Rightly Dividing God's Word

One cannot hope to discuss honest questions about the Bible until one is open to the possibility that the Bible is God’s Word and Truth is to be found therein. Why? Because that is the claim the Bible makes for itself. If it is not what it claims to be, it is entirely worthless.  

Also, one cannot find the Truth in the Bible until one is willing to study it as a whole, reading all passages in their original context, and comparing them to the entire Word of God for confirmation and clarity. That is what "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" is all about.

For those liberals and atheists who cherry pick every "problem" passage in the Bible and pull it out of context to demean and belittle scripture as a whole and deny that it is the inspired Word of God, the problem is not with the Bible but with their methodology. No book could be properly understood using that approach to its contents. 

I have been "discussing" Biblical truth with a self-described "progressive Christian" who challenges my use of quoted scripture in discussions because he feels they can too easily be pulled out of context. 

My question is,"How then can we use scripture in a discussion at all?" It is obvious that one cannot quote the entire Bible or even quote a book or a chapter to discuss each point made due to time constraints.

The honest use of scripture involves quoting it in a sense that is true to its context and allowing others to check it out if they need to verify its use. 

To abandon scripture and simply discuss men's ideas leads to a mental morass. The quicksand would soon swallow us all. There would be no standard. No Rock.

The progressive says, "...although some parts of the Bible are clearly inspired, other parts are just as clearly based on superstition and represent undesirable ways of dealing with others."

This statement clearly contradicts God's Word. It says: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Tim 3:16

I believe God's Word is true even though I don't understand everything revealed therein. The progressive rejects some of the message so he also rejects the inspiration. He said,
"Raping virgins, or stoning people to death for minor transgressions of outdated customs, or wiping out those of non Judaic descent on Gods command does not fit with my views, but if you honestly believe that is the word of God, or even was ever the word of God, I doubt if I could persuade you otherwise."

I responded. "I’m very aware of the two main passages you refer to about raping virgins. That would be Lot’s daughters (which Lot offered to the men of Sodom to protect his male visitors who turned out to be angels–- and ended up protecting the daughters so that they were not raped).

You are offended that Lot offered them and so am I. It was outrageous! The Bible reports what Lot said and did, but does not approve of it. The fact that the angels intervened to save them shows they disapproved of his intention.

The other incident is in the book of Judges. A Levite is traveling with his concubine and ends up in Gibeah of Israel at dusk.   An elderly man offers hospitality to them but the wicked men of the town surround the house and demand the man be given to them to sexually abuse. The old man offers them his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine– considering the rape of women to be less heinous than homosexual rape. The men persist in their demands until the Levite shoves his concubine out the door. The depraved men use and abuse her so badly she dies. This leads to a war and further undesirable behavior to save the tribe of Benjamin from extinction.

Where you and I differ is in perception of the Word of God concerning these issues. The Bible reports the wicked activities of men without approving of them. The Book of Judges clearly states that the Israelites (as a whole) were not following Yahweh at that time but were “doing what was right in their own eyes”. The entire book of Judges is about the cycle of sin leading to bondage leading to repentance and then deliverance over and over again. It teaches how quickly societies become depraved when they refuse to live by God’s laws. And it is a historical background for how Israel changed from a Theocracy ruled by Judges to a Kingdom ruled by an earthly King.

The only way the Bible could be an accurate history of the world without discussing the sinfulness of mankind would be to leave us out of it altogether– and that would annul its purpose since Jesus came to save us from our sins.

I could discuss the other things you mentioned as well with the understanding of how they fit into God’s Word and do not disqualify the Bible, as a whole, from being God inspired, but it would be very lengthy.

My point is, pulling scriptures out of context and making sweeping negative statements about them without looking into the actual setting and purpose of those scriptures is very misleading." It leads one into slandering God, His law, the nation of Israel and even Christianity.

To believe and receive Jesus Christ into one’s life is the best decision one can make. Offering this opportunity to all mankind is clearly the purpose of the Bible. All our questions may not be answered in this life, but salvation can be received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And, that is the most important truth to be found by "rightly dividing" God's Word to gain a correct understanding the Bible.