Wresting the Scriptures
They that are unlearned and unstable wrest the scriptures, unto their own destruction. 2 Pet 3:16.
In the second letter addressed by Peter to those who had obtained “like precious faith” with himself, the apostle sets forth the divine plan for the development of Christian character. He writes: {AA 529.1}
“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. {AA 529.2}
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” {AA 529.3}
These words are full of instruction and strike the keynote of victory. The apostle presents before the believers the ladder of Christian progress, every step of which represents advancement in the knowledge of God, and in the climbing of which there is to be no standstill. Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity are the rounds of the ladder. We are saved by climbing round after round, mounting step after step, to the height of Christ’s ideal for us. Thus, He is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. {AA 530.1}
The position that it is of no consequence what people believe is one of Satan’s most successful deceptions. They know that the truth, received in the love of it, sanctifies the soul of the receiver; therefore, some people are constantly seeking to substitute Bible truth with false theories, fables, another gospel.
The vague and fanciful interpretations of Scripture, and the many conflicting theories concerning religious faith, that are found in the Christian world are the work of our great adversary to confuse minds so that they shall not discern the truth. And the discord and division which exist among the churches of Christendom are in a great measure due to the prevailing custom of wresting the Scriptures to support a favorite theory. Instead of carefully studying God’s word with humility of heart to obtain a knowledge of His will, many seek only to discover something odd or original.
To sustain erroneous doctrines or unchristian practices, some will seize upon passages of Scripture separated from the context, perhaps quoting half of a single verse as proving their point, when the remaining portion would show the meaning to be quite the opposite. With the cunning of the serpent, they entrench themselves behind disconnected utterances construed to suit their carnal desires. Thus do many willfully pervert the word of God. Others, who have an active imagination, seize upon the figures and symbols of Holy Writ, interpret them to suit their fancy, with little regard to the testimony of Scripture as its own interpreter, and then they present their vagaries as the teachings of the Bible.
Whenever the study of the Scriptures is entered upon without a prayerful, humble, teachable spirit, the plainest and simplest as well as the most difficult passages will be wrested from their true meaning.
The Word of God is plain to all who study it with a prayerful heart. Every truly honest soul will come to the light of truth. Jesus says the best way to learn for yourself if something is true or not is to WANT to do whatever God’s Word tells them to do:
“If you really want to obey God, you will know if what I teach comes from God or from me.” (John 7:17)
In the great and measureless gift of the Holy Spirit are contained all of heaven’s resources. It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of His grace do not flow earthward to men. If all were willing to receive, all would become filled with His Spirit. It is the privilege of every soul to be a living channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is nothing that Christ desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and character. There is nothing that the world needs so much as the manifestation through humanity of the Savior’s love. All heaven is waiting for channels through which can be poured the holy oil to be a joy and blessing to human hearts. {COL 419.1-2}
Do not read the word in the light of former opinions; but, with a mind free from prejudice, search it carefully and prayerfully. If, as you read, conviction comes, and you see that your cherished opinions are not in harmony with the word, do not try to make the word fit these opinions. Make your opinions fit the word. Do not allow what you have believed or practiced in the past to control your understanding. Open the eyes of your mind to behold wondrous things out of the law. Find out what is written, and then plant your feet on the eternal Rock. {MYP 260.2}
The Knowledge of God’s Will
Our salvation depends upon our knowledge of God’s will as it is contained in His word. Never cease asking and searching for Truth. You need to know your duty. You need to know what you must do to be saved. And it is God’s will that you shall know what He has said to you. But you must exercise faith. As you search the Scriptures, you must believe that God is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
“Light is sown for the righteous.” (Psalms 97:11).
