We should all arrive at the same understanding of the Bible, because there is only one understanding, because it’s from one Spirit (God’s Spirit), there is only one truth. It should not be possible to have multiple interpretations of the truth, it should be understood in one way – the true way. If some passage does sound like it could be interpreted into many ways, make sure it’s not an opinion and best to leave it without interpretation and ask God to reveal the truth.
Bible commentators, pastors, teachers, come to different conclusions for many reasons, but it must be pride or lust that makes them end up there. Why and how? If God revealed something to a scholar and he wrote a book, here is a chance that person now wants to write another book because the publisher wants him to, because the first book was hard to write but subsequent books are easier due to experience, (and the person writes whether God directs or not), because if the person has answers people go to that person for answers to things that are outside of his revelation and the person must find an answer to stay competent and people sometimes ask questions for which no clear answer exists in this life, as purposed by God! (but people still attempt to answer and end up lost) People depart from dependency on God to receive revelation, and start using logic and approach Bible as a puzzle, rather than God inspired and Holy Spirit interpreted Word. And because Bible is logical and interprets itself in many cases, they succeed, and they don’t need God anymore, they don’t need the step-by-step guidance from God on every little detail because they have experience, they don’t need God to allow them to take a verse and apply it, they just take the verse and apply it where they see, as it fits in their opinion or their interpretation, without asking God if He indeed put the verse in the particular situation to fit – it just seems to fit to the interpreter or a commentator (and a multitude of translations, and a multitude of “original greek word meaning”, and commentaries, and the rest – helps the verse fit in some way, even if it’s not a God-inspired of God-directed fit).
How to not get lost? Humility is the answer. Dying to self is the answer. Waiting on God as long as it takes is the answer. If God is not revealing, then I will not pursue it, I will not come up with an answer, I will not search the answer relentlessly (because I will find some answer, without the guarantee that it’s from God). Instead I will patiently and humbly wait on God. I will not be tempted to see God in fire, thunder, or earthquake (the usual expressions of God in Old Testament), I will not be tempted to see God where I expect and am used to seeing Him, or where I want to see Him. I will wait for God to show Himself when He wants to show Himself and in the form He chooses. It can be a burning bush, or a talking donkey, or a voice, or a light, or a spontaneous though that lights up my mind, or none of these or all of these – God’s Spirit chooses where to go, and when, and in what form, we are not the ones to tell Him.
Blessed and rewarded are those who wait upon the Lord. Blessed and rewarded are those that hear what God actually speaks, not what they want to hear, because they know His voice. Blessed are those that know there is only one truth and not a multitude of revelations and opinions, and who know that God holds the truth. Jesus is the truth, one truth, the only truth.
Jesus didn’t depart from a sound doctrine or from His assignment from God. He didnt have strange views, He didnt misinterpret the Bible of His time. Why? Because He did nothing from Himself, He only did what His Father told him to do, He was humble and stayed humble (Matthew 11:29, John 5:19). He spoke with His Father regularly (Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46, Luke 6:12, …) and waited on His Father. This enabled Him to stay faithful and not veer off with a denomination. You may say, well, He did start a denomination, the first Church. Yes, the Only Church, His own Body, and only because of His full trust and connection with God, and clearly without His own initiative, but under Father’s guidance. And apostles picked it up and took it further, without having their own interpretation or denomination.
Paul says that he is humble and timid when he is in person (2 Corinthians 10:1), but people knew he was bold in his writing. He probably was humble as a person, but his writing is from God, it is God’s Word, so that is what was powerful to the point that people imagined this intimidating man in their minds (we do that), but he was just a guy, a tentmaker, a traveling preacher who got beat up and thrown out a lot (that humbles one too). The humility allowed him to retain sound doctrine till the end, and he didn’t make stuff up, he didn’t interpret things, he just conveyed the message from God. God said that His power works best in weakness, that is why Paul had a thorn in his flesh. Again, humility. And in humility Paul didnt get lost and didnt open another denomination or another interpretation, and he was kept in check by others! (Acts 17:11).
Ravi Zacharias, did he retain the correct course till the end? Did he speak a sound doctrine? Did he leave the path that God gave him to pursue his own interpretations and create a Ravi denomination? Not as far as I can tell! And the way he spoke was in humility, navigating different listeners, navigating different views and opinions – but in the end he speaks the Bible, God’s truth. I dont hear him saying things like “I think” or “I say” or similar, he usually quotes the Bible or the others. Ravi didn’t preach Ravi or Ravi’s interpretations. There are others who retained their walk with God. But there are those who started with God but ended full of themselves (Luther started with a revelation and ended with antisemitism and other odd things, and there is a Lutheran denomination now).
Stay with God, stay in God. Dont interpret the Bible, but ask God to reveal the Bible and its meaning and application. Dont relentlessly seek an interpretation, but rather relentlessly seek God who will give you the truth and the application, the “rhema”-word that you can take and run with, that you can apply in your life, so you dont run around with promises that you try to claim, which are not yours. Run to God and patiently wait for Him to give you what He decides, in the time He decides, and in the measure that He decides.
Amen.