How to Read the Bible

Hebrews 4

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

After studying the various denominations, Bible teachers, and cults in Christendom, it has become abundantly clear that few people understand the truth. The truth is kept in the Bible, but most people twist the word of God; one way or another. There are few Bible expositors that hold to the truth, and divide the word of God correctly. Basically, I have come to the conclusion that most people do not understand the word of God.

I do believe however, that the word of God is perfect. The Bible is God breathed, without error, and is preserved in the King James Version, in English. I cannot speak or vouch for other languages. Though I am sure that God has preserved the word in other languages as well.

The first mistake you can make with the Bible is to claim, or feel as though, you must know all that the Bible says. This error\heresy will severely stagnate and or pervert your knowledge of the Bible. Trying to force yourself to understand everything that is in the Bible is foolish. Some people are too afraid to declare that there are things in the Bible that they do not understand or know. And they are hellbent on trying to mold the Bible into a system of theology of some sort. Sometimes, people “come to the faith” without knowing that salvation is by grace. I put “come to the faith” in air-quotes because if they have never believed in the grace of God, then they are not in the faith. But I will move on, for sake of argument. These people (that are of works) feel compelled to make sense of everything that the Bible says. Why? Because their eternity is staked on it. If they have to do things to please God, they have to know what all of those things are. Therefore, they pour themselves over the Bible constantly, and yet they never come to the knowledge of the truth. They are: “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

And all of this is vain. Because there are things in the Bible that we could never figure out on our own. We can never, by searching, find out God. We can only absorb the truth when God reveals the truth to us. And he will reveal what we need to know, when we need to know it. An example of this is the story of Hagar and Sarah in Genesis. In Genesis 21, Abraham cast out Hagar and her son Ishmael, once Isaac was born. And that is the extent of our knowledge of this text, so far as our wrought\mere reading comprehension is concerned. But we know that this whole story is an allegory. We know this only because Paul told us the real meaning of these events in Galatians.

Galatians 4

22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Please tell me, how many of you would have known this to be an allegory by mere exegeses of the book of Genesis? Exactly, none of you. Men herald exegesis and hermeneutics as the go to means, by which they seek to find out God. These techniques are often touted as the golden standard of Biblical study. To exegete the Bible is to interpret scripture by using the immediate context, and historical background of the passage in question. Exegesis is like trying your best to keep your biases from “polluting” the truth of scripture. This sounds good, on the surface, but is a fatally heretical practice.

The truth of the matter is that the Bible is a closed book. It cannot be understood, unless you already know the truth. Does this sound wrong? Well, it’s not. You cannot understand the Bible, unless you first start with the book of John, where the gospel is given plainly. With the gospel in mind, you can understand the rest of scripture. If you search the scriptures thinking that you can study your way to God, you will never understand anything. The Bible says the following:

2 Corinthians 3

12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Isaiah 29

10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

That “marvelous work” is the gospel, which is by grace. The question then becomes, how do you know the truth? By faith. First by hearing the gospel, and then by believing it. If you adhere to, and be not moved from the gospel, you can unlock the rest of scripture. The gospel is most plainly written in John 5:24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” This statement is completely true, no matter whatever else you may read in the Bible. This is the key to unlocking the scriptures.

If, instead, you yield yourself to the surface reading of every passage, you will end up with confusion. And you will be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).

That is why “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). You need to hold onto what Christ did on the cross, never to let it slip, by any means. “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:2). To believe in vain is to believe many things about Christ, without ever believing that he paid for all of your sins. If you have never believed the gospel, your faith is vain. But if you keep in memory the truth (that whosoever believes in Christ is saved, and will never come into condemnation) then you are saved. And not only are you saved, but you will be able to make sense of the rest of the Bible.

The book of John is the one of the few books in the Bible that is written plainly. It’s like a manual that is written so, “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). The other scriptures (such as Matthew, Mark, and Luke) require eisegesis. Does that sound heretical to you? Well, that’s because of all the brainwashing that this world puts you under.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the synoptic texts of the Bible. They contain some of the sayings of Jesus Christ, most of which are shrouded in parables. A lot of blind, foolhardy, so-called teachers say: “Jesus used parables because parables are nice, memorable teaching tools!” and that, “parables are useful ways to easily convey a message”… WRONG! Not even Christ’s disciples knew what Christ meant by his parables, at times.

Matthew 13

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Christ said it is given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom. Who are we? Believers in Christ! That means, you have to know the gospel, then the parables will make sense to you.

You see, a parable is a puzzle. All of the pieces are there, but it is still a problem that requires your input. It requires you to piece the puzzle together. You must also have a picture of the end result, before you go about assembling the pieces of the puzzle. The gospel is that picture. The gospel is: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). If you know that this is true no matter what, you will know how to conform the parables into shape. And when you do this, you will come out with the most coherent understanding that you will ever hear taught. You could read hundreds of different commentaries on the Bible, and you will never come out with a better understanding than the one that you get by holding to the gospel.

