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Interpreting the Bible Exegetically, or Forcing the Bible to Speak Church Dogma Eisegetically?
Renette Vermeulen
[Image on right: acknowledgement to Dan Lietha] “Exegesis” means, “drawing the actual meaning out of the text” “Eisegesis” means, “a process that introduces one's own presuppositions, agendas, or biases into and onto the text” “Hermeneutic” means: “broad or general, non-specific, personal interpretation of Scripture.”
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[Acknowledgement to the people who published these images] Above left: Though the Morality of the Old Testament Covenant must not be rejected, (Jn. 13:34,) Jesus commanded in Jn. 4:21-24, “[After the cross and Pentecost, true believers] will worship neither on this mountain, [this denomination or that one,] nor in [physical] Jerusalem. God is Spirit, and [all Scripturally, spiritually born again believers in Jesus] will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, [the truth of His Word in the Bible as taught by the Holy Spirit of Truth dwelling in them,]” (1 Cor. 6:18.) This is so because God’s Old Testament Covenant with the Old Hebrews was done away with at the cross to establish Jesus’ eternal, unchangeable, New Testament Covenant with believers from across the whole globe, (Jn. 3:16; Heb. 8:713 & chapters 7-9.) Thus, the Kingdom-Now-here-on-earth doctrine is a great deception. Above right: Jesus redeemed all His New Testament/Covenant believers “from every tribe, tongue and nation,” from the Israeli nation as well, with His own blood, (Eph. 1:7! Jn. 3:16; Rev. 5:9-10.) This spiritual nation of the New Covenant, believing Jews included, (1 Pt. 2-9-10,) must, therefore, forsake all their traditions, politics, national feasts, culture and pagan rituals, to worship, follow, and serve Jesus in His Spiritual Kingdom of Light, (1 Pt. 2:9-10; Jn. 4:21-24.) Þ “Are you the [political] king of the Jews?” Pontius Pilate demanded from Jesus. “My Kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus answered. “If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would [physically] fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My Kingdom is not from here. [Unlike physical Israel in the Old Covenant, My New Covenant is a Spiritual Kingdom. It has no earthly origin, source, or political aspirations,]” (Jn. 18:36; Acts 7:48.) Þ Under the New Testament Covenant of Christ, the only function of the Old Testament is as follows, “All these things [in the Old Testament] happened to [Old Israel] as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages, [The New Testament era,] has come, (1 Cor. 10:11.) Thus, all my work is done from the perspective of the New Testament Covenant, written in the blood-atonement of Jesus for His international body of believers, which was “redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation, [Israelis too,] by His blood,” (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 5:9-10; Heb. 8:13 & chapters 7-9.)
THE BIBLE IS INCORRUPTIBLE IF INTERPRETED EXEGETICALLY AND CONTEXTUALLY! Someone explained the difference between correct and incorrect interpretation of the Scriptures as follows, “Exegesis and eisegesis are two conflicting approaches to Bible study. “Exegesis is the explanation of a text based on a careful, objective analysis of the text” in the context of the passage, specific Testament, etcetera. It literally means, ‘to draw the precise meaning out of the text.’ “Eisegesis means that the interpreter is led to his own conclusions by vaguely or broadly following the text” while always loosening specific verses from the true context of the passage, Testament, etcetera, to fit them into certain doctrines. Hermeneutics is a branch of eisegesis, which involves the broad interpretation of a text or passage based on “subjective, non-analytical reading.” Thus, “the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.” · All church doctrine are based on Eisegesis, or forcing the Scriptures to say whatever they want people to hear. Hence, the many denominations or church divisions that sprang, (and is still springing,) from their spiritual mother, Roman Catholic Christianity. Only the “entirety of God’s Word is Truth,” (Ps. 119:160.) So, the Bible should be read, interpreted, and understood according to the entire context of both the Old and the New Testaments or Covenants — which is interpreting the Scriptures not only exegetically but also contextually. To surrender our minds to uncontextual, and thus to eisegetical teaching, is to surrender to manmade religion, not to the truth of God’s Word. Such careless shortsightedness will cause us to “perish through a lack of knowledge” of God’s real Truth, or of Christ Himself, Who does not merely speak the Truth, but Is the Truth. Manmade eisegetical and hermeneutical doctrines will result in “having our understanding [of God’s Word, His will, and the leading of the Holy Spirit] darkened,” which, in turn, “will alienate us from the life of God, because of the ignorance [in our minds] and the blindness of our hearts…” (Jn. 14:6; Eph. 4:17-24.) Someone wisely said, “Searching Scripture [exegetically] is not a matter of [mere] knowledge, [‘higher or secret’ mind-knowledge, or atheist ‘gnosis,’] but of [true, eternal, spiritual] life!” The reason? Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Truth, The Light, The Life, and The Way, Who is God Himself, declared, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but [the truth of] My words will by no means pass away,” (Mark 13:31; Col. 2:9-10.) Sadly, in our day, the truth of, and obedience to the full context of Biblical Scripture is progressively exchanged for “rhema” or the spoken word: so-called “revelation knowledge,” which does not fit into the context of Biblical truth. Such extra-Scriptural ‘revelation’ usually comes from self-ordained ‘angelic’ or ‘divine’ apostles and ‘prophets’, where reliance on the True Word of Christ is replaced by the false authority of so-called ‘divine’ christ-men and women, who bind people to lukewarm religious comfort zones, false church systems, and false spiritual authority.
