Being a strong proponent of the High View of the Bible, means I believe it is the verbal and plenary inspired word of God.  I also believe God, being the creator of languages is precise in the use of language, even when working through human authors.  Being all knowing, sovereign and wise He was able to accurately reveal truth to us through those human agents.  Therefore, I believe we should take the text of the Bible at face value. 
Unless it is clearly intended as figurative language we should take it literally.  Parables, metaphors and colloquialisms should be interpreted as such.  So, some knowledge of the author’s culture and native language is needed to ensure the most accurate translation into our own culture and language.  We should never apply 21st century English meanings to words written down thousands of years ago in either Greek or Hebrew. 

I’m explaining all this because almost weekly I encounter people who admit to having difficulty with some Biblical passages because the words don’t fit with the denominational positions they were taught growing up.  The same is true for people who did not grow up in Church and became a believer as an adult.  We all bring a personally acquired world view into our new life in Jesus Christ.  And everyone who comes to Christ must work at reordering their understanding of reality. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  The words I underlined are not found in the Greek text, but were added by the translators.  It is a common practice intended to help the English reader get the sense of what is being said.  In this case it actually works against the author’s original intention.  Let me offer a more direct rendering of this verse.  “If anyone be in Christ, a new creation the old passed away behold, all have become new.”  The believer has not become a new creation as is implied by the added words, but is rather living in a new reality that is nothing like the old.  That means we who are in Christ need a new world view.  The Christian needs to develop a future mindset that fits this new reality. We will live in the eternal Kingdom God also calls the New Heaven and Earth.   

That is at the very heart of Paul’s general command to all believers in Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  The renewing of your mind requires an eternal perspective and new information.  Contrary to what you may believe spiritual truth is not inherent to our natural mind.  If comes through knowledge of God’s word. I refer you to the post on 2 Peter 1:2-4. 

So, when what the Bible says doesn’t match what you’ve been taught in the past, who are you gonna believe?    

I was recently in a conversation with someone on a particular doctrinal topic in which we disagreed.  It wasn’t heated, but we ended it with neither of us having been persuaded by the other.  The reason we could not come to an agreement is germane to my previous posts on our understanding of the Bible, the high view of Scripture vs. the low view.  You see both of us were in agreement that what the Bible said on the topic we were discussing was difficult to understand.  Let’s face it there are a lot of things in the Bible that sound strange even absurd to us.  The same is true in science.  But our lack of understanding doesn’t mean those things are not true. 

Take Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”  What does it mean that God doesn’t change?  He is immutable, He does not change in His fundamental nature and attributes.  Omniscient is how we define His immutability in terms of knowledge and wisdom.  He knows everything there is to know about what has been, what is, what will be and what would have been under different circumstances.  That is something we who are trapped in time and space where everything follows a path of progress either in decline or growth struggle to understand.  

But the Bible insists it is still true.  Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”  Our ability to fully grasp God’s immutability does not make it less true.  And redefining a Biblical doctrine so we can make sense could be seen as a form of idolatry, because makes Him into someone other than who He is. 

Consider the incident in Numbers 21 where God established looking at a bronze replica of a snake as the cure for being bitten by a poisonous serpent.  Would you have found that difficult to believe?  There is no medical evidence to support such a claim.  It certainly would not work today. So, does that mean it never happened?  How about Jesus Christ walking on water or feeding 5,000 men and their families with 5 loaves of barley bread and 2 small salted fish?  Did those events never happen either?  I’ve read commentaries that made it clear the author’s thought so.  
​
Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” That’s not the definition of faith; it is an explanation of its function.  No human witnessed the creation but we believe, have faith, that God did create the universe and all that is in it.  We do not need to understand the physics by which He did it in order to believe He is the Creator.  In terms our personal belief structures (theology) the task is to correctly organize what the Bible says and stick with that.  If I might adapt a phrasing I got from Imad Shehadeh, President of the Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary, Biblical truth is not a problem we have to explain so much as a wonder to explore.  

I want to share with you a wonderful passage from 2 Peter.  I’m doing it from the perspective of the Bible as God’s revealed truth.
​
2 Peter1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

How cool is it that we can grow our experience of God’s grace and peace in this life by simply increasing our knowledge of Him and the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is by God’s divine power that we have everything needed for life and godly living starting with everlasting life and the Holy Spirit who is our guarantee of entrance into Heaven (Ephesians 1:13-14).  The key for making the most of our everlasting life now is found in the full knowledge of God.  Where do we find that full knowledge of God? 

Peter points us to the exceedingly great and precious promises contained in the Bible.  The Bible is God’s recorded revelation which He has personally persevered by His power.  Peter explained this way in 2 Peter 1:20 & 21 “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  The Holy Spirit has supervised the writing of Scripture and its preservation down through the centuries.  So, we can trust it to be reliable in the matters of life and godliness. 

I am a strong proponent of reading the Bible itself rather than relying on books about the Bible.  Topical books and commentaries have their place, but nothing can really take the place of reading and studying it for yourself.  I recommend the folks at Trego Community Church do 2 things.  First, read at least 4 chapters a day, every day.  Reading as you would any other non-fiction book so you’re familiar with its content. By daily readings you’ll also get to know more about God, His nature and how He interactions with people. 

Then supplement your reading with planned studies of individual books in the Bible.   Read a paragraph and then write down the main ideas being expressed, those things that jump off the page at you and look for the main idea the author is trying to get across to you. Write down any questions you still have about what you’ve read for later investigation.  That is when commentaries come in to play.  You don’t need to buy them as there are several on-line resources that are free. 

Here are some recommendations of sites I use:
Constables Notes @ https://soniclight.com/; 
https://bible.org/; 
https://www.biblegateway.com/.   

Calvinism is not alone in holding to doctrinal views that call into question the character of God.  The Arminian and Wesleyan churches teach a faith plus works means of salvation.  They hold that salvation is open to all, but also any christian can fall from grace and apostatize.  If that person fails to repent of their sin, they will forfeit the everlasting life Christ gave them. 

As I believe Charles Ryrie put it, if you can lose it then everlasting life is the wrong name for it.  But Jesus Christ absolutely called it everlasting life.  He also said it is received the moment someone believes His promise to give it.  John 3:16 and John 5:24 show everlasting life is given immediately and is permanent. 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” 
John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”  
​
Notice neither verse says anything about repentance of sin and clearly says everlasting life is a present possession of the one who believes.  John 5:24 goes on to say there is no future judgement for the believer.   

Even more to the point we are told in Romans 3:23-26 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,  to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  

V.23 says we have sinned (past tense) and fall short (present tense) of God’s glory or expectations.  In other words, we never actually measure up to His standards with repentance. But Jesus Christ freely justifies those who believe in Him for life.  He can do that because He became the propitiation for our sin when He died on the cross.  Our redemption is completely the work of God because He justly resolved the issue of sin and them became the justifier of those who believe in Jesus Christ. 

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  In spite of falling short of God’s glory justification means God is at peace with us.  Romans 5:2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  We stand in God’s grace not our own efforts to do good. 

These are all easy to understand promises from God.  But I can understand how confusing it could be for someone who goes to a church that teaches these things are not true.  Human nature being what it is, Romans 3:23, I fear it wrongly results in doubts about God’s word and His character.