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Explore how religious division stems from a lack of understanding the Bible. Discover that God's word is truth and has a singular meaning. Overcome the problem of attitude and embrace the command to understand the Bible. Realize that salvation is predicated on understanding and receiving God's word.
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Can We UnderstandThe Bible Alike? Romans 16:25-27
Religious Division Demonstrates How Some Do Not Understand • God’s word is truth (Jn. 17:17) • It has a meaning • It does not have multiple meanings • Not the popular, “it means one thing to you and another thing to me” • God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33)
Men have taught that the Bible cannot be understood • John Calvin (1509-1564) – man too great a sinner to understand • Catholicism has taught the “clergy/laity” distinction • Protestants have relied on their “pastors,” but not on God’s word
Why Some Do NotUnderstand The Bible • Prejudice • Lack of desire • Willful ignorance • Infidelity • Unwilling to be confined • All these are problems of attitude; not problems of understanding • See Rev. 22:8-9; 1 Cor. 4:6; 2 Jn. 9
Man Can Understand The Bible • Called a “revelation” (Eph. 3:2-4) • “a laying bare,…a disclosure of truth, instruction, conceiving divine things before unknown” (Thayer) • Unless man can understand the Bible, it is not a revelation • Once a mystery, but now a revelation (Rom. 16:25-26) • Written for certainty (Lk. 1:1-4) • Commanded to understand (Eph. 5:17)
Man Has Understood The Bible • Israel understood (Neh. 8:7-12) • Timothy understood from a child (2 Tim. 3:14-15) • Apostates once understood (Heb. 10:26; 2 Peter 2:20-22)
If We Cannot Understand The Bible, Then We Cannot Be Saved • Judgment is not based on what we do not know (Jn. 12:48) • One must first know, then understand (Jn. 8:32) • We must receive (understand & obey) the word to be saved (James 1:21)