And no church can advance in holiness unless its members are earnestly seeking for truth as for hid treasure. Jesus petitioned the Father in His prayer:
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:17)
Self-satisfaction Is Not Sanctification
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” A pleasant, self-satisfied feeling is not evidence of sanctification. The Bible is the standard by which to test the claims of all who profess sanctification. Jesus prayed that His disciples might be sanctified through the truth, and He says
“Thy word is truth;” while the psalmist declares, “Thy law is the truth.” (Psalms 119:142)
All whom God is leading will manifest a high regard for the Scriptures in which His voice is heard. The Bible will be to them “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the children of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Tim 3:16) “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Mat 7:16,20)
All the while Jesus was at Jerusalem during the feast He was shadowed by spies. Day after day new schemes to silence Him were tried. The priests and rulers were watching to entrap Him. They were planning to stop Him by violence. But this was not all. They wanted to humble this Galilean rabbi before the people. {DA 455.1}
On the first day of His presence at the feast, the rulers had come to Him, demanding by what authority He taught. They wished to divert attention from Him to the question of His right to teach, and thus to their own importance and authority. {DA 455.2}
“My teaching is not Mine,” said Jesus, “but His that sent Me. If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from Myself.” John 7:16-17, R. V.
The question of these quibblers Jesus met, not by answering the evasion, but by opening truth vital to the salvation of the soul. The perception and appreciation of truth, He said, depends less upon the mind than upon the heart. Truth must be received into the soul; it claims the homage of the will. If truth could be submitted to the reason alone, pride would be no hindrance in the way of its reception. But it is to be received through the work of grace in the heart; and its reception depends upon the renunciation of every sin that the Spirit of God reveals.
Humanity’s advantages for obtaining a knowledge of the truth, however great these may be, will prove of no benefit to him unless the heart is open to receive the truth, and there is a conscientious surrender of every habit and practice that is opposed to its principles. To those who thus yield themselves to God, having an honest desire to know and to do His will, the truth is revealed as the power of God for their salvation. These will be able to distinguish between him who speaks for God, and him who speaks merely from himself. The Pharisees had not put their will on the side of God’s will. They were not seeking to know the truth, but to find some excuse for evading it; Christ showed that this was why they did not understand His teaching. {DA 455.3}
He now gave a test by which the true teacher might be distinguished from the deceiver:
“They that speak from themselves seek their own glory: but those who seek the glory of Him that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” John 7:18, R. V.
Anyone that seeks their own glory is speaking only from themselves. The spirit of self-seeking betrays its origin. But Christ was seeking the glory of God. He spoke the words of God. This was the evidence of His authority as a teacher of the truth. {DA 456.1}
Do you ask, what shall I do to be saved? You must lay your preconceived opinions, your hereditary and cultivated ideas, at the door of investigation. If you search the Scriptures to vindicate your own opinions, you will never reach the truth. Search to learn what the Lord says. If conviction comes as you search, if you see that your cherished opinions are not in harmony with the truth, do not misinterpret the truth to suit your own belief, but accept the light given. Open mind and heart that you may behold wondrous things out of God’s word. {COL 112.3}
God has called His people to glory and virtue, and these will be manifest in the lives of all who are truly connected with Him. Having become partakers of the heavenly gift, they are to go unto perfection, being “kept by the power of God through faith.” 1 Pet 1:5.
It is the glory of God to give His virtue to His children. He desires to see men and women reaching the highest standard; and when by faith they lay hold of the power of Christ, when they plead His unfailing promises, and claim them as their own, when with an importunity that will not be denied they seek for the power of the Holy Spirit, they will be made complete in Him. {AA 530.2}
Having received the faith of the gospel, the next work of the believer is to add to his character virtue, and thus cleanse the heart and prepare the mind for the reception of the knowledge of God. This knowledge is the foundation of all true education and of all true service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation; and it is this alone that can make one like God in character. Through the knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, are given to the believer “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” No good gift is withheld from him who sincerely desires to obtain the righteousness of God. {AA 530.3}
“This is life eternal,” Christ said, “that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” John 17:3.
And the prophet Jeremiah declared:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glories glory in this, that he understand and know Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jer 9:23-24.
