May Holy Scripture being interpreted differently?
Many modern non-church people may believe that the Bible as Holy Scripture was translated quite a long time ago, much information has been distorted or lost. And the same biblical ideas can be interpreted in one way or with a completely opposite meaning. That is why the statement “everyone understands the Bible differently” has spread among the people. Is this really so? Let's figure it out!
Let's analyze the passage from the Bible of Paul to Ephesians 2:4-9:
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
From here we see that we, as believers, are redeemed from our sins by God’s grace, not by our works. That we, if we believe in Christ, are saved by grace through faith, and do not deserve salvation through our good works. You can find a detailed study of this passage in this article (please use Google translate for this one).
You may ask, what about other places in Scripture, do they confirm this idea? Let’s read in the passage that confirms the previous idea:
“The next day John sees Jesus coming toward him, and says, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
(John 1:29)
Let's also take a look at the message from John 3:16-17:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
We have just read the New Testament verses. Now let's look at an Old Testament verse from the prophet Isaiah 12:1-2: In that day you will say: “I will praise you, LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”
So we see the same meaning: God is the redeemer of our sins through the salvation that He has given us through His Son. The apostle Paul only adds that we cannot earn salvation by our own works, but receive it by God's grace.
On the other hand, the verse Isaiah 56:1 explains that blind, unfounded faith cannot lead us to salvation, and faith is also emphasized by good works (from this chapter of Isaiah – justice, righteousness). That is, faith means that we are changed under the influence of faith.
We have just confirmed one truth from the Holy Scriptures.
In John 8:32 it is said that there is only one truth, and it saves. If God's revelation is such that it can be understood by everyone in his own way, then its existence is absurd, or it is a set of sentences that do not convey any thought. But there is no point in expressing inspired thoughts and judgments in Scripture if they are to be received differently by everyone.
In Philippians 2:2, Paul writes to the church in the Macedonian city of Philippians "then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind."
Let’s examine another truth – most Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God and the Creator of the earth on a par with the Father. How did they understand this? Why did they understand it? So it can be understood the same way! [1] This is evidenced by the scriptures Hebrews 1:2-3, Zechariah 12:10. From them we see that it is about the same thing, both in the Old Testament (by prophet Zechariah) and in the New (Paul's to the Hebrews).
Different interpretations of scripture exist for several reasons [1]:
- People are lazy and do not seek to read the Bible or study the Holy Scriptures
- The problem of the influence of false teachers [2], about whom Jesus himself had already predicted. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not recognize Jesus Christ as equal to God, and the uncreated.
- Human beliefs, because of which a person does not want to discover the truth, but sees everything through the prism of his glasses.
- It also happens that a person is accustomed to living in a certain sin. And tries to "adjust" the interpretation of Biblical truth to suit himself, to his convenient lifestyle, which of course does not lead to spiritual maturity.
I am reminded of the common interpretation of Christians as warriors waging war against evil (Ephesians 6:12) and in order to wage this war successfully, God's commandments and instructions must be understood by all in the same way, and they are given quite clearly through the Holy Scriptures or the Bible.
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