Rightly Regarding God's Word

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”
(2 Peter 3:15-16 ESV)

Although they confess that the Bible is the Word of God, and although they tell us that it’s the standard for our faith and life, many people feel free to twist and distort it. They do so that they might place upon it the meaning they desire. Instead of allowing God’s Word to speak to them and direct their life, they alter it to fit their desires.

This can’t be done with all of Scripture. Much of the Bible is very clear. As we read it, it’s easy to understand. It’s so clear, in fact, that there’s no disputing its meaning.

However, not all of Scripture is so easy. At times, we run into passages that are difficult. And, instead of interpreting Scripture with Scripture, instead of using the more clear passages to understand the more difficult, these are the passages of which people will take advantage.

According to Peter, it’s the ignorant and unstable who do so.  It’s those who are untaught and weak who do so. They fail to regard God’s Word as they ought.

They don’t truly regard God’s Word as holy. They don’t truly regard the Scriptures as sacred. They see them, instead, as a means to their own end. And this, he points out, is no small matter.

They do so, Peter says, to their own destruction. In other words, as they do so, they make themselves deserving of judgment. They are not able to twist the Word of God and get away with it.

We, of course, must avoid such people. We must not subject ourselves to their teaching. We must, instead, sit under those who are knowledgeable and who have themselves been instructed in God’s Word.

However, we must also take care that we don’t fall into the same practice. We must take care that we don’t begin to twist or distort God’s Word in any way. We must take care that we are allowing God’s Word to teach us and lead us rather than using it to our own ends.

We must regard the Word of God as holy. We must regard the Scriptures as sacred. We must do nothing that would tarnish them in any way. We must do nothing that would lead ourselves and even others into judgment.