By Gary Ray Branscome
God’s Word is to be believed not
debated, faithfully taught not twisted to make it agree with the opinions of
men. Because the Bible was written so, “That
you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name
of the Son of God,” the meaning God intends for you to get from His words
is nothing other than what those words plainly say (1John 5:13). Or, as the
Apostle Paul put it, “We have not written anything to
you, other than what you read”
(2Corinthians
[NOTE: Four-hundred years ago the grammatical meaning
was called “the literal meaning”. However, over the centuries, those unwilling
to accept the plain grammatical meaning of the words changed the meaning of
“literal”, and now deceptively portray “the literal meaning” as a totally
ungrammatical rejection of all legitimate figures of speech.]
Having said that let me make it clear that I am not denying
that there are passages that are hard for us to understand. The clarity of Scripture does not lie in
our ability to fully understand what is said, but in the fact that the meaning
God intends for you to get from His words is not hidden or mysterious, but is
nothing “other than what you read” (2Cor. 1:13). In other words, the
words of Scripture mean just what they say. For example: If an article you were
reading contained this statement, “A keratolytic drug
used in the treatment of skin disorders,” you might not understand that
statement. But that would not mean that the author had some hidden meaning. On
the contrary, the words mean exactly what they say, and they are explained by
what the article says elsewhere. And, it is the same way with Scripture. If we
encounter a passage that is hard to understand, instead of professing ourselves
to be wise by making up an explanation, we should humbly admit our ignorance
and allow the passages that are so clear that they need no explanation to cast
light on the unclear passage. And, we do that by interpreting the unclear
passages to teach the same doctrine that is taught in the clear passages of
Scripture.
The words of the psalmist, “Your
word is a lamp to my feet, and a light
to my path,” // “The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple,”
reveal the clarity of Scripture, for a dark book can never be a source of light
or understanding (Psalm 119:105, 130).
The words, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of
the LORD is sure, making wise the
simple,” tell us that the Bible is clear enough to make “wise the simple”
(Psalm 19:7). While the words, “And we
have a more sure word of prophecy; to which you do well to pay attention, as to
a light that shines in a dark place,” speak of Scripture as a light (2Peter
Regarding 2Corinthians 3:12 let me add that the KJV translates the phrase containing the Greek word “parrhesia” as, “Great plainness of speech,” and translates
that word as “plainly” in, John 10:24, John 11:14, John 16:25, and John 16:29.
While Lenski translates 2Cor.
The words, “These were of better character
than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so,” tell us that the Bible’s testimony of Christ is so clear that the Jews
at Berea had no difficulty finding it in Scripture (Acts 17:11). And, the
words, “From infancy you have known the
holy scriptures, that are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus,” not only tell us that the words of Scripture are
plain enough for a child to understand, but that they are also sufficiently
clear to make one, “wise unto salvation through
faith in Christ Jesus” (2Timothy 3:15).
The words, “Search the scriptures; for in them you think
that you have eternal life: and they are they that testify of me,” would not make any sense if what the Bible says
was just a matter of opinion (John
Christ’s words, “If you continue in
my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and
the truth will make you free,” presuppose the clarity of scripture, for it
is only because the words of Scripture are clear that those
who continue in them can “know the truth”
(John
Those Who Reject the
Clarity of Scripture
Throughout history there have been many who have been blind
to the clarity of Scripture, many who rejected it outright, and many who have
attacked it. The words, “The minds of those who do not believe have been
blinded by the god of this world,” tell us that those who do not believe
have been blinded (2Corinthians 4:4). The words, “
However, a fixation on works is only part of the reason for
their blindness. The words, “Those who know God accept what we say; those
who are not of God will not accept what we say. That is how we can
distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error,” tell us that
they are also blinded by the fact that the Holy Spirit is not in their hearts,
and because they are unwilling to accept anything in the Bible that condemns
them or disagrees with their opinions (1John 4:6).
In the world today, much opposition to the clarity of
Scripture comes from those who are unwilling to accept what the Bible says
about Creation and the age of the earth. The Bible is perfectly clear, but they
deny its clarity because they no longer believe what it says, but are unwilling
to admit it.
