by Dave Brown
Ye often hear it said ...
"That’s just your interpretation."
but in Ephesians 3:4, referring to his writings, Paul stated:
"...when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ"
If we can have the same understanding as Paul did by reading what he wrote, then where else should we look for such understanding? When we hold to the belief that the bible is not understandable, is that not an accusation against God that He either cannot or does not want to give us a statement of His will that we can understand?
It is true that many people use the bible to prove highly contradictory doctrines. Does this make the bible deficient? Please study the context of 2 Thes. 2:11-12: "And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." When we go to the bible with no other goal than to find out what God’s will is for us (seeking after Him — Heb. 11:6), we will learn and know the truth (Jn. 8:32). But when we go to the bible just to prove some doctrine that we hold dear, that is exactly what we will do. Only the bible has this characteristic. This is some of the hardest evidence that the bible is from God.
We are not asking you to accept our interpretation; we are asking you to study it out and understand it for yourself. We hope that you can help us arrive at a better understanding.