A TOOLKIT FOR READING THE BIBLE
HOW TO READ THE BIBLE:
INTRODUCTION
Do you feel like reading the Bible is intimidating? Well, you are not alone, the Bible can be very intimidating. First of all, it’s HUGE! When we talk about reading a novel, we think in terms of weeks, or days if you’re a fast reader. But when it comes to the Bible, we often think in terms of a year, or more.
But you have decided to take on the challenge, you pick a reading plan, and everything is going great… until you get to a part that’s boring, a passage that’s hard to understand, or you get frustrated when you start reading stories about people and places that you don’t know how to pronounce, much less, who or where they are. On top of that, life gets in the way, you fall behind, and before you know it, your Bible gets put back on the shelf or it becomes one of those apps that you downloaded on your phone but never use.
There’s no doubt, the Bible is intimidating. It’s a book made up of 66 books where the most recent book was written about 1900 years ago by people who spoke languages that nobody speaks anymore and lived in cultures that were completely different from our own.
Even with all of that, I’m convinced that the reason so many people are intimidated by the Bible isn’t the Bible — it’s that we haven’t been equipped with the right tools to effectively read the Bible. You can’t unscrew a screw with a hammer. So, just like you need a screwdriver to unscrew a screw, you need the right tools to read the Bible — and when equipped with the right tools, anyone can read and understand the Bible.
The purpose of this little book is to equip you with 6 simple and effective tools for reading the Bible so that you don’t have to be intimidated anymore and God’s Word can speak into your life in amazing and transformative ways.
STARTING POINT: PRESUPPOSITIONS
I am a huge fan of the Tolkien trilogy, The Lord of the Rings! I have read it many times, and I’m also a fan of the Peter Jackson movies (except for the exclusion of Tom Bombadil, but you have to be a nerd to know what I’m talking about). One of the best scenes in the movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, is when Gandalf, out of concern for Bilbo, gently suggests that Bilbo may have been in possession of the ring long enough. Because of the evil influence of the ring, Bilbo accuses Gandalf of trying to take the ring for himself. Gandalf responds by confronting Bilbo with words that are both rebuking and comforting, “I am not trying to rob you! I am trying to help you.”
Bilbo had misinterpreted the words that Gandalf had intended for good because his ring-poisoned heart and mind doubted Gandalf’s motives and character.
This is an example of something that happens anytime we interpret texts — especially the Bible. We may not have the evil influence of the “One Ring to rule them all,” but we do read and listen with presuppositions and biases, ideas and attitudes that we have already formed about a particular subject. Some of these presuppositions are rather neutral, others are bad and unhelpful, while others are good and necessary.
There is no such thing as perfect objectivity. We are all influenced by the things that make us who we are. Things like our background, parents, education, experiences, and culture all contribute to form the presuppositions that influence how we interpret new experiences. The same is true when we interpret the Bible.
The issue is not whether or not we bring presuppositions to the text of the Bible — of course we do. The issue is whether or not we are bringing the correct presuppositions to the Bible. This set of presuppositions forms our conceptual framework for reading the Bible, and it is crucial that this conceptual framework is formed, not by our own experiences and culture, but by the presuppositions that the biblical writers have laid out for us in the Bible.
That is what this Toolkit for Reading the Bible essentially is, a set of 6 biblical presuppositions, or tools, that we use as our guide to read and interpret the Bible:
Christ-Centered: It’s All About Jesus
Read the Bible in Community
Law & Gospel
Scripture Interprets Scripture
Hidden & Revealed God
The Two Kinds of Righteousness/Relationships.
When we read the Bible through these lenses, it is amazing how God reveals himself to us as the Scriptures open up in transformative ways.
TOOL #1
CHRIST-CENTERED:
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS
God is particularly concerned about our knowledge of the revelation of His Son, as seen throughout the Old and the New Testament. All points to the Son. For Scripture is given for the sake of the Messiah, or Woman’s Seed, who is to remedy all that the serpent has corrupted, to remove sin, death, and wrath, to restore innocence, life, paradise, and heaven . . . Thus all of Scripture, as already said, is pure Christ. — Martin Luther
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!
The ultimate purpose of the Bible is to reveal Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a witness to God’s saving activity as it is first promised to God’s Old Testament people Israel and then fulfilled in Jesus. Thus, the entire Bible is centered on Christ. In order to understand this purpose of Scripture and apply it to ourselves, we must understand that through faith in Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness and life. Only when read from this Christ-centered perspective can we truly understand and correctly apply the Bible today.
There is a unity throughout the Bible that connects the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament points forward to Jesus and his work, while the New Testament tells us how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. Therefore, when the New Testament speaks of an Old Testament passage as being fulfilled by Jesus, we see this as the full and correct meaning of the Old Testament passage.
After rising from the dead, Jesus appears to the disciples in Luke 24 and makes this Christ-centered principle abundantly clear:
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Therefore, when we read the Bible, we must read it from a Christ-centered perspective. That both the Old and New Testaments point to Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection has overcome sin, death, and punishment for all people who believe in him, giving us righteousness, life, and salvation. This is a gift from God that we receive only through faith, which is trusting in Jesus, and not by anything that we have done. It’s all about what Jesus did on the cross for us.
