Understanding The Bible
Posted 01/05/2007

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. As the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ draws near, we write this epistle to exhort you all to cultivate the habit of studying the Word of God in order that you may know and keep all the commandments of God. This is the way to be perfect in the Lord by the Help of the Holy Spirit as we have been commanded to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matt 5:48). The Lord is coming for a perfect church. A church that is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing but rather a holy church without any blemish. This is a completely faultless church. Are these things not clearly written in Eph 5:26-27? But how can one that lack understanding ever be perfect? How can one who knows little or nothing concerning God’s word ever be faultless? We have written this letter to show you all that the Bible is a simple book that must be eaten daily, and that can be understood both by the learned and the unlearned that they may both do according to all that is written therein.

Some class of people are of the opinion that the Bible is a very difficult book to understand and therefore obey, and for this reason some of these people have either rejected the gospel of Christ (2 Corinth 4:4, Matt 13:19) or have refused to obey it (John 3:17-20, 36, Acts 7:51, Rom 1:21-32). Some of these people include:

  1. Those ignorant of its contents
  2. Those too lazy to read it
  3. Those biased contrary to its true doctrines (Mt 15:7-14; John 8:43)
  4. Those who rebel against what it says because they have listened to some religious teachers who explain it away and discredit the Scriptures
  5. Those uninterested in trying to understand it due to the satanic theory that it is hard to understand
  6. Those too worldly and sinful to believe it because it condemns them
  7. Unstable souls who wrest at it to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)
  8. Deceivers who use it to further their own interests (2 Corinth 4:1-4)
  9. Those who permit Satan to blind and rob them of truth (Matt 13:19-23, 2 Corinth 4:1-4)
  10. Those who refuse to humble themselves and be converted and be healed (Matt 18:3; Isa 6:9-10)

All those that belong to anyone of the categories mentioned above are in danger of eternal damnation. Their souls will be damned in the end if they do not repent. This is clearly written in 2 Thess 1:7-10. Therefore if you belong to this category of people, repent today. Turn from your old and evil ways and be saved. Please do not harden your heart for it is not the will of God that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Therefore repent and be saved. Believe the Bible and do all that what is written in it by the help of the Holy Spirit.

There are also a number of reasons why the Bible is not easily understood by many professed Christians. Some of these reasons are:

  1. Wrong reasoning , implying doubt and unbelief (Mark 8:17)
  2. Lack of perception , implying dullness (Mark 8:17)
  3. Ignorance , implying lack of interest and study (Mark 8:17)
  4. Hardness of heart , implying stubbornness and rebellion (Mark 8:17)
  5. Dull eyes , implying willful blindness to truth (Mark 8:18; Matt 13:14-15)
  6. Dull ears , implying willful rejection of truth (Mark 8:18)
  7. Dull memory , implying willful forgetfulness

All the reasons mentioned above are willful and no one is under obligation to them. Every Christian at conversion receives the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand the Bible and bring God’s commandments to our remembrance that we may do them. Therefore having the Holy Spirit in us ready for fellowship at all times, any professed Christian that do not understand the Scriptures and as a result do not obey it is without excuse.

On the other hand, the Bible is truly a simple book that can be understood by all who care to diligently study and understand it. Surely, it will take some effort and total commitment to read and understand the Bible as it will take many in the world to gain mastery in the knowledge of things of the world which pass away. How much more the Word of God which endures forever?

There are a number of very profound reasons why the Bible is a simple book that can easily be understood by the help of the Holy Spirit. Some of these reasons are:

  1. Because it is a revelation by the Holy Spirit which we now have dwelling in us (2 Tim 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21, Heb 1:1)
  2. Because of its repeated truths (2 Corinth 13:1). Repeatability of its contents emphasizes their meaning and import. All one needs to do with the Bible is find out what God says, where He says it, and then believe and do it.
  3. Because it is written in the simplest human terms possible. If it is understood as it written then it is a simple book (Luke 24:25, 45)
  4. Because God Almighty is the author (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21). A deity that could not express himself as clearly as man does would not be the living, all knowing God. One who could, but yet would not make himself clear and sought to hide from man the very truth he expected to judge him by would be an unjust person. Because God is just in all His ways, He does not do this. The fault in Bible complications is not with God or Bible, but with man who refuse to believe what God says and think we have to reinterpret everything God says in order to get the meaning
  5. Because it was given by God to be understood by the most simple and trusting people (Deut 29:29, Matt 11:25; 13:19-23, 2 Corinth 4:1-6, 2 Tim 3:16-17)
  6. Because simply reading and believing what is written in it is all that is required to understand it (Ps 1:2-3, 2 Tim 2:15, Matt 11:15)

Therefore brethren, understand and know that the Bible is a simple book. Take time every day to study it and then put what you have studied to practice. This is how a Christian bears fruit in the Lord. This is by obeying the gospel of Christ and being doers of His Word always. It must be settled once and forever in the minds of all Christians that the Bible does not contradict itself in any form. Because of this truth, all scriptures on a subject must be harmonized. The high requirement about the Bible is that it is a very large book and it will take time to master its contents enough to get a general understanding of it. Therefore we exhort you all to read it over and over and practice its teachings and not before long, it will soon become a very simple and practical book to you by the help of the Holy Spirit. Hunger and thirst for righteousness always and then you shall be filled. Grace be to you all. Maranatha.