For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth...Eph 5:9
Winter 2006 Volume 7, Issue 1 |
One of the most frustrating things to hear in the religious world today is: "I just can't understand the Bible . it is just too complicated! Besides, all the religious division in the world shows that no two people can understand the Bible alike." When a person makes a statement like that, they are openly denying several attributes of God. OMNIPOTENCE - God is called the Almighty (Gen. 17:1; Rev. 15:3). He can do all things (Gen. 18:14; Job 42:2). Jesus even said "with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26). When someone says the Bible cannot be agreed on or understood, they are denying the power of God to inspire a message that could be understood. OMNISCIENCE - The Psalmist said of God, "His understanding is infinite" (Ps. 147:5; cf. 139:1-6,15,16). The word omniscience means "knowing all things." To say that the Bible cannot be understood is to say that God did not know how to author a book for all men to understand. TRUTHFULNESS - The Bible teaches that God is truth (Jn. 3:33; Rom. 3:4). It is impossible for Him to lie (Heb. 6:18). If God is truth, unable to lie, then why did he say that His Word could be understood? How clearer can the Scriptures be when they say: "Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."? (Eph. 5:17; cf. Rom. 12:2; Col. 1:9; Eph. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4:3; Matt. 22:29; 1 Tim. 2:4). JUSTICE - The Old Testament continually speaks of the justice of God: "For all His ways are justice...Just and right is He" (Deut. 32:4); "Jehovah is a God of justice" (Is. 30:18). The New Testament shows the justice of God (Rom. 2:4-10; 3:26; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 19:2). If God is truly just, then how could He make us responsible to His Word . if it cannot be understood? How could He save or condemn us on the basis of a book too deep for us to comprehend? (Jn. 12:48; Is. 55:11; Jn. 17:17). Obviously God would not do that. He has given us His Word, and it can be understood by all. God's justice demands it. Then you might say, "If all of this is true, how do you explain the great diversity of opinions?" That can be answered by looking at the ways men treat God's Word. Each person does one of these things: |
(1) Does not study it, so he does not know it (Matt. 22:29) (2) Studies it (or at least is exposed to it), but does not accept it (John 6:60) (3) Studies it, and then reshapes it to fit his own opinions (2 Pet. 3:16). Religious men did it in the days of Christ and the Apostles, what makes us think that religious teachers and preachers will not do it today? (4) Studies it, believes it as true, but does not obey it (Acts 24:25; 26:28). (5) Studies it, follows it, and is approved of by God (Acts 17:11; 1 Pet. 1:22; James 1:21; 2 Tim. 2:15). Yes, you can understand the Bible. You can "know what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17). When the Day of Judgment has come, how will you have treated the Word of God? (Acts 17:30, 31). Denny Petrillo
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