* From Called by the Gospel: An Introductionto the New Testament by Michael Middendorf
This diagram provides a framework for understanding the essential message of the entire Bible. First, it is shaped like a bow-tie whose center expresses the christocentric (Christ-centered) point of the Bible. The symbol in the middle is a chi-rho and is a symbol that represents Christ. It is comprised of the first two Greek letters in the word for Christ. The Greek term christos translates the Hebrew title Messiah.
This diagram unites the Old and New Testaments into one continuous account of God acting in history to save his people.
TOOL #2
READ IN COMMUNITY
None of us opens God’s Word in a vacuum. We’re complex individuals who come to the Scriptures with suitcases of experiences and intuitions, beliefs and biases. There is no such thing as a “neutral” reading of any book—especially one that makes all-encompassing claims over our lives.
Plus, we’re all wired differently. Some of us are inclined to read the Bible more academically, others are wired to read it more devotionally (these aren’t mutually exclusive, though; they should go together).
In the world of sports, we sometimes hear of a particular athlete who is the “complete package.” She can do it all, people say.
But, when it comes to understanding and applying Scripture, no one lives up to that description. Not even pastors. That’s why it’s crucial that we approach Scripture alongside others, in the context of a diverse community—otherwise our experiences will limit us, our preferences will govern us, and our biases will blind us.
It’s so easy to impose our pet agendas on God’s Word without realizing it. For example, I might read it only in light of some personal situation I’ve experienced or look for it to confirm my previously held positions. We desperately need other Christians—ideally those who are different from us—to function in our lives as both barrier-setters and barrier-removers, simultaneously keeping us from reading wrongly and freeing us to read wisely.
Acts 2:42 is the very first description of the church after God sent the Holy Spirit, and we find that the earliest Christians didn’t waste any time before rallying together around God’s Word.
Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Or in other words, the met at the intersection of God’s Word and prayer, meals and mission. In today’s highly individualistic society, it’s so easy to try to devote yourself to the apostles’ teaching—that is, to Scripture—apart from any meaningful fellowship. Of course, it’s very important to regularly read your Bible alone. But the early church set an example that is crucial for us to apply: fellowship with others anchored in God’s Word and prayer.
In today’s highly individualistic society, it’s so easy to try to devote yourself to the apostles’ teaching—that is, to Scripture—apart from any meaningful fellowship. Of course it’s very important to regularly read your Bible alone. But the early church set an example that is crucial for us to apply: fellowship with others anchored in God’s Word and prayer.
In fact, this is precisely what Paul tells the Colossians:
Let the message of Chris dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts (Col. 3:16).
It’s a bit unfortunate that our English Bibles don’t say “y’all,” since the word “you” in Scripture is pluralized the vast majority of the time. One typical example is this challenge to all those in the Colossian church to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” which presumes the members aren’t a bunch of spiritual silos. They’re doing life together, as a body.
Did you know that even Peter—rock of the church and apostle of the risen Christ—needed someone else to correct him (Gal. 2:11–21)? If Peter wasn’t above making serious mistakes, we’re not either.
Or consider Apollos, whom Luke describes as “a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). He knew and taught his Bible well. And yet even he needed two others, Priscilla and Aquila, who took him aside and “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26). Again, if Apollos wasn’t above misreading God’s Word, neither are we.
MICRO-GROUPS
Micro-Groups are a simple and reproducible way to read the Bible in community. Micro-Groups are a simple disciple-making process that can be started by any person, at any time, in any place. Each Micro-Group consists of three people. ONE facilitator invites ONE person who, in turn, invites ONE person. This group of three is committed to growing and multiplying their relationship with Jesus Christ, or in other words, a Micro-Group makes disciples who make disciples. It is expected that there will come a time when the Micro-Group will multiply into new Micro-Groups.
TWO RHYTHMS OF MICRO-GROUPS
Read the Bible – The Discovery Bible Study is at the core of micro-groups, however, the rhythm of reading the Bible will be different for each micro-group depending on who is in it and their level of spiritual maturity. It can be as simple as reading through one of the DBS reading plans together, or as intense as reading and journaling a chapter of the Bible each day and getting together to discuss it. Remember, it can be a huge step for a person who is disconnected or newly connected to faith to even read the Bible in a group! So, meet people where they are at, and then guide them to where you want them to be.
Weekly Micro-Group Connection – Meet with your group of three, either face to face or virtually, for 30-90 minutes.
FIVE PRINCIPLES OF MICRO-GROUPS
Simple Enough to Reproduce – Micro-groups are intended for rapid multiplication and can be led by anyone, at any time, in any place. A healthy micro-group can consist of people at any stage of spiritual growth. The goal is not to control them but to allow them to multiply through natural relational networks.
Scripture is Our Curriculum – Rather than using prewritten devotionals, micro-groups let God speak for Himself through His written Word, the Bible using the Discovery Bible Study process of reading the Bible and asking three simple questions:
What does this tell you about God?
What does this tell you about yourself and/or the world?
How will you live this out?
The Holy Spirit is Our Teacher – The key to spiritual growth is learning to hear and follow Jesus through His Holy Spirit. The Discovery Bible Study questions are designed to help us to hear the Holy Spirit and follow Jesus.
