The Accurate Guide

"So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" ³¹ And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him."

Acts 8:30-31

Philip was led by the Holy Spirit to meet up with an Ethiopian eunuch and preached Christ from the book of Isaiah, a book of prophecy in the Old Testament.  What was true for the eunuch was true for Philip as well, for it was only by the Holy Spirit Who indwelt him that he was enabled to have understanding of God's word, ability to communicate the meaning of the scripture and for it to be fruitful.  People need help to understand God's word primarily from God, and He has chosen to use people to this end as well.  One need not be a pastor or teacher to understand God's word, and even the most learned believers have much to learn.

I believe there are many people who teach the Bible who have no business doing so, and great confusion and consternation have been results.  Much harm has been done through teaching false doctrines and distorted interpretations of scripture, focusing on what is controversial rather than what can be plainly seen and known.  It is wise to see the Bible as literally God's word, yet it takes discernment and skill to know when passages are literal or figurative.  A lot of Christians are familiar enough with the word to be dangerous, and what I mean by that is they believe they know it enough to paraphrase in their own words and not bother looking up passages any more.  They have read commentaries, books, watched a video series or taken a course which makes them think they know the truth and form convictions which undermine the very scripture they claim to believe and proclaim.

An example in the early church shows how easy it is for sincere believers to be wrong in Acts 18:24-26:  "Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."  Apollos was mighty in the scriptures, was instructed in the way of Jesus, and taught accurately the things of the LORD.  This sounds terrific, doesn't it?  Yet Apollos knew only the baptism of John which was a baptism of repentance.  Repentance of sin is a good thing, yet without the forgiveness, salvation and spiritual regeneration through the Gospel by faith in Christ the teaching of Apollos fell short.  It was a personal conversation with Aquila and Priscilla which aided Apollos to correct his course.

I remember in my teens I was questioned about what was a biblical thing to do given a situation.  I responded by quoting from the Law of Moses, that "an eye for an eye" was a righteous demand.  What I did not realise at the time was my aim to obey God's word literally was undermined by my setting aside of the new covenant of the Gospel to return to the Law Jesus fulfilled when it seemed warranted and fair.  I did not understand how the purpose of Law was revealed through the Gospel, for Paul compared it to a tutor who showed us our sinfulness who led us by the hand to Christ our Saviour.  Just this morning I read Psalm 129 and the latter portion of it is basically a curse upon those who afflicted God's people--which under the new covenant a song that is terribly off-key when compared to the Gospel.  Thus understanding context helps us to walk in the light of the Gospel truth rather than fashioning a theologically monstrous Frankenstein by foolish attempts to combine the covenants of Law and Gospel as one.

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  Since the Bible can be rightly divided, it is possible to be unrighteously divided and thus misunderstood.  Along with Apollos I needed the LORD to pull me aside and open my eyes to the truth of God's grace and the Gospel so I could understand and walk in the way of God more accurately.  I used to see knowing and studying the scriptures as ends in themselves, yet the Bible is the means God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in truth.  Knowledge of God and His word are not primarily shown in our ability to rattle off verses by memory, but by loving one another as Jesus loves us.  Blessing our enemies and praying for them shows we know God and are learning to rightly divide the scripture more than demanding an eye for an eye based on biblical authority.