What you will find with most Bible teachers (who ought not teach anything) is that they would exegete the parables to their own detriment. Or they just gloss over them. For example, in John chapter 3, Christ told Nicodemus: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Modern day false teachers would pay God lip service, by saying things like: “isn’t it wonderful?” or “The Spirit of God is like the wind, it goes where it wills,” or some other equally pathetic interpretation. They like the flowery ring of it, and so they chalk it off as God being poetic. But God spoke these words for our edification.

Here is the real meaning of that parable:

This parable centers around Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nocodemus then said, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb? Then Jesus said:

John 3

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

What Christ means by this statement is: “that which is flesh is flesh,” “that which is spirit is spirit.” Which means, that a man’s actions and behavior is of the flesh. And the flesh will eventually die and go the way of all the Earth. To be born again, is to believe the gospel. When you believe the gospel, you are born in the spirit, which is invisible. Not to be associated with the flesh, nor with the works of the flesh. These are to be kept separate. And what is the evidence that you believe the gospel? What you profess! That is why you can hear the wind, but you cannot see it. In fact, Christ said that you, “canst not tell from whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.” Which means you cannot even predict who is saved or not saved, based on outward appearance or conduct. All you can do is hear the wind; hear what a person says about Christ. This coincides perfectly with Romans 4:5, which says that God justifies the ungodly. And also with Romans 10:9 where Paul says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). Therefore, a person’s behavior is no indicator of their salvation. You can only judge by what you hear: what they profess about Christ. That is the meaning of that passage. A real Christian is someone who believes that Jesus Christ paid for the sins of the whole world, such that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21). And this parable about the wind establishes the precedent and context for the most famous verse in all the Bible:

John 3

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Now, when we read “whosoever,” we know that Christ really does mean anyone. It does not matter what they look like or what they may have done. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” That is why James 2 tells us not to be partial, and not to condemn people based on their outer appearance or conduct.

Another example, is the parable about the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Matthew 7

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

People often misinterpret this parable to say that you have to be good, in order to be a sheep. And that if you behave badly, you may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This interpretation is completely wrong. You can tell because it contradicts the gospel. If you believe the gospel, this interpretation is either false or there is a contradiction in the Bible. We take on faith that the Bible is perfect; therefore, we throw this interpretation out. And if you do, God will guide you to chapter 12, where Christ says:

Matthew 12

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

God is saying that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And in the preceding parable, false prophets are wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. Which means that outwardly, they appear as unto sheep: both in looks and conduct. But inwardly, they are wolves. By inwardly, we are talking about the heart. Therefore, we can know who they are by what they say. Because, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Therefore, the parable in Matthew 7, is saying to scrutinize what they say. What they profess about Christ makes the difference as to whether they are wolves or sheep. And this makes even more sense when you consider that they are false prophets, who “prophesy” things about God. So, the fruit in that parable is their profession of faith. And Christ is said to be the Logos, the Word of God. So, we need to hear God’s word from someone, to see if they are of Christ. And this interpretation agrees with the gospel perfectly. So much better than the way these false teachers twist it. It even coincides with what Christ said about Pharisees.

Matthew 23

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Calvinists, in particular, would twist these things to mean that you have to bear fruit, otherwise you may not be a true convert. And so, they build a doctrine called sanctification, which they say is a process. They claim that once you are saved, God will slowly, but surely, conform you into the image of his son. And that you have to work to make your conduct reflect that you are saved.

Once again, this sounds palatable. It sounds correct, but it is heretical. Remember, the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (Genesis 3:1). And what did the serpent do to trick Eve? He cast doubt on what God said: “ye hath God said?”

And God said, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Therefore, I reject anything that comes against this, no matter the source. No matter how convincing it sounds. I throw it out, because it is contrary to sound doctrine, it is contrary to what Christ did on the cross. Calvinists would try to guilt you into entertaining their doctrine. They say things like “don’t you believe God?” or “you have to properly exegete that verse,” or “don’t you want to know the whole counsel of God?” They think that they are leading you to truth, that they are more discerning than you are. But it is nothing more than a bunch of devil talk. “Ye hath God said?”  This is the primary strategy of the Calvinist. Christ calls these men, who cannot see the gospel and yet teach a false gospel, blind leaders. They “be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

Sanctification is not a process, it is not a doctrine. It is an event. God sanctifies you one time, when you believe. And you are saved by Christ forever. Sanctification means to separate, put aside, to set apart. God divides his sheep from the goats. That is sanctification, it is God preserving you forever. You cannot see it with your eyes. That which is flesh is flesh, that which is spirit, is spirit. Sanctification happened 2,000 years ago on the cross. Sanctification comes as a result of believing the gospel. Once you believe in Christ, you are saved, sealed, and sanctified, all at once. It is supposed to give you peace, not make you work.  That is why in Hebrews, it is written as a once-for-all act.

Hebrews 10 (KJV)

10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

But in new fake Bibles, which heretics love, they twist this verse.

Hebrews 10 (NIV)

14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

There is a massive difference in meaning here. God says that you are perfected forever, by 1 offering of Christ. But in the NIV, it says you are being made holy… presumably by your works.

