I Always try listen to people when they are talking. The same when I am debating with someone. I like to ask this question, why do suppose we have different views. Usually the person will say we just have different interpretation. When a person tells me this, I know where the problem is. These people will also post a link of what man or site they are following. So really what it comes down to, is their interpretation comes from a man and not God. This why we have so many false religion and false teachers in the world today. People do not fear God nor do they have the faith to follow God and his word any more. You do not know how many times I have heard, if God does not allow these kind people into heaven, I do not want to go to heaven either. Or I will not believe in a unloving God that would send people to hell. Preacher today want to send out a message of False LOVE, yet they do not explain what real love is. True love is most times very painful. Look at Jesus Christ. He was born sinless and was not guilt of anything other then loving man, Yet he was beaten and placed on the Cross and Crucified because of his love of man. TRUE LOVE is accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and being Born Again spirituality by Faith Alone. Why is Faith Alone? Because there is no other way. Jesus Christ is not coming again to be Crucified so you can watch and believe. Once we are saved, we place all our trust in God and his word. God then fills us with His Spirit that will teach and in guide us. We do not interpret the Bible ourselves, that is the Holy Spirit place. The Holy Spirit is needed to understand the Bible. That is to say, the Bible will only make sense to Christians and requires the Holy Spirit’s interpretation. Why? Because it contains a spiritual message, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 2:6-14 . It is a mystery, that requires spiritual understanding. The unregenerate cannot understand such spiritual truths. Because the Bible was written to express spiritual thoughts, it takes the Holy Spirit to provide the interpretation. This premise treats the Bible like a magic code book and the Spirit is the decoder. But, I believe that negates the very purpose of the Bible and the work of the Spirit in providing a text that all can understand. The Bible was put together as God moved through holy men to communicate his message. This is scripture, as 2 Timothy 3:16 breathed out by God- and comprises the compilation of 66 books, written by 40 authors over the span of 1,500 years. It is the very revelation of God and presents a cohesive message that is presented in a variety of genres. Each author was spiritually motivated but each author utilized language and certain literary styles to record whatever events, or principles or exhortation they were motivated to express. Correctly understanding the truth of Gods word is never a matter of personal opinion or private interpretation, as Peter says: 2Pet. 1:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 2Pet. 1:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 2Pet. 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Peter reminds us that we have been given the word of God, which is a sure and reliable thing. God has the power not only to deliver His word to us but to also ensure we gain the proper understanding of it. In v.20 Peter says that the correct interpretation of scripture is never found in ones own opinion. In other words, we do not arrive at the truth of Gods word through assumptions, opinions or feelings. No different than the way one arrives at a proper understanding of mathematics or biology, we must study scripture with an expectation that the truth is objective and absolute. It does not bend to the will of men. On the other hand, scripture also teaches us that our ability to uncover the correct interpretation of scripture is a God-given ability. Notice in v.21 Peter says that all scripture was authored as a result of the Holy Spirit moving a man to record the words of God. Therefore, since the word of God was authored by the Spirit, only the Spirit Himself can properly interpret its meaning. This is why Paul says: 1Cor. 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 1Cor. 2:13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 1Cor. 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. All believers have been given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so He can teach us the true meaning of scripture. In a sense, the Author of scripture explains its meaning to us as we endeavor to learn it. If men absent the Holy Spirit endeavor to learn its meaning, they will inevitably come away with a false, distorted view of scripture, since they lack the Spirit to guide them and reveal the truth.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 15:24:28 +0000