Topic: To Avoid Error – Have The Right Interpretation Of
The Scripture (7)
Continued from last episode-
Preamble: There is obvious gross interpretation of the
Scripture as a result of the way and manner the Scripture has been studied and
read. The inappropriate studying and reading of the Scripture has led to wrong
interpretation of the Scripture and that has resulted into wrong application of
what the Scripture says.
Anchor Text:
“And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the
prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?”
Acts 8:30
Text of Interest:
“But ye have not so learned Christ;”
Ephesians 4:20
Another important thing to take into consideration while
studying the Scripture is that the Scripture is written in the form of flow of
thought and therefore, there was no verses, punctuations, paragraphs and
chapters in the original manuscripts. The chapters, verses and paragraphs in
the English translation have helped to create much error in the understanding
of the Scripture. Evidence has shown that flipping through the pages of the
Scripture it is easy to detect that some line of thoughts from a previous chapter
can be found in the next chapter. And if one tends to lift a particular verse
without the understanding of the previous verse, the tendency for committing
error is unavoidable. Let’s see an example of what I am saying below.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1
If one quotes or uses the verse above without coalescing
it with the previous verses which is in the previous chapter, such a one will
definitely enter into error. Because Romans 8:1 was declared because of the
statement made in the previous two verses which are,
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So
then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of
sin.”
Romans 7:24-25.
Another thing we should also observe while studying the
Scripture is that God used many individuals to communicate His thought or mind
to the world but while these individuals are communicating these messages they
equally expressed their mentality, disposition and educational/knowledge
background in it. This is so because individuals from virtually all walks of
life wrote the Scripture and the input of their profession are somehow felt in
their writings as they try to communicate the truth. So in studying a particular
book in the Bible is advisable for one to also have background knowledge of who
the writer is. It helps to understand the tempo of his flow of thought as he
writes. Now, the message(s) is from God to the world but sometimes, it is given
to a particular individual or people, and therefore, if one is studying is
better to understand the message the writer is trying to communicate and to
whom he’s communicating the message to. This can help the reader to be able to
dissect or decipher properly the message and then know how to apply it
especially in teaching people. What I am trying to say here is that in the
Scripture, there are messages to the whole world, and there are messages to the
Jews only, and there are messages to the Christians only. Any attempt to
misplace these messages will definitely amount to error.
And no one can
ascertain the truth in error.
To be continued…..
Till I come your way again, keep on basking in the Arena
of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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