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Simple and Accurate Bible Interpretations
It has been said that the Bible can be interpreted many ways by many people. The world is filled with cults, pseudo Christian groups, and various organizations. Each claims to have the truth and many claim to have discovered hidden truths that give them the inside angle on spiritual enlightenment.
How do we know who is right and who is wrong? Can we know with certainty? Yes, you can know the truth. Most have heard, the truth shall make you free, but that begins with how to know the truth. Look at this passage in John 8:31-32
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
If you abide in the word – learning and obeying the word – you’ll be a disciple indeed. And then you have the promise that you shall know the truth. You shall know the truth. That promise is to those who abide in the word. A disciple indeed will discover how to accurately interpret and how to avoid misconceptions and recognize deceptions from misapplied scripture.
Avoiding Deception
How do we know who holds the truth since every group makes this claim? Let’s begin by looking at the words of 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Jesus made the comment, “I have not come in my own name and you did not receive Me, but if one comes in his own name, you will receive him.[1]”
This is a strong clue for us to know who to be on guard against. Any who present themselves as the source of knowledge or claim to hold a secret for knowing God or finding enlightenment, that’s a banner revealing their true motives.
A true teacher from God will point to Christ, and seek to grow you into spiritual maturity. Those who make followers dependent upon themselves as the teacher have strayed from God’s plan. Teachers who point to themselves are not of God. Even if they perform miracles, this is not the evidence they are of God. Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:24-25
24 “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 “See, I have told you beforehand.
During the world’s greatest time of trial, miracles and signs will be performed by demonic forces (See Revelation 16:13-14). The signs are intended to cause those who are not faithful to the word to become followers of miracle workers or the religion they represent. But notice what Jesus said, “To deceive, if possible, even the elect.” It’s something God allows in order to separate the faithful from those who are not truly disciples.
The elect are those who are grounded in truth. They are children of God, born of the Spirit, and grounded in the word. Even they will find the deception to be persuasive, yet they will not be deceived. Why? Because once they see the teacher leading them away from the truth, they will reject the teacher and his or her miracles, and cling to the truth of God.
The Bible informs us that the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets[2]. In other words, what is being revealed in the name of God is to be tested by what has already been revealed by God. It was Jesus who said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word will never pass away.”
When someone claims God is doing a new thing that contradicts what God has already said, either the prophet is telling the truth and God’s word is false, or God’s word is true and the prophet is false. We have to decide which we believe. Sadly, many choose the false prophet and his show of lying wonders, and then cast the word of God behind them. But the elect will hold to the word.
Let me give an example. Several years back a friend invited me to a revival service led by a man who claimed to have a special anointing from God. I declined at first, but he insisted that I would not be disappointed and said I had to see the miracles this man performed. Upon much insistence, I went.
For several weeks prior, my friend had been requesting prayer for a brain aneurism discovered in a checkup. He asked everyone he knew to pray for him. On the first night I attended, the healing preacher started getting words from God. Naturally, I was skeptical, but when my friend was called by name, I was caught off guard. The preacher identified his ailment accurately and then performed a healing – or so he claimed.
As the service went on, people were called by name and diseases were identified. Before our very eyes shorten legs were lengthened. It was a well-crafted show. It was so well performed that I began to question my own skepticism. I went back several nights and was impressed with this man’s abilities. Even his teaching seemed biblical.
In a moment, everything changed.
The healer preached a very unbiblical sermon. He directly contradicted the scriptures and claimed his word was directly from God. The man had spent several days gaining trust and then used that trust to propagate a different gospel. The Apostle Paul warned a church that he founded, “Even if we or an angel from heaven come to you and present another gospel, which you have not received, let him be accursed.”
Think for a moment about the impact of that statement. [3] The apostle who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament is telling the church that if he loses his mind, comes back, and teaches a contradictory message, don’t believe him. Instead, count him as accursed by God.
We must take this very seriously. Jesus said that it is the word we have received that will judge us on the last day[4]. Since our lives will be evaluated against the scriptures, it stands to reason that we should look to the scriptures as our standard today.
After this man contradicted the Bible, I began to look closely at his miracles. I made startling discoveries. First, I noticed he used sleight of hand to distract the audience. When he said, “Look over here,” I began to be suspicious. When someone came up, he would sometimes lead them to the opposite end of the front of the church. He would then say, “Everyone face this man and stretch out your hands toward him.” It was a clever diversion. I started looking in the opposite direction. I saw his assistants pointing to people and giving hand signals. Sure enough, in a few minutes he would call that person by name and identify their illness.
