Here we are at New Year time, or close enough to it, so it is fitting for us to think about which course our lives will take as the planet makes its next journey around the sun. As introduced in the last article, this is a perfect time for us to commit to a regular discipline of delving into God's Word for all the riches He has in store. It is for want of focused study of Scripture that many professed Christians experience little vitality or victory in their spiritual walk.
Last time, we discussed how to slow down and actually notice what we see in the Bible. We dealt with how we might examine each scripture in light of its broadest context: by examining each book as a whole, how it is structured, the major themes treated, and the general flow of the argument, we can then examine each passage in light of that backdrop. We approach each text with the eyes of a reporter, asking who, what, where, when, why, and how, so that we can be clear on those speaking, to whom, and the words and key concepts they are trying to emphasize--especially by repetition. We refuse to gloss over a passage with our own preconceived ideas. Instead, we listen to every detail of the text as if for the first time, being fully present and attentive to the author so as not to miss a word he wrote. This is the first step of intentional study of the Scriptures--observation--and it will lead us to begin discovering and applying God's truth to our own lives. But there are two additional steps to gleaning the precepts from Scripture; application is preceded by interpretation, and it is this step we will discuss here.
Having paid disciplined attention to what the Scripture says, we must now move on to consider what it means, and that is the task of interpretation. First, we may encounter words which are loaded with theological meaning. They require unpacking. We may encounter words like propitiation, sanctification, or holiness, or even words that we think we may understand, but we might not understand them the way Scripture means them: sin, repentance, grace, faith, fellowship, and the like. It is an excellent idea to look up these loaded words in a Bible Dictionary. Physical copies of them can be had inexpensively, new or used. I've referred to Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary for years, but there are many others out there. If you have Internet access, you can check many of them for free; for instance, Christian Classics Ethereal Library (www.ccel.org) has Easton's, Hitchcock's, and Smith's Bible Dictionaries that you can refer to instantly. Bible Dictionaries will not just tell you what important Bible words mean in English; they will tell you what the Bible means by them. There are also word study dictionaries and concordances for checking the meanings from the Hebrew and Greek originals (and you don't have to know those languages--they've translated them for you), but that's beyond the scope of our discussion for now. I can point you to some of them if you are interested. The publishers of Bible dictionaries have checked every use of a given word through the Bible to give you the fullest understanding possible in its proper context.
This leads us to our first important point for interpreting a passage properly: context is everything. By context, we mean that we have to look at the passage in light of what's come before, what's after, and in the light of the book as a whole. Except for something like a stand-alone saying from Proverbs, everything you read in the Bible is linked with everything around it. No one verse should be lifted out of the Bible and interpreted in isolation. Each thought in the Bible grows out of the one before it, and leads to the one right after it. If you fail to keep a text in its proper setting, you're likely to miss the meaning entirely. Let me give you one example: Jeremiah 29:11 is one of those feel-good promises that Christians love to quote. It goes like this: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" What a great promise, right? You'll see it on millions of refrigerator magnets across America. It is commonly taken to mean that God will always prosper and bless you--He won't let you experience harm or hardship. Now, start with verse 1 of the chapter and read straight though. Do you see the difference? Verse 11 is a verse of reassurance to Israel, which will languish in exile for seventy long years before being able to return and rebuild their homeland. The promise applies only to Israel, after God has disciplined her to the point that she is ready to leave behind her rebellious idolatry. This is just one of hundreds of examples of how people have misinterpreted Scripture because they failed keep it in proper context. The immediate context is important, as well as considering each passage in light of the whole book. Every verse you read is part of the overall themes and purpose of the book. Make sure the meaning you take away fits into that flow of reasoning.