Following Jesus is Our Objective – A disciple is a person who follows Jesus, is being transformed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus to make more disciples. Therefore, our goal is to learn to see God at work, hear His voice, understand His ways, and follow Him.
Relationship is Our Vehicle – The Good News of Jesus Christ naturally travels from one relationship to another. Micro-groups are limited to three and are started when you invite your one, and your one invites their one.
TOOL #3
Law & Gospel
The Purpose of Scripture (The Bible)
The ultimate purpose of Scripture (The Bible) is to reveal Jesus Christ and what he has done for us (Christ-centered). From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a witness to God’s saving activity as it is first promised to God’s Old Testament people Israel and then fulfilled in Jesus. The only way to understand and apply this purpose of Scripture is to understand that through faith in Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness and life, this requires properly distinguishing two very important, very different, and very distinct teachings found in God’s Word.
God speaks to his people in two distinct modes, command and promise, or Law and Gospel. The distinction of these two—the one setting forth God’s will for what human beings are to do, his design for human life; the other setting forth God’s actions in Jesus Christ in behalf of sinners is the key to proper understanding and application of God’s Word. There are places in the Bible where God gives his commands, and there are places where God gives blessings, gifts, and promises. And this is the distinction between Law and Gospel. We need to make this distinction all through the Scriptures.
The first thing that we need to recognize is that both the Law and the Gospel are God’s Word. Both are true all the way through the Scriptures, and when we start to recognize the difference, then we start to understand the Bible, and it opens up the Scriptures to us.
What is the difference between the Law and the Gospel?
The Law (S.O.S. Shows Our Sin)
The Law tells us: What we should do or should not do for God and others but always fail.
The Law is the word of God that commands people to do what is right according to God’s standards. It tells us what God demands, what a person must do, what blessings are promised to those who fulfill it, and what curses await those who fail to keep it. Fulfillment of the Law is judged by God’s perfection, not our best effort. The Law reflects the character of God to the world, calling all people to perfectly reflect that character in every aspect of their lives. Because it reflects his holiness, the Law is good (Romans 7:12). However, as it reveals God’s perfection, the Law also reveals our status before God. It demonstrates the truth that, on our own, we have not lived up to God’s standard.
There are many examples of law in Scripture. The Ten Commandments provide a concise summary. A shorter summary is found in Jesus’ words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Notice Jesus’ emphasis on the word “all.” His summary of the Law demands total obedience. Such words challenge people to be perfectly holy (Leviticus 19:2).
Because we are sinners, the Law “Shows Our Sin” (S.O.S). This is the chief and primary work of the Law where the Law works like a mirror. When we look at ourselves in the mirror of the Law, it shows us our sin and it condemns our sin. The Law always accuses us, and because it’s always accusing us, it’s always condemning us, and in fact, the Law brings death.
The Gospel (S.O.S. Shows Our Savior)
The Gospel tells us: What God has done, will do, and promises to do unconditionally for us who failed.
The Gospel on the other hand is exactly the opposite of the Law. It reveals the actions of God alone to save those who are “dead in their trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). The Gospel always declares what God graciously does to forgive. It is his gift: completely unmerited. The Gospel makes no demands on people whatsoever. It offers what God alone has earned. It is life and salvation freely given in accord with God’s character and action. Jesus alone pays the penalty for sin. Jesus alone offers righteousness, salvation and peace on his merciful terms.
While the Law “Shows Our Sin,” the Gospel “Shows Our Savior” (S.O.S), Jesus Christ, and that’s the most wonderful thing that the Gospel does. It says that God came to us in the flesh to save us, to rescue us, and to redeem us. And because the Gospel shows us our Savior, it doesn’t accuse and condemn, instead, the Gospel forgives all of our sins and brings to us life. And all of this is based on what God has done for us, and not on what we have or have not done for God in keeping the Law.
The Danger of Confusing the Law and the Gospel
If we misapply these two great themes of the Bible, it can have devastating results in human lives! This is so important that it is worth repeating: If we misapply these two great themes of the Bible, it can have devastating results in human lives!
Confusing or co-mingling Law and Gospel leads to either false confidence or despair. Galatians 2:21 reminds us that if people could obtain righteousness before God on the basis of their works—what they do or don’t do— then Christ died for nothing. And the only way that it might look possible for us to be righteous before God by what we do is if we weaken or diminish the demands of the Law. We have to make it appear as if people could actually fulfill them, and this creates a false confidence that can never withstand the righteous judgment of God.
It is like convincing a person that they can fly, and then letting them step off a ten-story building. They’re completely unprepared for the reality of their actions.
Others try to mix Law and Gospel by claiming that we must receive the Gospel “properly,” like inviting Jesus into your heart, or saying a specific prayer. This inserts a human work into receiving God’s gift and does nothing but make us doubt if we are truly receiving the Gospel. The confidence and assurance that we are indeed part of God’s eternal plan are destroyed in this confusion. When the Gospel is turned into something that we must do, even just a little bit, the only result is either pride, that we can do enough good to “get right with God,” or it results in despair when we inevitably find ourselves falling short of keeping the Law and all of its demands.
