Interpreting The Bible

I read and hear comments quite often, how many people believe there are different interpretations for passages in the Bible. I agree! No doubt there are hundreds of interpretations. It is quite evident that many people today, particularly those in teaching roles, are re-constructing the Scriptures to meet the needs and desires of today’s society and culture. They will do whatever it takes to bring more people into their particular church or set of beliefs. It's no wonder we have so many interpretations. Paul had a little something to say about this when he wrote his inspired letter to Timothy…

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

I believe it is evident that people will follow false interpretations of the Scriptures because it sounds good and it fits their wants and desires. I can't help but to agree that there are many interpretations... HOWEVER, only ONE CAN BE RIGHT! We must remember that GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION. More than one interpretation does in fact create confusion, thus it is not of God…

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

God is no doubt the "author" of the Bible, but in no way does He intend for it to be as confusing as so many people make it. To say that different people can have different meanings and more than one of them be right would be calling God a liar. One reason there are so many different interpretations is because people are not willing to study the Bible for themselves. Most people learn what they learn from other people and before they even read the Bible they are tainted towards a particular doctrine of man. These people pick out certain passages to fit their own beliefs or doctrines which they have learned over the years. They skip over the rest, ignoring much of the truth. I know, I did the same thing for quite a number of years.

There is no easy way to conquer understanding the Bible... it will not come to us overnight. We cannot be lazy and expect to know what we need to know about the Bible and what God desires from us. However, we must conclude that there can only be the same truth for everyone... it is certainly the way God intended it to be and Scripture itself proves this to us. The truth is before us if we truly desire to know it. Ultimately it comes down to our personal desire to have a true and meaningful relationship with God. Do we really want to know the truth? The following passage proves to us that it is possible for everyone to understand the Bible in the same way with the same meaning. If it were not possible then Paul would have had no reason to encourage it.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Paul urges us all to "speak the same thing". He further wrote that we should have “no divisions” among us so that we can be "PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER" in "the same mind" and in “the same judgment". We should be in agreement as to what the Word of God is telling us.

There cannot be different meanings for the same passages. There can only be the TRUTH.

2 Peter 3:15-18 Think of our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures. And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continually be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people, lest you fall from your secure position. Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.

The "ignorant and unstable" will distort the Scriptures to their own destruction. If we do not study the Bible then we will be ignorant ourselves because we will be ignoring the Scriptures, thus also causing us to be unstable. Let’s study all of the Bible and interpret it as God desires us to… with like minds and in truth.

God bless you!
Sonnie Parker