Interpretations of Scripture, Part 3

When interpreting Scripture, we must be thorough and use the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There are many ways in which Scripture can be misinterpreted. Being human, we obviously do not know everything. Even though we often think we know everything, all we have to do is take a step back to realize how little we truly do know. Take a walk in the woods - how much do you really know about each individual organism and how it functions or what its purposes are? Step through the doors of hospital - how much do you really know about your own body (its bones and organs and tissues...the way each cell works to make your body function...)? Take a history book off the shelf - how many details, intents, and influences do you really know about people and events that happened many, many, many years before you were even born? Travel into outer space - how much do you know about the billions of stars in our own galaxy, the planets of our own solar system, or the numerous other galaxies within the universe? Journey to the center of the earth - how much do you know about the inner layers of the earth, how they function, or what purpose they serve our planet? Step into the life of a psychologist - what do you really know about what other human beings are thinking or feeling, and what do you know about giving them the right prescription (medicinal or otherwise)? You see, even if we know a little something about everything, there is no way that any of us could possibly know everything there is to know about even one of these topics! Even if we studied that one subject our whole lives! 

In the same way, none of us can know everything about God. If we studied Him our entire lives, we would merely scratch the surface of who He is. Yet, God gave us the gift of His Word and the Holy Spirit to help us understand and discern meaning. Rather than leave us in the dark, God gave us many opportunities to know Him. Creation is filled with His fingerprints, and the Bible is His inspired Word to us. The Bible helps us to see who God was in history, and that helps us to see who God is today and will be in the future. How does it do that? Well, remember that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, everything we read in Scripture reveals to us more of God's character, personality, and desires. 

It can be difficult, however, to understand even a little who God is if we are not careful in interpreting the Scriptures correctly. It is important to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, and be praying for God to give us insight and understanding. 

One thing to be careful of is compartmentalizing Scripture. No one verse or passage can be separated from the whole of Scripture. As Andy Deane writes, "Never divorce one part of Scriptures from another. The interpretation of every text must be consistent and coherent with the Bible as a whole...When we read the Bible, we must do so with great discernment and test every teaching by the whole of Scripture. This is called correlation: the process of relating one passage to another. Weighing the Scriptures in this manner will help prevent unbalanced and erroneous interpretations." It is the same idea as eating one ingredient, flour for example, of a cake batter. If you judge the taste of the cake as a whole by tasting just the flour, you will have made a judgment based on partial views. Or, if you decide that the theme of a certain song is love simply by listening to one line, you will never know that the song's actual theme is hopelessness without Christ because you chose to listen to a part and not the whole of the song. Whenever a judgment or interpretation is made based on a part rather than the whole of any thing, it will always be a partial or incomplete (and often incorrect) judgment or interpretation. So, be careful not to judge a book by its cover, or a person by their appearance, or a ride by someone else's experience of it. In the same way, take great care in reading Scripture as a whole so that nothing is lacking in the interpretation of it.

Interpretations of Scripture, Part 2

I can't tell you how many times I have been told by other Christians that everyone is free to have their own interpretation of Scripture or that God intended His Word to be interpreted differently by Christians depending on their individual circumstances and beliefs. Yet, all I have to do to know many Christians hold to this belief that there is more than one interpretation of the Bible is to look around. The Church has changed. Look at the churches across America, and you will find a great number of them believing (and preaching) various heresies that have come out of this belief that God's Word means different things for different people:

Homosexuality is not wrong for everyone - God made some people that way... Divorce is acceptable, and even condoned in many churches - God wouldn't make them stay with that horrible person (that they don't get along with anymore or don't have chemistry with anymore) forever... Abortion is not always wrong - God wouldn't make them have a baby that was a result of rape or incest, and He certainly wouldn't make them have the baby if it put their life in any danger... Women shouldn't be forbidden to do anything - God made them equal and that gives them the right to take on whatever task or position they like, be it head of a home or a church... Sin is not something to spend much time thinking about - grace is there, so it doesn't matter how we live... Everyone is loved by God - we must never say anything about the way people choose to live because it's their choice and ultimately, God loves them and grace will cover them... The gifts of the Spirit and speaking in tongues are no longer applicable - God only allowed those things during Bible times because he wouldn't want anyone today to be embarrassed or viewed as a "freak"... Jesus is not the only way to heaven - that is just the way some people think, but Allah and Buddha can get you there too... 

In reading this morning, I was struck by the simple truth of God's Word and our interpretation of it as believers. Following is an excerpt from my reading. It is taken from Andy Deane's book entitled Learn to Study the Bible.

Chapter 3 - Interpretation: What Does It Mean?