However, when we properly maintain the distinction between the Law and Gospel, it roots forgiveness, life, salvation, joy, and peace in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone—in what God has done for you through Jesus rather than in what you have or have not done for God. This is how we find confidence in the grace and promises of God. When we know for sure that we have been forgiven, then we are enabled to live life boldly in Christ for others. It’s this certainty in relationship to God in Christ that empowers the followers of Christ to serve others in God’s name. It’s because of what God has done for us through the Gospel, that we can live out the requirements of the Law to our neighbors. We will talk about this in detail when we explore another tool in our toolbox, the Two Kinds of Righteousness.
Another consequence of confusing or co-mingling the Law and the Gospel is that it isolates a person from the resources, strength, and power of God. It does this by directing us to look to ourselves and our own strength. Any religion that tells you that you have to “get right with God” based on your works, can’t actually get you right with God. In fact, it does the opposite, it cuts you off from God because it rejects what Christ has done for you through the Gospel, and trades it for our sinful works of trying to be “good enough” for God when only God has the power to recreate us and to transform our hearts and minds. God is the only source of love, life, and salvation that is able to live in believers through faith and empower believers to truly love and serve others.
The distinction of Law and Gospel is ultimately about the knowledge that we are loved and redeemed by Christ. It shows us that it’s impossible for sinful people to change their own hearts, but that miraculously, in and through Christ alone, the heart of God has changed towards sinners. Only when a person looks away from themself and looks to the work of Jesus on the cross is there real certainty about one’s eternal life in God. And only then can we truly love and serve our neighbor.
And so when we read the Bible, it’s crucial that we distinguish between the Law and the Gospel so that we can be certain that our standing and relationship with God is based upon what God has done for us rather than what we have done for God. And in that certainty, we are free to truly love and serve our neighbor in response to how Christ loved and served us in the cross.
Do the following exercises to help you put the proper distinction Law & Gospel into action.
EXERCISE 1
Law & Gospel
God's Law tells us: What we should do or should not do for God and others but always fail.
The Gospel tells us: What God has done, will do, and promises to do unconditionally for us who failed.
God does this because of his great love. The Gospel is the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ through which God gives forgiveness, faith, life, and the power to serve Him in our lives.
Learn the italicized definitions of Law and Gospel to help you identify clear statements of Law or Gospel.
The following is a list of statements from the Bible. Read and think about each one to determine which is a statement of the Law and which is a statement of the Gospel.
“He was pierced for our transgressions . . . and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).
“Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matthew 19:6b).
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25b).
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (John 3:2).
“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
EXERCISE 2
Law & Gospel
READ ROMANS 7:7–8:1 (ESV)
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
LAW & GOSPEL by Pastor Joe Sullivan
Do you ever feel like you have a civil war going on inside of you? Romans 7:15-20 is one Bible description of this internal struggle. Many doubt the existence of God, but nobody can deny that something inside all of us often fights against what we believe is right. Our inclination toward what is wrong is called sin—a disease we all inherited. As a virus produces symptoms, so we are guilty of sins. Our actions prove we are sinners—that we have the disease. But when the Holy Spirit creates faith in us through hearing God’s Word, we begin to want what God wants and not want what sin wants. Once we trust in Jesus, God declares us saints. And the internal battle begins between sinner and saint.
God’s Word applies two teachings to we who are simultaneously sinner and saint: Law and Gospel. The Law is applied to us when we are secure in our sins. The Law says, “You deserve death.” When the Law does its work, the secure sinner cries out, “Who will save me?” The Gospel is applied to saints who despair of themselves and want God’s ways to become their own. The Gospel says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Although very different in application, the Law and the Gospel have the same goal: to bring you to Jesus.
Properly applying God’s Word, Law and Gospel, is taught by God’s Holy Spirit in the school of experience. The Law applied to a despairing saint only adds insult to injury. The Gospel applied to a secure sinner gives license to sin. And beware! We are masters at deceiving ourselves. We all need other Christians in our lives to help us live in response to God’s Word. God did not leave us to fight this war alone.
TAKEAWAY:
What verses in Romans 7:7-8:1 are the Law?
What verses are the Gospel?
WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?
By Pastor Joe Sullivan
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. — Proverbs 26:4-5
I smelled him before I saw him. A pungent alcohol odor preceded him. He reared back on his heals with his arms crossed and asked, “Are you the pastor?” I considered lying, but I didn’t. Then he posed this riddle: “Can a man get drunk, beat his wife, and still go to heaven?” Two possible scenarios make a simple answer unwise. I might crush a man in despair with God’s Law:
Me: “Sir, a Christian man would not get drunk and beat his wife.” But this response may not be appropriate if his heart was broken over his sin.
Him: “I knew it. I knew God could never forgive me. I was dry for 47 days. I was only going to have one beer last night, but then I woke up this morning and saw my wife and knew God could never forgive me.”
Or I may have emboldened sin by applying God’s Gospel:
Me: “Of course! God is gracious and forgives us all our sins!”
Him: “Good! My ol’ lady has it comin’ and when I get home tonight I’m gonna whoop her!”
Proper application of Law or Gospel depends upon whether people are secure in their sin or despair of it. A despairing saint needs the Gospel. A secure sinner needs the Law. To diagnose the heart, we must respond to such questions with, “Why do you want to know?”
