DarkProphet posted in message #5 of this thread:
The problem is this, because they can interpret the Bible however
they want Christians are free to do these things and more without
fear of guilt.
Actually, Christians can't interpret the Bible however they want;
every wrong interpretation of one verse in the Bible will almost
always be contradicted by another verse in the Bible. For example,
take the following verses: "For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest
any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:7-8). A very common
misinterpretation of these verses is that Christians do not need to
do any works to be saved in the end. But this misinterpretation is
contradicted by many other verses, for just two examples: "Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21); "Ye see then how that by
works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:24).
So then what are we to make of Ephesians 2:7-8? Well, we know
that what it means cannot contradict what Matthew 7:21 and
James 2:24 mean, for "All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine" (2 Timothy 3:16). So all three
passages have to be true at the same time. The answer is that
Ephesians 2:7-8 is only referring to our initial salvation: God does
not choose to give us the gift of faith based on our prior works:
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5). But once we are saved, we
do need to actually obey God and perform good works if we want
to be saved in the end, for (as we saw in a post above) God "will
render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by
patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and
immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and
wrath" (Romans 2:6-8).
So the Bible itself will almost always correct any misinterpretation
of it. But this requires that we actually know everything that the
Bible teaches, every last word of the Bible: "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God" (Matthew 4:4). If we just know a handful of verses in the
Bible which we like and which we are misinterpreting, we will never
come into a true understanding of those verses. We have to
compare all verses in the Bible regarding a subject with all other
verses in the Bible regarding that same subject, and come up with a
synthesis of what they all together are saying about that subject:
"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn
from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a
little" (Isaiah 28:9-10); "Which things also we speak, not in the
words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Corinthians
2:13). If all of us Christians will do this, we will all arrive at the same,
correct interpretation of the Bible. The problem is, most of us
Christians couldn't be bothered to perform such a detailed study
and comparison of every word in the Bible. We would rather use our
free time watching television and playing video games; we would
rather take it easy and never have to be "weaned from the milk, and
drawn from the breasts" of whatever our favorite preachers tell us
and whatever our favorite (misinterpreted) handful of verses say.
This is because we Christians remain fallible. But the Word of God
itself nonetheless remains perfectly infallible, and will outlast all of
our silly discord: "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man
as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof
falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:24-25).
One must take one's eyes off of fallible men of flesh, and all of their
discord, and instead focus one's eyes on God's Word itself, the Holy
Bible: "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,
which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be
perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
Of course, this assumes that we are men of God, for only men of God
will actually read the Bible and believe what it says: "He that is of
God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye
are not of God" (John 8:47); "the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned"
(1 Corinthians 2:14). But if one is of God, and one continues to read
the Bible even when one doesn't understand all of it, God will
eventually grant one his gift of faith, for "faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17); "and as many as
were
ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48).