As Christians, where does our understanding of the faith come from? Why, Scripture, of course! Yet, how often do we hear people arguing about what a particular verse means? We are saved by our faith in Jesus, no more, no less. Yet, our understanding of God’s Word is critical for understanding our faith. The fancy academic term for the study, understanding, and explanation of Scripture is “hermeneutics,” but it is as important in our daily lives as it is in the hallowed halls of academia. With so many people writing and arguing about each word, it can quickly become overwhelming. My goal today is to give you some of the basic tools you need to make sure you are correctly understanding God’s Word.

Blocks to Properly Understanding Scripture

If we want to focus on correctly understanding God’s Word, we must start by admitting the barriers that we face. Some of these barriers come from our culture, some come from within ourselves, and some come from Scripture itself. Let’s examine these barriers.

The first obstacle we face, of course, is the Bible itself. It was not written in English for today’s readers. It was given to ancient people who lived in a world very different from ours, and in a language few people (if any!) use today. The first thing we need to do, then, is deal with the linguistic and cultural barriers.

Much of the work to overcome the language barriers has already been done for us as teams of translators pored over the original texts. They have worked faithfully and tirelessly to give us the Bible to read in our own languages. Did you know, however, that translation itself is interpretation? Many words in Hebrew and Greek do not have direct translations into English. Many more words have multiple meanings. The very act of translation requires that people make choices about what words they use and how to phrase them.

Many people choose a single translation and don’t look elsewhere. Comparing different versions, however, can give us added depth and understanding. Just because two translators come up with different wording does not mean that either of them is incorrect. An even better approach (for those who have the opportunity) would be to study the original languages themselves. While there are few with the time, energy, or money to spend years learning these now-dead languages, there are many tools at our disposal. Interlinear Bibles (Bibles that show the original language right next to the translation and notes) provide some insight for us. Many study Bibles will include these notes as well. Online tools can help us examine the original language.

We must also gain at least a partial understanding of the cultural context of the original recipients of God’s Word. This will provide deep insights into how it would have been heard and understood in the ancient world and can influence our understanding even today.

Nobody reads Scripture in a vacuum. No matter how much we attempt to dismiss our preconceptions, we all study from a given perspective. Sometimes, this perspective comes from our religious traditions. If you were raised in a church, you will automatically have theological presumptions about God that will color your understanding of Scripture.

Each of us has biases and beliefs that influence our understanding. We can never rid ourselves of these influences, but we must at least be aware of them and the ways they will affect our interpretations. Scripture must be approached with humility. While the Bible is inerrant, we are not.

God’s Word Is Divine

Now that we’ve looked at the potential roadblocks we face, and have begun to work our way around them, let us look at the fundamental tools we can apply to our study.

We start by realizing that the Bible is God’s Word to us. Every step in the process should include a moment to look at our work and ask what it reveals about God and His dealing with humankind. This message will be central to every text, though not always obvious. God’s Word is not primarily a collection of stories about what has already happened; it is God’s revelation to us about who He is. An example could be the story from Genesis 22. Many people are disgusted (and rightfully so!) because God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son on an altar. If this story were simply a tale of God’s command and Abraham’s obedience, we would learn very little of import from it. When we take the time to ask what we learn about God from this story, we can learn some important lessons.

God demands obedience from faith. He never told Abraham why He asked this, just as He seldom gives us a reason he asks obedience from us. He simply wants us to follow him in faith as Abraham did.

God has a plan for us that we cannot see. When we get to the end of the story, we realize that God never intended for Isaac to die. From beginning to end, God used this to teach Abraham that God Himself will provide.

God’s promises are sure! Even though it appeared to Abraham that God was taking His promise for a great nation away (Isaac was his only heir after all), this promise was still sure. Abraham’s faith would be rewarded.

Context is Key

Often you will hear people pulling a single verse out of the Bible to argue their point. The problem is that once you compare that verse to other parts of Scripture, their argument quickly falls apart. Every word in Scripture appears in a specific context that we must examine to understand what it means. Context can refer to several things. Are we talking about the Historical Context? The Literary Context? The Cultural Context? When we examine any verse or section, we should examine all of the above and more.

We mentioned previously the importance of understanding the culture that originally received God’s Word. How can we, for example, understand God’s word to the Hebrews as they were entering the Promised Land if we don’t understand the people who already lived in the land? Likewise, how can we correctly interpret Paul’s letters to the Corinthians without understanding the challenges the church in Corinth was facing? Paul wrote to them because of a specific problem at a specific time. If we isolate our understanding from Paul’s motivation for writing the letter, we will draw out an understanding that neither Paul nor God intended.

Literary Context

Literary context is also important. By this, I point to two separate issues. The first is Genre. When we read Scripture, we should take the time to notice what type of literature we are examining. The Psalms were written as songs. They are prayers filled with a variety of imagery. They should not be read in the same way we would read the historical book of 1 Kings. Most of the New Testament is a collection of letters addressed to a specific church at a specific time for a specific reason. We should not read them in the same way we would read the symbolically prophetic book of Revelation.

The other thing I refer to when I talk about literary context is how each passage relates to the rest of Scripture. Often, we come across Scriptures that feel like they contradict other passages. When this happens, we should realize that while God’s Word is perfect, our understanding of it is not. We should work to resolve any perceived discrepancies and, in so doing, deepen our understanding of God’s message to us.

The first step is to compare the verse we struggle with to the rest of the chapter that contains it. What is the primary topic of this chapter? Does my understanding of this verse make sense in that context? Then expand your view to the entire book and ask the same questions. Beyond that, we examine other writings by the same human author. For example, Paul spends much of his time talking about Christian freedom. He makes it clear we are saved, not by anything we do, but by what Jesus has done. Would it make any sense for us to interpret anything he says as creating a new rule we must follow?

God’s Word Never Changes

If we truly believe that God’s Word is infallible (and why would we be spending so much time studying it if it were not?!), we must accept that any perceived discrepancies are the fault of our understanding, not of God’s Word. If we rely on the meanings being different between two parts of Scripture, we argue that, for some reason, God must have changed his mind between then and now. But Scripture itself testifies that God’s Word never changes.

We sometimes hear the adage that “Scripture interprets Scripture.” That is exactly what this means. Whenever we try to force a part of Scripture to mean what we want it to mean, it will inevitably violate another part. We must work to understand each part of Scripture based on what else we find in the Bible.

A Practical Understanding

No matter how much work we put into understanding God’s Word, it is of no use to us unless we learn to apply it to our lives. The final step in studying the Bible is to determine how to put it into practice. As we diligently seek to interpret Scripture, we should ask ourselves this ultimate question. “What does this mean to me?”

Jesus tells us that:

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and its collapse was great” (Matthew 7:26–27).

Ultimately, this is the purpose of all our Bible study. To learn what God has to tell us and what these timeless truths have to say about our lives today.

Reliance on the Holy Spirit

The good news for us is that we don’t need to rely on our own abilities for this understanding. Nor can we. Since God is infinite and we are mortal, we are, therefore, unable to fully grasp the mind of God. But God sent us a Helper. The night before Jesus was crucified, He provided this encouragement to His disciples:

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:12–15)

God’s Word is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, and so is proper understanding. If we seek to know God’s Word to us, the Holy Spirit will testify to Him and disclose to us how it is supposed to be understood. Without the Holy Spirit, we will never learn to properly interpret God’s Word, so we must let the Holy Spirit work within us to glorify Christ and lead us to enlightenment.