03-PRINCIPLES IN INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE
Chapter Two Principles in Interpreting Scripture
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Here in Isaiah, God teaches us how to study and interpret the Scriptures. Bible verses should not be used to oppose each other like shots in a tennis match. Isaiah tells us that precepts and lines from the Word must be built upon each other, not against each other. Also he tells us to search the Scriptures (John 5:39) to find the answers; a little here and a little there. There are no contradictions in the Bible. If we find a concept in the Bible that seems to teach something contrary o other places, then we must strive to understand the correct interpretation by using the following principles. The first principle is to be sure to know the correct meaning of all the words in a text by consulting the original languages: Hebrew in the Old Testament, and Greek in the New Testament. Many times the English translation of these original languages does not give us the full meaning of the word. A good example of this can be seen in the Greek word that is translated love in the New Testament. There are actually four Greek words that can be translated to love. - Eros, which is physical or romantic love. This word is not found in the New Testament. - Phileo, which is friendship or brotherly love, as in the following: Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. - Thelo, which means a preference, as in "I love chocolate". We find this example in the following:
38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: - Agape, which is God’s love, a benevolent love, as in the following verse:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
As an illustration of this principle, we will examine the Greek words translated love in this following dialogue between Jesus and Peter. Notice how the deeper meaning of of this scripture is revealed when we understand the meaning of the Greek words.
15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (agape) thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love (phileo) thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (agape) thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love (phileo) thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (phileo) thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest (phileo) thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love (phileo) thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
We see here that by consulting the Greek words translated love, we discover a deeper meaning to this passage. Jesus gives Peter two oppportunities to express agape love for him, but Peter reverts to the lesser phileo love for his Savior. The third time Jesus asks Peter of his love for him, He reverts to Peter’s phileo love, and this is the reason that Peter was grieved (John 21:17). It was not that Jesus asked him three times about his love, but that Jesus needed to use the lesser form of love the third time, showing Peter that his love was inadequate. We can use this same method of study for any scripture we want to "delve into." The second principle is to stay in the context of the scripture you are studying. The context of a scripture passage is the perspective, background, and situations surrounding the words in the passage.If we lift a verse out of its context, we will misunderstand and misapply the meaning of the verse. The best way to understand this principle is to use an example of taking a verse out of context and seeing the results of doing so. John 6:50-56 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. This passage is imfamous for being taken out of context, with disastrous results. How many dear Catholic friends do you have who think they are receiving the real body of Christ every time they take communion? The last thing they do before they die is to receive this sacrament, thinking it will bring them to Heaven, only to wake up and see that it did not. We will see the true context of this passage later in the section on foreknowledge, but for now it is sufficient to to understand what can happen if we are not careful to understand the context fo the scriptures we are studying. The third principle is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we study the Bible.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 16:12-15 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 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. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. In this study, we will endeavor to use these principles to expose the errors of Calvinism. We will refer to these principles as The Isaiah Principles