SALVATION, REDEMPTION AND BLESSING IN CHRIST IS OUR OWN PERSONAL CHOICE AND RESPONSIBILITY In discerning between Scriptural truth and false teaching, thus allowing God to protect us against deception and false spiritual manifestations, we need to accept our personal responsibility to obey the full context of God’s Word, which commands us to ‘flee from immorality; flee from idolatry; flee from the love of money…’ flee from false teaching, false teachers, and false spiritual manifestations! (1 Ths. 5:21; 1 Jn. 1:1-4.) God never commanded us to join falsehoods of any kind, or to try to change idolatrous church systems by becoming members of their organizations, (2 Jn. v. 9-11; 1 Tim. 3-5; 11-12; Eph. 5:15-21; Col. 3:14-17.) John explained in 2 Jn. 9-10, ‘Whoever… does not abide in the [full contextual truth of the Bible,] the [real Gospel] of Christ, does not have God. He who abides in the [entire truth of the Word] of Christ has both the Father and the Son.’ In 2 Jn. V. 10, he commanded, ‘If anyone comes to you and does not bring [the full truth of the Scriptures,] the [true teachings] of Christ, do not receive him [or her] into your house [as a fellow believer,] nor greet him [as a child of God,] for he who greets him [religiously as a brother in Christ,] shares in his evil deeds.’
THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, CAME TO “LEAD US INTO ALL TRUTH” “All truth” always pertains to the entire contextual truth of God’s Word, as well as to the entire truth concerning our particular situations in this world. Consequently, the Spirit will never lead us outside the protective, punitive Word or will of God, which can only be understood according to the truth of His entire, exegetically interpreted Word. Nevertheless, all Christians and Christian affiliates such as Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists claim to be ‘Bible believers.’ Therefore, we need to determine what true, Scriptural faith, and real Scriptural obedience actually mean. We can never separate the Spirit, or the works and Scriptural gifts of the Spirit, from the truth of Scripture. Real understanding of Scripture, which results in true faith and Moral-Law obedience to God, (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Jn. 13:34,) is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, not merely of the human mind – although our minds, (logic thoughts, free will and intelligence,) are never excluded in discerning truth from error, (Rom. 12:1-2.) Hence, Paul commanded not only to be “filled with the Holy Spirit,” [or to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit free reign over us,] but also to allow “the Word of God, (Who is Christ Himself,) to dwell [or live in us] richly in all wisdom…” (Col. 3:16.) To be able to have the Holy Spirit and His Word live and work steadfastly in and through us, we must be continually renewed or transformed in our minds, (actually, our thoughts,) through studying and obeying the Scriptures soberly and prayerfully in the teaching and revelation of the Holy Spirit, (Rom. 12:1-3.) The word “conformation” does not reflect this type of spiritual renewal and faith in Christ. ‘Conformation’ means to submit to, and to join the man-made doctrines of a particular church without ever understanding the deep, spiritual truth of God’s Real Word. In Rom. 12:1-2, Paul explicitly forbade “conformation to the [religious] world.” In addition, we must be vigilant against all forms of deception, stand firm in the truth of Christ, and always be on our guard against the schemes of the evil one. It is foolish to believe that the Spirit will manifest Himself in ways that violate God’s exegetical and contextual truth, our God-given free will and intellect, and our Holy-Spirit gift of discernment, (Rom. 12:1-3; 1 Cor. 14:32-33; 1 Pt. 1:13; Jam. 1:21-22; 1 Pt. 5:8-9. ) The Holy Spirit of Truth will never lead us into false doctrine, disobedience to the contextual truth of Scripture, chaotic spiritual manifestations or, as found in traditional Catholicism and Protestantism, the lack of Scriptural manifestations (or the Gifts) of the Holy Spirit.
