Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

II Peter 1:19-21

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” (II Peter 1:19)

If you have read the writings of some of the people who are considered great religious leaders, many of their teaching are vague and unclear as to what was actually intended. As a result, only those who are specially trained or called, the priests, can understand. The Bible is the Word of God, and is in a form that can be readily understood. According to Revelation 1:5-6, Jesus Christ has made each believer a priest. “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

As priests, it is our business to know what God has commanded and fulfill those commands. I Peter 2:9 describes the responsibility. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” In order to know what is required, God has given us the scriptures. II Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Peter was very specific that we need to pay attention to what the scriptures teach us. Knowledge of the scriptures will provide everything we need to fulfill our priestly obligations. II Timothy 2:15 commands, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” A priest who hasn’t bothered to learn his responsibilities will surely be ashamed when he stands before God, because the information was available to him. He can’t blame others for not teaching him.

There is a lot of confusion over what various passages mean. Because it is so easy to misunderstand or misinterpret what is meant, God has provided a way for us to check our understanding. Peter explains what is needed to avoid misunderstanding.

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (II Peter 1:20-21)

God is the author of the book, directing each writer what to write. If the omniscient God directed all the writing, there can be no contradictions or paradoxes. The word translated “private” means that no passage of scripture can be separated out and interpreted by itself. It must be interpreted in accordance with other scripture. Thus, every doctrine must have more than one passage supporting it. Any apparent contradictions or paradoxes are the result of misinterpretation or misunderstanding. Let’s look at an example to see how this works.

Peter was preaching to the Jews on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Since we regularly say things such as “I left the car at the garage for repairs” meaning in order for it to be repaired, it is only logical to understand that we must be baptized in order to be saved.

In Romans 10:9-10, however, Paul states, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” His statement is very clear that baptism is not necessary. Just to make sure there‘s no question, Romans 10:13 states, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Either Paul is teaching a lie, or Peter is teaching a lie, or we have misinterpreted one of the verses. Since it was God who directed them what to write, the only possibility is the last one. Since Romans doesn’t allow much room for different interpretation, we look back at Acts 2:38 to see if we made a mistake there.

Since our interpretation hangs on the usage of the word ‘for’, we check that out first. While the usage we tried first is the most common, it is also correct to say “the man was sent to prison for murder.” Obviously, he was not sent to prison to be murdered, or to murder someone, so he must have been sent because he had murdered already. If we use ‘for’ the same way in Acts 2:38, we find that they are to be baptized because they are saved.

Obviously this eliminates the contradiction between Peter’s and Paul’s statements, but does it lead to other problems? It fits better with John 3:16, 18, and 36 than the original interpretation, and eliminates the problem of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43.

What happens if we compare it with Mark 16:16? “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” If they were saved by believing and got baptized because they were, then they are saved. There’s no problem.

Before I can state categorically that this is the correct interpretation, I need to check it against every other passage dealing with salvation and Baptism, but the results so far indicate that it probably is. Any conflict with other scripture will require checking my interpretation of both passages, and then comparing the results to all the other passages.

The primary reason for doctrinal conflicts is an unwillingness to search the scriptures thoroughly with an open mind. Acts 17:11 says the Bereans were great Christians because they did so. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” If we are to be great Christians, and approved of God, we need to check everything we are taught, with the awareness that we may have been mistaken. Simply finding a few verses that appear to support our position is not enough.