There is a Peanuts cartoon where
Linus is shown lying on his stomach, reading a Bible. Lucy asks him what he is
doing and he replies he is “looking for a Bible verse to back up my
preconceived notions.” Unfortunately, this is all too commonly the way we approach
Scripture. But if we are to live consistent with the idea that the Bible is the
Word of God, capable of teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training us so we
are equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16,17), we need to make it the
authority in our lives. This means we start from what Scripture says and test
other things by it. Otherwise, it makes it difficult for God to change us
because we change Scripture to fit what we want it to say. James pictures the
Word of God as a mirror which we look in to see our true self (James 1:22-25).
But the question comes whether, having seen what we really are we change, or
walk away and forget what we saw.
But it is easy to take the world’s
assumptions and read them into Scripture. For instance, our culture sees angels
as the spirits of those who have died. They are pictured as having wings and
white robes and sitting on clouds playing harps. They are not uncommonly
pictured as cute. Scripture says angels are another part of God’s creation,
distinct from human beings (Hebrews 2:5-16). They appear either in human form
and not easily distinguishable from us (Genesis 19:1-11) or in complicated
majestic forms (Ezekiel 1:4-21; 10:15-17). They are frequently so overwhelming
that those who should know better are tempted to worship them (Revelation
22:8,9). This may seem a secondary issue, but I have seen the same principle at
work in more crucial matters. For instance, I have seen people argue in favor
of things clearly contrary to the Word of God, such as homosexuality (Romans
1:26,27) and racism (Acts 17:26).
There are things we can do to help
avoid these types of errors. We should base our understanding on all of
Scripture and not just a few odd verses. I am convinced that God is not shy,
and the things He regards as important (such as what we must do to be saved) He
says over and over again so we will get them. Also, we should understand issues
based on the passages where God directly addresses them (for instance, in the
case of salvation, the first half of Romans). If we find places which seem to
conflict, frequently they reflect different aspects of the same truth and we
need to ask how they fit together (for instance, James 2:14-26 is not
explaining how to be saved, but what the results of salvation are in an individual’s
life). But most of all, we should understand Scripture based on what it says,
not what makes sense to us or what we have been taught. Only then will
Scripture change us rather then us changing Scripture.
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