Our human self-centeredness often let us fall into a trap to misinterpret the Bible as if it was only written for me, for now. This may be evil’s most effective tool to disguise and turn what God wants to say into what we want to hear. And yet, without God speaking to me, to us, today, Bible reading will become a tedious task with no relevance and therefore one we would too easily neglect.
I was really excited when I came across articles by David Powlison about personal application of the Bible, and want to share the core truths of these articles with you during the next couple of Wednesdays.
Its about how to personally apply your Bible Reading in your life and your circumstances. There is a correct, legitimate way, that has the authority of God’s Word for you on the day you read it. There also are ways of doing this where we make the Bible say what we want to hear in stead of what the Spirit intended it to mean. That way of interpretation has no authority as God’s Word and leads to misunderstanding and misleading. Yet no believer should miss out on the miracle when the Spirit personally applies the Bible as God’s Word in our lives, today.
The words written in the Scriptures addressed the concerns of long-ago people in faraway places, facing specific problems, many of which no longer exist today. Yet they, the first, original readers, had no difficulty seeing the application for their lives and faith.
But nothing in the Bible was written directly specifically to us in the same way as it was to the first readers and their circumstances. In the Bible we are reading someone else’s mail. Yet, the Bible repeatedly verify that these words are also written for us:
Rom 5: 4 says “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (Also see Deut. 29:29, 1 Cor 10:11 and 2 Tim 3: 15 – 17.)
Application for our own benefit needs to discover the ways in which the Spirit reapplies Scripture in my present day to my present day needs.
Secondly we should also remember that the Bible is primarily about God, and not you and me. The subject matter of the Bible is the triune God as fully revealed in the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We read that when Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 22:45), he showed how everything written—creation, promises, commands, history, sacrificial system, psalms, proverbs—is really and ultimately, about him.
So we are not only reading someone else’s mail, but also someone else’s biography.
But it is also true that whatever we read about Jesus - and the whole Bible points to him - it includes a word for you and me. It has a message for you and me. Application of the Bible for my life and questions today happens when the Spirit “rescripts” my life by the revelation of who God is and what he is doing, and it is not about how my life and tribulations are rescripting the Bible for today’s issues, the trap we so easily falls into.
“Personal application” of the Bible proves to have the authority of God speaking to me, today, with divine authority, when I recognize the above facts and principles about Bible reading
The Bible was written to others—but speaks to you.
The Bible is about God—but draws you in. Your challenge is always to apply Scripture afresh, because God’s purpose is always to rescript your life, every day.
But how do we do this? Over the next 4 or 5 Wednesdays we are going to ask – How can I read the Bible in a way it personally applies to me, today!
May the God of grace through Jesus Christ our Saviour bless and keep you.
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