The whole revival was a scam. But I saw legs lengthened in plain sight – or so it appeared. I did notice that those with healed legs still walked with the same pronounced limp as they headed back to their seats. So how did he do this?
Do this experiment. Place someone in a chair and lift their legs straight out. If you shift their legs to the left, the left leg will appear longer than the right. Shift to the right, and the right leg will be longer. Since the hips are held in place by the chair, the legs can be manipulated to appear longer or shorter. So to heal a shorter leg, just make sure that leg is closest to the audience. They will clearly see the soles of the shoes of the longer leg. Then use a motion that masks the fact you are slowly shifting the legs, the audience will see the shoe soles begin to even up with each other as the longer leg is shifted toward the shorter one. Then the ‘healer’ places the microphone against the now even soles to show there is no difference. There was no healing; just a change in visual perception, but this man made a big show of the healing power we supposedly witnessed.
I also discovered that the healer’s team gathered information about people’s needs from surrounding churches. Now all they had to do was match the need with a name. This was done by friendly people mingling before the services. It was quite a clever ruse. But one that has detrimental consequences. Consequences both spiritually and physically. My friend later died of his aneurism, but he never visited a doctor again since he claimed to be healed.
You may be asking what this has to do with knowing the truth. It very much applies, for all these religious scams distract people from the truth so they miss the real purpose of God’s plan, and it turns people away from the Lord. When someone has been scammed, they believe God is a scam.
I had an atheist send me an article with a note, “If you read this, you won’t be a Bible believer by the end.” I read it, and I’m still a Christian and Bible believer. The article was account after account of people doing atrocities in the name of God, duping people in the name of God, and abusing the scriptures for their own gain.
My response to him was, “How does it disprove the Bible to show a list of people who acted contrary to the Bible?”
The Bible warns us against these very things, and nearly every apostle in the New Testament warned the church that these people were coming. We have been forewarned that people will arise among our own congregations and draw disciples after themselves[5]. Jesus said that many will arise using His name, but they are false teachers and prophets. He even warned that because of these people doing evil in God’s name, the way of truth will be spoken against. Sounds to me like this confirms the scriptures rather than disproving them.
Jesus said, “See, I have told you beforehand.” We are warned so we are not led away. These will come, pervert the truth, and then lead many into deception. But we have been forewarned that we might be grounded in the truth of scripture and not be deceived. Any Christian that is led astray has ignored the warnings of Jesus.
The Bible uses the term, ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ when speaking about the teachers who contradict the scriptures. Think about what that means. The deceiver will look like the real thing, talk like the real thing, show many outward signs that they are of God, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves[6]. They are hunting for opportunities to serve themselves in some way, and are willing to destroy the hearts of others to feed their own hunger for gain. Yet Jesus said we will know them by their fruits.
Do teachers / preachers / prophets fulfill the mandates of scripture? Do they point to Christ or themselves? Do they call us to fulfill our flesh, or walk in the Spirit? Do they point to the word, or something else? Do they make disciples by teaching them to obey all that has been commanded? Or do their followers remain in the same spiritual condition as before? Do they teach people to love the world, or to seek the Kingdom? Is it a self-centered gospel, or Christ centered?
Many speak in God’s name and will give a pretense of honoring the scriptures. But they will use crafty arguments to explain away scriptures that contradict the message they claim is of the Holy Spirit. We are commanded by scripture to not believe every spirit, but to test the spirits to see if they are truly from God[7]. Neglecting this command is the first step toward deception.
Deception always requires a willing participant. Manipulation of the truth is how the deceiver tries to persuade you to willingly follow the craftily veiled lie.
The Holy Spirit
The Bible tells us that the scriptures are spiritually discerned and that we have the ability to know the truth by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which has been given to every believer. This also is a point of confusion for many. Before we move on to look at how we know the truth, let’s look at the foundation of that knowledge, the Holy Spirit’s guidance within us.
According to the Bible, many false spirits masquerade as the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls these spirits of deception. Some scoff at the idea of demonic spirits, but if we believe in angels, why would we question the Bible’s teaching of fallen angels? A demon is nothing more than an angel who chose to follow Lucifer, now known as the devil, or Satan. That is what a fallen angel is. We are not to fear them, but rather to be aware of the schemes of the devil that are designed to confuse the truth. We’ll get more into this when we look at spiritual warfare in a later chapter. For now, just be aware that the Bible describes the fall of a third of the angels coinciding with the rebellion of Satan and his fall.