Scarcely can the human mind comprehend the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments of him who gains this knowledge. {AA 531.1}
None need fail of attaining, in their human sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Savior showed that through co-operation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory. {AA 531.2}
Two Ways to Study Your Bible, fig 1.
| be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2) |
| CONFORMED | TRANSFORMED |
| 1/ what you read | 1/ how you read |
| 2/ read to be informed | 2/ read to be transformed |
| 3/ cover as much as possible, as quickly as possible Process of movement from one part to the next to master/control the text. Bring text under our control, then justify our “control,” (interpretation), defend it against any other controls (interpretations) | 3/ no concern at all for the number of materials covered. Instead of covering the materials or the lesson, you try to uncover it. You might just hold on to one verse or sentence or passage for quite a while to do this |
| 4/ informational reading done in a hurry. Superficial. Analytical, critical, judgmental. We read through the filters of our own knowledge or experience, our own desires, our own hurts, our own wants, our own needs. This is the cognitive, rational, intellectual approach. Today’s professed Bible scholars call it “higher criticism” or “critical thinking.” The Word of God cannot fully speak to such people. They are not truly open to it. The Bible becomes a tool that we use or control. Often people doing this will quote many texts to “prove” a point | 4/ formational reading is in depth. You are seeking to allow the passage to open out to you it’s deeper dynamics, it’s multiple layers of meaning. Instead of rushing off to the next sentence, paragraph, or chapter you seek to move deeper and deeper into the text. You allow the text to begin to be the intrusion of the Word of God into your life to address you personally, to encounter you where you are at. By taking your time with a given text, the Word encounters you in it The Word of God encounters you in it, the Word of God speaks to you through it. Often only one verse or phrase will be needed to change your heart |
| 5/ Problem solving mentality. Read quickly just to find something that will “work” for us so that we can make some changes in our spiritual life at points where we deem it to not be “working” properly. This is mostly an unconscious activity. You just do it rotely, automatically. You put yourself in control All your “study” and energy are spent trying to justify your control and “proving” your “faith.” | 5/ You allow the text to master you. You come to the text with the openness to hear, to receive, to respond. To be a servant of the Word rather than a master of the text. You give up control to be in control. You don’t try to be good. You don’t try to justify your holiness. You only follow the text to see what God says. (John 7:17) |
| 6/ A one track mind that evades any intimate dialogue with the text. A preformed agenda or preference, [doctrine] govern the “interpretation” and forms the plan of attack. Thereby forming the perception of truth on other things besides the Bible text such as “well everybody else does it.” | 6/ The text becomes the subject of our reading relationship. We are the object that is shaped by the text. We willingly stand ourselves before the text and await its address. Ready for the wonder working Word to exercise control over what we are inside. To form the truth in us based only upon Gods Word. |
| 7/ Your encounter with a Biblical text needs two levels of understanding. The first is a preliminary unravelling of the meaning of the text itself.
“VORVERSTANDNIS” which mostly means “a knowledge acquired by study. Like a “word study.” This is the informational dynamic. Very important sometimes. But should never stand alone. When it does then a true picture of God, who He is, what He is trying to say, can never be formed in the mind of life. ” Vorverstandnis” in advance, previous understanding, understanding, comprehension |
7/ There is a second, deeper level of understanding rather than just a purely informational level. It is a living insight which grows out of personal involvement and relatedness.
“LEBENSVERHALTNIS” Only on this level is the meaning of the Bible really, fully grasped. Only in the formational mode, where the surrender of our innermost thoughts to the text take place can we become true listeners who are totally receptive and accessible for the purpose of being addressed and formed by the living Word of God. “Lebensverhaltnis” relationships, how you live your life, your environment, circumstances of life |
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalms 119:105)
Thy word is a lamp
This is illustrated thus by Solomon, Proverbs 6:23:
“The commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.”
God’s word is a candle which may be held in the hand to give us light in every dark place and chamber; and it is a general light shining upon all his works, and upon all our ways.