Rightly Dividing the Word
Study to Show Yourself Approved….
Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
As Christians we are to desire the milk of the word of God that we may continue to grow. I Peter 3 :1 It is ok to be a baby Christian, just as long as you haven’t been one for decades!! It’s ok to not have a great handle on the word of God. But it is definitely not ok to stay that way.
God wants you and I to grow in our understanding, to grow in our ability to not only read his Word. But to also help others to grow and mature in their relationship with God. The way that we grow, is we take time to read and study the Bible and other books that help us understand what it is being said.
As Christians we are supposed to have a living relationship with Christ. As we read the Word it will feed our spirit and bring a set of beliefs that find there origin in the Bible. The beliefs we take on become our theology or our doctrine and as such these doctrines must be rightly handled. One of the rules for building Bible doctrine is we are not to make up doctrines on the basis of one scripture ever!
The Bible says at the testimony of two or three witnesses let every word be established. The reason is you can actually make the Bible say anything you want if you take only isolated scriptures. But when you read the context of the scripture and other scriptures that address the subject it brings a different result.
Many years ago I was doing some street evangelism and I struck up a conversation with a Hare Krishna who informed me of a scripture.
“He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man.” Isaiah 66:3
He proceeded to tell me that the bible was equating the killing of an animal to murdering people so we are all supposed to be vegetarians cause God doesn’t want us to be murderers. My response at that time was that there are other scriptures that talk about the subject of eating meat.
Such as Rom 14:2 where it says that he who eats only vegetables is weak.
And another that says in the last days doctrines of demons will come…… forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving. 1 Timothy 4:3. When the agenda is to stop people eating meat any cost the bible says this is a demonic belief system rooted in a doctrine of demons!
Romans 14 also goes on to talk about conscience and how we are to navigate peoples conscience (what they perceive to be right or wrong) when we are preaching the gospel. Paul said for the sake of the one with a weak conscience he would not eat meat if it would mean that people would come to Christ. So in different settings we can adjust in order to help people receive the Gospel. The goal is people find Jesus not get offended over meat or drink. Because the Kingdom of God is not a matter of just eating and drinking but is Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit!
It is super important to be able to interpret scripture correctly without taking one verse out of context. We must weigh the subject matter in the light of what all the scriptures say about it. We can then rightly divide or interpret the scriptures correctly, so that we wont be ashamed. The goal is that we accurately handle the Word of God so that it releases grace and truth to the people we are helping.
Blessings AR