The Scripture Honestly Interpreted
Some words from Art Licursi built upon some thoughts from Cornelius Stam

1 Cor. 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

2 Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

1 Cor. 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Col. 1:25-27 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Paul tells us that "The Word of truth" needs to be "rightly divided." While the Scripture is all given for our spiritual profit, not all the Bible is specifically addressed to us or written about us, we who in this day of the dispensation of the grace of God.

Example: One cannot live in this day as in the dispensation of innocence, or law, etc. and be in accord with the economy of our dispensation, else we should only be eating herbs and fruit (as in the garden) or “clean” foods (as under Israel’s law).

Thus one who truly desires to understand and obey God’s Word will seek first to determine what scriptures are particularly related to him and … will study all the rest of scripture in the light of these; being certain to “test” (dokimazo) those things that “differ” (diaphero)” (Philip 1:10).

Sad to say, however, there are many who fail to give the Book of God the respect and reverence it deserves. They flip it open at random, let a finger fall upon the open page and then read the verse indicated to see if perchance they may find leading from the Lord in that way. And if it doesn’t "work" the first time they try it again and again until it does "work." They use "promise boxes" in the same way, on the basis that "every promise in the Book is mine."

Commonly, many take Bible passages out of their contexts, "spiritualize" them, and give them "private interpretations" (2Peter 1:20). They find "precious passages" anywhere at all, no matter to whom addressed (“the Jew, the Gentile and the church of God” (1Cor 10:32), nor do they heed when, why or concerning what the writer is writing. They place their own constructions upon them and claim them as promises of God to them! To take isolated statements from the writings of men and use them in such a manner would be considered dishonest, but many Pastor’s, Bible teachers and many, many, TV preachers do it with the written word of God! This becomes the emasculated food that sours in the belly of the saints.

The written word, rightly divided, is of supreme importance to the Church at large as well as to the individual believer, and it is because this fact has not yet been sufficiently recognized that we have not experienced the limitless life of our Lord. We must not only be scriptural, but also dispensational in our interpretation of scripture (Considering to whom a reference is written, concerning what, and at what time). This is important if we are to determine what is written to us; it also eliminates the contradictions and conflicts seen between text that belong to Israel under law, and that of “the church which is body” under Paul’s pure grace gospel. Mixture of law and grace leavens the word taught, making it attractively fluffy, but lacking substance.

If the foregoing is a true premise, concerning “rightly dividing the word of truth” as to what is written to us, we Gentiles in the day of “the dispensation of the grace of God,” then we might ask,

“Where do we look, what part of the Bible is written to us, specifically for us today?”

We know from Pauline scripture that we live today in “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph 3:2).

Let’s consider these related questions.

- Who, that is what writer in scripture, has written to the Gentiles?

- Who has written definitively concerning the elements of the grace of God for us today?

- Who explains the working of grace by the cross, the blood, and death, and resurrection of Christ?

- Who gives us the nuts and bolts of our faith in the light of the truth of Christ, as the grace of God, come to dwell in us, the individual members of His body?

A brief look at scripture and we can’t help but see that it was the writings of Apostle Paul, who wrote the majority of the New Testament, who claims to be “the Apostle to the Gentiles.” He was first to receive the “revelation of the mystery (secret)” gospel, which is that Christ suffered, died, and rose as the life-giving spirit (1Cor 15:45) to be dispensed into the human spirit of every believer (Col 1:26-27). The gospel that Paul preached for his day is for us in this day in which we now live. Until received by Paul, it was hid “since the world began” (Rom 16:25).

Paul tells us he never heard this gospel from the disciples, or any other man – it had not been made known until it was revealed to him “by revelation” of Jesus Christ (Eph 3:1-3). Peter did not know this gospel on the day of Pentecost – because it had not yet at that time been revealed to any man, so Peter could only speak of the oft prophesied millennial kingdom for Israel, not the Gentiles. Even Jesus, who no doubt knew the grace gospel, did not reveal this gospel that later came to Paul. Jesus continued the dispensation “the law” for Israel, as he oft pointed to the law saying, “Moses … commanded” (Matthew 8:4; Matthew 19:7-8; Mark 1:44; Mark 10:3). Thus, Paul is alone as the recipient of the unique gospel of pure grace, which he preached.

Paul’s gospel was according to the eternal purposed of God in Christ (Eph 3:11). Paul “certifies” (Gal 1:11) the gospel he preached as being unique from all gospels that predated Paul’s revelation of Christ in him (Gal 1:15-16). He calls the revelation of the mystery “my gospel,” telling us he is “the Apostle to the Gentiles” (Eph 3:1-5, Rom 11:13). I say Paul’s gospel was “unique” because Peters gospel message was to the circumcision (Gal 2:7) to Israel, to whom he preached on the day of Pentecost, was that which had be “spoken by all the prophets” (Acts 3:24), thus, it could not be the same as Paul’s gospel that he says had been “kept hid since the world began.” These then must be different gospels – these then cannot be the same.

Paul’s gospel is God’s answer for everything that concerns man today and forever. Paul’s gospel is that every believer was in Christ at the cross and in His resurrection; also each one now has Christ in them, making each believer a partaker of the life and nature of the risen Lord (Rom 6:3, Col 3:4, Rom 8:8-10). Each believer is now living out the finished work of God by Christ alive in them. The believer today is not only now identified with Christ’s suffering and death for them. Deeper still, Christ died also as us, as our death of our old man (Rom 6:6-7), and He rose as our new life. Christ to us now is the very grace of God (2Tim 4:22) alive within our human spirit (Col 1:26-27, 1John 4:13, 1Cor 6:17), making each of us a new creation (2Cor 5:17), in spirit. This mutual indwelling, we in Christ and Christ in us, is the very essence of Paul’s “mystery (Greek, musterion, secret) gospel” of grace for us today, which culminates in “the (glorious) Church, which is His body” (Eph 1:22-23, parenthesis added).

Ought we then to give special place to the words of the Apostle Paul as our Apostle, hearing what he has to say in our Bibles? Men will be judged according to Paul’s gospel (Rom 2:16). Even the Apostle Peter later realized that we need to give heed to the words of the Apostle Paul. Peter writes this in 2 Peter 3:15-17.

“and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness,” (NASB)

May we be found not distorting Paul’s writing. <END>