Proverbs 26:4-5 reads like a contradiction, but context is everything. Do you answer a fool or not? It depends! Only help from the Holy Spirit will lead us to properly apply God’s Word.
EXPLORE MORE
Click the links below to learn more about Law & Gospel:
https://www.1517.org/articles/ten-thoughts-on-law-gospel-from-gerhard-forde
https://www.1517.org/articles/gods-word-of-law-and-gospel
https://www.understandchristianity.com/beyond-the-basics/law-and-gospel/
TOOL #4
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE
I study my Bible as I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest might fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb—study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters when they do not break the sense. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings. — Martin Luther
WATCH:
Taking Bible Verses Out of Context
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The Bible is the authoritative Word of God. This is how God reveals himself to us. The Bible contains everything we need to know about God and for salvation, even if it does not contain everything we always want to know.
Sometimes when we read the Bible, we come across a passage that is difficult to understand. It might leave us with questions or contradict what we think or feel. When this happens, it’s tempting to use the human standards of our own reason, feelings, or cultural presuppositions to find the meaning. Other times, we will pluck out a single Bible verse and apply it to our current situation without regard for the original context. Even with good intentions, both of these practices can easily lead to misinterpreting the Bible and twisting it to our own liking. The only way to know the full and true meaning of any Bible passage is to know what the rest of the Bible says on the same theme. We let Scripture Interpret Scripture.
When trying to understand what a Bible verse means for us today, it’s important to understand what it meant when it was first written. It’s important to understand what the writer was trying to say to the people to whom they were writing. We must first understand “what it meant” before we can apply “what it means to us today.” So, we have to ask the question: “What was the author trying to communicate?”
START WITH THE PLAIN AND OBVIOUS
Usually, the literal sense, or the plain and obvious meaning of the author’s words will clearly communicate the intended meaning, and that’s where we want to start. The Bible should make sense. It was written for the purpose of being read, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31). God inspired humans to write the book in human language so that ordinary, common people would see and believe in Jesus.
Other than a few sections where God chose to communicate in a unique way for a specific reason (parts of Zechariah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation), the Bible is not written in an elaborate code that requires experts to explain it to the rest of us. The message of the Bible is, at its core, a simple message of sin and grace, Law and Gospel, written so that the average person can understand. Jesus himself says: “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25). This is why we start with the plain and obvious meaning of the text.
CONTEXT IS KING
However, sometimes an author will use metaphors, illustrations, examples, or figures of speech. And those are things that take a little more work to figure out because the understanding of those things can change over time and situation.
For example, what comes to mind when I say, “That’s cool.”?
Historically, the word cool refers to the temperature of something. If something is cool, then it’s neither too hot nor too cold. That’s the literal meaning of the word cool. But over time, the word cool started to be used metaphorically to describe someone’s demeanor.
Someone who has self-control and can keep their composure in a tough situation is considered to be cool headed because they can keep their cool is a heated situation. But “That’s cool,” could also mean that I’m in agreement, or that I’m ok with the situation. I could also say “That’s cool,” when I see or hear something that I like. Cool can also be a style, and what’s considered cool depends on who’s calling it cool. Cool can be a status, and the “cool kids” even have their own table in the school cafeteria. And sometimes we just say, “That’s cool!” when something awesome happens.
In the end, this one little phrase has a nearly infinite number of meanings. So, how do you figure out what I mean when I say, “That’s cool!”?
The only way to understand what I mean is to put it into context. Was I talking about the temperature of the water coming out of the faucet? Did someone just ask if they could eat the last piece of pizza? Did I just hear a new song that I like? Or did I just win a million dollars? Unless you know the context, it’s impossible for you to understand what I meant. That’s why context is king!
In the same way, looking at the context of a Bible verse is crucial to understanding its meaning, and the context of the Bible is the Bible. We believe that the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God and the only sure and certain source of our knowledge and understanding of who God is and how he relates to people. Scripture alone is where God has revealed himself to us. And so, when we come across a difficult or unclear passage of Scripture, we need to interpret it by using other passages in the Bible whose meaning is clearer. That’s what we mean when we say that “Scripture interprets Scripture.” Or in other words, if a passage seems difficult to understand, we don’t change it to make it fit our worldview or expectations. Instead, we look to other passages in the Bible for clarity.
So, when reading the Bible, we need to ask, “What is the context here?” And “How do other passages of the Bible clarify my understanding of this passage?” And the best place to start is the text immediately surrounding what you are trying to understand. We need to look at what comes right before it and what comes right after it.
For instance, Philippians 4:13 is one of the most well-known verses in the entire Bible. It says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” This verse is often used by athletes before the big game, students before the big test, applicants before the big job interview, or any other thing that a Christian may want to achieve. And by itself when it’s separated from its context, we can interpret this to mean that Christ will give a Christian the strength and ability to achieve whatever it is that they are trying to achieve.
However, when we place this iconic verse back into its immediate context by including the two verses that come right before it, we get a clearer picture of what Paul actually meant.
Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Now we see that Paul isn’t talking about achievement, Paul’s talking about contentment. Instead of envisioning everything that Jesus can help him to accomplish, Paul is focused on the attitude of his heart in response to his circumstances, whether he likes his circumstances or not. Paul teaches us to find contentment in both the best and the worst of times because we can trust that Christ is all that we need, that Christ will give us the strength to have an attitude of gratitude and to be content with the outcome—even if we lose the big game, flunk the test, or fail to get the promotion.
