On this page a few notes on how I understand the Bible, so that you may understand more about how I come to certain conclusions based on the Bible.
Word of God
To begin with, to me the whole Bible is the Word of God. It is 100% written by humans, but at the same time it is 100% God's Word. In addition, it is current in all times, so also for today.
“All Scripture is divinely inspired and is profitable for discerning, refuting, correcting, and training in righteousness, that the man who belongs to God may be perfect, fully equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The Doctrine of the Apostles
The apostles who preached the gospel (among the Jews and the Gentiles) after the ascension of the Lord Jesus and Pentecost, taught the believers in what is called “the doctrine of the apostles” (Acts 2:42). This 'doctrine of the apostles' can be understood as 'Christian doctrine'. It pleased God that the apostles would not write this down neatly and systematically in a joint booklet. In the municipal practice of their time, however, they did find a reason to write letters to municipalities or individuals. In it they explicitly point out wrong developments and explain once again what they have already taught orally.
Very special, by the way, is the letter to the Romans. In it Paul explains in detail what the Gospel of God means, and you can see it as the ABCs of the Christian faith.
The Old Testament
The apostles all knew the Old Testament. During His tour, the Lord Jesus spoke to them about the Scriptures. Especially all that was written therein about Him and which they could only partially understand. After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, he stayed with them for forty days. He spoke to them about the things of the Kingdom of God and gave them orders (Acts 1:1-3).
Immediately on the day of Pentecost, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses the assembled crowd, which is full of references to the Old Testament (Acts 2:14-36). Since then it has remained that way, all the apostles have always based themselves on the Old Testament.
Paul is a special apostle who was commissioned by the Lord to declare the truth concerning the Church. Also "the Gentiles would belong to the same body"; it was a "secret" that had not previously been made known in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:1-13).
The New Testament Picture Book
The Old Testament is 'the picture book' to the New Testament and one cannot exist without the other. Paul calls that everything that happened to the people of Israel are 'examples and warnings' for us (1 Corinthians 10:11).
The Epistle to the Hebrews is a wonderful example of the Christian reality embodied in Christ and of the images as described in the Old Testament. In other words, of the old covenant and the new covenant. It shows how the apostles read and explained or applied the Old Testament. That's how they learned it from the Lord Jesus Himself and that's how we as their followers should do it too.
Incidentally, that letter to the Hebrews is immediately a good starting point for thinking about the question of how the people of Israel should serve God and how we as Christians should serve God. Because that's what the whole letter is about.
The Gospels
I had almost 'forgotten' that the Gospels are, of course, intended to record the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the center of the whole Bible. He is the Person Whom it is and of course that is part of what the apostles have taught.
What we cannot perceive
What is also important to me is that at a certain point I started to realize that the Bible in many places - almost everywhere - communicates things that we as humans cannot normally perceive at all. Things about creation, for example, or the future things that have yet to happen. God reveals them to us in Scripture, and that's why we know them.
But something else is that the Bible tells things about the invisible reality that we normally cannot perceive. What goes on outside of us in the spiritual world simply eludes our perception. You cannot perceive that as a born-again Christian. But the Bible does say a lot about it—as much as we need.
The Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, and prays for us, is our Advocate. Can you observe that? No, but God's Word says so, so it is and you can thank Him for that.
Job's life got really hard at one point and he had no idea why. Yet the Bible makes clear to us what happened in the invisible reality.
It goes like this all through the Bible, from beginning to end. That is precisely what makes the Bible what it is: the Word of God. The Word of Him who knows and knows all things! In His grace He imparts to us what we need of it.
In line with this is also what we can perceive of the Holy Spirit. It is often said in Scripture that the Spirit does something. But you usually cannot observe the work itself, but you can observe the result. This is certainly an important point today, because nowadays people simply think that we perceive or experience the working of the Spirit directly - and then usually in a special way. It is highly questionable whether that is so and the answer may well depend on how you read the Bible.
Word study
Sometimes you have to try harder to understand a certain word, say sanctification or justification or whatever. Then it helps to look up a concordance, digital or not, so that you can see where the word is used throughout the Bible. In addition, it helps to use, for example, 'Strong' (a Hebrew/Greek dictionary with word numbers) so that you can see what the original Hebrew or Greek word is, where it occurs and what its meaning is.
So in addition to the general outline of the Bible and the context of Bible passages, it is also necessary to go in depth every now and then and check a specific word or expression.
Reading the Bible
What has helped me a lot is just reading the Bible one after the other. Several times and still. This gives you a better view of the logical structure of the Bible; Christ is the fulfillment of the law (what has been) and also the foundation of what was yet to come, the church.
What struck me when reading through the bible in this way are two things
- you come across things that strike you and where you start asking questions. Then it is often the case that a few pages later, or sometimes only after a few months, you will find the answers in the same scripture. The Scriptures explain themselves. It is as if you are asking the Writer questions, receiving the answers from Him as well.
- often in this way you read things that apply exactly to your living circumstances at that moment. God knows what we need and He speaks through His Word.
What remains
There's still plenty left that I don't know. Remembering text places remains difficult, and so is finding things. There are plenty of things I can't explain. Also, I don't have enough time to go through everything in comments; apart from whether you could remember that. I take comfort in the thought that the Lord gives me what I need and what I can pass on to others.
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