The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:14

Every good Bible study method has as one of its main objectives, the correct interpretation of the Scriptures. However, Dr. Roy B. Zuck, of Dallas Theological Seminary says, "Most of the time when many people approach the Bible, they jump from observation to application, skipping the essential step of interpretation. This is wring because interpretation logically follows observation. In observing what the Bible says, you probe; in interpretation, you mull. Observation is discovery; interpretation is digesting. Observation means looking at what is there, and interpretation is deciding what it means. The one is to explore, the other is to explain." ...

"KNOW IT" - Interpretation Helps Us Discover the Meaning
A correct interpretation of Scripture will never be discerned strictly by human logic. We cannot simply apply our intellect to the text; we must be willing to allow the revealed wisdom of God to speak to us through the pages of Scripture. Many Christians miss the truth of God's Word because they are trying to mold its precepts to fit their own personal ideologies. They read meaning into the text rather than drawing understanding from it. However, when we come to the Bible prepared to have our thoughts and ideas conformed to its authority (rather than the other way around) then whether we are seasoned biblical scholars or the youngest Sunday school students we will be able to come away with a correct understanding. The best assurance we have of arriving at the right interpretation of any biblical passage always begins with laying aside our own preconceived notions, gut feelings, long-held beliefs, and persuasive arguments, and allowing the Word of God and the Spirit of God to impart understanding to us.

The Bible is the ultimate authority int he church and in the lives of individual believers. However, people often discredit the Bible with comments such as, "Well, everyone has their own understanding of what the Bible means," or "there are as many interpretations of the Bible as there are Christians." But statements such as these are simply untrue. 2 Peter 1:20-21 reminds us that the Word of God has only one correct interpretation: "No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

We should never approach the Bible in the same subjective way in which we would view a painting by Picasso. the Bible is not an abstract piece of art that invites everyone to weigh in with his or her own opinion of its meaning. Every passage of Scripture has an intended and discoverable truth - one correct interpretation. 

...

Prayer is also a key factor in assuring that we always come to a correct understanding of the Scriptures. In fact, when it comes to God's word I believe prayer is even more valuable than seminary. The richness of every biblical passage will be revealed to those who read the Bible on their knees. 

Interpretations of Scripture, Part 1

I can't tell you how many times I have been told by other Christians that everyone is free to have their own interpretation of Scripture or that God intended His Word to be interpreted differently by Christians depending on their individual circumstances and beliefs. Yet, all I have to do to know many Christians hold to this belief that there is more than one interpretation of the Bible is to look around. The Church has changed. Look at the churches across America, and you will find a great number of them believing (and preaching) various heresies that have come out of this belief that God's Word means different things for different people:

Homosexuality is not wrong for everyone - God made some people that way... Divorce is acceptable, and even condoned in many churches - God wouldn't make them stay with that horrible person (that they don't get along with anymore or don't have chemistry with anymore) forever... Abortion is not always wrong - God wouldn't make them have a baby that was a result of rape or incest, and He certainly wouldn't make them have the baby if it put their life in any danger... Women shouldn't be forbidden to do anything - God made them equal and that gives them the right to take on whatever task or position they like, be it head of a home or a church... Sin is not something to spend much time thinking about - grace is there, so it doesn't matter how we live... Everyone is loved by God - we must never say anything about the way people choose to live because it's their choice and ultimately, God loves them and grace will cover them... The gifts of the Spirit and speaking in tongues are no longer applicable - God only allowed those things during Bible times because he wouldn't want anyone today to be embarrassed or viewed as a "freak"... Jesus is not the only way to heaven - that is just the way some people think, but Allah and Buddha can get you there too... 

 I wonder, though, who is this God they serve? If it is the same God I serve, I must be wasting my time because apparently truth is relative. How can they claim to know and serve God when they do not even believe that what He says is true. Does God lie? Or, does God change? Is He one thing for one person, and something entirely different for another? And, what is truth if there is no absolute? How is it possible for truth to be relative or circumstantial? 

I wonder because it clearly states in Scripture that God cannot lie: "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:20, NKJV). In Hebrews 6:18 it  states: "to which it is impossible for God to lie". As to God changing, Malachi 3:6 refutes that possibility: "'For I am the Lord, I do not change.'" Again, in Hebrews 1:10-12 (a quote of Psalm 102:25-27) we see that God does not change: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." We read in Hebrews 13: 8 that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." How then, would it be possible for Him to change? In regards to truth being relative, Scripture clearly tells us it is not so. If God is unchanging and the same for all time, then truth is also absolute and unchanging. In John 14:6 Jesus tells Thomas - one of his disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." As to the Bible being reliable as it is written, we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Notice that it is for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction! It is not something to follow if you feel like it or agree with it. It is the Word of God given to man that he may be complete and equipped.