group that follows the above rules.

 

Next Topic

 

What God Is All About

 

Home