On Reading The Bible – Proper Understanding
One of the biggest problems I see when folks read the Bible is a lack of proper understanding about the Bible and how it was written. If one uses a bit of logic when analyzing the Bible one can more easily understand what is written there.
The Bible is set up in two main divisions; the “Old Testament” and the “New Testament”. Jesus said “Not a jot nor a tiddle will pass from the Law (Old Testament) until all is finished (completed).” On the cross He said “It is finished.” The Old Testament is still an important book, but Jesus the Christ died to bring it to an end, to complete what was foretold therein, and to set up the NEW Testament whereby we can now come into the presence of God, our Creator. The night before He was crucified the Lord said “Take, eat, this is my body.” And then as He passed the cup He said “Drink from it, all of you. for this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28) He was establishing a new covenant (testament) whereby many would be able to come into the presence of their Creator.
So, the New Testament is the more important of the two major divisions in the Bible. The Old can still teach us many things, but the way of the New Covenant is only found in the New Testament. The New Testament is divided into books. And the books can be divided into categories. First, there’s the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all contain the story of the life of Jesus Christ. They are similar and yet different because although they each tell the story of the life of the Christ, they are told according to the perspective of the person doing the writing. Matthew and John were Apostles of Jesus the Christ. They write what they saw and experienced as they followed Him. Mark was a companion to the Apostles and some say he was related to the Apostle Peter. Luke was a companion to the Apostle Paul and was also an excellent historian. Yet the four tell the same story, from different perspectives.
Next comes the book of Acts, ‘The Acts Of The Apostles” as some call it. It tells how the Church started and relates happenings from the early years of the Christian faith, ranging from the Ascension of Jesus the Christ to the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul in Rome.
The greatest number of books are comprised of the epistles. The epistles were letters written by Apostles and other prominent leaders in the Church to Christians and churches around the world. They are letters detailing how one should live according to the new life found in Jesus the Christ.
Finally we have Revelation or “The Apocalypse”. Many people jump right in there to see when Jesus the Christ will be coming back, hoping to “break the code” and have a solid date for His return. They waste their time. The message of Revelation can be summed up roughly as follows: “Those who are faithful to Jesus the Christ until the end of their lives have nothing to fear. They will overcome and will be rewarded.” There are no instructions on “how to be saved” in Revelation. One of the most mis-used verses in the world (Revelation 3:20) is actually a call to a CHURCH (folks who had already come to Christ) to open the door and allow the Lord to enter and sup with them. Read the context!
One of the greatest fallacies in Christian circles is attempting to find the way of salvation in the epistles. The epistles were written to churches and to people who were already members of Christ’s body, they contain information about WHAT HAPPENED at the time of salvation and even MORE information about HOW TO LIVE as a christian. But they do NOT contain information about HOW TO BE SAVED.
Here’s an analogy to help understand this assertion. Let’s say that you want to buy a new computer, but don’t know how to go about it. If I lived in your town I could give you help in figuring out the process and in picking out the computer you need and helping you to get it set up and running. But then I leave town for some reason. Later I write you a letter. There’s no need for me to tell you how to purchase a computer – you HAVE one! But now, how do you maintain it? So instead of advice on how to obtain a computer my letter would tell you how to keep it running good. I might go into detail about some aspects of the purchase process that you already underwent, with an eye to helping you understand the why of some detail or another, but the gist of the letter would be “Here’s how to keep your new computer running well and how to avoid problems.” That’s essentially what the epistles do, they explain how to keep that bright, shiny new life running smoothly – with occasional mentions of what happened when you obtained that new life to clarify a point or two.
The gospels don’t contain much information about how to be saved. They detail conversations between Jesus and the Children of Israel – who were still under the old covenant and thus were promised salvation through obedience to that old covenant. There are some glimpses into the future, such as when Nicodemus visited Jesus one night and towards the end of Jesus’ ministry when He was explaining “the next step” (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:16 for example) But over all they are similar to the epistles – teaching folks how to live as Children of God.
So that leaves Acts. Acts DOES demonstrate several instances of conversions. If you’ll sit down and read through Acts several time you’ll start to see what’s happening. Make a list of each occasion of conversion – starting with Acts 2. Note what all happens in each and every circumstance. There’s a common thread contained in them all. The details are different from case to case – but there’s a common denominator in EVERY conversion in Acts. What is it? I’ll leave that to you, gentle reader, to look into.
Is is important for us to learn to read the Bible properly. It is important for us to learn to put things in context and use our heads to think through the message. God wrote in the tongues of men in order to communicate with men. Use your head and allow Him to show you the way – through the Word He has written through His Apostles and Prophets.
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