The context shows us that while Philippians 4:13 is one of the most well-known Bible verses, it’s also one of the most misused and misinterpreted verses too.
However, sometimes the immediate context of a verse still doesn’t make things clear. When that happens, we can then look at the larger context of the full chapter and then the rest of the book. So for Philippians 4:13, we would first look at the entire fourth chapter, and then the rest of the Book of Philippians.
If it’s still unclear after that, then we start looking at the other books of the Bible that were written by the same author. To better understand this passage in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we can start to look at the other letters that Paul wrote like his letters to the Ephesians or the Corinthians.
If that still doesn’t clear things up, then we turn to related Scriptures in other parts of the Bible, letting Scripture interpret Scripture. When looking at other parts of the Bible, start with related Scriptures in the same Testament. If the verse you are studying is in the New Testament, then look to other verses in the New Testament, and if it’s in the Old Testament, then look at other Old Testament verses.
Once you have explored the same Testament, you can then look for related verses in the rest of the Bible. And we can do this because the entire Bible is inspired by the same Holy Spirit, and God’s truth in one book of the Bible will clarify and deepen our understanding of God’s truth in another book of the Bible.
So, to wrap it all up, when we find a particular verse or passage of the Bible to be unclear, we use Scripture to interpret Scripture by looking at other related verses in the Bible that will make it more clear. We start with the immediate context right before and after, then we look at the rest of the book, then we look at the other writings by the same author, and finally to the related passages in the rest of the Bible.
A cool trick for finding related verses is to use the cross references feature that some Bibles, Bible apps, and Bible websites have. You can use Google to find cross references. Just type “cross reference” and the Bible verse in the search bar and Google will provide many options to choose from.
But what happens when we have a question about God and the Bible that the Bible doesn’t answer? That’s when we use the next tool in our toolbox, the Hidden and Revealed God.
EXPLORE MORE
Click the link below to learn more about Scripture Interprets Scripture:
https://www.1517.org/articles/scripture-interprets-scripture-what-does-this-mean
TOOL #5
THE HIDDEN & REVEALED GOD
The hidden God is God as he lies beyond human grasp, beyond human knowing. Thus if we describe God in his hiddenness, we present a God whom we do not know, instead we present God as we imagine him to be. These depictions present God as we wish that he were… “God created in the image of man.” – Robert Kolb
When we read the Bible, we will inevitably have some questions about God that the Bible doesn’t answer. This can be a frustrating experience, but it doesn’t have to be. When we have exhausted our attempts to let Scripture interpret Scripture, and we still haven’t found the answer, we turn to the next tool in our toolkit, the Hidden and Revealed God.
The Bible is how God speaks to us; it’s how the Creator God has revealed himself to his human creatures. The Bible contains all the words from God that we need in order to know him truly, trust him fully, obey him perfectly, and enjoy him abundantly.
Peter says God has given us “everything we need for a godly life” through the knowledge available in the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:3). In the same way, Paul says, the Bible is so complete that through it we can be “thoroughly equipped for every good work”— “thoroughly” and “every,” not “partly” and “most” (2 Tim. 3:16). It doesn’t get more comprehensive.
If we’re going to boil it down, the Bible tells us everything we need to know about God to be saved, and at the center of the Bible is Jesus Christ and his work of salvation. This is the Revealed God, it’s God as he has revealed himself to us.
But there are some things about God that he has not revealed to us in the Bible, we call them the hidden things of God, or the Hidden God for short. These are things that we either don’t need to know, or that our limited human minds can’t comprehend. They are “above our pay grade."
The hidden things of God are things like: What did God do before creation? How can a good and loving God allow things like cancer? And the Trinity, how can there be One God who is also three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? etc…
GOD AND SMARTPHONES
The smartphone provides a good illustration of the Hidden and Revealed God.
Since its introduction, the smartphone has revolutionized nearly every aspect of our lives. Of course, we use them for making phone calls, but we also use them to text, email, keep our schedules, listen to music, watch videos, check the weather, and navigate to our destination, among many other things.
Smartphones are designed to be easy to use—some of us are more savvy than others—but my 5-year-old son has known how to work a smartphone for a couple of years. Since he was little, he knew how to watch his favorite videos or play his games. So, most of us know how to use a smartphone, but how many of us know how a smartphone actually works, or even what it looks like inside?
One time I broke my beloved iPhone screen and I decided to replace the screen myself. To do this, I had to open up the phone, and when I looked inside, there were thousands of tiny little parts. I have no idea how they crammed all those parts into that tiny space, much less how all those parts work together. The best I could do was to follow the directions and hope I didn’t break something. Even though I’ve seen a glimpse of the inside of my iPhone, I still have no idea how it actually works. Thankfully, I can still enjoy all of the benefits of using my iPhone without having to know how all the internal circuitry works.
How much more is it with God?
We don’t have to know how God works (Hidden God) in order to receive his promises and enjoy his gifts and blessings that he has revealed to us in the Bible.
