THE THIEF COMES TO STEAL, KILL & DESTROY (PART I)

“The Meaning of a Bible Text is not a Matter of Opinion”

By Akin Ojumu

I know I sound like a broken record, but I’ll say it again, anyway. No one is entitled to their own interpretation of the Bible. The meaning of a Bible text is not up for grabs or infinitely malleable. What a particular Bible passage means is not ultimately a matter of individual’s opinion.

There are established principles and rules that must be followed in order to accurately interpret Bible texts. What happens when we fail to follow these rules is that we end up misinterpreting, misappropriating, and misapplying Bible texts. The end result is false theologies and false doctrines. 

In a 1975 article titled “Wine Drinking in New Testament Times,” Robert H. Stein described a method of Biblical interpretation that is most effective in limiting erroneous doctrine:

“The Bible was not written to evangelicals living in the twentieth century. The science – or better, the art – of interpreting the biblical text so that the revelation of God written centuries ago is meaningful and correctly understood today is called “hermeneutics.” The basic principle of hermeneutics, to be somewhat simplistic, is that the question “What does it mean for us today?” must be preceded by the question “What did it mean for them yesterday?” If we do not seek first to understand what the text meant when it was written, it will be very difficult to interpret intelligently what it means and demands of us today.”

The Bible is not an enchanted tome or a magic grimoire. It’s neither a book of charms nor a book of spells. There are no hidden secrets in it that can only be accessed by mystical means, and it contains no obscure mysteries conjured up by mythical methods. To accurately interpret and understand Bible texts, you must familiarize yourself with Bible hermeneutics. 

Exegesis is one of the applications of hermeneutics. This is an approach to Bible interpretation wherein the reader critically examines a Bible text in an attempt to “draw the meaning out” of the text. Eisegesis, in contrast, is another method of Bible interpretation where the reader inserts his own meaning and opinion into the text.

Context is key to an accurate interpretation of Biblical texts. When careful consideration is not given to the context in which a Bible passage exists, its misinterpretation is inevitable. Taking a Bible out of its proper context results in catastrophic consequences, We see this play out in the various establishments called churches today where you find gaping purulent sores oozing foul-smelling discharge of false theologies and erroneous doctrines.

All Scripture is breathed out by God. The authors of the Books of the Bible did not write a single word contained in the Bible of their own volition. They wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. As it were, their cognitive function was co-opted by the Holy Spirit who moved them to write exactly what God intended to communicate.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Every text of Scripture has its intended meaning. When the words of the Bible were put together to form sentences, and sentences to paragraphs, paragraphs into chapters, and chapters into books, God had a precise and predetermined message He wanted to convey.

When we read Bible passages, our goal must always be to discover the true, original, intended meaning. Every time a Bible text is read, we must faithfully draw out from it the message the text intends to disclose. As aforementioned, this approach to interpreting the Bible is called exegesis.

“Interpreting the Bible faithfully means reading a given passage as it’s meant to be read. Reading in this way pays attention to things such as genre and figures of speech and takes account of the historical and literary context of a given passage, making note of how the words used were understood at the time the text was written. This method is often called historical-grammatical exegesis, and it is intended to uncover what the author intended to convey by focusing on the words he used and their meaning in context.” (Source: Ligonier Ministry).

“The meaning of Bible passages is not subjective. Reading and interpreting Bible texts in a subjective and non-analytical manner is called eisegesis. The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.” (Source: Got Questions).

We must never read our thoughts, opinions, and ideas into the Bible. We are not at liberty to twist God’s Words. It is an abomination to distort the Scriptures or obscure its original intended meaning.

God’s command about His Word is pretty clear. We cannot claim to fear God and then treat the Bible with irreverence by polluting and diluting it with human ideas and mixing it with doctrines of demons.

Deuteronomy 4:2

“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”

In this commentary series, we are going to examine one of the commonly misinterpreted and misunderstood passages in the Bible. I’m sure you already know the passage I’m talking about given the title of the commentary series. 

John 10:10

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Whatever it is you thought or have been taught that this passage means, I can tell you straight up that it’s probably not what it means. I’m able to say that because I was once just like you. Just like you are now, I also drank the same water from the poisonous well of distorted Gospel and I ate from the plate of twisted Scripture.

We’ll take it from here next time.