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Rightly dividing the Word
- Thread starter cactusj
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It means "properly handling" the Word by "trying the things that differ"...cactusj said:
Things that are different are not the same.
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RED that's ME
*~*God *IS* Love*~*
2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) Study to show thyself approved unto God , a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
This verse is a call to study in order that you may handle correctly God's Word. Let's look at the context of this verse. Paul is writing to his son in the faith, Timothy. Chapter two is a call to faithful service in the midst of tremendous opposition.
2 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV) You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:3-6 (NKJV) You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops.
The soldier, the athlete, and the farmer all need endurance. In verses 11-13 we have a "faithful saying" -- this expression is used five times in the Pastoral Epistles and nowhere else.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
We should be ashamed to teach anything other than the truth of Scripture. Anyone who misrepresents, misinterprets, or detracts from God's Word has cause to be ashamed. This verse tells us how to avoid being ashamed, and how to be approved. The KJV says to "study." The NKJV says "be diligent," the Greek word is spoudazo . It is a word used of a workman meaning to endeavor or exert oneself. It is a call for maximum effort. We are to apply maximum effort to "present yourself approved to God." The word "present," is the Greek word paristemi, it means to stand beside. You want to be able to stand alongside God as approved. Approved is the Greek word dokimos. It means one who has been put to the test and measures up, thus winning the approval of the one testing him, who is God. His goal is not to please men, but God. Paul put it this way in:
Galatians 1:10 (NKJV) For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NKJV) But as we have been approved by G od to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
We must form our theology, what we believe about God, from our exegesis. And when Scripture doesn't agree with your theology, change your theology, don't twist the text to fit into your theology.
Why do we need all these rules? Why can't we just read the Bible and understand it? I'll tell you why, it is because when you open the Bible, you are immediately transported into a world that is very different from your everyday world.
It is full of strange customs, language, thought patterns, and history . Opening these pages sets you down in a different world, time, and culture. To understand what is being said you have to apply the rules of hermeneutics, you have to do some work.
Believers, this is God's Word. The Supreme Sovereign of the universe has given to us His Word. We must make every effort to interpret it correctly, accurately, that we may stand approved. Yes, it is work, hard work, but it's well worth it. The study of the Bible is not beyond any Christian, it is a matter of spending time in it, reading it, studying it, praying over it. We need to overcome our laziness and make time for learning about our God and what he expects from us. If the average salesman knew as much about his product as the average Christian knows about the Bible he would starve to death.
source: http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/topical/rightly_dividing.htm
This verse is a call to study in order that you may handle correctly God's Word. Let's look at the context of this verse. Paul is writing to his son in the faith, Timothy. Chapter two is a call to faithful service in the midst of tremendous opposition.
2 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV) You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:3-6 (NKJV) You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops.
The soldier, the athlete, and the farmer all need endurance. In verses 11-13 we have a "faithful saying" -- this expression is used five times in the Pastoral Epistles and nowhere else.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
We should be ashamed to teach anything other than the truth of Scripture. Anyone who misrepresents, misinterprets, or detracts from God's Word has cause to be ashamed. This verse tells us how to avoid being ashamed, and how to be approved. The KJV says to "study." The NKJV says "be diligent," the Greek word is spoudazo . It is a word used of a workman meaning to endeavor or exert oneself. It is a call for maximum effort. We are to apply maximum effort to "present yourself approved to God." The word "present," is the Greek word paristemi, it means to stand beside. You want to be able to stand alongside God as approved. Approved is the Greek word dokimos. It means one who has been put to the test and measures up, thus winning the approval of the one testing him, who is God. His goal is not to please men, but God. Paul put it this way in:
Galatians 1:10 (NKJV) For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NKJV) But as we have been approved by G od to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
We must form our theology, what we believe about God, from our exegesis. And when Scripture doesn't agree with your theology, change your theology, don't twist the text to fit into your theology.
Why do we need all these rules? Why can't we just read the Bible and understand it? I'll tell you why, it is because when you open the Bible, you are immediately transported into a world that is very different from your everyday world.
It is full of strange customs, language, thought patterns, and history . Opening these pages sets you down in a different world, time, and culture. To understand what is being said you have to apply the rules of hermeneutics, you have to do some work.
Believers, this is God's Word. The Supreme Sovereign of the universe has given to us His Word. We must make every effort to interpret it correctly, accurately, that we may stand approved. Yes, it is work, hard work, but it's well worth it. The study of the Bible is not beyond any Christian, it is a matter of spending time in it, reading it, studying it, praying over it. We need to overcome our laziness and make time for learning about our God and what he expects from us. If the average salesman knew as much about his product as the average Christian knows about the Bible he would starve to death.
source: http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/topical/rightly_dividing.htm
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I could have swore that that i have already posted on this topiccactusj said:
anyhow here is my answer: It means dividing th Bible according to revealed truth. The basic example is the division of the Bible into two testaments, Old and New. These can be further divided into (seven) dispensations whereby God has dealt differently with different individuals or groups. e.g. the dispensations of Law and Spirit/Grace. Scofield wrote a book entiled Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth which sets out beautifully what it means.
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