WHY SO MANY INTERPRETATIONS WHEN

THE BIBLE IS PERFECTLY CLEAR

Exposing the Blindness of the Human Heart

By Gary Ray Branscome

“This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,” (John 3:19).

The question has been raised as to how the Bible can be said to be clear when there are so many different explanations and interpretations, and so much disagreement. However, the clarity of Scripture has nothing to do with interpretation! On the contrary, because Scripture is clear the actual words of Scripture mean just what they say! And whenever God says something in Scripture that is what He expects us to believe and teach. Those who question the clarity of Scripture are failing distinguish between God’s Word and man’s word.

Scripture is clear because God is intelligent enough to say exactly what He means, and He does not need any man to explain what He said. What the words of Scripture say is exactly what God wants us to believe and teach (2Corinthians. 1:13). Furthermore, any conclusion or deduction drawn from God’s Word must agree with what the Bible says elsewhere or be rejected as false (Isaiah 8:20). The actual words of Scripture are the Word of God, all interpretations and explanations are the words of sinful human beings.

For example: several years ago, when talking with a pastor who held that salvation could never be lost, I quoted Galatians 5:4, “Christ is of no benefit to those of you who seek righteousness by the law; you are fallen from grace”. In reply, he said, “I know that is what it says, but I don’t think that is what it means”. Now because every word of Scripture is inspired by God, when he said, “I know that is what it says,” he was actually saying, “I know that is what God says”. Yet, he professed to know better than God. That is the madness of the human heart. He knew what the Bible said! Its words were perfectly clear. But he chose to reject what the Bible said because it did not agree what he had been taught. Another passage that he explained away was 1Corinthians 9:27, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” His excuse for explaining away that passage was Romans 8:38-39, “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” However, in his blindness he failed to see that by rejecting what God plainly said in 1Cor. 9:27, he was rebelling against God’s authority. And that is the root of all disagreement and controversy over what the Bible says.

He failed to see that EVERYTHING God has said in His Word is important! And even if two passages seem contradictory to our puny finite little minds, because they are both the Word of God BOTH ARE TRUE and both need to be taught. Yet the way of the world is to choose one passage (or group of passages) and explain away the others. Christians, who believe that they are saved by grace, but still strive to make themselves righteous through works, need the warning of Galatians 5:4. Christians who are tempted to use the forgiveness we have in Christ to justify willful sin need the warning of 1Corinthians 9:27. At the same time, other Christians, who are in fear of losing their salvation, need the comfort of Romans 8:38-39. All three of those passages are the word of God, and all three need to be taught. Those who believe in the clarity of Scripture will teach all three, knowing that all three have their place. In contrast, those who are blind to the clarity of Scripture explain away any passages that do not agree with their own ideas, and that is the root of all the controversy, division and conflicting interpretations found in Christian circles.

Now let us look at some other examples:

Because the Bible tells us that God “has chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world,” some people assume that Christ only died for the sins of those God had chosen, not for all sins. That is not God’s Word it is an assumption (Eph. 1:4). So when those who hold to that assumption come to the words, “He [Christ] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” they feel constrained to explain those words away (1John 2:2). The words of 1John 2:2 are perfectly clear! If they were not, they would not explain those words away. However, instead of rejecting their assumption (which is man’s word), they reject God’s Word by explaining it away. And, that is rebellion against God.

Because God has said, “To as many as received Him [Christ], He gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name: Who are not born of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God,” that is what God wants us to believe and teach (John 1:12-13). Yet, many explain away the words, “Who are not born of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God,” because those words do not agree with their own ideas about free will. Again, instead of correcting their opinions, they reject what God has said. And, some have even changed the word, “power” in John 1:12 to “right,” to make the Bible agree with their own ideas, ignoring what the Bible says elsewhere about our faith and the power of God. Passages such as 1Cor. 2:5, “Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God,” or Rom. 1:16, or 1Pet. 1:5.

Now let us consider the words, “In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them” (Exodus 20:11). In that verse God defines Himself as the God who created all things in six days, and it is referred to many times in Scripture. At Lystra Paul cried out to the idolaters, “Turn from these fantasies to the living God, who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and everything in them” (Acts 14:15).

For that reason, to reject the God who created all things in six days, is to reject God! And, the Bible says of all who reject God, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools… Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: For they changed the truth of God into a lie… (See Romans 1:22-28). Those verses tell me why churches that deny what God has revealed about Himself in Exodus 20:11, worshipping instead a made-up god who used evolution, excuse and justify all manner of sexual wickedness.

“You are to deal with Scripture in such a way that you bear in mind that God Himself says what is written. But since God is speaking, it is not fitting for you wantonly to turn His Word in the direction you wish to go.” [What Luther Says. A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Concordia, 1959, p. 93.]

Conclusion

The clarity of Scripture does not mean that men will always understand or agree with what the Bible says. It means that what God said in Scripture is what God wants us to believe and teach, and, “No divinely revealed truth ever comes from man-made explanations of those words” (2Peter 1:20).

God wants us to believe and teach what He has said in Scripture! And if men fail to understand or agree with what He has said the problem rests with them, not God. God speaks, and men disagree because of the blindness of their own sin-darkened heart (2Corinthians 1:13, Isaiah 8:20).