Paul, in this verse, is speaking to Timothy but beyond Timothy Paul's instructions apply to every preacher and teacher since that time and to a degree they apply to every believer. Everyone must handle accurately the Word of truth, cutting every part of it straight so that it fits together.
You might ask, 'why exert so much effort to Bible study?' I'll tell you why, because Scripture is the self-revelation of God. In it the mind and heart of God is laid bare on many matters. With a knowledge of Scripture we learn who God is and what he va lues. In the Bible God reveals Himself.
I could plead with you to study the Bible for personal edification an d so that you may stand by God approved. I could say that the study of the Bible would prob ably be the most fulfilling and rewarding educational experience of your life. But ultimat ely the main reason why we should study the Bible is because it is our DUTY. Ramm "Most of th e material of the Bible is for the Christian, and specifically for his growth in knowle dge and holiness and spirituality. The Bible and it's study is one of the prime requisites for every Christian in order that he may lead an effective and genuine Christian life."
We live as human beings under an obligation by divine mandate to stud y diligently God's Word. It is a duty, not an option. Why is it that so many believers don't study God's Word? I think we can safely say that every home in America has a Bible, why don 't we study it? Because as out text states it, study is work, serious an d diligent work and we are into amusement and entertainment. We fail in our duty to study God's Word bec ause it's work. It's not like reading People magazine or a novel. It takes work, effort, mental discipline. Our problem is that we are lazy. Most Christians do their work badly, they do it selfishly, leaving off anything that would be a sacrifice to them. If they feel like studyin g they study; if not, they neglect their duty. Believer, if you want to understand who God is a nd what he wants of you, you must make every effort to handle correctly the Word of God.
R. C. Sproul in his book 'Knowing Scripture' makes this sad yet insig htful comment, "If you have read the whole Bible, you are in a small minority of Christian p eople. If you have studied the Bible you are in an even smaller minority. Isn't it amazing t hat almost every American has an opinion to offer about the Bible, and yet so few have rea lly studied it?"
In order to interpret the Bible correctly we must have some understan ding of Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the science of biblical in terpretation.
Luke 24:27 (NKJV) And beginning at Moses and all the Prophet s, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
The word "expounded" is the Greek word diermeneuo wh ich means to explain throughly, expound, interpret.
The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for i nterpreting the Bible. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation and thus we have dev eloped rules to safeguard us from such misunderstanding. The Supreme Court's job is to f unction as a board to interpret the Constitution. They are to be involved in hermeneut ics.
God has spoken and what He has said is recorded in Scripture. The bas ic need of hermeneutics is to ascertain what God meant by what h e said. Edward White said, "There is no folly, no God-dishonoring theology, no iniquity for which chapter a nd verse may not be cited by an enslaved intelligence." Shakespeare in the Merchant of Ve nice Act 3 scene 2 said, "In religion, what error but some sober brow will bless it, and a pprove it with a text, hiding the grossness with a fair ornament." Peter put it this way in his second epistle.
2 Peter 3:16 (NKJV) as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
Untaught means ignorant; and unstable is asterik tos, which means unfixed, vacillating. The word twist is strebloo, it means to put on a torture ra ck, to twist or pervert. It's real easy to twist or distort the Word of God but it is hard work to interpret it accu rately.
Before I give you some principles of hermeneutics, let me remind you that illumination of the Scriptures is the work of the Holy Spirit. There are three terms t hat we must understand in relation to the Spirits work and the Scriptures.
REVELATION--This is God unveiling Himself to man. Re velation is complete in the Bible. INSPIRATION --This is the infallible recording of what G od has make known to us. Both revelation and inspiration are closed. ILLUMINATION -- this is the Holy Spirit giving us an understanding of the inspired revelation. I think that there are three keys to illumination, they are humility, holiness, and hard work.
Humility -- David prayed that God would open his eyes to the wonderful truths of His Word.
Psalms 119:18 (NKJV) Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous t hings from Your law.
James 4:6 (NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
I think that we should humbly pray and ask God to teach us before we e ver look into His Word. Holiness-- by this I mean practical holiness. If y ou have known sin in your life and won't deal with it, you're not going to grow. God is not going to be illu minating His truth to you when you are not acting on what you already know.
Psalms 119:100 (NKJV) I understand more than the ancients, B ecause I keep Your precepts.
1 Peter 2:1-2 (NKJV) Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
Hard work -- this is where so many fall short. We are not willing to labor at understanding God's truth. We want it to come to us by reading a devotional for ten min utes a day. Isn't God important enough to you for you to spend some time getting to know Hi s revealed will for your life? The Scriptures themselves call us to hard work in order to understand them.
Psalms 119:2 (NKJV) Blessed are those who keep His testimoni es, Who seek Him with the whole heart!
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Yo ur testimonies are my meditation.
Proverbs 2:1-5 (NKJV) My son, if you receive my words, And t reasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to un derstanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will u nderstand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.
Psalms 119:148 (NKJV) My eyes are awake through the night wa tches, That I may meditate on Your word.
