New Hope Christian Fellowship

The rational for this five-part Bible study series is to counter our natural human tendency of reading our own prejudices and/or understanding into the verses of the Bible by presenting valid and time-tested Biblical interpretation principles. Last week we examined three advanced principles – literary genre, figurative language, and words with multiple meanings. This week we’ll cover the last three advanced Biblical interpretation principles.

When we study any passage of scripture in depth, it's always beneficial to read the passage in several modern translations along with the King James or New King James Version. Most modern translations, overall, tend to be more accurate because they are based on the earliest and best Greek manuscripts. The only Greek texts available to the King James translators were the late manuscripts, which had accumulated the mistakes of over a thousand years of copying.

Modern translators like the NIV, NRSV , NEB and NLT tend to bring out more of the nuances of the Hebrew and Greek text into their translations. The Message Bible tends to be what’s called a more free translation (which translates the ideas from one language to another with less concern about using the exact words of the original language). The MB translates the ideas of Hebrew and Greek into today’s vernacular.

For example, a literal translation of 1 Cor. 1:18 would read, "For the word of the cross is to those who are in the process of perishing, foolishness; but to us who are in the process of being saved, the power of God." The KJ translation reads, "...to them that perish... unto us which are saved." The process idea is quite lost in the KJ version. The NKJ, NIV and NRVS do a better job of translating by saying, "...who are perishing...who are being saved." Perhaps the New English Bible comes closer by saying, "...on their way to ruin...on the way to salvation."

Other scriptures confirm that our spiritual transformation is, indeed, a day by day process once we have been justified and our sins forgiven by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior. The apostle Paul wrote about this process in 2 Cor. 3:15-18 (NIV). "Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed (progressive tense) into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is Spirit."

2 Cor. 4:16-18 (NIV) tells us, "Therefore do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed (progressive tense) day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Another example of the benefit of comparing translations can be brought out in the reading of Ep. 4:11-12. Many of us don't realize that various translations whether it was in the KJV or the in the RSV up until the 1971, gave the incorrect impression by adding a comma after the phrase "equip the saints." This gave the implication that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have three tasks to perform: equip the saints, do the work of the ministry, and build up the body of Christ.

But almost all scholars today agree that the comma after the phrase "equip the saints" is in error and should be removed. The passage takes on quite a different meaning now: " the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are… to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ " (RSV). (NIV) "to prepare God's people for the works of service so that the body of Christ may be build up."

The implication is very important. It means that the saints, or God's people, are to do the work of the ministry under the guidance of pastors, teachers, etc. This means that the ministry shouldn't be associated with just a few. But rather the ministry should be identified with the entire body. And this understanding ties in and is validated by what Paul wrote to the Romans.

In Romans 12, Paul writes that spiritual gifts, which are given to individual members by God, are to be used for the common good of the congregation and others. "Just as each of us has one body with many members, these members do not have all the same function, so in Christ we are who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the need of others, let him give generously; if it leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is to show mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

Rom.

12:4-8

Now let's look at Isa. 28: 10 and 13 where both the KJV and the NKJ render a rather curious translation. NKJ translates verse 10, "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept. Line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.' 13, "But the word of the Lord was to them, 'precept upon precept, precept upon precept. Line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.'"

The WCG traditionally taught that these were key verses in how you study the Bible to discern correct doctrinal conclusions by compiling short verses or partial verses to build a doctrinal statement on a specific issue. While it is true that we need to study many scriptures on the same topic, we always need to remember to never lift a verse or partial verse out of context and imply that it means what it was never intended to mean.

But does the NKJ accurately translating the thoughts of Isaiah 28 in verses 10 and 13? Well, if you read them in their context of the entire chapter, you might have your doubts. In fact, reading the last part of verse 13 might be your 1^st clue. "But the word of the Lord was to them, 'precept upon precept, precept upon precept. Line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little', that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and caught."