This is what is meant when the Bible speaks of spirits of deception. The Bible says that Satan masquerades as an angel of light and his prophets pass themselves off as apostles and prophets of truth[8]. The same holds true for counterfeiting the Holy Spirit. We are commanded to compare those who claim to have the Holy Spirit with what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit. I won’t spend a lot of time on this, but there are some basic things to look at when being told a work or service is Holy Spirit inspired. Look now at John 16:13-14
13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
Add this to Jesus’ description of the Holy Spirit above. John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
When instructing His disciples, Jesus states a few key points. The Holy Spirit will not speak of Himself, but will testify of Jesus’ authority, and reveal the teachings of Christ. The Holy Spirit’s role is to glorify Jesus Christ. Are you seeing the purpose of the Holy Spirit? His role is to point to Christ, reveal the scriptures (all of which are of Christ-He is the word made flesh), and to teach believers how to conform to the image of Christ.
Romans 12:2, Ephesians 6:17, and Titus 3:5 tell us that the Spirit renews our minds through the word. We are then told that the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts[9], and produces the fruit of the Spirit[10].
According to scripture, the true evidence of the Holy Spirit is:
- Impart God’s love into our hearts (agape).
- A transformed life.
- A renewed mind.
- Conviction and repentance of sin.
- Affirmation of the Word.
- Understanding of the Word.
- Pointing to Christ.
- Glorifying Christ.
- Not testifying of itself.
- The power to crucify the flesh and bring it under subjection to God.
- The equipping of the saints for ministry through gifts that edify the church to glorify Christ.
A false apostle or teacher will instruct you not to question or test the spirit, because he doesn’t want the truth to expose the deception. No godly leader will instruct you not to test with the word of God. If the spirit being presented doesn’t fulfill the roles given by scripture, or worse yet, if it contradicts these basic things, it is not the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will never contradict the word, but will instruct us in the word. It will not show us a new way that contradicts Christ, but will affirm the teachings of Jesus. The Spirit gives us understanding in the word, and teaches us how it applies to our life in today’s world. Our ultimate goal is to conform to the image of Christ so we can inherit the kingdom as God has promised to those who obey His word. The Holy Spirit works to accomplish this in the life of the believer.
Keep these things in mind as you look to the Spirit for guidance, and then trust the Lord to reveal truth through His word by the Spirit.
You shall know the truth
Jesus made the statement, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Free from what? Free from sin, deception, and the things that entangle our lives. Truth was given to us in the word so that we can know it. Nothing about Bible study is complicated. There are two basic rules. Scripture is to be understood in light of the rest of scripture, and we must diligently study. Unless we know the truth, we can’t hope to fully understand it, so diligence is necessary. And if we take portions of scripture out of context, it’s easy to misunderstand the intended meaning.
This should be easily understood, if we stop and think for a moment. Anything taken out of context can be twisted into an unintended meaning. That’s the nature of language. A politician once gave a speech where he made the comments, “Some people say, ‘Abortion is okay because the mother has the right to her own body,’ but I disagree.”
Several years later, his new opponent wanted to show him in a negative light, so just before the election, his campaign sent out a flyer with the statement, “My opponent said, ‘Abortion is okay because the mother has the right to her own body.’”
Technically, he did say those words, but out of context it appears that he’s saying something he clearly did not intend. A partial quote became a lie.
Earlier I told the story about how my grandfather enjoyed teasing the ladies. “I can prove that the Bible warns against women driving,” he would say. When someone took the bait, he’d pull out his King James Bible (it only works with KJV) and turn to Acts 27. He’d then read, “We let her drive. And so were driven. All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” He’d grin and say, “That’s right out of the Bible. Women are dangerous drivers.”
Of course we already know that in Acts 27, women are not even the topic being discussed. ‘Her’ was a ship and the situation was that the people on board were in a fierce storm and lost hope of coming out of it safely.
In good humor my grandfather made the Bible say what he wanted it to say by only pulling out the words that would support his joke, and ignoring the rest. In context there is no way to misinterpret what the Bible is saying, but taken out of context it could be manipulated to make his point.
