august 7, 2023
“We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
-1 John 4:6
A billboard in Tennessee is the inspiration for our devotion this week. The billboard simply shows a Bible and the words, “Who is right? Who is wrong?” Or something to that effect. The actual words are not as important as the message behind them.
So, before I dig into this biblically, I will start out the way I typically do with an illustration that relates to motorcycles. I will, shamelessly, take a jab at an unnamed friend as I do this. The majority of the Baptist Bikers are, what I would call, purists. We all ride Harley’s. But we have one member of our group who rides a Goldwing. We still love him, but it is a challenge. Most of the time, we have to turn our motorcycles off just so we can be sure his is running. Now, before you turn off the devotion or unsubscribe from the channel, just know I am saying all of this in jest. But we all know that the only real motorcycles are oil leaking, bone shaking Harley Davidson’s. The rest of you are just wrong. How many times do you find yourself, no matter what you ride, giving one of your buddies a hard time about their choice in motorcycle? None of us do this to be intentionally mean, it’s just good natured fun and it happens across all of the various manufacturers. But there is one thing I think there is one thing we can all unite against, and that is to deny those who truly feel that a Slingshot is a motorcycle!
Okay, all of the teasing aside, who decides what is the “right” motorcycle to ride? By what authority do we make our claims? I, personally, am a Harley rider so I will claim Harley’s to be the superior motorcycle. But let’s say, I suffer some traumatic brain injury and find myself riding a Goldwing, then I will probably claim Honda’s as the superior motorcycle. It is all a matter of preference, and it is completely based upon our personal opinions. There is nothing truly factual to support our claims where we can, without question, claim one motorcycle to be the penultimate manufacturer out there. Even though we all know it is definitely Harley Davidson.
How many times have you found yourself debating someone who has a different interpretation of scripture? You go back and forth, neither of you giving an inch in your own personal interpretation. The fact is, you could put a 1000 people in a room and they may all have different interpretations of what a certain passage of scripture may say. The only good thing about this is that at least we know they are reading their Bible and they are thinking about what the Bible is saying to us. Here is the thing, no matter how many ways we interpret the Bible, there is truly only one correct interpretation and that is solely what God intends for His Word to reveal to us, this interpretation may elude us, but we should actively seek that singular, true interpretation with all of our heart. It is not for me to say your interpretation is right, or that your interpretation is wrong, the truth is revealed by God and God alone and His message is irrefutable and unquestionable. John records these words in his Gospel:
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
-John 4:24
So how do we discern the only true interpretation of the Bible? Well, first we must read the Bible, without truly studying the Word, we are making too many assumptions. Second, we cannot take the Bible out of context. It is so dangerous to take a single verse from the Bible and to build an entire argument or, heaven forbid, an entire theology around that singular verse. We must understand the context in which that verse was written, what was the period in time? What events were occurring when the verse or passage was written? Who wrote the words? Who was the intended audience? What cultural norms may have influenced the words? Now, you have the context, this will help you understand the true meaning of the passage, but now you must consider how does that apply to our lives today? Pray over passages that are unclear, approach the Word with humility, and be sure to meditate and reflect on these verses and passages. The 25th Psalm features a single line that could easily be a simple prayer for discernment:
“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”
-Psalm 25:5
The only true way that any of us will know we are right in our interpretation is when we achieve that glorious moment before God, it is then that we will know the only truth that matters. We will fulfill our destiny as heirs with Christ. The point is that we never stop seeking the truth, and we never stop applying the Bible to our lives. Keep these words of Christ in mind as you study scripture:
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
-John 8:31-32