Well, if we go back and start reading verse 1 up to verse 13 (even in the NKJ), we find that Isaiah was pronouncing God's woe to the drunken leaders and priests of the tribe of Ephraim who were the rulers of Samaria. 28:1, "Woe to crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower…to those who are overcome with wine. (7-8) "The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For their tables are full of vomit and filthiness, that no place is clean."

Verses 9-13 are a little more difficult to understand at first. This is how the Jewish publication Society translates these verses in their 1988 translation. "To whom would he give instruction? To whom expound a message? To those newly weaned from milk, just taken away from the breast? That same mutter upon mutter, murmur upon murmur, Now here, now there!' Truly, as one who speaks to that people in a stammering jargon and an alien tongue is he who declares to them, 'This is the resting place, let the weary rest, this is the place of repose.' They refuse to listen. To them the word of the Lord is: 'Mutter upon mutter, murmur upon murmur, now here, now there,' and so they will march, but they shall fall backward, and be injured ands snared and captured."

The Expositor's Bible Commentary comments on verses 9-10: "The NIV is probably right in treating both these verses as a quotation of the words of the drunkards. Many commentators have been puzzled by verse 10 and have wrestled to make sense of the Hebrew. The truth of the matter seems to be that it's not meant to make sense. Isaiah's words had hardly penetrated his hearers. What they picked up were a few stray syllables. They mouthed gibberish phrases back at the prophet."

So in reading various commentaries and looking at the NIV and Jewish Publication translation we find that the correct translation in verses 9-10 is the sarcastic reply of drunken priests to God's condemnation and then God's mimic back to the priests in verse 13. These verses should never be misunderstood as God's directive to his servants on how to study the bible.

It's unfortunate the KJV and the NKJ don't offer a better translation of verses 10 and 13, but if even we had read the entire chapter, we could easily see that our interpretation of those two verses couldn't possibly be correct. The moral of the story is two-fold. (1) Always compare translations especially when you think a particular passage is spiritually pivotal or doctrinally important. (2) Always review any verse in its context before assuming you understand its meaning or that particular set of verses is translated

2. It’s been said that everyone should read and study at least two different translations of the Bible. Which translations do you regularly use?

We should always remember that clear passages should determine the meaning of unclear, ambiguous or very generalized scriptures. The reverse is never true. Never assume that any one scripture gives us the total overview of a particular biblical concept or subject. We need to look at all the scriptures that relate to the subject we are studying before we can draw conclusions about it.

Let's look at a popular scripture often used by a number of "health and wealth" preachers. Their message is a curious blend of the Gospel and the American dream. They claim that it's every Christian's spiritual birthright to be both healthy and wealthy. Although their "theology" is based on a number of passages of scriptures, one verse receives prominent attention. In Mark 11:24, Jesus tells his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (NIV)

The health-and-wealth preachers view this verse as a "spiritual blank check" given to them by God. They insist that if a person truly believes in what he/she asks for, then all they have to do is claim it by faith. In other words Christians can claim prosperity simply by having enough faith. But you see, those who view Mark 11:24 as a spiritual blank check fail to grasp that this promise is qualified by other passages of scripture dealing with the same subject. In John 16:23, for example, Jesus explicitly qualifies his earlier promise when he says, "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (NIV) Asking for something "in Jesus name" means to ask according to his purpose and will as we shall see.

As John later wrote in I Jn. 5:14 , "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." (NIV) Therefore, we cannot assume that God will give us wealth or perfect health simply because we believe it in faith. We must first ask whether the requests we ask for in prayer represent God's will for our lives.

When Jesus gave us the model for prayer, he stressed, “Your (God’s) will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 ). Jesus prayed this prayer in Gethsemane , “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). If Jesus, the Son of God, sought not his own will but that of his heavenly Father, how much more do we, as mere humans, need to seek God’s will for us when we pray to him about our situations and difficulties?