Whether it’s scientific data, political speeches, or the Bible, taking information out of context can mislead. This is not unique to our day, for the apostles warned against this very thing. Look at 2 Peter 3:15-17
15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; (Emphasis added)
In this passage, the Apostle Peter is pointing to a problem the people in the church were already aware of. Those who were not stable in the truth would take the writings of the Apostle Paul (along with the rest of scripture), twist them out of their intended context, and then lead people into error by presenting a lie and calling it the words of scripture. The church is being warned to look at this example and be on guard so they are not also led into error.
This is exactly what we see today. Everyone claims to have truth and many claim to have a secret insight into the knowledge of God. They do so by taking things out of context and making it appear as if the Bible is saying something not intended. People are led astray because they don’t know the scriptures and can’t recognize the distortion. The only way we know the error is by knowing the truth.
Before technology that detects counterfeit money became available, individuals were trained to find phony money. They learned to detect the forgery by knowing the features of authentic bills. When something falls short of the real thing, it is revealed to be a fake. The same is true with art, antiques, or any other valuable item.
Unless we know the truth, we can’t identify the twisted version of it. In fact, as you grow in your own faith and knowledge of the word, you’ll discover that many of the things you believe now miss the mark. Scripture gives doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction. Things I once believed were corrected by scripture when I understood a passage in its proper context. Things I grew up believing and have always assumed to be true turned out to be wrong. It wasn’t intentional deception, but it fell short of rightly dividing the word of truth.
I took a five year period of my life and determined to study nothing but the scriptures. No outside influences. No study guides. No books about doctrine. I didn’t even use a study Bible. In that period, I read through the Bible more than thirty times. This completely changed my life and gave me a depth to understanding scripture I could have never discovered any other way. I also discovered that many things I once believed were incorrect. The light of scripture upon the rest of scriptures gave me the perspective to see things in context that I previously couldn’t see.
Often the errors we believe don’t fall to the level of heresy. However, misconceptions cause us to misunderstand the principles that lead us to a deeper understanding of God, and false beliefs prevent us from maturing as we ought. Our salvation may not be at stake from a misconception, but anything that taints our understanding stunts our spiritual growth. When the scriptures correct what is false, we must let misconceptions go and receive the right understanding. This is especially true when our misunderstanding has led to a cherished, but false belief.
Paul said it well when he stated, “When I was a child, I thought as a child, spoke as a child, and understood as a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things.[11]” Most (but not all) of our childish beliefs are based on selfish motives. A child only thinks about what he or she wants. Self-centeredness then becomes the motive for evaluating right and wrong. While in an immature mindset, our thinking is based on what we want. We want, therefore, we believe, then we act. Spiritual maturity changes this.
Maturity teaches us to act based on all factors. I often have to give up what I want because the gratification isn’t worth the cost. Or what I want it isn’t worth neglecting more important needs. An immature person is willing to step on others to fulfill selfish desires, but the mature learns to consider others before their own desires.
Most doctrinal error is based on feeding the desires of the flesh without considering our relationship with God or each other. Read 1 Corinthians 13. Everything rests on faith, hope, and love. And everything is founded upon God’s love. Bad doctrine usually neglects the foundation of God’s love, faith in Him, and founding our lives upon the hope of His promises. Bad doctrine may also skew our understanding of love so that it focuses on love for our selfishness, and blinds us to the truth that love comes from God, and draws us toward God.
When someone presents a truth, we must have the ability to discern whether it is consistent with the word. And we can only do this if we know the word. There is another passage that helps clarify this. Look at 2 Peter 1:19-21
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Prophecy does not mean to foretell the future. Prophecy means to proclaim the truth of God’s word. Sometimes God foretells what will happen in certain events, but this is not the only form of prophecy. Prophecy of scripture is the word of God. It is the word God gave through the Holy Spirit to His prophets and apostles for the purpose of being written down for our learning.
Notice that this passage says that we have the word confirmed. It was confirmed in the same way as was mentioned earlier. The spirit of the prophets was made subject to the prophets. What was being spoken was evaluated against what was known to be true, and proven as the word of God. It was confirmed that it agreed and did not contradict.
