Can man understand God’s book, the Bible, today? A lot of folks answer that in the negative. But I am not very concerned with what man has to say on the subject. Our first president, George Washington, was correct when he said, “It would be impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible.” In opposition to that, it seems that most politicians today prefer to ignore the Bible and its teaching. If they believed in God and the Bible, they would never have legalized the murder of the unborn, nor sanctioned the unholy union of same-sex marriage.
On the other hand, there are a lot of religious folks who claim to believe the Bible, but say that “We cannot all understand the Bible alike.” When a man makes that statement, surely he has not considered the impact of what he is saying. To believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:20-21; I Cor. 3:9-16), that it is indeed the Word of God, not man (I Thess. 2:13), and yet say that men cannot understand God’s book or to say that men cannot understand it alike, has some very serious implications.
What men are saying by these statements would mean one of two things: (1) God is not capable of giving us a book that we can understand, or (2) He is capable of doing so, but chose not to do so. Either of these is to charge God foolishly. Some today even go so far as to say, “We cannot know anything for sure.” If that were true, we could never know that it was true! There is not much logic nor common sense in either of these three statements.
But what does God say on this subject? Paul said, “we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge, and I trust that ye shall acknowledge even to the end” (II Cor. 1:13). The margin reads, “understand completely.” The NASB even translates it this way, “For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end.” Paul wrote further on this subject when he told the saints at Ephesus (Eph. 1:1) “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph. 3:3-5) (emphasis mine, PMW). Later in the same letter he encouraged them to “be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). Don’t forget that Jesus had said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). You can neither know nor be made free by something you can’t understand.
One other important thing to understand on this subject is the fact that to understand anything implies uniformity. That is true in any field of study, secular or religious. We may misunderstand something a number of ways, but there is only one way to understand it. Study God’s Word to know what He requires of you. You will face it in the day of judgment (John 12:48).
-Paul M. Wilmoth, January 18,1944 – April 5, 2021
