Reading God's Word (Part 2 of 3)
“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:19–21, ESV)
A Quick Recap
In this series of blog posts, I’m wanting to address a particular struggle in reading God’s Word. That struggle exists because we continue to struggle with sin, and sin blinds us to the truth. So, in our struggle with sin and blindness, many ask, “How can we understand God’s Word rightly?”
In my last post, I answered that question by pointing us to repentance and prayer. Repentance is turning from the sin that blinds us to a proper understanding of God’s Word. Prayer is asking the Holy Spirit for help with our blindness. These are powerful starting points, but God has given us more tools to use in this struggle.
Laying Some Groundwork
In order to understand my next point, I need to lay some biblical groundwork. There are two passages I want us to look at and hold together. The first comes from 2 Timothy 3:16 which says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV). This passage says quite a bit, but I want you to focus in on the first word: All. All of scripture is breathed out by God. Every part. It all holds together.
Another passage that lays this ground work comes from 2 Peter 1:21 which says, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21, ESV). This passage teaches us that the men who wrote they bible “were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This is why we can say that ALL scripture is breathed out by God.
The Bible Has One Author
Even though there were many men who wrote books of the Bible, we believe there was one author underneath it all: God. And, since there is only one author to the Bible, we also believe that the Bible contains one consistent message from beginning to end. The Bible doesn’t contradict itself. God didn’t change his mind as He wrote the Bible. In His Word, he has continually given us a consistent message.
Understanding this truth brings us to step three in rightly understanding God’s Word.
Step Three: Read
After we’ve repented and prayed, we need to read God’s Word—and we need to read ALL of God’s Word. This protects us from misunderstanding certain passages. When we have a solid grasp on the entirety of God’s Word—how it all holds together—it is much harder for us to take certain passages out of context and misunderstand them. The clearer passages of God’s Word will help us understand the more difficult passages of God’s Word. This is why the Reformers were fond of saying, “Scripture interprets scripture.”
Besides, this makes sense, doesn’t it? If you were confused by a conversation with someone, where would you go for clarity? You could go to other people, but they may misunderstand in the same way as you. The best option is to go directly to the person who was talking to you. In the same way, the best way to understand God’s Word is to go to God’s Word for more clarity.
Read, Re-Read, Read Again
We can’t truly understand God’s Word unless we read it, read it again, then read it again (and keep going). As we repeatedly read God’s Word, we will see more connections between the Old and New Testaments. And, more importantly, as we read God’s Word more and more, it will continue to correct our misunderstandings. It will sharpen our understanding of who God is and what He has done. It will help us understand more fully who we are and who God has called us to be in the world.
Reading God’s Word is a big deal. Don’t forget what we learned in 2 Timothy 3:16. God’s Word trains us in righteousness and equips us for EVERY good work. And, more powerfully, it completes us—it helps us become more like Jesus Christ. So, keep reading, re-reading, and re-reading God’s Word.