Occasionally, I hear Bible critics take issue with the ancient letters that were excluded from the Bible. There are many letters from other early church leaders that are not considered scripture. The letters of Barnabas, who served with Paul come to mind. There are also letters that supposedly came from Paul, but he addresses these as being falsely signed as if from him.[12] There are also the Gnostic Gospels that were presented to the church, claiming to be written by the apostles. These were all rejected because they either could not be confirmed, or they contradicted what was already confirmed. Those who canonized the prophets and letters to the church did so with scriptures that could be confirmed as being Holy Spirit inspired by those the church knew were anointed by God to write scripture.
There were many good teachings to the church in that era that were not considered to be scripture, just as there are good books and teachings today. These draw from scripture, but can never be confirmed as if they were scripture.
What is the purpose of the confirmed word? It is to give understanding in our hearts so the light of truth shines through. We too must confirm what is being spoken today against what we know to be true.
Take note of verse 20 above, “Knowing this first.” That phrase speaks volumes. The first thing we must know before proceeding any further is that no prophecy (word of God) is subject to man’s private interpretation. What God says through His word is true for all. We may have different levels of understanding, and a passage may shed light on another passage to give a greater understanding, but what’s true for you has to be true for me. What’s true for me has to be true for you. Otherwise my ideas are being treated as scripture, and error will result.
Each time bad doctrine appears, it is always scripture out of context and mixed with ideas of something outside the Bible. Man’s philosophy plus scripture equals error. Rather than overlaying our ideas on top of scripture to come up with a doctrine, we must compare our beliefs to scripture and see if they hold up. We draw from the word, not add to the word.
Any time we have to explain away scripture, or add to the scriptures to make doctrine work, we are making ourselves the private interpreter of the word.
Recently, a well-publicized prophecy that the rapture was about to occur became a shameful spectacle when it failed. Both the above elements were present in the failure. They explained away scriptures that clearly contradicted their beliefs, and they added their own ideas to the word, and treated them as scripture.
When confronted with Jesus’ clear statement that no man can know the day or the hour, a leader in the group said, “We can’t stop there. We must look deeper.” Why? If Jesus gave a clear answer to the question, why reject his statement and dig for hidden clues?
They also added a formula created by the group’s head. When the rapture failed to appear at the appointed time, a spokesman for the group said, “I can’t understand why nothing happened. I did the calculations myself,” referring to the formula created by the group’s prophet.
There is a problem with that statement. By those very words, he testified that their philosophy was not taught in scripture, but was an outside philosophy added to the scriptures in order to come up with a specific conclusion. The Bible warns that adding to God’s word and taking away from the word makes us a liar, and will be reproved by God[13].
There will always be something or someone claiming to have hidden insights into the Bible. But if we must add to, or take away from the word to make it fit, or abandon the clear meaning of scripture, avoid that ideology. The focus of scripture is not to find a hidden meaning, but to equip the saints for ministry and to teach us to become disciples of Christ.
Searching for hidden meanings is nothing more than twisting the scriptures into our own private interpretations. Look at the Bible codes. They promised to reveal the future, but they only produced countless false prophecies. Over the centuries, teachers have risen and claimed divine revelation, but their prophecies failed. In the future, it will happen again. Jesus told us this would be the case. He also showed us how to avoid getting led away with the masses.
The way to interpret scripture is to look for the clear meaning. The Bible is to be our instruction. Searching for hidden mysteries misses the point. The mystery that appears to be hidden is actually in plain sight. The word teaches us how to become like Christ. The truth is only veiled by our limited understanding, but revealed by the Spirit to us when we apply ourselves to the accurate study of the word. The hidden truths are revealed when we understand the basic things necessary to grasp before we can go deeper. In truth, they are not hidden at all. The reason they are not seen is because human understanding is blind to the truth – but our eyes are opened by the Spirit.
A child cannot know algebra until they first understand multiplication and division. They can’t understand multiplication and division until they understand adding and subtracting. Children can’t comprehend adding and subtracting until they first learn how to count. Each step in the learning process builds on the previous step. Each process in learning is incomprehensible until the previous lessons are understood and fitted into the foundation of their understanding.
It’s no different in our quest for spiritual knowledge. Without the Holy Spirit, little can be understood. Before we come to Christ, we understand everything from the human perspective and not the eternal. Then we learn the basics of our faith. With each truth we understand and fit into our lives, we become capable of understanding deeper truths.