Closely related is the next important point for interpreting a text: consider everything the Bible says on a topic. Referring to Acts 20:27, many refer to this as considering the "full counsel of God's Word" to understand an issue. This is where a study Bible with a good concordance can be a useful tool. Here you will find multiple references to many important concepts, like the nature of faith. If you don't take everything the Bible says about them into account, you will have misleading interpretations of the text. For this example, I will refer to Ephesians 2:8-9. This passage says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Many of us could recite this passage in our sleep, as we strongly believe in salvation by grace through faith alone. The passage seems to set up two opposing concepts: faith and works. Works would seem to be the opposite of salvation by grace through faith. Faith=good; works=bad. Indeed, multiple passages would lead us to that understanding--that's why we hold the doctrine we do. On the other hand, to get a proper understanding of the relationship between grace, faith, and works, we must also take passages like James 2:14-26. When this passage is weighed in the balance, we see that the picture is a bit more nuanced. Verse 17 has a strong statement: "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." This seems to lead in an opposing direction, doesn't it? It seems that a simple understanding--that faith is good, and works are bad--is incomplete. We need the Spirit to teach us, and to think more deeply, to get the correct understanding.
This leads me to the next ingredient for proper interpretation: God does not contradict Himself, and His Word does not contradict itself. Biblical conundrums like the one I just mentioned come up from time to time. A few would be: Is God One, or Three? Is Jesus human, or divine? Is God sovereign, or do we have free will? Or in the case I just mentioned, is faith what matters, or works? We can easily get confused, unless we remind ourselves that the entire Bible is a full explication of the same truth, the same message, about the same God. What looks like a contradiction to us is usually a sign that we haven't understood completely. We must hold tightly to the truth of this point, and wrestle with the meaning until the Lord shows us how it fits in with the unity of His truth. For the examples above, we must understand that we have One God in Three Persons. Our Savior is fully human, and fully divine. God is completely sovereign, and shows how complete that is by allowing our free will, and bringing about His Divine plan nonetheless. And when you take Ephesians 2 and James 2 together, you will understand that salvation IS by grace through faith alone. Our works cannot save us. But once we are born again, our new nature will blossom forth with Spirit-empowered works. Works are not the means of our salvation, but the fruit of it. And in the absence of the fruit, we must seriously ask whether we have been truly born again. Remember, all truths in Scripture are self-revelations of the eternal, Three-in-One God, who according to James "does not change like the shifting shadows" (1:17).
Although we worship an Almighty, Triune God whose ways and thoughts are vastly above our own, He has loved us enough to come among us as a human being. In the character, teachings and works of Jesus, we encounter God sharing Himself with humanity to the fullest extent we can understand. Because of this, Jesus is the ultimate key to interpreting Scripture properly. The nature of God is that He loves to share Himself with His creatures. This is why He created the human race, why He gave us the Bible, why He made the way for us to be reconciled to Him from our sinful state, and why He ultimately came to us as God the Son. He does not want us to be in the dark about who He is, how He sees us, what He wants for us, and what He plans for us. That is why He gave us His written Word, and why He came to us as the Living Word. The two work together, revealing the same truth. So, even when we have tried our best to understand Scripture correctly, and the meaning of a passage still eludes us, look at that passage in the light of who Jesus is, what He taught and what He did. You will be amazed at how Scripture falls into place when you look at it through the lens of Jesus. But again, don't cherry-pick the parts of Jesus life and teachings you like the best! You must consider the whole of what He shared with us to understand the Bible correctly.
One last bit of advice, related to God's self-sharing nature: since God does not want us to be in the dark about Himself, we should understand that He wanted His written Word to be understood clearly. He hasn't the least interest in filling Scripture with hidden codes, or mystical interpretations accessible to only an elite few. The Lord loves the common person as much as the intellectual or the noble, and He designed His Word to speak directly to us in plain language. Because of this, interpret the Scripture at face value, so long as you observe the rules of context above.
If you keep these pointers in mind, you will be well on the way to understanding what Scripture means as the author actually intended it. Once you have interpreted Scripture responsibly, you can move on to ask: "how does this Scripture apply to me?" We will round out our discussion with that step next time. Until then, you have the tools at hand to begin a New Year filled with the disciplined study of God's Word--get to it!
