“How do I understand the Bible?”
This question may very well be the most important question an individual can pose. Can we truly understand what the Bible teaches? Is it worth the investment of my time and energy to study it? The answer is yes!
The book we call the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. God breathed His word, through the Holy Spirit, into the heart and spirit of holy men of God, who in turn, wrote down the words God spoke through them. God’s purpose in giving us a written testimony was to reveal to us His plan of salvation, in order that hearing the word of God we might believe and be saved.
The word of God is a testimony of Jesus Christ. All Scripture points to Christ:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me
John 5:39
The Scriptures are the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is a big book and the prospects of comprehending its entirety are daunting. How can I ever understand all it teaches? It is important to remember the purpose of Scripture, lest we get discouraged in attempting to understand it.
The Bible was not written to simply fill our head with doctrine. The Word of God was given to us to introduce us to Jesus Christ, the One who loved us and gave Himself for our salvation. The Bible is a unified book with one message: Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.
The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 2:14 that “the natural man” does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. If your first impression of the Bible is that it doesn’t make any sense, then take heart! You are not alone.
The Bible itself says that apart from God’s illuminating work, no one can know the spiritual truth revealed in Scripture, “because they are spiritually discerned.”
Spiritual investigation
In the New Testament, written in Greek, uses the word anakrino, which has been translated as discerned in I Corinthians 2:14. This word conveys the idea of making an investigation, like a detective who poses specific questions in order to uncover the truth. James chapter 1 instructs those who lack wisdom to ask God for it. The Bible promises that God will give wisdom to anyone who asks by faith. If you are going to understand the revelation of God, you must ask God to guide you into the truth and grant wisdom in the revelation of Christ. So I challenge you to stop for a moment and pray the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:17-19:
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.
Ephesians 1:17-19
The purpose of this study is that the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1 will be fulfilled in your life:
- That God will give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ so that your walk with God will be deepened
- That the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened (literally that light would shine on the imagination of your heart concerning the revelation of Jesus) that your knowledge of Christ would broaden
- That you may comprehend the hope (the blessings associated with His second coming) of His calling and know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints that your inner man might be strengthened
- That you would grasp the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe so that we may truly live to honor and glorify God in this present age
A Puzzle to be Assembled
Imagine you have five identical 100 piece puzzle sets. Each one, when assembled, portrays the same image. Now imagine that you give five separate individuals the disassembled puzzle set and ask them to put it together and describe the image they see after it is assembled. However, prior to giving these individuals their puzzle, you have removed ten random pieces from each puzzle. Everyone has 90 pieces so obviously, the puzzle will be incomplete when it is assembled.
Once each person has assembled their puzzle, you ask them to describe the image that they see. Each person will give an accurate description of what they are seeing, but at the same time, each person will leave out details that are not seen. The details they are missing is the result of not having enough puzzle pieces. Their initial description of the puzzle’s image is not wrong, just incomplete. Trying to describe an incomplete puzzle may cause you to do one of a few things:
- Some may attempt to fill in the missing details with their own imagination and speculate on what they are not seeing.
- Others may simply ignore the missing pieces and describe the picture as they see it, refusing to accept the fact that pieces are missing.
- Thirdly, prior to assembling the puzzle, some may realize there are not enough pieces to make a whole puzzle. As a result, they may not bother to put it together. What is the point if we can’t see the whole image?
I believe this puzzle analogy can be applied to God’s revelation of truth as seen in the Holy Scripture. Most Bible teachers hold the position that the Bible was progressively revealed by God over time through the prophets. This concept basically teaches that God progressively revealed the details of His plan to save mankind in stages, revealing more truth in every stage. In many ways, God’s revelation given to us in Scripture is like pieces to a puzzle. The puzzle’s image is God’s work of salvation, the gospel, which would be accomplished and fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Prior to Christ’s coming, God gave us pieces of the puzzle that pointed to the Messiah’s coming. We must study the whole counsel of God and put all the pieces of God’s revelation together in order to see every aspect of the work of redemption in Christ.
But there are so many differing views!
Christianity has been divided into various denominations and groups principally as a result of differing interpretations of Scripture. Those various interpretations have generally been promoted by influential individuals throughout church history. We even find these divisions in the early church: “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (I Corinthians 3:4).
In the time of Christ, the Jews experienced similar divisions, with the strict far-right religious movement of the Pharisees, the liberal far-left Sadducees, and everything in between. Each group had its tradition of religious practice. Each group had its own interpretation of Scripture, just like the many theological divisions in Christianity today. Some are matters of religious practice and others are matters of theological interpretation.
When it comes to biblical interpretation, especially concerning the coming of the Messiah, there are many lenses through which Christians view the Scripture. The acceptable method of biblical interpretation among Christians who believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God is called the grammatical-historical method. According to this method, the interpreter of the Bible must study carefully the meaning of the words and the grammar of the biblical text to determine what the original author meant by them in their historical context. Very simply, in this method Scripture rules over the belief of the church and individual’s interpretation of its teachings.
Yet, even when applying this method, sincere believers come to very different conclusions about various doctrines.
Systematic Theology is the attempt at arranging these different lenses through which we view the Scripture into a coherent whole. Systematic Theology certainly has an important role in the life of the church. Systematic Theology exists as an outflow of the grammatical-historical method and the belief that the Bible is a unified book inspired by God. Systematic Theology is essential in the study of the great doctrines of the Bible.
However, one of the dangers of relying heavily on one’s own Systematic Theology is that it can influence the way you interpret a given passage. It becomes the lens through which you interpret Scripture. There are many lenses through which the Christian world interprets various doctrines. For example, there is the interpretational lens of Dispensationalism. There is the lens of Reformed Theology, also known as Covenant Theology. There are those who call themselves traditionalists and those who call themselves liberal. Under each mainstream theological interpretation, there are multiple subheadings, such as traditional Dispensationalism, seven-point Dispensationalism, and everything in between. There is traditional Calvinism, hyper-Calvinism, and even charismatic Calvinism.
The point I am making and one that most everyone would agree on is that we tend to approach the Scripture with a bias, a presupposed method of interpreting the Bible. Some of it is warranted and necessary. But, it can sometimes skew our understanding of what the Bible is actually saying to what we think it is saying.
As we study the Scriptures, we must believe what the Bible claims of itself (to be inspired by God) and submitted to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to comprehend the great truths of God.