WHEN THE BIBLE STOPS TALKING ABOUT GOD, WE STOP TALKING ABOUT GOD
The “Hidden God” is God as he lies beyond human grasp, beyond human knowing. When it comes to knowing God, we are on a “need to know basis,” and God has revealed all that we need to know about him in the Bible. The “Revealed God” is God as he presents himself to us in the Bible. He is the God who speaks to us through the Bible, and so when the Bible stops talking about God, we must stop talking about God.
Yet, we often struggle with this. There are things about God that he hasn’t revealed about himself, but we still want to know. When we come across one of these things, the temptation is to try to explain them the best way that we know how, but this is a dangerous game because there are only two options when it comes to knowledge of a divine Creator: revelation or speculation. Either he speaks, or we guess.
The problem is, if we try to describe God in his hiddenness, it’s nothing more than speculation, and we present God as we imagine him to be. Instead of us being created in the image of God, we create a God in our own image. We create God as we wish him to be.
We create a God who is largely a reflection of our own feelings, shortcomings, and fears. We create a God that we can comprehend and wrap our minds around—a God that we can control. But there is no comfort in a God like that. Any god that I can fully comprehend or control is much too small of a god for me.
So, when we come across one of these hidden things of God, what do we do?
When the Bible stops talking about God, we must stop talking about God, and we simply say, “I don’t know. God hasn’t revealed that to us, but this is what I do know…” And then we turn to the Revealed God, the things about God that we can be certain of because he has revealed them to us in the Bible, and ultimately, everything that we need to know about God is found in Jesus.
I have to be honest, there’s a lot of freedom in being able to say, “I don’t know.” It frees us to focus on the things that we do know instead of getting caught in a never-ending spiral of “what if’s” and speculations.
Right before Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus answered them by telling them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
What Jesus is saying is that we are on a “need to know basis.” There are some things about God that we need to know, such as, God created the universe and everything in it, including human creatures. We need to know that God desires all people to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). We need to know that God sent Jesus to save us through his death and resurrection…
But, like the disciples found out, there are other things that we don’t need to know, such as when God will restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6), or the exact time when Jesus will return (Matt. 25:1-13; Mark 13:24-32; Luke 11:40; 1 Thess. 5:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:10). Yet, there are still people who spend their entire lives and careers trying to peer into the hidden things of God in order to predict the exact moment that Jesus will return. They go through the Book of Revelation looking for some hidden code, even though God told us, multiple times, that we won’t know the exact time. What part of, “It’s not for you to know,” do they not understand?
In fact, every false teaching that has ever arisen in the church has been a result of people trying to peer into the hidden things of God and explain things that we can never comprehend because our perspective is like looking at the Grand Canyon through a pinhole. Instead, the false teachers should have stopped talking about God when the Bible stopped talking about God and turned to the things that God has revealed to us.
THE REVEALED GOD
A good place to turn to find a summary of the Revealed God is the Apostles’ Creed.
Everything in the Creed comes directly from the Bible, and it’s a great summary of who God is, and it’s pretty easy to memorize. These are the things about God that you can always hold on to:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
I was challenged to summarize the message of the Bible in 300 words. It’s pretty difficult to condense the 66 books of the Bible into 300 words, but I managed to get it down to exactly 300 words. Of course, there is more to it than could be captured in 300 words, but this is the basic salvation narrative:
In the beginning, the all-powerful, personal God created the universe. This God created human beings in his image to live in a trusting relationship with himself, joyfully in his presence, in humble submission to his gracious authority. But human creatures broke the relationship with God when we rebelled and failed to trust Him above all things, and, in consequence, must suffer the punishment of our rebellion: physical death and eternal punishment.
Thankfully, God initiated a rescue plan, which began with his choosing the people of Israel to display his glory in a fallen world. The Bible describes how God acted mightily on Israel’s behalf, rescuing his people from slavery and then giving them his holy Law. But God’s people – like all of us – continually failed to trust in God above all things. Yet, God never abandoned his people.
God is a loving God whose will is not for us to live in eternal punishment. So, in the fullness of time, in the Person of Jesus Christ, God himself came to restore his people into a right relationship with himself. Jesus became our substitute when he perfectly obeyed God’s Law, and innocently suffered the consequences of human rebellion through his death on a cross. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. All of this was done on our behalf, so that by grace, through faith in Jesus, we receive a restored relationship with God.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, God sent his Holy Spirit to call us to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, keep us in the one true faith, and equip us for living out our faith until Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead when all who are in right relationship with God through faith in Jesus as Savior will have eternal life in heaven.
In summary, when the Bible stops talking about God, we stop talking about God, and we simply say, “I don’t know, that is the Hidden God.” Then we turn to the things of God that we know for certain because he has revealed them to us in the Bible.
TOOL #6
TWO KINDS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS/ RELATIONSHIPS
Law and gospel remind us that Christians always fall short of God’s will and are saved solely by God’s grace. The two kinds of righteousness remind God’s people that they cannot work to merit God’s favor or love, but that righteousness is given freely, and that they are called to live holy lives in the world for the sake of others. — Jordan Cooper, Hands of Faith
The final tool in our Toolkit for Reading the Bible is the Two Kinds of Righteousness, or 2KR for short. 2KR is closely related Law & Gospel. Law & Gospel helps us to distinguish between the passages of Scripture that tell us what we should do or should not do for God and others (Law), and the passages that tell us what God has done, will do, and promises to do unconditionally for us who failed (Gospel). The 2KR paradigm helps us to clarify and apply Law & Gospel and the role of faith and good works in our everyday relationships—with God as His forgiven children, and with other people and the world around us.
