To my fellow Bible readers,
We are to do our best to present ourselves as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) That is, we are to work hard present ourselves as approved by God in the matter of rightly handling the Word. This is because accurate handling of God’s Word is crucial to God’s Kingdom, and inaccurate handling, which is so prevalent in our day, yields disastrous results.
First, we must handle The Word accurately because of what it is, God’s Words (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The most “contemporary and vital” (to quote Gerhard Ebeling, “Sola Scriptura“, cited from “Expository Hermeneutics” by Elliot Johnson) or “present and living” place we encounter The Holy Spirit Himself as it is in The Scripture alone that we receive His direct and clear revelation. Therefore it demands our greatest effort, attention and care.
Ascribing meaning to the text of the Scripture that was not intended by the author makes us into the “author” of our own scripture, the very definition of false teacher. Inaccurate handling of God’s Word yields devastating consequences: the damnation of our souls, and potentially that of our hearers, whose blood will be on our hands (Matthew 18:6, James 3, Acts 20:26-27, Revelation 22:18-19).
Accurate handling of God’s Word results the salvation of our own souls, the souls of those we teach accurately (1 Timothy 4:26), fullness of joy in this life which lasts into eternity, complete equipping for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17), and most importantly, an accurate knowledge of Jesus, leading to knowing Him truly in relationship (2 Peter 3:18).
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