rightly dividing the word of truth part1
There was a man who fell on hard times due to the economy. He lost his job and was trying to earn some money to support his family by doing odd jobs. He began making his way from house to house asking “Is there anything I can do around your house? Any odd jobs? Please put me to work, I’m good with my hands.” Finally, one lady said, “Yes, as a matter of fact I do have something you can do. Give me just a minute, I’ll be right back.” She returned with a couple of buckets of green paint and a brush and said, “You can paint my porch.” He replied, “Are you sure???” She looked at him strangely and said, “Well, yes, do you want the work or not!?” He said, “Okay, if that’s really what you want.” A few hours later he knocked on the door and said, “Ma’am, I’m all done …but that’s not a Porche; that’s a Ferrari.”
Talk about misinterpretation. Misinterpretation can cause serious problems. How many marital conflicts have arisen out of misunderstandings and misinterpretation of the words of a well-meaning spouse? How many international business ventures have gone awry do to misinterpretation? How difficult it must be for the foreign exchange student who comes to America to find that it rains cats and dogs and sometimes things cost an arm and a leg. Proper interpretation is important – not only in marriage and business, it is important with regards to the Bible.
Have you ever wondered why people who are followers of the same Jesus Christ who are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit who read the same Bible have so many differing views regarding so many different doctrines? Have you ever wondered why there are so many different denominations within Christianity? I believe it comes down to interpretation. We all read the same Bible, but our interpretations vary.
This morning we begin a journey together as we start a new series. The title of this series is “rightly dividing the word of truth: the basics of Bible interpretation.” I will be sharing with you a series of interpretive principles with which to approach the Bible.
I want to be clear that the principles that I share with you did not originate with me. These aren’t rules that I made up. These principles are not exclusive to New Covenant Fellowship. These principles of interpretation are employed by scholars across the board. In fact, this information is taught by virtually all, Bible colleges and seminaries.
My personal understanding of these interpretive principles (and thus most of the material I will be presenting over the next several weeks) comes primarily from 3 books. These 3 books are textbooks for seminary courses: grasping God’s word, how to read the bible, and hermeneutics. Hermeneutics? This is the word for this field of study is “hermeneutics.” To quote Virkler: “In its technical meaning, hermeneutics is often defined as the science and art of biblical interpretation. Hermeneutics is considered a science because it has rules, and these rules can be classified in an orderly system. It is considered an art because communication is flexible, and therefore a mechanical and rigid application of rules will sometimes distort the true meaning of a communication. To be a good interpreter one must learn the rules of hermeneutics as well as the art of applying those rules” (Virkler, 16).
This is only a small sample of the multitude of books out there on hermeneutics. I’ll be sharing some quotes from these books and others; some names you probably recognize, such as Kay Arthur, R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur. Other names you may not recognize, but carry weight in the scholarly world. And all of their books essentially teach the same things, the very things that I intend to convey to you.
Before we begin this journey I’d like to address a few things:
1. Most important series
2. Hermeneutics, in my opinion, should be the very first thing a believer studies. Before somebody is ever handed a Bible, he should be taught how to handle it. There is a reason people take driver’s ed before somebody gives them a driver’s license and hands them car keys and says here, go drive. In the same way, a believer should not be handed a Bible and told, here, these are the true, inspired sacred scriptures, go read and apply them. I wish that as a new believer somebody would have taught me these principles.
3. For those of you who are new believers or new to studying the Bible I am so excited for you because you get to begin your journey through the Bible in a very healthy place. I am excited for you. In fact, I am a little bit jealous of you.
4. On the other hand, if you’re like me, perhaps you began reading and studying the Bible years before you studied hermeneutics or practiced these interpretive principles. For you, this may be much like Luke Skywalker’s experience in Empire Strikes Back when master Yoda tells him, “you must unlearn what you have learned.” For a lot of us, we may have to unlearn what we have learned and that can be a frustrating process.
a. Consider the first time you threw a ball. Chances are, if you are right handed, you threw the ball with your right foot forward. That’s not the right way to do it. Your left foot should be forward. The sooner someone shows you the right way to throw, the better off you are. The longer you throw the wrong way, the harder it is to adjust to the proper way.
b. Consider that song you heard on the radio years ago and misunderstood some of the lyrics. You have been singing along with the wrong lyrics for years. But a friend recently told you those aren’t the right lyrics. Let’s google it and find out. Sure enough the friend is correct. But you’re so used to singing the wrong lyrics that it takes several times of hearing that song and singing along with serious focus on the proper lyrics before you readjust and actually sing it the right way.
c. The longer we do something the wrong way, the harder it is to readjust to the proper way. Plus, pride and ego step in and who likes being wrong?
d. As we move through these principles you may find that you already use them. But if not, don’t be discouraged. It is rewarding in the end to throw the ball the right way. It is rewarding in the end to sing along with the proper lyrics. It is rewarding in the end to rightly divide the word of truth. The process of unlearning what you have learned may be frustrating at first, but in the end it is worth it. So stick with it.
e. On a related note, I must warn you. Your views on certain doctrines may change as a result of practicing these principles. You may end up disagreeing with your favorite theologian, childhood preacher, the teachings of your denominational background, your best friend or worse, your spouse. When one’s views change, it is usually an uncomfortable and perhaps frustrating process.
f. But we must value truth over personal comfort. In the move The Matrix the main character Neo finds himself in a serious dilemma when he discovers that everything he knows to be true may not be reality. He is given the choice between 2 pills: the blue or the red. If he swallows the red pill he gets to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes (IE know the truth no matter how unpleasant or uncomfortable). If he swallows the blue pill he will wake up in his bed and believe whatever he wants (IE whatever is comfortable). Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable, but we must value truth over comfort.
Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Our first principle of interpretation: Deal with the text objectively. This means that we must set aside presuppositions about what the Bible teaches and let the Bible speak for itself. A presupposition is something we suppose or assume beforehand; something we take for granted in advance. We must set aside those preconceived notions about the teachings of Scripture and deal with the text objectively.
I’d like to share with you some quotes:
KAY ARTHUR The New how to study your bible (p 20-21): "Deal with the text objectively. In other words, let the text speak for itself. Observing the text in order to establish context must be your primary objective. So let the text itself show you its repeated emphasis. So often I fear our only reason for being in the Word is subjective – we simply want to get something for ourselves, to look for something that “ministers to our heart” or to find a verse that we can use to help someone or set someone straight. How grievous this must be to God, who wants us to truly know Him and to be sanctified by truth – and His Word is truth. Therefore, our primary goal, our driving passion should be to know truth and then adjust our beliefs and our lives accordingly. Now granted, certain portions of any book you are studying might minister to you more than other portions, but the truth and context never change. The message of the book itself will always be the same. It is truth – absolutes on which you can stake your life, your character, and your lifestyle. So first, look at the Word objectively.”
KAY ARTHUR How to study your Bible (P 25): "if you rush into interpretation without laying the vital foundation of observation your understanding becomes colored by your own presuppositions, what you think, what you feel, what other people have said and if you do this you distort the Scriptures to your own destruction."
ROY ZUCK Basic Bible Interpretation (p25) "The Bible student must also approach the Scriptures with sound judgment and reason seeking to be as objective in his approach to the Bible as possible, without coming to the Scriptures with prejudice or preconceived notions."
Be objective, without prejudice or preconceived notions. Set aside presuppositions.
We all have presuppositions. We all come to the Bible with preconceived ideas about God about Jesus about men and women and their roles, baptism, speaking in tongues; we have a multitude of presuppositions, things we pre-suppose, things we suppose or assume before we open the pages of the Bible; we all have things that we take for granted in advance. Sometimes those presuppositions come from our own opinions, sometimes they come from something we have been fed from the media, sometimes they come from things we have been taught, things we have read elsewhere, they come from all over the place.
Setting aside our presuppositions is hard to do. However, if we are going to deal with the text objectively it is essential to set them aside.
Obviously, we must approach the Scriptures with at least one presupposition, and that is: The Bible is holy, sacred, true, inspired by God, and authoritative. Otherwise, why are we treating the Bible as we do? Why aren’t we treating the Koran and the book of Mormon with equal relevance and reverence? Aside from that fundamental presupposition about the nature of the Bible, it is crucial to set aside all other presuppositions, namely those presuppositions about doctrine that will color our reading of the text and render it difficult for us to deal with the text objectively.
We must get our theology from the Scripture; we must not force our preconceived theology into the Scripture. Those of you who like fancy vocab words, this means that our theology needs to come from exegesis, not eisegesis. We need to get our theology from the text, not force our ideas into the text.
ILLUSTRATION: When we’re sick our purpose of going to the doctor is to find out what’s wrong with us. We expect the doctor to examine us and then base his diagnosis on that objective examination. Now imagine if the doctor had a preconceived notion that we had HIV. The moment we walk in the room the doctor said, “good morning, just want to let you know you’ve got HIV, now let’s have a look, we’re going to examine you and see what we can find to support that diagnosis.”
We don’t want the doctor to make a diagnosis and then examine us, looking for supportive proof of his diagnosis. We want him to have no preconceived notions about our condition. We want the doctor to examine us objectively and based on the examination, make a diagnosis.
That’s how we want to formulate our theology. We don’t want to come to the Scriptures with preconceived ideas and then look for Scriptures to support those ideas and twist the Bible to match our presuppositions. We want to come to the Scriptures with no preconceived ideas and we want to examine the Scriptures and formulate our theology based on our objective examination of the text. We must deal with the text objectively.
SCRIPTURE EXAMPLE:
One of my presuppositions when I first became a believer was that Jesus is one of many ways to God, Christianity was just my form of religion, but everybody is entitled to their own view and all views were equally valid. All roads lead to Heaven, it doesn’t matter if you worship Allah or subscribe to Buddhism or if you go through Jesus. It’s all basically different ways of worshiping the same God and ultimately different ways to get to God.
However, when I came to the Bible, I had to let go of that presupposition in light of what the Bible says.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”
Regarding Jesus:
Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
My presupposition was that Jesus was one of several means of salvation. However, when I came to the Scriptures, I had to let goof that presupposition in light of what the Scripture says: Jesus is THE way, not A way. No one comes to the Father, EXCEPT through Him. Salvation is found in NO ONE ELSE.
