Can Just Anyone Interpret the Bible?
THE BIBLE CONTINUES to be in major headlines as political leaders continue to appear in the photo ops holding up the Bible as a declaration that one stands by its contents. Other legal jurisdictions still require that one place his hands upon this sacred text as he swears by it.
Truly, we cannot overemphasize the importance of the Holy Bible.
The Apostle Paul explains thus:
“You know how, when you were a small child, you were taught the holy Scriptures; and it is these that make you wise to accept God’s salvation by trusting in Christ Jesus. The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right.”
(Reference: Emphasis Mine)
The apostles explained that God inspired the Holy Scriptures or the Holy Bible so that it could be used to teach us what is true and make us wise to accept God’s salvation. So, it is important to understand God’s words written in the Bible for us to be saved.
What else does the Bible say about the importance of God’s words? God’s word is “a lamp to guide [us] and a light for [our] path” (Psa. 119:105 Good News Bible).
NOT AN OPEN BOOK
However, people have different interpretations of the Bible and preachers of different religions, who claim that they base their faith on the Bible, have different doctrines or teachings that contradict one another. There are those who even claim that anyone can interpret the Bible.
First of all, what is the uniqueness of the Holy Bible? Apostle Peter explained that “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Pet. 1:20 New King James Version). The Bible cannot be privately interpreted because the gospel has been hidden in mystery (Rom. 16:25 NKJV).
Therefore, the belief that the Bible is an open book, in a way that anyone who reads and studies it will understand the true meaning of what is written, is contrary to what the Bible itself says.
Some might argue that it is only the prophecies of Scripture that cannot be privately interpreted and were hidden. Is that true? The Bible will give us the answer:
“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”
(Reference: II Pet. 3:16 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
The Bible mentions that there are those who twist the Scriptures or explain them falsely because some of the contents are difficult to understand. The danger of twisted or false teaching results not in salvation but in destruction for both the one twisting or misinterpreting the Bible and those who are deceived. In fact, Galatians 5:19-21 mentioned heresies or false teachings as one of the sins that could prevent someone from being saved.
TO WHOM UNDERSTANDING WAS GIVEN
If the Bible is hidden in mystery, how can it be understood? There are those who were given to understand it. The Lord Jesus Christ explained:
“To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them’.”
(Reference: Mark 4:11-12 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
When our Lord Jesus Christ said it was given to “you,” to whom was He speaking? To those who were given the authority to preach, like the apostles who are inside the Church Of Christ (I Cor. 12:28, 12 Weymouth New Testament). The apostles were Christ’s appointed messengers (John 20:21; II Cor. 5:18-20).
But can anyone claim to be a messenger who has been given the understanding of the Bible’s mysteries? How can we be sure who the true messengers are? Apostle Paul explained:
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory…
“But God as revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
(Reference: I Cor. 2:7, 10-12 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, those guided or moved by the Holy Spirit are the ones who would understand the mysteries recorded in the Bible.
Therefore, Apostle Paul clearly stated that those guided or moved by the Holy Spirit are the ones who would understand the mysteries recorded in the Bible and not just anyone.
THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Now this brings us to another problem everyone claims to be guided by the Holy Spirit. How can we tell if someone has received the gift of the Holy Spirit to proclaim God’s words? The Apostle Paul answered:
“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
(Reference: I Cor. 2:4-5 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
The teaching of one who is sent is not based on human wisdom or knowledge, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The power of God for salvation refers to His words or the gospel written in the Bible (Rom. 1:16-17).
As proof that someone needs to listen to God’s messenger to understand the truth is the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, which we can read in Acts 8:26-35:
“Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: ‘At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.’ He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
“The Spirit told Philip, ‘Climb into the chariot.’ Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, ‘Do you understand what you’re reading?’ He answered, ‘How can I without some help?’ and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this: As a sheep led to slaughter, and quiet as a lamb being sheared, He was silent, saying nothing. He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial. But who now can count his kin since he’s been taken from the earth? The eunuch said, ‘Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?’ Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.”
(Reference: The Message, Emphasis Mine)
In this account recorded in the Bible, the Ethiopian eunuch was having a difficult time trying to understand the Bible. When asked if he understood what he was reading, he honestly replied “How can I without help?” By his own understanding, he could not fathom what the Prophet Isaiah was talking about in a particular part of his writing. So, because Philip was a messenger of God, he explained that the mystery of the text was referring to our Lord Jesus Christ.
MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Almost all preachers would claim that they are sent by God. Rarely anyone would admit that he was not. And many might even honestly though falsely believe that they are sent. Some claim authority to preach because God allegedly spoke to them. But just because someone says that he is a messenger does not make him so. Since many claim to understand the mysteries of the Bible, how can we identify those who are truly sent? Let us read the Bible’s answer in II Peter 1:19-21:
“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
(Reference: NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Messengers are holy men of God who have the prophetic word confirmed. In other words, they can prove they are sent through prophecies written in the Bible about their authority. They can explain the true meaning of the Bible not through their own private interpretation but as how they are moved or guided by the Holy Spirit. They don’t use their own personal opinion or scholarship to prove their authority. This shows even more that the Bible is not an open book. So, a person has to ask: Is the one preaching to me truly sent by God and moved or guided by the Holy Spirit? Does He have a prophecy to prove he is sent and has the commissioning?
We can recognize the messengers sent by God because they not only have a prophecy bearing testimony of their right to preach, but they also preach in the way the Holy Spirit teaches. How does the Holy Spirit teach? We can read in I Corinthians 2:13:
“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
(Reference: NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
The Holy Spirit teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Hence, the Bible “interprets” itself. True preachers or messengers of God who have the Holy Spirit teach only what is written in the Bible, never add to nor take away from it (I Cor. 4:6; Rev. 22:18-19).
THE SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD
Was there someone who was prophesied to be given the Holy Spirit in our time? This is the Bible’s answer, thus:
“Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads’.”
(Reference: Rev. 7:2-3 Revised Standard Version, Emphasis Mine)
The prophecy speaks of “another angel” who is ascending from the rising of the sun who has the seal of the living God. What does it mean to be sealed? What exactly was the seal that the angel from the rising of the sun has? The Bible explains:
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory.”
(Reference: Eph. 1:13-14 New International Version, Emphasis Mine)
The seal is the promised Holy Spirit. The prophesied other angel has the Holy Spirit. Sealing is done through the preaching of the gospel. Those who will be sealed with the Holy Spirit are those who have heard the word of truth and firmly believe in it as preached by the messenger of God. The prophesied angel is not alone in the work of sealing as the verse states “Until we have sealed.” So the angel has companions in sealing or preaching God’s words. They were given understanding of God’s words because they have the Holy Spirit.
But perhaps some might be confused because of the term “angel”. The word “angel” comes from the Greek angelos, which means “messenger”. Most people understand the word angel to refer only to a being that is spirit in nature, but human beings can also be called angels. An example of a man who was called an angel in prophecy is John the Baptist (Matt. 11:7-10 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition).
The work of the prophesied angel in Revelation 7:2-3 is to seal God’s servants. And since sealing is preaching the true words of God as guided by the Holy Spirit, we know that this prophesied angel is a human being, a preacher of God’s words. The fulfillment of this prophesied angel or messenger is none other that the late Brother Felix Y. Manalo and his companions who were also given the Holy Spirit and thus have the right to preach God’s words are the ministers in the Church Of Christ.
IN CONCLUSION
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