Back to Bible Basics (3)

by David Long

Can we understand the Bible? Some say no. God desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). The Bible is truth (John 17:17). The apostle Paul wrote by inspiration, "Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ" (Eph. 3:4). So yes, we can understand the word of God by applying some basic principles. (1) Who is speaking? Everything in the Bible was written by men who were inspired of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17). However, those inspired men sometimes recorded the words of evil men and even the words of Satan (Gen. 3:1-4). Those words were accurately recorded but are not words we should follow. (2) To whom is it spoken? God told Noah to build an Ark (Gen. 6:14-16). Are we commanded to build an Ark? No. That command was given to Noah. (3) What time frame is it being spoken? There are three Biblical time frames: Patriarchal age; Mosaic age and the Christian age. We live in the Christian age and the New Testament is our law (Heb. 1:1-2; 9:15-17; 10:9-10). (4) What type of language is being used? Is it literal or figurative or symbolic? Jesus called Herod a fox (Lk. 13:31-32). Did He mean Herod was a literal four legged animal that catches chickens? No. He used figurative language. (5) What are the conditions, circumstances or context? Because of what Paul said in 1 Cor. 7:7-8, 38 some would say that Paul was against marriage. Was he? No. Then why say such things? Because of the context of 1 Cor. 7:26. The Bible can be understood by applying some common sense rules.