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发帖数: 8336 | 1 The entire Bible is written for us, but not every verse is addressed to us
or written about us.
By Justin Johnson
It would be self-defeating to deire a greater understanding of the Bible by
cutting portions out. God forbid we eliminate or ignore one word, syllable,
or punctuation from the complete sacred text of God’s perfect Word!
The entire Bible is written for us, but not every verse is addressed to us
or written about us.
Rightly dividing the word of truth does not insinuate cutting off Scripture
from our profit! Instead it is like the division of a book into its index,
or a speech into its outline. By separating the parts into their appropriate
context we are in a better position to understand the whole.
The Importance of ‘all Scripture’
There are many who attack dispensational Bible study by claiming that it
eliminates most of the Bible as applicable to us. Even many
dispensationalists develop a false fear of reading or applying truth from ‘
old testament’ passages. However, this is a grotesque misunderstanding of
what it means to ‘rightly divide’ the Scriptures.
In no sense, would students of the Bible be better off by ignoring certain
books, or rejecting books as beneficial to our profit and application!
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…”
– 2 Tim 3:16
Although it is only in Paul’s epistles that we find the mystery information
about the grace given to us in this dispensation, certainly this does not
diminish the benefit that can be gained from any other verse of Scripture.
How would we know sin if it were not by the law? (Romans 3:19, 7:7, 1 John 3
:4)
How would we know of our imputed righteousness if we could not read what ‘
Abraham our Father, pertaining to the flesh, hath found?’ (Romans 4:1-3)
How could we know the obedience that God requests, unless we read the
example of how Israel lusted after evil things in the wilderness? (1
Corinthians 10:6).
It is from our own apostle that we read:
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning
, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
– Romans 15:4
These are the same Scriptures that witness to the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ, essential to the gospel that we preach today (1 Corinthians 15
:1-4)! It should be evident that every word in the Bible is written for our
edification and profit.
Right Division
What is gained from an understanding of right division is the proper
interpretation of each verse into its appropriate dispensational context.
While every book and testament is written for us, not every book and
testament is written to us or about us.
Surely we can agree that when God told Noah to build an ark, he was speaking
to Noah and not to anyone in the 21st century. Once realizing the proper
interpretation, we can understand the limits of its application. While we
may learn about Noah’s righteous obedience as an example, or his faithful
diligence despite being persecuted, we would be wrong to go and build an ark
because ‘since God said it, I believe it’.
However, many would use this method to support applying any verse of
Scripture to their daily situations as if it were talking about them. We
would be wise to first interpret every passage in the Bible into its
dispensational context, before attempting to apply it as if it were talking
directly about us.
Choosing not to rightly divide a passage into its appropriate dispensational
context is the root of every Biblical misinterpretation and error taught
today. Dividing passages into their appropriate dispensational context
allows us to understand easily certain instructional contradictions.
Consistent interpretation
Everyone understands how to rightly divide naturally, but the inconsistency
of its application produces doctrinal confusion. If we were to attempt to
obey every word in the Bible without respect to the context then we are
faced with a serious dilemma – oh, the contradictions!
For example, concerning our zealous missionary efforts, do we go to Gentile
nations to preach the gospel? Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 10:5 to ‘
Go not into the way of the Gentiles”, but in Acts 22:21 the same Jesus
tells Paul:
“Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. “ – Acts 22:21
Surely, we can not do both. Certainly the solution is obvious to any amateur
Bible student – what Jesus told the disciples was not to or about the
Apostle Paul and his ministry. Thus we have just one of many examples of why
profiting from the entire Bible requires we rightly divide the entire
Scripture.
It is only by ‘rightly dividing’ the word of truth that we can see with
clarity the thread of God’s purpose throughout the Bible and the enormous
profit it sows in every area of our life.
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