How can I check my own understanding in comparison to the Bible, if I misunderstand the Bible itself?<\/p>\n\t
“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The first point to realize is that the Bible is understandable. Yes, people do twist the teachings of God, but the fault lies with the ones doing the twisting and not with what is actually said.<\/p>\n
“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<\/em>” (II Peter 3:16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here then is the reason the Scriptures are misunderstood: either the person is untaught or the person’s thinking is unstable. An untaught person makes assumptions about what God has said without ever verifying his facts. He tries to operate without all the information, and unsurprisingly, he makes mistakes. The unstable isn’t interested in the truth. He has his mind already made up and it doesn’t matter whether his ideas are logical or fit what the Bible says, he’ll find some twisted way to make it fit. Both have a common flaw: the person is using what he wants to be the standard for deciding what the Scriptures say.<\/p>\n
“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<\/em>” (II Peter 1:19-21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Rather than approaching the Bible as proving what I already believe, God says it does its own interpretation. That means I have to approach it as learning what it teaches and then molding my thoughts to God. It is when we go the other way around that we get into trouble.<\/p>\n
So when you find an idea, you check to see that it is consistent with the context in which it is presented and that it is consistent with the other teachings in the Bible. If you find a conflict, it means you misunderstood something somewhere. Sometimes figuring out what is sometimes hard. That is where other Christians help. It is one reason why going to a sound church is important.<\/p>\n
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:11-16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: How can I check my own understanding in comparison to the Bible, if I misunderstand the Bible itself? Answer: “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). The first point to realize is that the Bible is understandable. Yes, people do twist the teachings of God,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[964],"class_list":["post-35736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-understanding-the-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-understand-the-bible-alike\/","url_meta":{"origin":35736,"position":0},"title":"Can We Understand the Bible Alike?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton If we think about it, anytime we understand something, we understand it alike. We can misunderstand things differently, but when we truly understand something, we understand it alike-2 plus 2 equals 4. If we understand that math problem, we will understand it alike. Anyone who comes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44729,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-the-ignorant-and-unstable-would-twist-scriptures-to-their-own-destruction\/","url_meta":{"origin":35736,"position":1},"title":"What is meant by the ignorant and unstable would twist Scriptures to their own destruction?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What was Peter talking about in II Peter 3:16 when he said that the ignorant and unstable would twist scriptures to their destruction? Answer: \"And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4971,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/precept-upon-precept-line-upon-line\/","url_meta":{"origin":35736,"position":2},"title":"Precept Upon Precept, Line Upon Line","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey Wilkes \u201cThe Bible is so difficult to understand,\u201d an acquaintance recently asked. \u201cWhy is it written this way?\u201d The Holy Spirit through Peter acknowledges that some things in Paul\u2019s letters are hard to understand: \"As also in all his [Paul\u2019s] epistles, speaking in them of these things, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9052,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-bible-be-understood-by-the-common-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":35736,"position":3},"title":"Can the Bible be understood by the common man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Have you heard of Eli Soriano? What do you think about his teachings? Answer: I looked briefly at Eli Soriano's website. I'm afraid I didn't get far because there was a statement on the first page that I knew to be contrary to God's Word. \"The Bible contains many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/people-are-really-bashing-the-bible-and-jesus-teaching-in-attempting-to-forbid-the-eating-of-meat\/","url_meta":{"origin":35736,"position":4},"title":"People are really bashing the Bible and Jesus’ teaching in attempting to forbid the eating of meat","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm a hunter who's also a Christian and I see no problem with\u00a0providing food for my family. People are really bashing the Bible and is twisting Jesus' teachings to their liking. I read the 'Was Jesus a Vegetarian?' and I loved it! Answer: Thank you for your kind words.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18299,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-be-in-danger-of-losing-our-salvation-if-we-do-not-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":35736,"position":5},"title":"Can we be in danger of losing our salvation if we do not study?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it possible to study and understand all of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments? I was talking to an older man who told me that it was impossible to understand all of the Bible or even most parts of it. 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