Is that what he really said?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Gen. 3:1

Have you ever been in a situation where someone told you something, and you thought they meant one thing, and they really meant something totally different? Sometimes, that can just be a little embarrassing or even humorous. However, when it comes to scripture, it can have eternal consequences. Not interpreting scripture properly has led to cults such as the Jehovah’s Witness, Mormonism, and Roman Catholicism. It   has also led to the Progressive Christianity and the Prosperity Gospel movements.

How is it possible for people to be so deceived that they would believe the lies that Satan spreads through all of these false religions? The Bible answers that question for us. Jesus said this about Satan,  “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there   is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his   own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies ( John 8-44).”

How can we defend against the lies of Satan? One sure way is to understand the difference between exegesis and eisegesis. Exegesis and eisegesis are two conflicting approaches to Bible study. Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based on careful, objective analysis. The word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text. The opposite approach to Scripture is eisegesis, which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading.   The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants. When interpreting Scripture, our first goal is to exegesis the passage by using proper hermeneutics. Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles and methods of interpreting the text of the Bible. The most important law of biblical hermeneutics is that the Bible should be interpreted literally. When God said he created the world in six days, then He created it in six days. We don’t strike out the word days and put in its place millions of years.

A second crucial law of biblical hermeneutics is that passages must be interpreted historically, grammatically, and contextually. Interpreting historically means we must understand the background, culture, and situation regarding the text. A third law of biblical hermeneutics is that Scripture is always the best interpreter of Scripture. For this reason, we always compare Scripture with Scripture when trying to determine the meaning    of a passage. When we study scripture, we don’t study a verse as a stand-alone verse. We study the verses around it, the chapter, and the book it is in, and then we make sure that it does not contradict other scripture. An example of this is the following passage, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in   their midst ( Matthew 18:21)”. You have probably heard someone pray this at a prayer meeting or other gathering. However, it has nothing to do with Jesus being there when two believers meet. Think about it for a moment. Is Jesus not with the persecuted     Christian alone in a cell somewhere or a Christian being tortured or killed because of their faith? Of course not; the bible makes it clear that all believers have Christ in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The verse has everything to do with church discipline. Jesus is telling us, the church, that if the church agrees    on the matter of church discipline, He is there in agreement. The reason we have so many cults and false religions in the world today is that people want to eisegesis scripture instead of proper exegesis of Scripture.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark