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2 PETER 3:16-17
"[Paul's] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position." |
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Interpreting the Bible: Tips 3, 4, and 5 |
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SERIES—PART 2 As mentioned, reading a properly understood Bible is absolutely essential to your eternal destiny. Peter plainly pointed out that people who misunderstand the critical message of truth will not be saved—Christian or not. He said: "[Paul's] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position." Obviously, the consequences to believing a distorted version of truth are real—and devastating. Being destroyed, and falling from grace, aren't positions any responsible Christian needs to be in. Because of that, let's continue our investigation into these critical tips every person should remember when reading and interpreting our Creator's message... (For Tips 1 & 2, please click here.) Tip #3: Understand that God does not permit His message to be modified God made it clear—over and over again—Don't change His words. Why would God emphasize this so repeatedly? Because God's "100% complete and perfect" message is about your eternal destiny. Therefore, changing the word can change your destination too. So, throughout the Bible, you'll read things like this: "Don't modify My word. Don't add to it. Don't subtract from it. Keep it as it was delivered. BE CAREFUL to follow its teachings. You must keep it EXACTLY as delivered. You CANNOT twist the intended meaning of the Bible's message. You CANNOT go BEYOND what is written. The Bible's message is COMPLETE. Men's rules must not be taught as commands of God! You cannot allow your traditional thinking to supplant My message in the Bible. You CANNOT allow 'your interpretation' to replace my intended meaning. You are REQUIRED to properly handle the word of truth. You CANNOT twist the meaning of the scriptures. BE CAREFUL to follow its teachings (yes, God said this multiple times). Etc, etc, etc." I believe and hope you get the idea. Friend, God's trying to tell you something. Please listen, because your salvation depends on it—and maybe your family's too. We're all going to be judged one day by whether or not we lived according to God's will—as written in the Book. To understand it (and therefore live by it), we must obviously keep God's intended meaning intact. SOURCE REFERENCES: John 16:13; James 1:21-22; Deut 4:2; Lev 18:4; Matt 4:4; 28:18-20; Rev 20:15-20; 22:18-19; 1 Cor 4:6; 2 Tim 2:15; 2 Pet 3:15-16; Matthew 15:9; And many others... Tip #4: Arm yourself with ever-increasing knowledge You'd think that if someone was penning his last words for humanity, it would be important. Well, here's the very last command Peter left for his Christian readers: "...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."Why would Peter—in his last Biblical words to the world—put so much emphasis on Biblical knowledge growth? He gave the reason in the verse just before: So that Christians would be on guard so as to "not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from [their] secure position." Obviously, there were skilled, knowledgeable, "lawless [Christian] men" who were misleading true believers by teaching and practicing false Biblical doctrine. Worse, such skilled masters of Biblical misapplication—if believed—could actually cause Christians to fall from [their] secure position." That's sounds pretty serious, doesn't it? But—how can you inoculate yourself against the dangerous false doctrines of such men? Very simple: Arm yourself with accurate, ever-increasing knowledge of Biblical teachings. That's significant, because false teachers generally have a lot of knowledge—knowledge that is neither accurate nor properly applied. And their tremendous knowledge can cause the naive to think they have the truth. Tip #5: Take false doctrine seriously The apostle John wrote: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."So few secular Christians are aware of this important statement today! Please realize, the context here suggests John was speaking of "Christian" false prophets, at least in part. People who had infiltrated TRUE Christian churches. Yet so many Christian people today seem oblivious to the pervasive existence of false teachers in our modern Christian world. In an age saturated with practically any and every false doctrine imaginable, one can tend to develop a perilously nonchalant attitude. Christian people can begin to think false teaching is harmless, and start to feel that "as long as I'm a 'good' moral person, that's all God cares about." (Of course, what's "moral" then comes under debate; case in point: homosexuality, which is also humanly justified "using the Bible," believe it or not.) Self-defined morality seems to be in vogue, while Bible doctrines are of little concern to many Christian people today—in spite of the clear Biblical warnings above (and following). Yes, the Bible teaches a shockingly different message: Only God's definition of morality goes. And Bible doctrine? You'd better take it seriously. In fact, Paul commanded the preacher Timothy to "Watch [his] life and doctrine closely..." (1 Tim 4:16). Sounds like accurate doctrinal knowledge is pretty important after all, doesn't it? So much so that God followed up by warning Timothy to "Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
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