This is so dangerous. The gospel is the difference between Heaven and Hell. I would not play games with it! That is why the KJV is the only Bible version that can be trusted. Because when it was translated, the scholars worked on merely translating and not interpreting the Bible. You know they did a good job, because of all the apparent, superficial contradictions that exist. Like James 2:26 and Romans 4:5. If you were to take the superficial reading of both, it would be contradictory. Yet, the translators of the KJV did not attempt to harmonize these contradictions by changing out the words. They just let them be, and translated them; perhaps, not knowing how these scriptures fit together. They merely converted the words into English, exactly as they are presented in the source manuscripts.

Modern Bible perversions try to make sense of the Bible on your behalf. They do not translate, instead they interpret the Bible for you. They do this, because they do not understand the parables. They do not understand the parables, because they refuse to hold to the gospel. They think the parable of the sheep and goats means that we have to be “good,” else you are a false prophet. They think that the parable about the good tree, means that you have to be good, else God will cut you down. They are eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They do not take account the parable of the wind. Instead, they think that people are saved by “being made holy,” or they introduce works and behavior somehow. This is heresy, this is doctrines of devils. That is why they are constantly updating their false Bibles.

The Bible is not an easy to read book. In fact, the Bible says:

1 Corinthians

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The Bible is the word of God. And Jesus said:

John 6

63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

We have to keep God’s words, because they are spirit and they are life. Just as John says in 1 John.

1 John 3

23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

How do you know you love the brethren?

1 John 5

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Faith is the evidence that you are saved. And if you believe God, you are born of God. And if you are born of God, that means you love the brethren; regardless of outward conduct or feelings. Because whatever is born of God (you) overcomes the world by faith. Even if you do not see any subjective evidence of it. It is invisible, by faith.

This brings me to another point. A lot of people tend to claim that if you really love God, you would want to “keep the whole counsel of God.” That you would read Deuteronomy, and then be inspired to keep the law; or that you would read James, and that you would do works. All of this is more devil-speak. The reality is that nobody keeps the “whole counsel of God.” That is just impossible. In order to keep the whole counsel of God, you would have to memorize every jot and tittle in the entire Bible. Once you have done this, you also have to know all of the revealed meaning behind all of the words, all at once. It’s just not possible.

So, when a devil comes to you and says that they keep the whole counsel of God, tell them to go to Hell. Because they are hypocrites, they do not keep the whole counsel of God. Nobody does. And if we are disposed to cherry-picking verses, you had better pick: John 5:24, Romans 4:5, John 3:36, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 5:9-13, John 6:40, John 6:29, Acts 2:21, 2 Samuel 22:3, John 6:35, John 7:37-38, John 10:28, John 14:11, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9, Romans 10:13, 2 Timothy 2:3-5, 1 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5, Revelation 22:17, Isaiah 42:16,  Isaiah 43:25, Isaiah 44:22, Isaiah 45:22, Isaiah 46:3, Isaiah 49:15-16, Isaiah 54:9, Isaiah 54:17, Romans 3:22, Hebrews 10:10, Hebrews 10:14, etc… I can go for days, and this is me cherry-picking verses.

And that’s the point, I do not claim to keep all of the scriptures simultaneously. I do not try to balance grace with works. No, I just read the book of John and I believe it. Then when I go to other scriptures, I end up understanding them too. If I do not understand them, I leave them alone, I ignore them. And one day, those too will make sense. And when I do not “keep the whole counsel of God,” I end up knowing more scriptures and more truths than all of these exegetical freaks that twist the Bible to their own destruction combined. And not only that, But I have peace with God, because I have an easy message.

These false teachers say that they try their best to “keep the whole counsel of God.” Yet they, ironically, keep nothing. Because if they believe in works, then they don’t hold to grace (Romans 11:6). And if they do not hold to grace, and yet do not do works perfectly (James 2:10) then they are useless (Mathew 5:13). They do nothing. Therefore, “keeping the whole counsel of God” is just stupid Christianese vernacular that means nothing. You do not even need to know anything about the Bible. All you need is to believe that Jesus paid for all your sins, and you have eternal life.

Not only that, but we are fortunate enough to have the “whole counsel of God” summed up, very succinctly, for us.

1 John 5

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

The whole record of God, the whole witness of God, is kept in the gospel. If you believe Jesus Christ, you are saved.

Now, there are passages that you may not understand. There may be passages that seem to contradict the gospel. What do you do with passages like these? Leave them alone. Ignore them. Wait until God reveals them to you.  In fact, Peter tells us of this principle in 2 Peter.

2 Peter

15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

Peter said to account, to presume, to assume that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. That God is so longsuffering, that we are as good as saved. That you cannot fall away. This is the gospel. Peter continues by saying that this gospel is the same thing that Paul tries to convey in all his epistles. So, all of the books of the Bible speak of the gospel, and only of the gospel. In “which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” Peter is saying that Paul’s writings are sometimes hard to be understood. But we already know the ultimate meaning of those “hard things to be understood.” That meaning is this: the patience of God is salvation. And so, I tell you the same thing. Do not be moved from the gospel. Even if you encounter things that are difficult to understand.

Never, ever draw any conclusions that fly in the face of the gospel. The gospel is paramount and trumps everything else. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).