BE ON ALERT! WHO SHOULD DETERMINE WHAT THE BIBLE MEAN? 2 PET. 20-21 You have heard people say;there are so many interpretations to the Bible or the Holy Spirit can give many interpretations. Is it true? Does the Bible support that notion? Can the Bible mean many things or have multi-meanings? So listen: If you meet with any teacher or preacher who wants you to believe he or she has just discovered what other people have never seen in the Bible until he came along...BE ON ALERT If you listen or read any comments on the Bible saying that the right interpretation of a Biblical text is only revealed to a particular person and the group he or she leads...BE ON ALERT If you listen to anyone tell you what the Bible means to him or her now and they often begin with In my own opinion but not what it meant to the original recipients of that text...BE ON ALERT If you come into a congregation where the Bible can mean MANY THINGS and even mean what never crossed the mind of the human author nor divine author at the time it was written...BE ON ALERT DID I SAY BE ON ALERT?No- RUN. Be careful of people who start with; I have found the reality of what the Bible should be and everyone else have missed it. Understand that the buck stops with Christ. No interpretation exceeds Jesus Christ. None! Is it not written; These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ?- Col. 2:17. Christ is the unending limit of Gods revelation. The Bible can not mean many things, it can only mean what it meant to the original author and recipients. It cannot mean one thing to people 2000years ago and then mean something else to you today. But listen the application can vary from time to time while the interpretation remains the same interpretation of the first recipients of that Biblical text. When we interpret the scriptures, we seek the understanding of the first recipients not our opinion no matter how religious it seems. God now uses that first interpretation recieved afresh in the life of the reader today. Gods word is not a narration of a raving mad God...who speaks in such a way that He means many things. If that happens, He can not hold anybody responsible for breaking the Ten commandments.If the words have multiple meanings- one person can say Thou shalt not kill means thou shalt not kill so we all are vegetarians. Until we understand what thou shalt not kill meant to the first recipient, we are not allowed to throw in our ideas. I know this sounds strange but I am not the first to say this.I only re-echoed what Peter said. Apostle Peter said; But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God...As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries. Seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.(2 Pet. 1:20-2& I Pet. 1:10-11). Lessons: 1. The interpretation of a text is not in your hands-no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. 2. The interpretation of a text has both human and divine author-but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God 3. The interpretation of a text is fixed to specifics- searches and inquiries. Seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted. Therefore all interpretations are simply a RE-ECHO of what was first spoken and understood by the first recipients of the Bible message. What the Holy Spirit does is to help you understand what they understood but also apply it to your situation now. The application can vary but the meaning is just one. BE ON ALERT- Get a NIKE or ADIDAS shoe and run when someone tells you that he or she has found what the human authors, first recipients, the Apostles or the early Church missed on any Church teaching or doctrine. See Jesus use the same principle in Matthew 24: 38-39 and many other times. Noahs flood was interpreted as a literal event and taken as it was taken when Moses wrote the narrations but when he applied it, Jesus applied it to His time because of the parallel resemblance to His time. On divorce, He asked for a return to the first interpretation which is as it was in the beginning before a compromise by human flesh twisted the truths for personal gain. Since the author determines what the meaning really is, we always seek to go back to how the early Church understood salvation to be, speaking in tongues to be, tithes to be, baptism to be, ordination to be etc. If they did not go wild on a teaching, if our understanding today make us go a bit unruly- it is not the Bible, we may have other psychological problems. If it excites them, it should excite us. The understanding of the word creates the same effect and it should. James said; count it all joy.... (James 1:2). If today, we can not count it all joy, then we have not understood it the way it was meant to be understood. So dear student of the Bible; it is time to return to seeking the author intended meaning first. And sometimes that requires hard work but with the Holy Spirit and commitment, it is worth it.Shalom! (c) Bishop Ponle Alabi copeainc
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 09:59:10 +0000
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