APR 30

2 Peter 1:16-21
Memorise 2 Peter 1:21
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”

The actual author of the 66 books of the Bible is God. More specifically, it is God the Holy Spirit who worked through the authors of Scripture to write the very words of God. The Holy Spirit is omniscient. He knows all things, and superintended the exact words of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. This being the case, the best method of interpretation is one that seeks to find out what the divine author, God Himself, had in mind when He moved the holy men of old to write. The human interpreter should step aside in reverence and awe and let God be God. We are to try to find out only what God’s intended meaning is, and seek no other fanciful explanation.

The holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit of God when they wrote the books of the Bible. Though their distinct style and personality can be discerned from a study of their books, nevertheless, they wrote under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Ghost such that sometimes they may not even have had full comprehension of what God wanted them to write. Yet in obedience to God’s command, they wrote.

These holy men of God, moved strongly by this powerful divine impulse to write what they did, wrote in the name and fear of God. This shows the authority of the Scriptures, that they are the very words of God, and not of men. As such they should be attended to, and received with all affection and reverence; and with a firm belief that the Spirit is the best interpreter of them, who first dictated them. The Bible alone stands far above any other literary works of men, and must be viewed as such. Nothing man has ever written or ever will write can match up to the perfection, glory and splendour of God’s Word.

Dear teen, may you endeavor to better understand the literal method of interpreting Scripture. Let God interpret what He has said. The words God inspired were given to communicate a certain meaning to those who read it. This means that if we find what the correct meaning of the word is, its context, normal and customary usage at the time it was used, we can know the correct interpretation. The interpretation is the meaning God wanted His words to convey. 

Thought: Confusion arises because unskilled men, even unregenerate men, mishandle God’s Word.
Prayer: Father in heaven, may I apply proper biblical principles of interpretation and accurately understand Thy Word.