The vast majority of the Bible is pretty straight-forward and easily understood. However, there are a few topics and passages that are commonly misunderstood for various reasons. The following six steps on understanding these difficult passages help me keep things in line. Please note that these are personal practices and are not to be viewed as absolute truth or the only way to read scripture.
- The entire Bible is God’s inspired Word. We use scripture to interpret scripture. We look for harmony and confirmation across the different books, authors, and testaments. Also, each book of the Law, each prophecy, each Gospel and epistle should be understood as a complete stand-alone work in order to understand what God, through each particular human hand, intended for the particular audience addressed at that particular time.
- We teach the whole of a matter. While doing so, we endeavor to place emphasis on that which scripture has, dwelling where the Bible has dwelt and visiting where it has visited. For example, if something is mentioned 100 times in the Bible, and there is another side of the topic that is mentioned once, we will emphasize the thing mentioned 100 times and be sure to note, but not dwell on or magnify that which was mentioned once.
- We learn both explicitly through instruction and implicitly through example. When forming doctrine, explicit instruction supersedes implicit example if there appears to be contradiction between the two. God in flesh, Jesus Christ, is the example for human conduct on earth.
- We use the clear to help us understand the ambiguous.
- What is ambiguous can’t dilute or make ambiguous what is clear.
- While we will use our personal experiences to illustrate or highlight Biblical teaching, we do not create doctrine based off of tradition or human experiences, including our own. Personal experience should never be used to dilute scriptural teaching, but as testimony to edify and show the grace of God applied to our own lives.