Reading the Bible in Context
06.21.09
Reading the Bible in Context
Whenever the Bible is read today, it has to be read in its correct context, else we will be conned by the text (get it!?). The Word is living, the Word is truth, the name of the Word is Jesus. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NKJV) When people quote Bible verses out of context, it is almost as though they are writing their own version of the Bible, creating their own God!!
Today “seemingly” condemning verses are thrown out of context at believers of the grace message, or verses are used out of context to formulate excuses & doctrines for our lack of power and to legitimise the absence of signs and wonders in our lives & ministries. The truth is that we should never water the Bible down to our own level of experience, but live to see the supernatural realm of heaven break into our own lives! Rom 3:4 Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. (NKJV) The miracles of God were not just meant for the times of the Bible, they are for today – the Word is just as powerful today as it ever was! The Word of God will never change. Mark 13:31Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (NKJV)
When reading any Bible verse, firstly we have to know under which covenant it falls. There are largely 3 important periods in the Bible:
First Period: From the Garden of Eden up to Mount Sinai where the law was given. During this period people were not under the law and God bestowed unconditional love and kindness on them apart from their works.
Second Period: From Mount Sinai up to the cross. Just because certain Bible books fall after the blank page the Bible Society put in our Bible, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are in the New Covenant. When reading the 4 gospels as well as certain scriptures further in the New Testament, it has to be established if the text refers to the old covenant law or to grace. Jesus spoke predominantly about the Kingdom of Heaven, but most of the time he spoke to crowds of people that were still under the mindset of the old covenant law and He had to counter their religious thinking.
Third Period: From the cross onwards, the New Covenant. Some scholars believe the New Covenant only began at the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. In the New Covenant God does not deal with people based on their level of obedience, but on the basis of Jesus’ obedience on our behalf. God loves us and blesses us regardless of our performance.
There are also further means to establish what the context of scriptures are, such as studying Bible history or Bible commentaries to know by whom the specific book was written, to whom it was addressed, why & when it was written, etc.
Here are two short examples of misquoted scriptures:
Example 1:
Matt 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. Also Matt 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (NKJV)
Jesus was talking to people that prided themselves in having the laws of Moses, but they had watered these laws down to a standard that they could “keep”. Jesus was simply telling them that the standards of the law are MUCH higher than man could ever hope to keep, and that man needs a Saviour! These verses are old covenant law and not meant for believers to try and live by.
Example 2:
1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. (NKJV)
These verses are almost near the end of the Bible, which means they could possibly be New Covenant. But at a first glance they seem so condemning! Let’s read the next few verses too:
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. (NKJV)
John was writing to his “little children” to encourage them and establish them in the revelation of just how secure they were in Christ. They had just come out from under the influence of Gnostic teachers, and John was by no means trying to scare his beloved flock or point out their mistakes. Rather, John was speaking about their position in Christ. The key is verse 9. Whoever has been born of God does not sin. The reason is evident: Such a person is made a partaker of the nature of God; he derives his life from God. This principle of divine life is in him, the seed of God remains in him; he cannot sin, because he is born of God. This new nature has not in it the principle of sin, so as to commit it. How could it be that the divine nature should sin?
A born-again believer is the righteousness of God, whether we do good or bad, we remain righteous. That’s how Abraham stayed righteous even though he lied to Pharaoh about his wife. That doesn’t make lying or sinning right, but it explains how we stay the righteousness of God even when we commit a sin (thanks Cornel Marais).
So whenever you encounter verses in the Bible that seem “scary” or condemning, put on your grace glasses so you can read these verses through the filter of the blood of Jesus by which you have been forgiven and perfected (Heb 10:14), and never reduce the Bible to your level of experience, but rather contend for your experience to be raised to the level of the everlasting Word.
Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe
www.NewCovenantGrace.com
Next week’s message: Does God Cause/Allow Sickness?