The word “righteousness” simply means being in a right relationship. Our lives are built around relationships. We have relationships with our parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and many others. Among our different kinds of relationships in the world, there are two fundamental categories: our relationship with God, and our relationship with other human creatures. These two different relationships define our life in this world, and both of these relationships work in very different ways. What makes us righteous before God is very different than what makes us righteous before our neighbor.
FAITH OR GOOD WORKS?
In order to really answer the question, you have to consider what you are asking. Are you asking which is necessary? In that case, the answer is both.
Are you asking which is necessary in order to be considered right with God? In that case, the answer is faith. You are made righteous before God solely by faith in the finished work of Christ (Rom. 4:2-5 ff).
But what if you are considering what makes you right with your neighbor?
Are you righteous in the eyes of your neighbor based on your faith in Jesus? Or does righteousness in your relationships with others depend on the work that you do? In your relationships with friends, family, and coworkers, righteousness might be considered as something that depends on our work.
Throughout the scriptures we can see a distinction in two kinds of righteousness. There is a righteousness that comes solely from the work of Christ. It describes our standing before God. And there is a righteousness that comes in our relationship with our neighbor.
The righteousness we have before God is completely passive. It’s not our doing, it’s all God. And the righteousness we have before our neighbor is active. It relies on our own work.
One of my teachers said it this way:
What is meant by two kinds of human righteousness?…One dimension involves our life with God, especially in the matters of death and salvation. The other dimension involves our life with God's creatures and our activity in this world. In the former, (our life with God) we receive righteousness before God through faith on account of Christ. In the latter, (our life with God’s creatures) we achieve righteousness in the eyes of the world by works when we carry out our God-given responsibilities.
— Charles Arand, Lutheran Quarterly
What’s the difference between Passive and Active Righteousness?
PASSIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS/VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP
When it comes to the righteousness we have before God, it rests solely on the work of Christ. Jesus declared, “It is finished.” We are completely passive in our relationship with God, powerless to do what only God can do. This means we can’t achieve it, we can only receive it.
Passive righteousness is the VERTICAL relationship (see chart) between God and human creatures. God does the work. The only contribution that humans bring into this equation is sin. This is a righteousness that is alien. This does not mean that it’s from outer space, but rather, it is completely outside of ourselves.
This alien righteousness, instilled in us without our works by grace alone—while the Father, to be sure, inwardly draws us to Christ—is set opposite original sin, which is also alien to us, because original sin is something that we are born with rather than something that we do. Christ daily drives out the old Adam more and more in accordance with the extent to which faith and knowledge of Christ grow. — Martin Luther
This is why Romans describes human creatures by saying, “No one is righteous - not even one.”
Before God, no human by their own actions is made righteous. And so we can say that God doesn’t need our good works. Because our righteousness in the vertical realm doesn’t come from anything we do, but only from God’s action towards us.
ACTIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS/HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIPS
Even though God doesn’t need our good works, our neighbor certainly does.
In our HORIZONTAL relationships (see chart), our righteousness is not passive, it is active. We not only have a relationship with our creator (passive righteousness), but we also have relationships with our neighbors. In our relationships with the world around us, God calls us to be active serving the world around us.
We RECEIVE our righteousness before God, but we achieve our righteousness with our neighbor.
Active righteousness is what we do in our communities, our neighborhoods, our families, and our jobs. Active righteousness is where we fulfill our God-given vocations.
The passive righteousness we have received freely through faith; active righteousness requires that we serve those around us in the places that God places us.
WHY THIS DISTINCTION MATTERS?
A proper understanding of these two kinds of righteousness is important so that we do not confuse the two.
If we confuse the two and think that active righteousness establishes our relationship with God, we will trust in ourselves for salvation. Instead of relying solely on God in the vertical relationship, we will find ourselves relying on our own ability to follow the commandments or serve our neighbors, and we will inevitably fail.
If we confuse the two and think that passive righteousness carries over from our vertical relationship into our horizontal relationships, we will end up ignoring the needs of our neighbors. When we ignore active righteousness, we ignore our callings to our family, to our communities, and in our careers.
Instead, we need to see these two kinds of righteousness clearly. In our relationship with God, we are recipients. We, like beggars, receive the gifts that only God can give. And in relationship with the world, we actively seek to do good and serve our neighbors. And these two kinds of righteousness, while distinct, are also deeply connected.
Our passive righteousness inspires our active righteousness. Because we are free from having to earn our salvation, we are also free to do good for our neighbors.
We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. Good works will follow. The righteousness that comes passively through faith always flows out into an active righteousness that loves the neighbor.
(Adapted from RJ Grunewald, Two Kinds of Righteousness)
EXPLORE MORE
Click the link below to learn more to learn more about the Two Kinds of Righteousness/Relationships:
The Two Kinds of Righteousness – Wikipedia
Video: Two Kinds of Righteousness with Matt Peeples