ABOUT ‘TESTING THE SPIRITS’ AS GOD COMMANDED God commanded in 1 Jn. 4:1, and therefore our obedience to this vital protective commandment is not optional: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, [according to the exegetical, contextual Word of God,] to see whether they are of God; because many false prophets [and teachers] have gone out into the world.” He also commanded in Mt. 24:4-5; 23-27; Lu. 17:20-24, “…Take heed [be on your guard] that no one deceives you. For many will come in My Name… and deceive many… If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it… The kingdom of God does not come with observation… For indeed, the kingdom of God is [constantly] within you, [meaning in the sincerely born again disciples of Christ...] The days will come when you will desire to see one of the [miraculous] days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. [Not because true signs and miracles have ceased as traditional churches teach, but because the end of the end-times will be typified by deception and false signs and miracles!] And when they say to you ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ DO NOT go after them or follow them… ” As soon as we accept teaching, prophecy, miracles, etcetera without asking who is speaking into our human spirits and souls (or minds,) and what are actually said and done here, we open ourselves to deception. · Our only reliable measure in the spirit world where human eyes cannot see, (pertaining to Biblical teaching, all spiritual manifestations, and to every other area of life,) is the entire truth of Scripture; the “lamp unto our feet.” · Mere feeling and human trust will surely deceive us. Therefore, ‘good feelings’ and human beings by themselves and according to manmade religious structures, cannot lead us into all truth. For instance, when Roman Catholics knowingly or unknowingly worship ‘Mother’ Mary as the Holy Spirit, most never ‘feel’ condemned. This proves that we cannot test the spirits through our feelings and/or by the insistence of church clergy to submit to church doctrines and ceremonial practices. · Someone wrote that it would be foolish to test a spirit by asking God, “Father, if that strange manifestation is not of You, please do not allow me to laugh hysterically, be slain (or killed) in the spirit, etcetera, when they lay hands on me, pray over me, swipe their clothing over me, etcetera.” Such a prayer for protection, whilst disobediently entering into danger and chaos, would be as foolish as to ask God ‘not to allow’ you to steal when presented with the opportunity, while the entire context of His Word forbids you to steal, because stealing, lying, etcetera, clearly violate the commandments of the Moral Law of Christ, (Mt. 23:36-40.) All manmade ideas and doctrines will lead us astray. However, if we truly follow Jesus, The Truth and The Light, we will never walk in darkness, just as Jesus had promised! (Jn. 8:12.) Paul taught in Eph. 4:8-17, “You were once in darkness, but now you are in the light of the Lord. Walk as children of light… And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them… See then that you walk circumspectly, [carefully,] not as fools but as wise… Therefore, understand what the will of the Lord is.”
THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE APPLIES TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS · Could the Bible be false “because mere humans wrote the Bible, and the Roman Catholic Church and her Protestant daughters the Reformers, corrupted and compiled the Bible books according to their church beliefs?” Not a single truth of Jesus’ Word will ever perish, as He had promised, despite the fact that Old Testament, as well as New Testament priests and scribes have tampered with God’s Word. Hence, Jesus said to the Old Covenant Pharisees, “[You] make the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down. And many such things you do,” (Mark 7:13; Mt. 15:6-9; Col. 2:8.) Many people do not realize that God did not use any of the Bible writers as computers or secretaries. The Holy Spirit inspired God’s authors to write the Scriptures on paper; He did not dictate every word to them. So, early Bible writers certainly interpreted God’s inspired Word and the historic events of, (for instance,) Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection in the light of their Hebraic views. In addition, it is a reality that some ‘discrepancies’ can be found in both Old and New Testament Scripture because Roman Catholic and Protestant church clergy also manipulated the Scriptures to justify their doctrines, just as pastors and ministers of all sorts are still doing today. As a result, the Bible, as any other book, cannot be interpreted verse-by-verse. It would be futile to seek the truth of Scripture (or anything else) by focusing on certain verses from the Bible without considering the “entirety” or real context of Biblical truth — while that is exactly what all Christian denominations do. Such ‘inconsistencies’ actually prove the validity of the Scriptures because overall, (studied in exegetical context, or according to the “entirety” of Biblical Scripture,) the truth and accuracy of God’s Word remained completely untainted, just as Jesus promised it would be, (Mark 13:31; Ps. 119:160.) Nevertheless, it is shockingly true that everything the mother of all Christian churches, the Roman Catholic Church, touched, (referring to Christian doctrine, church forms, norms, unscriptural sacraments or ‘salvation’ through church rituals, etcetera,) were tainted by, and derived from the Vatican’s ‘Christianization’ of barefaced paganism. Sadly, Protestants such as Luther and John Calvin did not repent from Roman Catholic witchcraft, but simply “reformed” the most important doctrines of Roman Catholicism to suit their taste. Thus, the Reformers’ doctrines, churches, and hierarchies mimic Roman Catholicism to this day and still remain active in all their denominations or Christian divisions. In the process of ‘reforming’ from Roman Catholicism, Protestant leaders also changed, added, twisted, and omitted many verses from the original Scriptures to match their false doctrines, as evidenced in comparison between old and new translations of the Bible.
In studying the Scriptures, we need to ask continually, How does a particular Bible verse, chapter, epistle, or book fit into the rest of Scripture? For instance, was it written specifically for Old or New Testament believers, or can a particular verse or passage relate to both the Old and New Testament Covenants? Confusing and blending the two separate Testaments or Covenants of the Bible with each other led to almost all false doctrine. And false doctrine, in turn, caused all the many divisions or denominations of Roman Catholic birthed Christendom. When studying the Bible, we must remember that the Old and New Testaments are two completely different and separate Covenants. In the Old Testament, everything pertained to the physical nation of God, the Old Hebrews; the physical Hebrew temple with its physical, hierarchical priesthood, ritual and sacramental laws and sacrifices, etcetera. In the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, (both the Ceremonial and Moral Law, Mt. 5:17-20,) in its entirety for all those who would sincerely believe in Him, accept Him personally, and follow Him obediently, (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3-5; Gal. 4:6.) Thus, through the New Testament Covenant, Jesus spiritualized everything that was physical under the Old Testament Covenant. For instance, Jesus redeemed with His blood-atonement a newborn, spiritual nation and priesthood from every tribe, tongue, and nation in the world. The one and only, New Testament/Covenant temple of God is where the Holy Spirit now resides in the innermost, born again hearts or spirits of all sincere believers everywhere on earth, and so forth, (1 Cor. 3:16-17.) · To understand the context of a particular passage or verse from the Bible, it is also vital to ask, What were the writer’s historical/traditional background and his human mindset at the time it was written? How is it relevant to the overall picture of the Scriptures today? For instance, it is ridiculous to believe that the traditional dress-code, patriarch rule, and other traditions, customs, and conventional beliefs of Old Testament Hebrews, or even of first century Hebrews and Gentiles, can be forced upon the 21st century body of Christ, (1 Tim. 2:15; 1 Cor. 11:5.) Jesus said in Mark 7:9,13,18 “All too well you reject the [New Covenant] commandment of God, (Jn. 13:34,) that you may keep your tradition… making the Word of God of no effect… by [the things] which you have handed down. And many such things you do... Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from the outside [like eating pork] cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” So, abstaining from eating pork or replacing the traditional, ceremonial wearing of a veil with the wearing of a hat is silly, to say the least. Salvation in Christ under the New Testament Covenant has nothing to do with outward things such as ceremonial meals, veils, hats, and clothes, (1 Cor. 11:10-16.) (Continue) |
