Understanding the Deeper Things in Scripture

Is the Bible is easy to understand or difficult?

You might have answered, “Both,” and I would agree. Some material in the Bible is so simple that it is difficult to misunderstand. Who could possibly misunderstand the Golden Rule: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12).

The Apostle Peter warned: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:7). Easy to understand.

When faced with people who are difficult to get along with, the Golden Rule might be difficult to apply, though still easy to understand. Biblical teachings about God’s final judgment may seem like fantasy, and therefore unbelievable to some, but still, they are not difficult to understand.

So, one might say that most of the Bible is easy enough to understand, yet it can be a challenge to apply. (Some people do not want to apply biblical teachings.) Some people choose not to believe the easily understood teachings of the Bible. Ultimately, the challenge is not as much the ability to understand, but the choice of belief and the willingness to apply.

Then, of course, not everything in the Bible is easily understood, and the reasons are several.

Wording used in the Bible may be ambiguous. For example, Peter spoke of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Did he mean that the Holy Spirit is the gift or that the Holy Spirit is the one giving the gift? Consulting the Greek text will not settle the question.

Sometimes people are simply not good Bible students. In Hebrews 12:17 the writer refers to Esau, the brother of Jacob, who forfeited his father’s blessing. The word order in the Greek text, as reflected in English translations, seems to indicate that Esau was not allowed to repent even though he “sought for it with tears.” However, by going back to the original event in Genesis 27:30-40 it is very clear that Esau wept for his father’s blessing but was refused. He was not refused repentance.

Sometimes terminology or concepts presented in Scripture are culturally foreign. The first verse of John’s gospel refers to “the word” which was with God in the beginning. Though John later identifies “the word” as Jesus, that term is packed with theological meaning of the religious culture of that day.

Even Peter acknowledged that some things written by Paul were “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). Yet, that is not the same as impossible to understand. It is enlightening that Peter explained further by saying that those who are untaught and unstable distort Paul’s teachings “as they also do the rest of the Scriptures.”

So, what is all this about?

First, when God spoke and the Spirit of God inspired the writing of Scripture, there was meaning. God intended for man to understand. God intentionally communicated something to us!

Second, we possess the written record of the communication of our Creator. That IS important. It is important that we read it; it is important that we understand it; it is important that we believe it and apply it.

To avoid being untaught and unstable (literally, not grounded), one must first wholeheartedly embrace and apply those things that are easily understood. Only then can he/she move on to maturity and toward a deeper understanding of the more challenging things in Scripture.

Mark Stinnett

May 15, 2022