If we are going to rightly handle the word of God, we must diligently work at it applying the rules of hermeneutics. The primary rule of hermeneutics is called:
The Analogy of Faith -- this means that Scripture int erprets Scripture. No part of Scripture can be interpreted in such a way as to render it in conflict with what is clearly taught elsewhere in Scripture. Along with this is the rule that The Impl icit is to be Interpreted by the Explicit. Implicit means suggested though not plainly expre ssed. Explicit means clearly stated, definite. For example Paul teaches that salvation is by grace.
Romans 4:4-5 (NKJV) Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies th e ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
Romans 11:6 (NKJV) And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise wor k is no longer work.
These verses explicitly teach that man is saved by gr ace through faith "apart" from works. Does James contradict Paul?
James 2:14 (NKJV) What does it profit, my brethren, if someo ne says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
Is James teaching that works are necessary for salvation? I think that he is, but I don't think that this violates the analogy of faith, I don't think that he is contrad icting Paul. I think that James is using the word save which is the Greek word sozo not of spiritual salvation but of physical deliverance of the body. James is saying if you as a Christia n live in sin, your faith won't save you from the destructive effects of that sin. Paul and J ames are speaking of two different subjects. If we see them in conflict, that violates the analogy of faith. James' use of save is consistent with it's use in the wisdom literature as physi cal deliverance. The explicit truth that salvation is by grace alone helps us to interpret the implicit teachings of James.
Another rule is that we are to "Interpret the Bible literally
." To interpret the Bible
literally is to interpret it as literature. That is, the natural meaning
of a passage is to be
interpreted according to the normal rules of grammar, speech, syntax, and
context. When
the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. Most of what the Bible says is to be construed literally. You might
say, "most, not all?"
That's right, most, the Bible uses metaphors, parables, apocalyptic langu
age and
anthropomorphism. Jesus said, "I am the vine." Is that literal? No, it is
a metaphor. The
Mormons take anthropomorphism literally and make God out to be a man beca
use he is
said to have hands, eyes, and ears. If you take that approach what do you
do with Psalm
17?
Psalms 17:8 (NKJV) Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me
under the shadow of Your
wings,
Now is God a chicken or duck because he is said to have wings? John 4:
24 says that God
is a spirit. Remember the analogy of faith, Scripture cannot contradict S
cripture. We must
understand metaphors, parables, and apocalyptic language. If we don't und
erstand
apocalyptic language we will tend to literalize Jesus wo
rds is Matthew:
Matthew 24:29 (NKJV) "Immediately after the tribulation of t
hose days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers
of the heavens will be shaken.
These apocalyptic words only make sense when kept within the context o
f the ancient
Hebrews' use of figures of speech. To literalize them and read into them
ideas about the
end of the physical universe is to completely misunderstand the Bible on
the Bible's terms.
That this language is not literal is clear from its use in Old Testament.
Check out Isaiah
13:9-13; 24; 34; Nahum 1 for a few uses of this language. To read this wi
thout an
understanding of how the Bible uses apocalyptic language is to cause you
to ignore the
explicit words of Christ as to when these things will accrue.
Matthew 24:34 (NKJV) "Assuredly, I say to you, this generati
on will by no means pass away
till all these things take place.
If we literalize the apocalyptic language we must believe that these t
hings haven't happened
yet and therefore believe that Jesus was mistaken about when they would h
appen.
If you approach the New Testament's apocalyptic language without reco
gnizing it for
what it is, and do not know how to deal with its tone, images, and symbol
s, you are sure to
go astray. Notice David's use of apocalyptic language in:
Psalms 18:6-8 (NKJV) In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried out to my God; He
heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His e
ars. 7 Then the
earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and we
re shaken,
Because He was angry. 8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fi
re from His
mouth; Coals were kindled by it.
I'm sure you can see that this is not to be taken literal.
Another principle is the Grammatico-- Historical Method. We must focus on the
grammatical construction. Grammatical structure determines whether words
are to be taken
as questions, commands or declarative. For example in Acts 1:8 it says, "You shall be my
witnesses." Is that a future prediction or a command? In the English
it's unclear, but it's
clear in the Greek, it is a command.
"Historica
l analysis" -- involves seeking a knowledge of the setting a
nd situation in
which the books of the Bible were written. This includes the date of the
writing, the
authorship, the destination. These are all important for a clear understa
nding of the text. Too often we come from the ego-centric perspective th
at assumes that whatever the
Bible says, it says to us and our generation! Yet that hermeneutic ignore
s the historical
context. When interpreting Scripture we must always be aware that every v
erse, every line,
and every statement has just on interpretation, yet many applications.
Part of historical analysis is the principle of Original Rele
vance -- what did the original
readers understand the text to mean. The Bible was written to real people
in real places
facing real circumstances. Often you will hear a Christian say, "Do you k
now what this verse
means to me?" My response is "who cares what it means to you, what does i
t mean?"
Once you figure out the meaning then you can apply it to yourself. Whenev
er we force the
Bible to say something on specific items of our life, we are in danger of
divination. The will
of God is determined from the Bible only in terms of what it says in it's
first grammatical
sense, or what can be derived from it in terms of spiritual principles. G
od does not double-talk, when He speaks in Scripture. He does not have a
historical, common sense meaning,
plus some special message to us in a given situation.
We are to also Determine carefully the meaning of words. Whatever else the Bible
is, it is a book which communicates information verbally. That means tha
t it is filled with
words. Thoughts are expressed through relationships of those words. Each
individual word
contributes something to the whole of the content expressed. The better u
nderstanding we
have of the individual words used in biblical statements the better we wi
ll be able to
understand the total message of Scripture. Accurate communication and cle
ar
understanding are difficult when words are used imprecisely or ambiguousl
y. Misuses of
words and misunderstanding go hand in hand. Take for example Proverbs 29:
18.
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people pe
rish: but he that keepeth the law,
happy is he.
This verse is often quoted to inspire people to look to the future and
believe that God will
do great things in a certain area, such as a vision of growth, or a build
ing program. What
does the word vision mean? Webster gives a meaning of the abilit
y to foresee or perceive
something not actually visible. That is often how this verse is interpret
ed. What does the
Hebrew word used here mean? Vision is the Hebrew word khaw-zone, which me
ans a
revelation from God, see Isaiah 1:1. Having no revelation from God is qui
te different than
not having the ability to foresee something not visible. The NKJV makes t
his verse more
understandable to the twentieth century reader.
Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV) Where there is no revelation, the peop
le cast off restraint; But happy
is he who keeps the law.
Another example would be the use of the word 'elements' or 'heaven and
earth' in 2 Peter:
2 Peter 3:10 (NKJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a t
hief in the night, in which the
heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt wit
h fervent heat; both
the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
If we give a wrong meaning to 'elements' or 'heaven and earth' we will
totally miss Peter's
meaning. The Greek word for elements is stoicheia. It is only used seven
times in the NT.
The biblical meaning of elements is the elements of religious training, o
r the ceremonial
precepts that are common to the worship of Jews. And the idea of heaven a
nd earth in the
Hebraic thought referred to "authority and peoples." What Peter is sayin
g is that Judaism
and the Old Covenant Law are about to pass away being replaced with the N
ew Covenant
and all its blessings. If we are going to understand the Bible we must de
termine carefully
the meaning of words.
There are two basic methods by which words are defined: etymo
logy -- which is the
science of word derivations. And usage -- which is how t
he author uses a word. Usage
always takes precedence over etymology. In addition to origins and deriv
ations, it is
extremely important for us to study language in the context of its usage.
This is necessary
because words undergo changes in meaning depending on how they are used.
The word
'scan' used to be defined in English dictionaries as meaning to read care
fully, in close detail.
More recent editions define scan as to "shim over lightly." A foreigner
could study the
English language until he had it mastered, but you put that person on a c
ity street corner
in America and he will have a hard time figuring out what is being said.
He might over hear
two teenagers talking and hear them say, "that's the bomb." He would fear
for his life.
Also there are scores of words in the Bible that have multiple meanin
gs. Only the
context can determine the particular meaning of a word. For example the w
ord "baptize."
Baptize comes from the Greek word baptizo, the primary meaning is to p
lunge, to dip, to
immerse. But there is more than one meaning for the word baptize. In any
language there
may be literal and metaphorical meanings of a word. What does the word fo
x mean?
Literally a member of a canine family, but metaphorically a good looking
woman.
Metaphorically the word baptize means a change of identity, or to identif
y with.
Romans 6:3 (NKJV) Or do you not know that as many of us as w
ere baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death?
1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all bap
tized into one body; whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink i
nto one Spirit.
Alexander Carson said, "No man has a right to say, as some are in the
habit of saying, 'the
Spirit tells me that such or such is the meaning of such a passage.' How
is he assured that
it is the Holy Spirit and that it is not a spirit of delusion, except fro
m the evidence that the
interpretation is the legitimate meaning of the words." [Examination of t
he principles of
Biblical Interpretation page 23.]
We must form our theology, what we believe about God, from our exege
sis. And when
Scripture doesn't agree with your theology, change your theology, don't t
wist the text to fit
into your theology.
Why do we need all these rules? Why can't we just read the Bible and
understand it?
I'll tell you why, it is because when you open the Bible, you are immedia
tely transported into
a world that is very different from your everyday world.
It is full of strange customs, language, thought patterns, and history
. Opening these pages
sets you down in a different world, time, and culture. To understand what
is being said you
have to apply the rules of hermeneutics, you have to do some work.
Believers, this is God's Word. The Supreme Sovereign of the universe
has given to us
His Word. We must make every effort to interpret it correctly, accuratel
y, that we may
stand approved. Yes, it is work, hard work, but it's well worth it.
The study of the Bible is not beyond any Christian, it is a matter of
spending time in it,
reading it, studying it, praying over it. We need to overcome our lazin
ess and make time
for learning about our God and what he expects from us. If the average sa
lesman knew as
much about his product as the average Christian knows about the Bible he
would starve
to death.
Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How can we g
lorify God if we
don't understand who he is and what he expects of us. And how can we know
these things
if we spend so little time in His Word.
This message was preached by David Curtis on 8 June 1997.
