We live in an age of skepticism, and we live in an age that is lacking in truth. Let’s face it - many people do believe in God, and to believe in God, that in itself is a major step of faith. There are many people who are atheists, and don’t. To believe in God is one big step, but let’s take it a bit further here. Do we then, who believe in God, do we believe completely, totally in God’s word, the Holy Bible, to be God’s instruction to us? In other words, do we believe all of the Bible? Because that can be something that we find challenging as well, because there are parts of the Bible that one might not agree with, one might find to be a bit challenging in their understanding.
And that brings us to point number four in our series on understanding the Bible, and that is, as we seek to understand, we have got to accept the inspiration of all the Bible. Not just part of it, not just some, but of all the Bible. All scripture, both the Old and the New Testament, the wisdom literature of Proverbs or Psalms, as well as the prophetic books such as Revelation or Daniel. And certainly both the Old and the New, and understand how they fit. We can’t just discard the Old Testament because we like the New Testament better, thinking there’s a better God there in Jesus, and it’s more loving. No, we have to take all of the Bible because that’s the way God wrote the Bible through His servants and through His people.
Christ made a comment in John chapter 6. He said, “The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). And we have to look at both - the complete Bible, Old and New Testament, as spiritual words and teaching coming from God that are divinely inspired. In 2 Peter 1:21, Peter writes that “the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” And so, regardless of who it was or when it was written, they were moved by God’s Spirit, which makes it a book that is breathed by God through His inspiration. And that’s what we have to understand as we begin to understand the Bible, and not cherry-pick it, not pick and choose what we are more comfortable with when it comes to the Bible. If there’s a difficult part, historically or in some other way, we have to dig a little deeper to understand that. But if it’s also something that perhaps corrects us or challenges our long-held views about the Bible, we have to be willing to be taught and accept that as well, and accept the entire Bible. We cannot afford skepticism. We cannot afford to take an approach to the Word of God that somehow diminishes what it is, as we believe God and take Him at His word.
Taking this approach to accept all the inspiration of the Scripture as something for us to be taught and learn by is going to open up far greater understanding of God’s word and enrich our life beyond any imagination that we could have.
We make time for what is important. Do we make time to read the Bible?
Our lives are pretty busy. They are always pretty hectic. The older we get, as the saying goes, time flies even quicker. I’m a living proof of that - at least, that’s how I think. Time goes quicker in my later years. But one thing I’ve learned about time management is this: that we make time for those things that are important to us. It might be a hobby. It might be your favorite pastime. It might be our job. It might be our children, our grandchildren. It might be sitting in front of the television just enjoying something on the tube. Or reading a book, if that’s what we enjoy to do. We make time for those things that we really enjoy.
How about God’s word? Do we make time and enjoy the word of God, reading the word of God, putting it into our schedule, something every day that we do, even if only a small amount. But reading the word of God - do we make time for it? That’s a critical question for all of us to ask.
We’re at point number five on our series here of keys to understanding the bible. And in this particular key, it’s this: plan time for Bible study. Plan your time. Write it down. Make it a part of your schedule. Many people do it in the morning. But plan time for the Bible and make it a regular, dedicated habit that we employ. Otherwise, there will be large gaps of time where we may not even pick up the word of God and spend time laboring in the word. It’s a key to understanding the Bible - to plan our time and to study the Bible and make it a part -of our lives.
In Ephesians 5:15-17, it says this: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Redeem the time. You buy back the time. You make time for those things that are important. This is a critical key in our efforts to step by step come to a plan and a point in life where we truly begin to understand the Bible. Plan time for it. Enjoy that. It’ll pay dividends in the long run.
How would you feel if someone misinterpreted what you said? Well, that’s what has happened with the Bible.
What if you had a message to deliver, and it was delivered, and then someone takes it and turns it completely around, misinterprets it, and says that it means something totally different from what you originally gave and intended it to mean? You know, that’s what’s happened with the Bible. Through the ages, people have taken the word of God and put their own interpretation upon it. They have put their own meaning into it. Whole churches and religious faiths have been built around certain passages or certain interpretations of the Scripture that are far from what God intended and means. It’s a very important principle. We’re in number six in our keys of understanding the Bible, and this is to let the Bible interpret itself. Let the Bible interpret itself. It’s fully capable of doing so.
There’s a passage in 2 Peter 1:20 that says about the Scripture, “No prophecy is of any private interpretation.” No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. Which is true about prophecy and really, doctrine and any other teaching, and many principles of Christian living from the Bible. It is not for us to privately interpret. We must draw out the meaning, but be very careful that you do not read into any part of Scripture your own bias, your own interpretation, your own meaning, or that of your particular faith or background. That’s not how God’s word was given and it is not how it is to be studied.
There’s another principle from the book of Isaiah that teaches us that the Bible is a word, a book that we are to look at in its context and take lines and principles from various passage of Scripture to understand. In Isaiah 28:9, it says, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the passage? Those just weaned from milk? Or those drawn from the breast? Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Get the context. Read the verses before, after. Read the entire chapter, the entire book, and compare back and forth the seemingly difficult or contradictory passages always have a way of being able to be worked out as the Bible interprets itself. Be patient, and let that be a principle to guide you in studying the Bible, and you will find yourself be richly rewarded as a result. Let the Bible interpret itself.
