There is much to-do on how one should
read and interpret the bible, people love formulae and hate to move very far from
them; an easy out, and why not? Who in their right mind would want to work
harder for the same result? Sometimes working smarter is far easier than
grinding away at something even with the right intention but ending up in the
wrong place. “To do it right yea!”
The Baptists tell us that we must
study scripture in an expository manner (is to explain and analyse information by presenting an idea, relevant
evidence, and appropriate discussion or “used to
describe writing that is done to explain something”). In other words to start with a book from the
Bible at verse one and then to work your way through it to get the most
accurate interpretation out of it. The Pentecostal believer will stress the point
of letting God the Holy Spirit lead and they will jump around the Bible to get
their point across. I am yet to find either willing to budge on their
understanding.
Who then is right? In my opinion they both have their place.
Take Charles Spurgeon a minister of God’s Word, who arguably was one of the
greatest men God used in the 19th Century. A man with phenomenal
devotion to the Word of God, a man with an abundance of revelation! A man who
held to Calvin understanding of Scripture and yet, I vividly recall a point he made
in one of his sermons, I cannot quote verbatim but he said I believe in all of
Calvin’s doctrine, and more! It was the “and more” that jumped out at me.
What I understood by that implication was that we should all be diligent in
studying the scripture; we shouldn’t just take someone’s word for it because
they say so. Paul had this to say to Timothy; “Study to shew
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.” (2Timothy 2:15)
The Charismatic church accuses the Baptists of
boxing the Holy Spirit, which at times they may be found guilty of doing
exactly that! However, God is not the author of confusion! There is a right and
a wrong way to do things. If Spurgeon was more topical when preaching, what
gave him the right to be so skill with his application to God’s Word? He even
took it to the point in his daily devotions to use only part of a verse and
then hone in on an idea. I would agree that there aren’t many Spurgeons around
today. However, in my opinion, he worked from a platform of an expository
understanding, and this in turn made him as effective as he proved to be. We
too should follow his example, look at scripture in context to the passage and
then only once we understand as much as we can from a book are we then able to
glean from scripture as we search out topical verses to stress a point!
The Baptist will say that by doing
this we open ourselves up to error, which could also be true, but we are taught
very clearly from the Lord Jesus that the God the Holy Spirit will lead us into
all truth; “Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he
speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John
16:13)
My conclusion then would be this; we must learn
to walk by faith and be open to God’s direction in our lives on a daily basis,
when we believe we have been lead into truth, it is imperative that we examine
the scripture in context to confirm if what we have heard is in fact from God,
or it is just a vain imagination. Not to doubt our great God but rather to
receive confirmation from Him.
May God open the eyes of our understanding, to
Him be glory for now and evermore, Amen!
Signing off
Tyrone
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