
Come And Reason Ministries
Come And Reason Ministries helping you learn to discern.
Come And Reason Ministries
Come And Reason Ministries – helping you learn to discern.
I try to study the Bible but find it difficult to understand and confusing. Can you give any suggestions on how to study the Bible?
Great question and here are 8 simple principles to understanding the Bible:
Example – Revelation 14 in which the smoke of torment ascends “forever.” If scripture is used to define the meaning of “forever” rather than accepting the common dictionary definition we conclude that forever means as long as the person is alive. If however, we interpret the meaning of “forever” with human dictionaries we conclude this means for eternity of never ending time and conclude the wicked are tormented eternally.
Whenever we fail to allow the Scripture to define its own terms we are vulnerable to error.
Unfortunately, penal models don’t allow scripture to define words such as “wrath” “justice” “judgment” “vengeance” “anger” “death” and the like and instead insert human definitions to these terms. Our model seeks to define these terms based on God’s Word:
Wrath – Romans 1:18-32 – “letting go” “abandoning” confirmed when Christ drank the cup of “wrath” and was “abandoned” by His Father at the Cross (Matt 27:46, Romans 4:25).
Vengeance – The Penal Substitution Model (PSM) claims Romans 12:19 “vengeance is mine says the Lord” as evidence God leaves His methods of love and uses power to inflict harm. This idea uses human dictionary definitions for vengeance – but if we use Scripture to define vengeance we find something different:
Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies. 25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. Isaiah 1:24,25
What is the vengeance of God? Turning enemies into friends – His vengeance is not on sinners but on sinfulness. He attacks and destroys sin! This is His vengeance which purges and cleanses the sinner! The greatest vengeance God can have on Satan is healing and restoring all those who trust Him!
Justice – Bible definition is to do right in helping others, show compassion and mercy – no concept of punitive infliction of punishment, that is a human definition, which definition does PSM use? Here is the Biblical evidence:
“Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice (tsadaq) to the afflicted and needy” (Psalm 82:3 NKJV).
Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil and learn to do right. See that justice mishpat) is done — help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows. (Isaiah 1:16,17 GNB)
This is what the LORD says to the dynasty of David: ‘Give justice (mishpat) each morning to the people you judge! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors.’ (Jeremiah 21:12 NLT)
‘Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Remove violence and plundering, execute justice (mispat) and righteousness (tsadaq), and stop dispossessing my people,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘You shall have honest scales….’ (Ezekiel 45:9,10 NKJV)
The LORD is waiting to be kind to you. He rises to have compassion on you. The LORD is a God of justice (mishpat). (Isaiah 30:18 GW)
“This is what the LORD of Armies says: Administer real justice (mishpat), be compassionate and kind to each other.” (Zechariah 7:9 GW)
Death – We use the human definition and call cessation of biological life death – but Jesus, God in human form, called this “sleep” and Paul the apostle called this “sleep.” When God said, “in the day you eat you will surely die,” He was not speaking of “sleep.” He was speaking of eternal non-existence, when body and soul are destroyed (MT 10:28). If we allow the Bible to define its terms then we realize no one has yet “died” but all “sleep” waiting in the grave for their resurrection (either first or second).
What does this mean? It means God has never killed anyone – put to sleep, yes, but killed no! Penal models utilize OT texts and God’s acts there as evidence of God “killing” and projects this as evidence He will, in justice, kill the wicked in the end. But such an idea exists only if we don’t allow Scripture to define itself:
The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
Sin when full grown brings forth death. James 1:15
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. Gal 6:8
Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer. — Ministry of Healing, pg. 113
God destroys no one. The sinner destroys himself by his own impenitence. — Faith I Live By, pg. 58
Read the Scriptures carefully, and you will find that Christ spent the largest part of His ministry in restoring the suffering and afflicted to health. Thus He threw back upon Satan the reproach of the evil which the enemy of all good had originated. Satan is the destroyer; Christ is the Restorer. — Medical Ministry, pg. 240
Try applying these simple principles and see if what was once mysterious doesn’t become clear and understandable.