Before any other study we should do, it is of the utmost importance that we first learn how to read the Bible. There are two truths that have single-handedly reshaped the way I understand the scriptures:
Isaiah 28:9-10
9 Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
Proverbs 25:2
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
The scriptures are an interwoven puzzle of truths that are meant to be stacked, which bring meaning to each other. Similarly to why Jesus spoke in parables - it is those who really hunger after righteousness who will be filled. Those who don’t truly want this understanding won’t search for it and therefore will not receive it.
Matthew 13:13-15
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
Hebrews 12:25
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks (through His Word). If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
Within these pages are very difficult truths that we must not turn aside from. However, that will be for another discussion. For now, my point is this - we must not turn aside from a single word of our Father’s Word without giving it regard. That’s where His truths are found - in the details.
Hebrews 5 and 2 Timothy 3 give us a more applicable picture of those who have not taken the words of Isaiah into consideration and do not spend the time bringing scripture together for the full picture:
Hebrews 5:11-14
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.
It is of the utmost importance to devour the totality of the Word of truth, so that by correctly handling it, we would be approved. We handle the Word of truth accurately by the instruction of Isaiah. It’s then that we understand the truths our Father hides within these pages and are trained in righteousness to know the difference between good and evil.
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
Psalm 119:160
160 The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments is everlasting.
If the Father holds His Word above even His own name, how much more should we take into consideration every single word?
Psalm 138:2
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and give thanks unto thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Jesus doesn’t tell us we live off the general idea of scripture but again, off every word it offers.
Matthew 4:4
4 But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”
It is vitally important that we use scripture as our source of authority. Paul warns us of many teachers and prophets relaying falsities, whether knowingly or not. This could be anyone from our neighbor next door to the pastor of a megachurch. We should always dive into scripture to see if there is even the smallest bit of leaven in teachings we hear. All it takes is a small bit of false teaching to leaven all we believe.
Acts 20:29-30
29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves (those born again) men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.
Matthew 16:11-12
11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Galatians 5:9
7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
If false teachings were entering the church even with Paul running his race right next to the early church, I ask that you consider how much has entered the church now 2000 years later. This leaven is why I personally believe the church has gone from a single body of people at the beginning of the book of Acts to now over 45,000 denominations world wide.
1 Corinthians 1:10
10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Acts 4:32
32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.
We should always be aware of our current belief system, clear out any leaven that may be there, and continually grow towards the one truth the Father's Word teaches for any given doctrine.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
John and Paul reiterate warnings about being on the lookout for those teaching false doctrines. They can be very subtle - disguising themselves as even angels of light.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Colossians 2:8
8 See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ (the Word made flesh).
2 Corinthians 11:12-15
12 But what I am doing I will also continue to do, so that I may eliminate the opportunity from those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Paul explicitly tells us that people will abandon sound teaching and begin following demonic wisdom. Leaven is not only by word but also by deed. It's the hypocrisy of liars who claim one thing and do the opposite.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
Luke 12:1
1 Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
These demonic, hypocritical, leavened teachings are contrasted to heavenly wisdom and generally defined by James.
James 3:13-18
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Those who have gone astray, teaching strange things can usually be spotted by the fruits they bear.
Matthew 7:15-20
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Sometimes it takes a very keen eye to spot those who bring leaven into the Word of God by word and/or deed. This is because they have sneaked in and are usually hidden among us.
Jude 1:4, 12-13
4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into indecent behavior and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ... 12 These are the ones who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;13 wild waves of the sea, churning up their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
2 Peter 2:1
1 But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
Much of this is because of attempting to interpret scripture on one's own. Those false-Christs', or those who claim to have the Holy Spirit which is brought about through obedience (See the post, "Sealed in Christ") but don't, do not listen to the Teacher. Scripture shouldn’t be left up to one’s own interpretation of things. This is when our flesh gets in the way and we see what we want to see. With humility, it should be left up to the Father revealing His truth to us through His Spirit as we bring His precepts together.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
4 Such is the confidence we have toward God through Christ. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter (of the Word) but of the Spirit (of the Word); for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Peter 1:19-21
19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
John 14:26
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.
So may we dig into each Word for the knowledge and wisdom that is infinitely greater than anything this world has to offer.
Philippians 3:7-11
7 But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Ultimately, those who are weaned from the milk and are partaking in the meat of the Word are mature sons/daughters of God living in a peaceful rest that transcends all understanding.
Psalm 131:1-3
1 Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes arrogant; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. 2 I have certainly soothed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child resting against his mother, My soul within me is like a weaned child. 3 Israel, wait for the Lord From this time on and forever.
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
It is the infantile believer who still feasts on the milk of the Word who becomes unsettled from his/her rest because of a lack of understanding of the meat of the Word. To exemplify this, let's read through the same account of Jesus predicting his death a second time in all three gospels to see how the differences make up the whole picture.
Luke 9:43-45
43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “As for you, let these words sink into your ears: for the Son of Man is going to be handed over to men.” 45 But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
Mark 9:30-32
30 And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. 31 For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.
Matthew 17:22-23
22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
From these passages, we gather that the lack of understanding of the Word made flesh by the disciples led to grief. We must study to be more like those of Mount Zion - immovable from our rest in Christ - the Living Word of God (See the posts "Mount Zion, Heavenly Jerusalem, and the Temple of God" as well as "Sealed in Christ" for more spiritual truth).
Psalm 125:1
1 Those who trust in the Lord Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.
Isaiah 26:3
3 The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.
It is in this way, the body of Christ will grow up in complete unity, unmoved by the false teachings of those who are not acquainted with the Word of truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
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