"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
Every Christian who desires to know God and live according to His Word should know how to understand it.
Many Christians, failing to understand what the Word of God says, either misuse it, ignore it, fail to live a victorious life with its help, and more importantly fail to know the God who gave it to men.
While failure to understand God's Word could lead to serious problems such as doctrinal error and misunderstanding God Himself, knowing how to properly comprehend and understand what it says will bring forth good things.
After all, it's God's Word:
"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (see Isaiah 55:10-11)
This article is written to help you, dear reader, make sure that you understood God's Word correctly. This is done in the hope that you would allow God to fulfill His purposes for your life as you obey His very Word.
In this article we will talk about three ways to make sure that we understand God's Word correctly.
Three ways to make sure you understood God's Word right
1) Check if what you've read agrees with the Gospel message
First, we've got to check if what we have understood agrees with the Gospel message, which is central to the Bible.
2 John 1:7-10 gives us a stern warning against deceivers who try to give us a message different from the Gospel of Christ:
"For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him..."
2) Check if what is understood contradicts any part of Scripture
If at any time we receive a "revelation" from the Lord through His Word, we will do well to check other parts of Scripture about it.
Does our understanding of God's Word agree with the Gospel? It must; otherwise we should ignore it.
Does it in any way contradict any other part of Scripture? If it does, we must ignore it as well.
We will do well to understand that the whole Bible came from God. As such, it won't contradict itself; everything from Genesis to Revelation will agree.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
3) Avoid private interpretations
Many Christians make the serious mistake of making private interpretations as if they're the only ones who understand the Bible. This often leads to serious doctrinal errors.
2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that no authentic prophecy can ever be uttered or written unless it is from God Himself:
"...knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
To this, we will do well to consult some help from the following:
- Dictionaries (I prefer Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
- Study Bibles and Commentaries
- Pastors and church leaders
- Our God-fearing spouse (if married)
- God-fearing friends
Most of all, we can simply ask God for wisdom. James 1:5 tells us,
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
