How Do We Know?

How do we know what? Our focus is on the Lord and we’re trying to understand how to know Him, how to understand Him, and, ultimately, how to serve Him; because it’s in serving His interests that our own best interests will be realized. That may seem inconsistent at first glance, but it really is the case that when the Lord’s interests are placed front and center in our lives, we become aware of what’s of real value.

We were meant to exist in a relationship with God, but in the present situation people are not brought into this world with that relationship intact. Sin has rendered us less than human because human beings are meant to exist in a relationship with our creator. Apart from God our humanity is diminished because our relationship with God has been disrupted. In a sense we are less than human from the start.

This kind of assessment is usually reserved for those who have shown themselves to be extreme in this regard. Serial killers and dictators who engage in heinous crimes are vilified for their inhuman action, but it is the case that all of us are less human than we were meant to be. Our humanity is defined by our capacity to know the Lord, to communicate with Him and to acknowledge Him in all that we do. Therefore our humanity is diminished to the extent that that fundamental aspect of our existence is compromised.

How do we rectify the situation? We make amends with the One who created us; isn’t that what getting saved is all about? But making amends is just the start. The good news of the death and resurrection of the Christ has explained the means whereby God has restored our relationship with Him, but that’s just the starting point. Getting saved is the inauguration of a walk with Holy God. It’s the starting point for recovering our true humanity, which is existence in relationship with God. As we learn how to do life in this renewed condition, our approach to living is redefined and becomes fulfilling in ways that it could never be without Him.

And how do we move forward in this new adventure? We’ve got to get to know Him. We have to take steps that will inform and enhance our relationship with Him, and one of the primary activities that every Christian needs to be engaged in is studying the scriptures. I didn’t say reading the scriptures, I said studying.

Most Christians are aware of the importance of the Bible in the life of a believer. When we’re initially saved, whoever presents us with the message of salvation uses scripture to back up what they’re saying. The evangelist on the television points out the particulars of their message from the Bible, or the coworker quotes a verse while talking about Jesus over lunch. One of the first things that a new believer does is get a Bible. We’re told that it’s important to have one and to read it regularly. Churches often provide Bibles to all who attend their services.

But hearing the Bible quoted, or reading the Bible as a resource for understanding a particular topic, is not the same thing as studying the Bible. The Bible is a complicated book. Even calling it a book is incorrect. Rather it’s a collection of writings written over a long period of time (something like 1500 years). Together they work to reveal the truth about who the Lord is and what His program entails. However, the purpose of the individual writings varies depending on when and why they were written, and the type of writing varies as well. You don’t have to be a scholar or an academic to appreciate these distinctions. Everybody reads (or hears) different kinds of writing all the time. And the differences inform the way we interpret what we read or hear being recited. If you read a sign on the side of the road telling you that the bridge is out up ahead, you’re probably going to believe it and turn around. But if you hear a song lamenting the dangers of being in love with someone, you’re going to respond to that warning differently, because the message is from a different type of source, expressed in a different form of communication.

I’m not suggesting that simply reading the Bible has no value, or that some parts of the Bible are more valuable than others. All parts of the Bible contribute to a revelation of who God is and what He’s about. But it’s writing that can be easily misused. And one thing that contributes to that misuse is the division of the Bible into chapters and verses. That’s something that was done in the Middle Ages, centuries after the last contribution to the collection was written. It makes it easier to find particular places in the Bible, but it also presents the illusion that discrete ideas can be plucked from the text without regard for the context in which that idea was expressed.

The basics for studying the Bible don’t require scholarship just common sense and a willingness to investigate. Scholarship can and will help in furthering our study of the Bible. But the starting point is to apply the same principles we use in reading other materials to our reading of the Bible. Generally we apply these principles unconsciously to what we read. When we start reading something we evaluate it in various ways. Where did it come from? What kind of writing is it? When was it written? Who wrote it? In most cases this kind of assessment is quick and unconscious.

The relative importance of the content will determine how aggressive we are in answering those questions. For instance when we get the mail we might find an oversized card indicating there is a sale at a local store. We immediately know that it’s an advertisement. A picture displays what’s being sold and language indicates the cost. In an instant we determine who wrote this card, and recognize what the author intended in sending the card to us. From that assessment we determine what relevance it has. We make decisions about how to apply this information to our lives based on the nature and value of the product and our ability to acquire it.

This is how we need to approach our study of the Bible. However, for most of us the Bible is a foreign document when we first begin our investigation of it. I remember when I was a very new Christian with little exposure to the Bible I attempted to get a jump start on my understanding of the “book” by going to the last chapter, meaning the Revelation of John. If you’ve ever read it you know that it’s a very strange document, a document that challenges everyone’s understanding. And it’s not the place to start a study of the Bible. However it’s an important document of great value, but one that needs to be evaluated with care.

The same can be said of all the writings in the Bible. They all have something of value for those who study them. But care needs to be exercised in the effort to understand and apply their content to our lives. In some respects we need to assess them in the same way we approach our mail. Who wrote the document, and why was it written? What does it have to do with me? The answer to these questions may not be as obvious in our study of the Bible as they are in our assessment of our mail, but they need to be answered nonetheless. And the effort is further complicated by the fact that we don’t share a common culture with the writers of the scriptures. This means that we’ll have to delve into the circumstances in which the Biblical documents were written. We don’t need to become experts in ancient history, some of the information is in the documents themselves, but recognizing that information and applying it in our assessment of what’s being presented means that we shouldn’t simply pluck information out of the document. We have to evaluate specific sections of the text in light of the whole work.

It may seem like a lot of effort, but if you want to get all you can out of your Bible reading you need to commit yourself to studying the scriptures rather than simply reading them. One resource that could aid you is a book entitled: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. There may be a couple of words you need to look up but it’s a resource designed to help all people, regardless of their background, to better understand the Bible.