Man Refuses to Believe.

The other problem is a faith issue. It is not that man cannot understand and believe; it is that he will not believe. The indictment of Jesus against the religious but unbelieving people of His times was, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).

But the person who will hear, and desires to understand, and will believe what he understands from the Bible will be able to know the Bible. God has given us His Spirit to aid in comprehension. David’s prayer for understanding—“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law”—is always important for us to pray before studying the Bible (Psalms 119:18).

 

Rules For Interpretation

There are rules whereby you can “rightly divide the word of God.” Some of these rules are actually found in the Bible. However, a great many of them are simple hermeneutical (laws of interpretation) devices used to interpret any type or kind of literature. Words have meaning. Unless the author was writing in a state of mental instability, he intended his words to have a cohesive meaning. Why then should the Bible be handled differently? Is God communicating to mankind or not? If He is, then He must do so in a way that man customarily interprets words. The Lord must communicate words by attaching the same meaning to words that man does. Therefore, human principles of interpreting words are applicable to the Bible.