It isn’t that the deeper things are waiting to be unlocked by some spiritual secret. The deeper things are waiting for you to prepare yourself by first understanding what God is teaching you now. Deeper truths are not hidden, but rather, it’s limited by our lack of understanding. As we build knowledge, we are preparing ourselves to new things God has stored up for us to learn. Depth of knowledge is dependent upon willingness to learn and apply the simpler things to our lives in obedience.
I’ve had people tell me that they want to really get to know God and go deeper. But years roll by and they never mature. They keep searching for that key to understanding, keep praying, keep reading books, and even go to special services that claim to change people’s lives. Sometimes they get excited and have a temporary upswing, but when the emotions fade, they find themselves floundering again.
There is no short cut. Just as you can’t jump from kindergarten to graduate school, you can’t discover the deeper truths until you learn and apply the basic things. The Lord gave us this answer when He spoke in Isaiah 28:9-10
9 ” Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Precept must be upon precept. You can’t learn the next thing until you learn and understand what comes before it – for they are dependent upon each other. Most Christians never stop nursing on milk because they are unwilling to draw away, and begin seeking the truth through diligent personal study. They remain perpetually dependent upon others feeding them and telling them basic doctrines.
Learning Line Upon Line
Here are the basics for understanding the word. Each person has their own learning style, but certain things are consistent among everyone.
Read the Word.
There is quantity reading and quality reading. We need both. One of the most common excuses is the lack of time. This is exactly what Jesus was warning about when He said many would receive the word among the thorns. The cares of this life and other things crowding in choke the word in our lives so we become unfruitful.
One thing is certain, what you value you will find time to do. It’s hard for people to value the word because they can’t see the eternal value of it. This is also why we sin. Temptation is right before us, but the promise stands behind the veil of eternity. Only when we are walking by faith can we see the value of the eternal. In the flesh we value what we can see, touch, feel, and experience in our bodies.
Make it your prayer to have a love for the word. Until we see the value, it’s hard to persevere. The Bible says, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint.[14]” When God reveals eternity to you, the word will have value and you’ll be willing to restrain yourself from allowing activities to crowd out the word.
I struggled with consistency for many years. I would do well for a while, but then let it go by the wayside. I began praying for a desire to know the word and that He would give me a true love for the scriptures. God answered that prayer. If you are like me, you’ll struggle to keep the time for the word as a high priority. If you skip a day, it’s easy to skip the next. Once the habit is gone, it’s hard to motivate ourselves to get back into a good habit.
Discipline yourself to spend regular time in the word. If time is lacking, cut out something that has no real value – such as an hour of TV. Do you remember what your favorite show was about last month? What about last year? Though entertainment may seem like something of value, what you watch on TV will be quickly forgotten, so what is being really missed when we skip an hour?
If you aren’t big on reading, get the Bible on audio. I highly recommend the Alexander Scourby version of the Bible on audio. You can download the entire Bible on MP3 for around thirty dollars. It’s the King James Version, but even if you prefer another translation, you’ll appreciate Scourby’s version. While most audio Bibles just read in monotone, Alexander Scourby makes the scriptures come alive with his passion, inflections, and pace of reading.
When you read, find a time that fits your learning style. If you are a morning person, get up earlier to read in the morning. Night people, turn off the television or find a quiet room. With the audio version, you can listen while driving to work.
One thing I highly recommend is to read the New Testament through three times in a short time frame, such as three months. It’s important to do this in a short time frame so you can begin remembering what you read in Matthew while you’re reading in Hebrews or Revelation.
Don’t neglect the Old Testament. It’s rich in truth and necessary to fully understand the New Testament. The writings of the Apostle Paul are focused on the Old Testament. Paul consistently points to the Old Testament Law to help the Jews understand the New Testament teachings of Jesus. There is as much to glean from the time before Christ as there is from the writings after Christ.
Don’t be legalistic about reading every word. If you find yourself getting bogged down in the genealogies, look for where it ends and begin reading again. Keep an eye out for tidbits tucked into the genealogies, though. Often a significant event can be found with the name of the person being mentioned.
Find your own reading method and stick to it. If you miss a day, don’t feel like you have to read twice as much the next day. Just pick up where you left off and move on. The purpose of discipline is to keep yourself consistent, not to create a new rule.
Journaling.
You will be surprised how much you learn when you journal. It may seem awkward at first, but it won’t be long before you find yourself coming alive during your journaling time.
Journaling forces you to have a listening heart. Don’t journal during your quantity reading time. Set ten or fifteen minutes aside afterward or at a different time and dedicate it to journaling. You may even want to journal a completely different passage than you are reading during your quantity time.
