A Physical Book with Spiritual Words
The Bible is not like any other book on this earth. It is a book that’s made up of 66 books that are God’s words to us. People who were chosen by God, wrote the text as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Writers ranged from prophets, to kings, from fishermen, to governors. They lived in different times and different places across a span of about 1,500 years. They did not collaborate together about the message yet the message of the Bible contains a consistent common thread.
The Bible is God’s message to us and it tells us His plan for humanity. It tells us about God Himself, why we’re here, and where we’re going. It tells us about events that took place thousands of years ago as well as things that will happen in the future. Its message never goes out of date and despite many efforts to destroy it and oppose it, God’s Word is always relevant and will last forever.
And since its message is so important to every person, God’s enemy Satan is working hard to hide its truth from people — both non-Christians as well as Christians. The words of the Bible are often twisted to fit a particular agenda, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misused. On top of this, many people think they can’t understand the Bible so they don’t bother to read it, or if they do, they read it like an academic text rather than “eat” it as spiritual food.
There’s an idea among many Christians that only certain “qualified” and “credentialed” people can interpret it and unless these people explain it to me, then I’ll misunderstand it.
This is absolutely not true. It doesn’t make sense that a book containing such an important message is only accessible to people who are educated in theology. Didn’t Jesus bring his message to tax collectors, fishermen, and regular people? Even the high priest at this time was surprised that uneducated and untrained men such as Peter and John could preach boldly and cause a lame man to walk, but realized these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).
We think this way because we’re applying our human reasoning and logic to something spiritual. Is the Bible like a complex math, philosophy, or literature book that only scholars can understand or is it something very different?
As I said in the beginning, the Bible is unlike any other book on this earth so we can’t approach it like any other book.
It is physical book that contains spiritual, living words from the Living God Himself, so it cannot be understood or approached in the human way of thinking. In fact, the Bible itself mentions this point:
1 Corinthians 2:14:But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The Bible is a book of mystery:
1 Corinthians 2:7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
Revelation by the Holy Spirit
It’s a mystery which natural human minds can’t understand and even thinks is foolish. The Bible often contradicts ideas and thoughts that “make sense” to our natural thinking, ways of thought that developed through our upbringing, education, our own sense of right and wrong, and the way we think the world works. For example, the world teaches us to trust in ourselves and to be proud of ourselves, but the Bible shows us that everyone is fallen, weak, sinful and that God hates human pride. The world teaches us to pursue success, wealth, and to be someone important and respected, while the Bible teaches us to deny ourselves, give up our own desires, and pursue after a God we can’t physically see and His kingdom, also something we cannot physically see.
HOWEVER….
1 Corinthians 2:10… God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
The best way to understand a spiritual book with spiritual words, is with the Holy Spirit, which He has given to every true believer of Jesus Christ. This makes sense since God is the author of this book so what better way to understand it than to ask the one who wrote it?
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to remind us of His words and to teach us the truth.
John 14:26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you
1 John 2:27But the anoining (Holy Spirit) which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you
Instead of relying people to teach us the Bible, have you asked God to show you what the Bible is saying? The Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, whom Jesus called “the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13) is able to not only help us understand the Word of God but also lead us into “reality”. In other words, God’s words become part of our life and are manifested in our living by the power of God’s Spirit. He’s able to transform the written words into true substance in our life, causing a change in how we think, live, and see things. Man, no matter how gifted the teacher or preacher, is able to do this in our lives — only God’s Holy Spirit. This means if we approach the Bible in an academic way, the words will just remain as words on a page. We may become smarter but there won’t be an increase in our spiritual maturity and growth.
Maturity and the WordTruths in the Bible are not all revealed to us at once. The Holy Spirit reveals based on our maturity and experience. In order for us grasp more of the truth of God’s word, we must grow in our Christian life. Although we do not depend on man’s teaching, God has appointed teachers to help us in our understanding of the word and we also have brothers and sisters who are more mature than ourselves whom we may fellowship with and learn from. Through fellowship with others and with the Holy Spirit, our understanding of the Bible is corrected and refined and our sense of the Holy Spirit’s teaching and guidance is sharpened. For this we need humility and an attitude to accept correction from others, discernment to judge what we hear and read, and to bring everything before the Lord for His revelation and confirmation.
As 1 Peter 2:2 says,
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby”
The word of God is pure milk to us as new believers, however, eventually we need to grow to eat “solid food”:
1 Corinthians 3:1-2“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able”
Some mysteries in the Bible will remain as mysteries if we do not grow. Our appetite and capacity will only be limited to “milk” rather than “solid food”
Reliance on Teachers of the WordAlthough God has appointed teachers, if we rely on human teachers then, we develop a dependence on man rather than on God and we miss out on knowing the crucial aspect of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives and His ability to reveal and open our spiritual “eyes”. Human dependence also causes us to uplift man and glorify man rather than God. This is why, in today’s Christianity, there are “big name preachers” which is contrary to the teachings of the Bible. If that man were to fall or go astray, then it will likely cause those that depend on him to fall. Paul himself declared:
1 Corinthians 2:1-5And I brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. Any 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.
Paul’s desire was not to impress people with excellent sounding words, drawing people to himself, but rather, he came to these Christians in weakness, fear, and trembling. Not preaching with persuasive words of human wisdom, but demonstrating the Spirit’s power in order that people would put their faith in the power of God, and not man.
May God give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17) and remove the veils from our eyes (2 Corinthians 3:16)!