We also need to realize that the greatest blessings God gives us in the New Covenant are not physical but rather spiritual. God is far more concerned about our spiritual state than our physical condition. So if we get our focus too much on the physical, we will fail to clearly recognize and appreciate God's greatest gift of all--the gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 9:14-15, that "God's surpassing grace" not physical blessings is "his indescribable gift" to us. Paul also writes in Eph. 1:3,7: " Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessings in Christ. (7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance of the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

Yes of course it's true, we do receive many physical blessings and healings from God. He is very merciful and compassionate towards us. But God's primary concern is our spiritual condition, which he is perfecting in us often times through trials and hardships.

The book of Hebrews clearly talks about the discipline of God in Heb. 12:5-6, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." (10) But God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it."

Never assume that any one scripture gives us the total overview of a particular biblical concept or subject. We need to look at all the scriptures that relate to the issue we are studying and never take any verse out of its context to make it say what it was never meant to say.

Mr. Armstrong talked about this principle, from time to time, when he gave Bible Studies. He gave the example of a preacher who said in a sermon that God had given this advice to Christian women about wearing their long hair down, not tied up in a bun. The preacher quoted Matthew 24:17 where Jesus said, "Top knot come down."

Now Mr. Armstrong got a big chuckle out of what the preacher said because he proved that the minister took that phrase completely out of context. Matt. 24:15, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house." (NKJ) In the past, we preached this principle, but were very lax in following it. As a result, all of us became guilty of taking verses or portions of verses out of context and stated they meant something else rather than what they actually meant.

The 1^st example is in Phil. 2:12. "Continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (NKJ) By pulling this verse out of context, many of us erroneously thought that we must accomplish salvation through our own efforts, through self-discipline and character building. But the problem is, V 12 contains only half of Paul's teaching. V 13 finishes the thought. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

Paul's complete thought makes all the difference in the world. Yes, we have involvement; we're able to accept or reject the will of God in our life. God doesn’t force his salvation on anyone. But once we accept the will of God, it's God who does the transforming work in us through the Holy Spirit, as Paul points out over and over again in his letters. (Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-5; Col. 1:12) The apostle Paul is consistent from letter to letter when he writes about salvation.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which god prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8-10 NKJ).

Now the question is, what's the definition of the phrase "His commandments"? For many years we assumed it was the 10 commandments given at Mount Sinai . But was that a correct assumption? Was our past interpretation based on fact or was it based on our pre-conceived ideas? We need to let the apostle John, the author, interpret himself, either within the immediate few surrounding verses, or within the context of the chapter or even the entire letter.

John's term commandment isn't defined until chapter 3 and verse 23. "And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as he gave us commandment." (NKJ) The (NRSV) translates it this way, "And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he (Jesus) has commanded us."

If we go back to the Gospel of John, we find that John confirmed a commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples. It’s recorded in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (NKJ) So we find that John wasn't writing anything new in his letter to the churches that he hadn't written about earlier in his gospel.

Now going back to 1 John, we read in 4:21 , where he described another command of Jesus, "And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also." (NKJ ) This comment represents an unmistakable echo of Jesus' words recorded in Matt. 22:37-39 where Jesus said the Law and the Prophets hang on these two great commandments, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all of your should and with all of your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

So we find, by investigating the context of John's entire letter, that he makes it abundantly clear what he is referring to when he writes about "his commandments." They are the commandments of Jesus Christ not the commandments given to Moses.

In Ephesians 4, Paul extolled the value of having God’s people built up until “all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Having an accurate knowledge of what the Scriptures tell us is part of the process of becoming spiritually mature. Paul then writes about the benefit of being mature in Christ. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming (Eph.4:14).

As D. L. Moody said, "The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives."

[Next week, as a class project, we’ll exegete (explain by critical analysis) two perplexing Scriptures to our fellowship:(1) Romans 7:12, "So then, the law is holy and the commandment is holy, righteous and good."; (2) Matt. 19:16 -30, the story of the "rich young ruler.”]

Sharpen Your Bible Study Skills

Part 3 of a 5 Part Series