When journaling, take a passage of scripture, read it, and write down what God is saying to you. Or you can write as though you are explaining it to someone else. Often, other passages will come to mind and you’ll discover how God is revealing something to you that you would normally have passed over. Be as detailed or basic as you want. Some days the word will come alive, and other days nothing jumps out to you. That’s okay, just be consistent.
Some people like to buy a journal or use a notebook. I use a computer and journal my thoughts into a Word document. Use the resources that fit the way you think and work. One thing is certain, you will discover things about the Bible you didn’t know before. When we have a listening heart, God promises to show us great and mighty things we didn’t know[15].
What could be more exciting than having God open our eyes to see what we have never been taught, and to see truths that go beyond what we previously understood?
Memorize scripture.
Psalm 119:11
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!
Memorizing scripture is a powerful tool for our spiritual development. When you memorize, focus on the context. Some short passages are complete thoughts, but most span several verses. You want to understand what is being communicated, so focus on capturing all of what is being said. Find a logical starting place and ending place where a particular thought begins or ends. For example, when I memorized the fruit of the Spirit, I included Galatians 5:22-25. These four verses complete the thought in my opinion, though the other passages around it support the idea being taught. Obviously we would want to study the chapter, but I broke down my memorization to these specific passages.
Afterward I came back and memorized the works of the flesh that was being contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit. That would include Galatians 5:19-21.
When I memorize, I use 3×5 note cards. I place the reference on the back, and the text on the lined side. Since I’m memorizing the thought, I put the entire reference on each notecard – even if I have to use multiple cards. So I put Galatians 5:22-25 on three notecard backs, and spread the text across the three fronts. You might want to have each verse and reference on separate cards. Choose a method that works best for you.
Let me give another word of advice. If you haven’t memorized anything in a long time, your mind will have gotten lazy. Don’t get discouraged. When you first start, it might seem very difficult to memorize the first card. It won’t always be this way. As you exercise your mind, learning will become easier and you’ll find yourself absorbing the information much quicker.
When I first started memorizing, it had been decades. I was shocked at how hard it was for me to memorize a simple passage. I felt like nixing the idea. Once the hard shell of my brain broke loose, I started memorizing at an astonishing rate. Before I knew it, I had hundreds of cards memorized.
My method is to spread longer passages over multiple cards. I don’t move to the next card until I memorize the first card. Once mastered, I add another card. Then I say the first card along with the second. I always add to what I’m memorizing so that when I remember it, I have a consistent flow from beginning to end.
The next week when I add new passages from other parts of the Bible, I mix in what I’ve already memorized. That keeps the older ones fresh, plus it’s encouraging to have success of reciting old passages while learning the new ones.
After several weeks, I rotate the verses I’ve mastered to an index card box. I keep the newest passages in my memorization stack, and as one complete passage is fully committed to memory I move it to the box. Each week I add a previously memorized passage to my memorization stack. I rotate previously memorized passages into my current stack by pulling from the front of the box, and adding to the back when I’m ready to return something to the box.
At the beginning of each week, I take my oldest memory cards, place them in the back of the index card box, and take a passage from the front of the box. This way I don’t forget what I’ve already committed to memory. When I return it the next week, I place it in the back and take a new set from the front. This keeps them constantly rotating, so nothing slips from memory.
If you follow these steps, or come up with another process that works for you, and remain consistent, you will develop a solid biblical foundation and have the understanding to discern the truth.
You can know the truth. Each time we apply ourselves to studying the word, the Lord honors our obedience and reveals more of His truth to us. Keep in mind that the apostles were untrained and uneducated men. But because of their understanding of the word, others perceived that they had been with Jesus.[16] Each time you dive into the word, you too have been with Jesus, and in time, it will show in your life and in your conversation.
[1] John 5:43
[2] 1 Corinthians 14:32
[3] Galatians 1:8-9
[4] John 12:48
[5] Acts 20:30
[6] Matthew 7:15
[7] 1 John 4:1
[8] 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
[9] Romans 5:5
[10] Galatians 5:22-25
[11] 1 Corinthians 13:11
[12] 2 Thessalonians 2:2
[13] Deuteronomy 4:2, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18-19
[14] Proverbs 29:18
[15] Jeremiah 33:3
[16] Acts 4:13