In this series of articles we have seen that “rightly dividing the word” depends on our hearing what God is actually saying to us in the Bible, as well as learning to understand what He means. This requires of us careful attention to the meaning of particular words and to their context.
The meaning of Bible words is determined by the context in which they are used. Understanding their context is essential to understanding their meaning.
Context includes the flow of thought in a passage and the historical context in which the book was written. We need to ask questions such as, “When and in what historical context were these words first spoken?” “What did the words mean to the people who first heard them?”
Even in the New Testament, it is essential to read the gospels and the Acts first, so as to understand the letters and the Revelation. We must also try to get a general overview of an individual book in order to begin to understand passages in it. A good Bible dictionary or the book, The 66 Books of the Bible,1 will help in this.
We cannot read the Bible casually, as we might a newspaper or magazine, and expect to really understand it. But we can come to understand what God is saying to us, if we read with prayerful, thoughtful care and attention to the context.
Fuller understanding comes over time through thought, the testing of that understanding in discussions with others, our experience as Jesus’ disciples, and reading or hearing helpful expositions. The Lord promises understanding to those who ask, seek, and knock (Matt. 7:7-11). He speaks for those with “ears to hear”, those eager to understand. The “measure” that we give to our hearing is the measure that will be returned to us, in greater comprehension (Mark 4:23-25).
We all come from different backgrounds, and we all have had different teachers and varied life experiences. Each of us hears in a unique way. We vary greatly in age and depth of knowledge. None of us is perfect in understanding, though we may be content at a comfortable plateau. Though we all rejoice in “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and father of all”, there is much diversity in our views.
That diversity is healthy and can contribute to spiritual growth in the Lord’s ecclesia, if we share our diverse views in a humble spirit. We must listen, think, question, and discuss with one another. The object of our Bible classes and discussions is not just to hear one person’s knowledge imparted. They must also help us to develop the ability to think through for ourselves what the Bible is actually saying to us and what it means.
We have strong Bible reasons for what we believe and may not, therefore, be very open-minded to alternative meanings of particular passages that challenge our previously-held opinions. We may simply read the Bible in search of proof texts to reinforce what we already believe — particularly if we are contending with those who have a different understanding. This is partly due to our reactionary attitude to false religions around us. We see harmful extremes and, humanly, we tend towards an opposite extreme.
Our understanding of how the Lord uses, today, the Holy Spirit power he has received from God is another area in which we might be narrow-minded. We know that the Holy Spirit power of God comes into our hearts and minds through the inspired Scriptures. We know, too, that understanding the Scriptures does not depend on our first being given Holy Spirit power. So we may tend to limit how our Lord uses that power to touch, open, and change the minds of men and women in our day.
Yet the inspired psalmist prays, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from your word. Teach me, O LORD the way… Give me understanding… Make me walk in the path of your commandments… Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to covetousness… Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in your way” (Psa. 119:18,33-37). Prayers like these are answered by the Lord through his Holy Spirit power helping us as we have asked, if our prayers express an honest desire.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God — who gives to all liberally and without reproach…” (Jam. 1:5-8). Yes, we have the “Spirit word” in the Bible, and through it a wonderful source of knowledge and spiritual instruction. Still, we are constantly making decisions in our lives that require wisdom in applying this knowledge and instruction. This is why we find the Apostle Paul praying that help from the Spirit be given to faithful saints in Ephesus (Eph. 1:15-21; 3:14-19) and Philippi (Phil. 1:9-11) and Colosse (Col. 1:9-12). These faithful saints had the gospel and inspired writings, but they still needed the help of God and His Son to have spiritual wisdom, understanding, enlightened eyes, and discernment — and to be strengthened with power in the inner man.
In our preaching of the gospel, we are “God’s fellow workers”. We try to serve as Paul and others did. We may be great preachers through whom others believe. Yet, it is only “as the Lord gives to every man”. “God gave the increase” to the preaching of Paul and Apollos in Corinth. Even today it is not our eloquence or powers of persuasion that give the increase, but rather it is “God who gives the increase” by His spirit power to our “planting and watering” (1 Cor. 3:4-11).
An illustration of how the Lord does this is found in Acts 16:14. There we read that “the Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” It is written that “the king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1). That truth was taught to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Dan. 4).
It is a Scriptural truth that men and women are no longer given gifts of Spirit power to prophesy, teach, perform miracles, or speak in foreign languages — as they were in the first century and in the days of Moses, Elijah, and Elisha. However, even if we mortals have no such powers ourselves, we cannot and should not try to limit in any way just how God and the Lord Jesus continue to use their wondrous Spirit powers in our time. That they do so to help us in understanding, wisdom, and faith, to give increase to our preaching, and to shape world events is certain. For that gracious help, we rejoice in thanksgiving.
An example of “stretching a point” or taking words out of context — to prove what we believe — is our frequent misuse of Jesus’ words in Mark 7:15-23. It is right that we should wish to show that we can’t blame our sins on an external, supernatural tempter, and that what defiles us in God’s eyes are our own evil thoughts which result in sinful deeds and pride. However, it is going too far to use this passage to say that all our temptations to sin come from within, and none from an external source — as our teachers sometimes do.
Consider the context. Jesus is teaching here about what we eat. He is answering the Pharisees’ criticism of his disciples for eating with unwashed hands (defiled, according to their tradition). Nothing that we eat can defile us, Jesus says, because it does not enter our mind. However, there are many things that do enter our minds from without which can defile us in God’s eyes by appealing to our lusts and pride: various entertainments, the internet, advertising, worldly books, magazines, newspapers, worldly conversation, gossip, and false teaching.
These all have the potential to adversely affect our minds. Drugs and alcohol also have the potential to enslave us. There are many people in the Bible who succumbed to external temptations that appealed to their desires and so enticed them, as James says (1:13-15). Examples are Eve and Adam, Judah, Balaam, and David.
These examples of Bible teaching about the Holy Spirit, and about what defiles, are intended as a gentle admonition to use the words of God with care and respect for their context. We often hear talks in which many individual verses or just phrases from verses, out of different Bible books, are read or screened — often without attention to their context, which determines their meaning. We seem to be losing, in our zealous use of Scripture to prove our point, the essential gift of explaining the meaning of Bible teaching in its full context.
Brothers and sisters, this ought not to be. We must not treat the Bible as a mere collection of proof texts in support of our beliefs. It is the revelation of the mind and purpose of our Creator. This is His revelation to us. It reaches its perfection in His making known to us the mind and life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Its purpose is to teach us to truly know our God and His Son, so that we are drawn to them in faith and love (John 6:44,45). Sound knowledge of Bible truth gives us this, if it does not make us proud or complacent or condescending to others. God Himself, and our being made in His image, is the ultimate truth. His Son is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6-11).
Like the inspired Bible writer, John, let us not speak of “having the truth”, but of knowing Him who is true and of being in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 5:20). May that be the object of our efforts to rightly divide His precious Word.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One