We are in a series called “Sword Sharpening” and looking at how to make the most of your time with the Bible. This week, we continue discussing how to deal with difficult Bible verses. When you read the Bible, you will find some things that are not always easy to deal with.
Sometimes, as people read the Bible, they are turned away from, not toward God. This often results from not understanding how His Story ties together and how to look for context. When you read a difficult passage, you must consider the context. I suggest always holding in tension what we learned when we looked at the Kingdom Revealed section of this series.
In the garden, everything was perfect. There was relational harmony. There were no problems of any kind. This is the heart of God. An ideal place on the planet where heaven and earth meet and where God dwells with his divine and human families. Everything that comes after the Fall is not what God wanted. After the fall, God is dealing with the consequences of human depravity. All of the evil and brokenness result from us choosing to go our own way. You must hold the idea of free will in tension as you read the problematic parts of the Old Testament.
God gave us free will. The ability to make choices. Why? He wants to be in relationship with people who want to be in a relationship with Him. Not because they have to but because they choose to.
As a result of our choices, the planet is in the shape it is in. Rather than take in the reality that the brokenness is our fault, we find it easier to blame God. People often ask, “How could a loving God do or allow that”? It was the height of love to give us the ability to choose. We choose wrongly, and the brokenness, the evil, and the depravity are all on us. None of it is what God wanted.
Part of the underlying story is that we are hard-hearted and keep going our way instead of His. We need heart transplants. And that is what is accomplished when Jesus comes the first time and defeats the power of sin and death. When He sends the Holy Spirit, we can now change.
Ezekiel 36:26–278 (NIV)
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Don’t give up on the Bible because you find it hard to read or understand why God does things or allows things that don’t seem to fit how you think God should be. Instead of turning away from the Bible, dig deeper into it. Look for the context of the hard verse and think about how it fits into the whole story. This verse from the Psalms captures the heart of God and the idea is repeated many times in other verses in the Bible:
Psalm 86:15 (NIV)
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Another thing to remember is that Jesus loved the Bible. The Bible is central to His life and ministry. We see Jesus pointing to and drawing from the Bible throughout the gospels. Jesus is highlighting the truthfulness and authority of the Bible as He uses it to change people’s lives.
We will add much more to this at Keys Vineyard Church this weekend, so join us in person or online.
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
