August 18, 2019 PM
Dr. Michael Catt - 1916
#2 in series
The Living Bible
Can Someone Help Me Interpret the Bible? (part 1)
2 Timothy 2:15
OVERVIEW
Many people are scared of their Bibles. They aren't condent to read and study the Word on their own, and Scripture rarely comes alive in their hearts because, sadly, most of what they've learned about the Bible has come second-hand. In this series, we are going to dig into the Word and learn how to read it, study it, and apply it to our lives. You will gain practical and valuable tools to make the Word leap off the page and ll your life with the joy of discovering its living truth for yourself. In the last message, we laid a foundation for how the Bible was written, why it is unique, and why we should study it. Now we’ll begin building on that foundation with skills for observation and interpretation.
For further study, this series is available online at sherwoodbaptist.net/messages.
I. THE NECESSITY OF DILIGENCE
Paul's warning here is his second one regarding false teaching and teachers. Contrary to those who pervert the truth, Timothy is to be diligent to preserve the truth.
A) The Bible Demands Diligent Study
This rules out:
“Nobody ever mastered the Bible by occasionally opening it and reading a random verse or two. Nobody ever mastered it by listening to someone else preach, no matter how gifted that person might be. The only way to master this Book is to study it as diligently as a doctor studies medicine or as an astronomer studies the stars.” – John Phillips
B) The Bible Declares Itself As God’s Revelation
Revelation is a revealing of something that I could not know otherwise, the removing of blinders or a veil so that what was once hidden is now revealed.
Because it is the revelation of God, it is:
“God superintended the human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded, without error, His revelation to man in the words of the original manuscripts.” – Charles Ryrie
“It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological nds have been made which conrm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible.” – Nelson Glueck
“Our belief in the infallibility of Scripture arises not from an ability to prove that Scripture is perfect from start to nish. Rather it rests on Jesus' own witness to Scripture. He believed and taught that it was the Word of God and therefore inherently trustworthy. Our belief in Scripture is dependent on our belief in Jesus.” – Peter C. Moore
II. THE NECESSITY OF ACCURACY
The rules and principles that Ron Dunn used in interpreting a passage of Scripture:
1) The Bible as the Word of God is our __
Tests for Old Testament Canonicity:
1) Authorship: written by a prophet or prophetically gifted person – Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings were prophetic to the Hebrews
2) Audience: written to all generations – universal application
3) Accord: written in accord with previous revelation – must not contradict the revelation of God to a people at a former time
Tests for New Testament Canonicity:
1) Reected apostolic authorship – written by Jesus' handpicked followers, the apostles, or their aides
2) Bore evidence of rst-century origin
3) Contained the apostolic message of the true gospel of Christ
2) The primary theme of revelation __.
The Gnostic had their own books. Heretics produced their own books. Paul specically instructed Timothy to stick to the Scriptures.
1)
2)
3)
“Our goal is to grasp the meaning of the text God has intended. We do not create meaning out of a text; rather, we seek to nd the meaning that is already there.” – Duvall & Hayes, Grasping God’s Word
The Interpretive Journey
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Step 4: