Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I am presenting a segment of my new book, Secrets to Understanding God’s Word. I have just published it in audio -book and recently published it in E-book and Print on Amazon.
Scripture is not meant to be our specific guidance, but Holy Spirit can use it to give us specific guidance. It’s the voice of Holy Spirit in our lives that gives us that guidance.
2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 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 you, 16 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.
Peter wrote that believers were to look forward to all that God was bringing into their lives in a new way and that they were to be diligent to be found by the Lord in peace, without spot, and blameless. In other words, they were to continue in a relationship with God concerning the promises He was giving them. Even as the Lord demonstrated His longsuffering, the fruit of their suffering would be increasing measures of His salvation. The God-inspired wisdom of Peter was like the instructions of the apostle Paul, according to the wisdom given to him for believers.
2 Peter 3:16 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.
Peter explained that some of Paul’s letters contain things that are hard to understand. If you try to make Paul’s letters easy to understand, remember—they are not supposed to be easy; they are hard to understand. If you try to interpret Peter’s letter concerning a new heaven and a new earth solely by your own natural understanding, you will miss the point. Peter was telling them that what he was discussing was a mystery hidden in God. What he was writing about was not going to be easy to grasp. He wasn’t saying that it could not be understood; he was saying that some things are foundationally important and require a revelation from Holy Spirit to understand their true, life-giving meaning.
Just like Paul’s letters, they’re not easy to understand, and people who are untaught and unstable twist these things to their own destruction, as they do with the rest of the Scriptures. So, we can say that the rest of the Scriptures also include many things that are not easy to understand. God didn’t inspire Scripture to be written so that it would be easy to understand; He inspired Scripture to be written in a way that would inspire our connection to Holy Spirit, because Holy Spirit is our teacher, and only Holy Spirit can give us understanding that is true to the heart of God.
If we want Scripture to make sense to our logical mind, then we’re not going to be men or women of faith and intimacy with God. We’re going to miss the point. We will be vulnerable to twisting the things that are not easy to understand to our own destruction because we are unstable or untaught in some way.
We are unstable if we are not firm in our relationship with God, with others, or with ourselves. Our understanding is hindered if we are insecure in some way. If we have insecurity about our own identity, insecurity about others and their relationship within the family of God, or insecurity in our connection with God, we will be hindered in hearing Holy Spirit and understanding the hidden truth in God’s word.
If we have made judgments about God, we will have difficulty hearing and understanding what He says. If we harbor bitterness in our hearts toward people, the body of Christ, humanity in general, or toward God, we are going to twist Scripture in some way. We become vulnerable to misinterpreting Scripture—seeing something that is not there—and we twist it to our own destruction. Scripture is not given for destruction; it is given for life. Any interpretation that leaves us in destruction is a misunderstanding of the full statement of that Scripture.
When Scripture becomes destructive to you or when Scripture becomes destructive to others, it misses the redemptive end. All Scripture is redemptive in its ending. All words from God are redemptive in their ending. His direction always ends in day. His instructions always lead to light. His guidance always leads to life. So, if you’re reading Scripture and it condemns you, you’re reading it wrong. It can convict you, but the end will be life. If you’re reading Scripture and interpreting it in a way that allows you to condemn others or judge others in a destructive way, you’re reading it wrong. You’re twisting Scripture because you’re unstable in your relationship with God or people in some way.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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