Again, our first principle of interpretation is: Deal with the text objectively. We must set aside presuppositions and get our theology from the Bible; we must not force our preconceived theology into the Scripture.
The next interpretive principle that I would like to share is CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!!! Context is crucial. Kay Arthur puts it this way: The rule of context: context rules. We must not take Scripture out of context! It is imperative that we read the Bible in context. www.ncfgeorgetown.com Church in Georgetown, Texas. Reformed church Georgetown, Texas preterist church Georgetown Texas. Pastor David Boone. Full Preterism. Covenant Eschatology. New Covenant Fellowship Georgetown. Page House 10:00 am Loving God. Loving Others. Realized eschatology fulfilled eschatology Preterist church Austin Texas. Bible church Austin Texas Second coming of Jesus Christ
You may ask, “What do you mean by that and why is it so important?”
Dictionary Definition of Context:
The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning
The parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect
Context is simply the text that precedes and follows a text. By definition, context determines the meaning of a text.
KAY ARTHUR How to study your Bible (p 57) "Never take Scripture out of its context to make it say something that is contrary to the text. Discover what the author is saying remembering the ultimate author is God and do not add to its meaning."
Never take Scripture out of context. Let’s look at a few examples.
“There is no god” the bible says so in Psalm 14:1. The Bible says there is no God. That changes a little bit when you see it in context, when you see the text that precedes “there is no God” it totally changes things. The words before “there is no God” are“The fool says in his heart…” So when you read the verse in context you see “the fool says in his heart there is no God.” Context is important. The context changed the verse from saying that God doesn’t exist to saying that it is foolish to say God doesn’t exist.
“Money is the root of all kinds of evil” the bible says so in 1 Tim 6:10. So the Bible says that money is the root of all evil. We should quit our jobs and just be a farmer? That changes when you see it in context. In context, the verse reads “for the love ofmoney is a root of all kinds of evil.” Money itself is not the root of all sorts of evil, only the love of money.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Or depending on your translation, “I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” This is a very popular verse. I’ve seen people with this tattooed on them; one UFC fighter has it across his chest. This verse is on the home page of another UFC fighter’s website a 9-time welterweight UFC champion. I have seen people use this verse to claim that they can win sports games, you name it. Because the verse says I can do everything through him who gives me strength. I can do everything. Because of Jesus I can do anything, right? Isn’t that what the verse says? Let’s look at the verse in context.
Phil 4:10-16 10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret ofbeing content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. 14Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
So, in context, we see that the church in Philippi sent Paul, the apostle, aid in the past, when he was in Thessalonica. He was now in prison. They sent him aid again. He is thanking them for their concern and their gift. In the midst of this, he acknowledges that though he appreciates their gift, he is not in need of it because he has learned the secret to be content whatever the circumstances – well fed, hungry, in plenty or in want. The secret of contentment in every situation is Christ. This is what Paul means by: “I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” I can endure times of need because of Christ. I can go hungry and have nothing because of Christ. I am content because of Christ. That is Paul’s point, not that he will win in UFC.
So as you can see, context is important. By definition, context determines the meaning of a text. The text before and even after a text sheds immeasurable light on the true meaning of a text.
In addition to the immediate context in the verse, there is a broader context that must be considered.
J.I. Packer Fundamentalism and the word of God: some evangelical principles (p 101) "Every text has its immediate context in the passage from which it comes, its broader context in the book to which it belongs, and its ultimate context in the Bible as a whole; and it needs to be rightly related to each of these contexts if its character, scope and significance is to be adequately understood."
In addition to seeing the text in the broader context of the book and the book in the ultimate context of the Bible as a whole, we must consider another aspect of context. We must consider the historical context, cultural context, social context, political context and the covenantal context.
Longman and Dillard An introduction to the OT "Even new Bible readers hear the warning to read the bible in its context and not to treat passages in an isolated fashion. However, many understand the context to be literary only and then forget to read the Bible in its historical context, that is the time period in which it was written, and about which it narrates. One cause is the misunderstanding that describes the bible as a timeless book. The bible is a timeless book in the sense that it has impact on every generation, but the books of the bible are also culture-bound. They were written for people in antiquity in a language and culture with the literary conventions they understood. As modern readers we are distanced from the events that motivated the writings of the book. So even though the authority of the bible is focused on the text and not on the events it narrates it is still of utmost importance to read the Bible in light of the time period from which it comes."
Again, our PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!!! Context is crucial. The rule of context: context rules. We must not take Scripture out of context! It is imperative that we read the Bible in context.
We must consider the immediate context: the text that precedes and follows a text. We must consider the broader context of the book and the ultimate context of the Bible as a whole and we must consider the historical, social, political, cultural and covenantal context.
What an exciting journey we have ahead of us. We have only just begun. I hope you join us in the weeks to come as we add more and more interpretive principles to our arsenal.
Our sermon audio and video files can be found at www.ncfgeorgetown.com/media.html
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