For example: The words, “In six days the LORD made
heaven and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and rested on the
seventh day: for that reason the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy,”
are perfectly clear (Exodus 20:11). Anyone, having average intelligence, can
see that the days being spoken of are days of the week. That is made abundantly
clear by the context. And, the only people who say, “Well we don’t know how
long a day was,” are those who do not want to accept what the Bible says.
Because God knew that these people would create doubts
about the length of the creation days, He plainly tells us that “The evening
and the morning were the first day,” while saying the same for each of the
following creation days (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31). And, if that is not
enough, by the words, “God separated the light from the darkness. And God
called the light Day, and called the darkness Night. And the evening and the
morning were the first day,” God defines evening and morning as a period of
darkness and light (Genesis 1:4-5). My point is that the Bible is perfectly
clear. The darkness is in the heart of man, which is, “Deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked,” not in Scripture (Jeremiah 17:9).
“Holy Scripture never
states mere ‘general principles’ from which the Christian theologian or the
Christian Church must ‘develop’ the doctrines; for it is not a book of ‘general
principles’ but of doctrines. In order that the theologian may be kept from
teaching false doctrine, he must constantly bear in mind that he is to teach
nothing but what Scripture itself teaches in clear words… The
Christian exegete must scrupulously refrain from foisting upon its sacred text
his own subjective views” (John
Theodore Mueller, “Christian Dogmatics”, pages 138-139.)
How the Clarity of
Scripture Applies to Its Interpretation
The Word of God is clear because God
loves us and is, “Not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2Peter 3:9).
However, Satan wants just the opposite. Because Satan hates us he wants people
to ignore what the words of Scripture actually say while reading their own
ideas into the text. And, one of the ways he does that is by convincing them
that the doctrine of the Trinity is not found in Scripture. So I will use the
doctrine of the Trinity to illustrate how the clarity of Scripture applies to
Bible interpretation.
While it is true that the word, “Trinity” is not found in Scripture,
that word is simply the name we ascribe to a body of doctrinal truths that are
each clearly and explicitly stated in Scripture. For example:
1- The words, “Don’t we all have
one father? Hasn’t one God created us,” give us the doctrine that the
Father is God (Malachi
2- The words, “We are in the one
who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and eternal life,”
give us the doctrine that the Son is God (1John
3- The words, “Why has Satan filled your
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost… you have not lied to men, but to God,” give
us the doctrine that the Holy Ghost is God (Acts 5:3-4).
4- The words, “There is one God; and
there is none other but He,” give us the doctrine that there is only one
God (Mark
In stating those four doctrines I in no way want to imply that the passages I
quoted are the only passages of Scripture that teach those doctrines. Nor do I
wish to imply that those four doctrines are all there is to the doctrine of the
Trinity. There is far more. However,
those four doctrines constitute the heart and core of the doctrine of the
Trinity. And, the point I want to make is that each of them is clearly and explicitly stated in Scripture.
I also want to call attention to the fact that those doctrinal truths are not
all found in one place, but are scattered through Scripture “here a little and there a little”. For
it is written, “To whom can he teach
knowledge? and who will he enable to understand
doctrine?… for truth must be upon truth, truth upon truth; line upon line, line
upon line; here a little, and there a little,” (Isaiah 28:9-10).
One cult that denies the doctrine of the Trinity
claims that the Holy Spirit is just God’s “active force”. Of course, that is
just something they made up. However, we reject it because the words, “He who searches our hearts knows
the mind of the Spirit,” tell us that the Spirit has a mind (Romans
Because the doctrine that God wants us to believe and teach is clearly and
explicitly stated in Scripture, everything else that the Bible says is there to
support that doctrine, and nothing that is taught in the hard to understand
passages of Scripture will contradict what is taught in the clear. For that
reason, all of the hard to understand passages need to be interpreted to teach
the same doctrine that is taught in the clear passages. And, those who
interpret the hard to understand passages in a way that contradicts what is
taught in the clear passages should not be listened to. As it is written, “If they do not speak according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20).
SCRIPTURE
ALONE