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There are many views going around in the world today about what the Bible says; if someone holds a certain view on something in the Bible, someone else may well hold an opposite view. But only some of these views can be correct at the same time, which leaves us with the sad fact that some people are incorrectly interpreting the Scripture. Probably no one actually decides, “I am going to incorrectly interpret the Scripture.” So people who are misinterpreting it do not necessarily know what they are doing. Does the Bible itself give us any information on how to avoid this problem?

I would like to mention two specific passages that may give us some understanding on this crucial issue.

The first is 2 Peter 1:19-21: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Here Peter shows us that it is not acceptable simply to interpret the Scriptures however we want to. Each Scripture was written by someone to communicate something to us. Once our neighbor commented, “Your dog is ugly! It’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen!” Then, apparently feeling bad about criticizing our dog, he added, “She’s so ugly she’s cute!” It would be unrealistic of us to say, “Well, sometimes advertisers use the word ugly for, say, a machine that they think is powerful. He must be saying that we have a powerful dog.” He had a meaning in mind when he said our dog was ugly, and it wouldn’t change that meaning if we tried to pretend that he meant something else. Even so, Scriptural passages have a meaning, and we need to try to interpret that meaning with a mind ready to receive whatever that meaning is. Because of the complexity of the Bible, we can sometimes deceive ourselves into thinking that a verse means something it doesn’t say, without looking ridiculous. We may even be convincing enough that others come to believe like us. But we don’t change the fact that the Scriptural passage actually has a meaning that we can’t erase by our interpretations. We are more likely to avoid this error if we decide that we are willing to accept whatever the Scripture says, and then come at the text with a mind open to knowing truth, even if the truth creates difficulties for us or our doctrine.

The second text that I want to mention is John 7:17: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” The Scripture contains some complex teachings, and as far as I can tell, there is no promise of God to help us understand these doctrines unless we are obedient to Him. When we live a life of disobedience, we lose the Spirit of God and His help in understanding the Scriptures. “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.” (Acts 5:32) When we are disobedient, we are closing our hearts to God’s instruction, and even if we are able to open our minds to the truth of the Scriptures, our closed hearts will probably block the truth before it has a chance to change us. But with the pressure of our sin on our minds, we probably won’t even be able to think clearly enough to correctly analyze the Scripture—although we may not even recognize our own inability to honestly evaluate the passages we study. The only solution for this is to submit ourselves to whatever God wants of us, so that we can know His will and do it.