We must first understand Scripture is our Presupposition to the Christian WorldView. No other presupposition is adequate for a proper epistemology. With this in mind, we must focus on Scripture itself without applying any man-made lens that will skew, not only the interpretation but, the application, as well.
In other words, we must interpret Scripture with Scripture. Scripture will, indeed, demonstrate how the interpretation must be accomplished.
The first and only rule of interpreting Scripture is CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT. The context (or micro-context) of each verse sheds light on its meaning. John Piper says it this way,
“First, we must never assume that a particular phrase means exactly the same thing every place it occurs in Scripture. Good interpretation lets a word or phrase mean whatever the immediate context demands. What really matters in Scripture is not that a phrase everywhere have the same meaning but that the reality which a phrase describes does not contradict other descriptions of reality in the Bible.” (emphasis mine)
The reason I stress CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT is expressed as,
“it is not merely men who speak in the Old Testament prophecies but God speaking through men and God knows all things, even what will happen centuries from now. Peter writes in his second letter (1:20, 21): “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” Or as Paul put it in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God . . .” It is a grand and wonderful doctrine of the Christian Church that in the writings of the Bible we do not hear the mere voices of men but we also hear God. The words of our text put it most forcefully of all: Acts 3:21, “Heaven must receive Jesus until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.” How can a man proclaim what will take place centuries later? A mere man can’t. But men moved by the Spirit of God can.” (emphasis mine)
Scripture tells how it should be read and how it should be interpreted. When we come to Scripture with presupposition in hand, we can subject Scripture to eisegesis. The context of each verse expresses the exact meaning of the verse. Therefore the context will tell us whether a verse or passage should be read literally, figuratively, etc… If what Scripture says does not match up with our paradigm, then we must change our paradigm. If Scripture is our final authority, we should be willing to change our paradigm, otherwise Scripture ceases to be Scripture and we have relegated Scripture to man’s religion.
We must begin understanding how the New Testament handles interpretation before we move on to understanding how the Old Testament should be interpreted. We must begin with understanding the New Testament first for three reasons:
(1) The New Testament does not render the Old Testament Scriptures obsolete. Rather, it is in the New Testament that the meaning and significance of the Old Testament become clear.
(2) The New Testament provides the context by which we must interpret the Old Testament.
(3) The New Testament provides the tools and understanding of how the Old Testament should be interpreted.
But this approach, as with any other approach, is not without its warnings:
John Piper warns,
“1) Beware of reading extraordinary meaning into unusual circumstances when there is no clear word of Scripture to guide your interpretation. When God intends his work to teach, he adds his word. 2) The other lesson is that we should never settle for a merely silent witness to Christ. How we live is crucial, but if God thought his own work needed verbal explanation, how much more ours.
Second, since wisdom is found in the word of God, we must apply ourselves in study and meditation to know the word and do it. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7). Therefore, we must devote ourselves to know and understand the testimonies of the Lord. And here I commend not only faithful Bible study but also regular reading of great books on theology and Biblical interpretation, books that distill the wisdom of the greatest students of the word over the past 1900 years.”
Piper continues,
“God shows himself by word and deed in the processes and events of human history, which is thus in the most literal sense “his story.” The Bible’s interpretation of the histories, communal and personal, that it records is the model for interpreting our own history, from the same redemption-centered point of view, in terms of which alone will the history of any Christian person ever make real sense. As George Marsden states Edwards’s position:
History, according to Edwards, was in essence the communication of God’s redemptive love in Christ. The history of redemption was the very purpose of creation. Nothing in human history had significance on its own. . . . Christ’s saving love was the center of all history and defined its meaning. Human events took on significance only as they related to God’s redemptive action in bringing increasing numbers of human beings into the light of that love or as they illustrated human blindness in joining Satan’s warfare against all that was good.”
The Word Of God is the final authority in interpretation:
“`The word of God … is the only rule to direct us.’ You cannot have a subordinate standard. You have one rule, and everything else is under the control of that rule. The Bible is the only touchstone. It judges the preaching. It judges the decrees of councils. It judges the creeds of the church. It judges even our interpretation of the Bible itself.”Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason states, “Never read a Bible verse.”
“If there was one bit of wisdom, one rule of thumb, one single skill I could impart, one useful tip I could leave that would serve you well the rest of your life, what would it be? What is the single most important practical skill I’ve ever learned as a Christian?
Here it is: Never read a Bible verse. That’s right, never read a Bible verse. Instead, always read a paragraph–at least.” (emphasis mine)
Simply quoting a single verse really does not provide any information to truly understand its meaning. Remember two things in a debate or Scriptural argument:
(1) Do not use single verses to prove a point. The presenter of an argument should not be resting wholly on a single verse or a string of single verses. This does not prove much. The verses become an assertion rather than an argument. If the assertion is not correct, it can be refuted by using the micro-context (or passage) in chich the specific verse occurs.
(2) Use the micro-context (or passage) to prove a point. We must let Scripture speak for itself. Using the micro-context (or full passage) to present what Scripture itself is saying is key. Read the micro-context at face value. What does Scripture say?
But we do not stop at the micro-context. Scriptural interpretation not only consists of the micro-context but the macro-context:
(1) Interpret the immediate or micro-context. Understand the people, laws, traditions, their understanding of the circumstances, etc…
(2) Interpret the micro-context in conjunction with the macro-context – the revelation of Christ Himself and His work.
