Putting on the Full Armor of God, Part 3

Title: Putting on the Full Armor of God, Part 3

Text: Ephesians 6:16-18

Date: November 17th, 2009

 

A couple of weeks ago I started the message series “Putting on the full armor of God,” I’ve covered about one-half of the instructions contained in Ephesians 6:10-18 in dealing with spiritual attack. This morning I’d like to conclude by explaining the remaining four points included in the verse. I’ve already explained the importance of standing on the truth, of being righteous, and in keeping our hearts at peace through the gospel in dealing with evil, spiritual opposition. Today I’d like to talk about the importance of faith, talk more about salvation, explain God’s Word and finally, talk about the importance of prayer in connection with defending ourselves from evil and winning our battles with the devil and demons. As I mentioned before, lots of people think you are crazy if you mention the devil or demons with any degree of seriousness. For modern people today, the devil and demons departed from any intelligent belief hundreds of years ago. Now, the only discussion involving them is in measuring the results of how these beliefs effect the behavior of those who still believe in them, but as far as most people are concerned in our modern world, the devil and demons don’t really exist. Now at this specific point we each have to make a personal decision – am I going to follow the majority of popular opinion and dismiss the devil and demons as mythology or am I going to follow the Bible’s teaching on the subject — which is that they certainly do exist and because of this we must be prepared to resist them and defend ourselves against them when they oppose us in life. I hope you choose to follow the Bible because it gives us the only line of defense against evil spiritual attack. If we don’t take evil seriously, like I said before, we’ll be sitting ducks; we won’t be able to defend ourselves in the battle for our soul. So this is serious stuff and we must be prepared to take it seriously even if most people in our modern culture don’t take it seriously. Ephesians 6:16-18, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Here we see four more items that make up the “full armor of God.” We are told by the Apostle Paul to “Put on the full armor of God” and it would be well for us to listen to that advice because without the full resources of God in our battle against spiritual evil, we’ll probably lose. Some Christians utilize some of the spiritual resources God provides but fail to use all of them. For example, some Christians have prayer devotion every day, but don’t read from the Bible much, while others read more from the Bible but neglect prayer. If we want to be “strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” as we are commanded, we must implement the full resources of God in dealing with spiritual opposition. Let’s look at a few more resources.

Putting on the Full Armor of God, Part 2

Title: Putting on the Full Armor of God, Part 2

Text: Ephesians 6:13-15

Date: November 16th, 2009

 

Last week I began a series on what it means to “put on the full armor of God” as described in Ephesians 6:10-18. I only covered three or four verses last week because I didn’t want to rush through this important set of instructions written by the Apostle Paul to Christians about being ready for spiritual opposition in life. We are taught to be equipped for evil, demonic, spiritual attack by the enemy of our soul – the devil and his demons. A lot of people today laugh at the idea that there really are demons – evil spiritual creatures dedicated to our destruction and death. People make fun of Christians who take these things seriously, but I have to ask the scoffers and skeptics of evil just how they explain things like the recent shootings at Fort Hood, Texas? We are just learning about this individual’s background, and although he is a Muslim, although he was against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, although he wanted out of the military, still these factors don’t explain why he killed 13 people and injured over 30 more. Here was a highly educated, trained professional psychiatrist who didn’t appear mentally disturbed or even particularly depressed or violent in any way, suddenly with premeditation gunning down his fellow soldiers and U.S citizens on America soil. What accounts for such evil? I believe only the presence of demonic influence that took inner anger past rage into violence and murder. But most of the time, the devil and demons don’t receive this much control and influence in a person’s life; usually they operate on a lesser level, but still, we must be ready for attack at any level. That’s why God gives us the instructions of Ephesians 6:13-15, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” This is obviously a military description; used for battle. The problem today is that most Christians don’t have a will to fight or battle over anything, even to defend their own Christian faith. For example, in the United States, we’ve had such a peaceful and prosperous life here that we’ve grown used to it; we assume that the Christian life is basically a recreational activity – after all, isn’t the main activity on the weekend, on Sunday? We seem to look to the Christian life as “fun” instead of seeing it in terms of a life and death struggle between the forces God or good versus the forces of evil, sin and the devil. With that mindset, no wonder most Christians aren’t prepared to deal with or face evil when it attacks them. Why are there so many Christian divorces? Why are so many Christian families breaking up? Why are so many Christians falling into temptation and sin? Why are so many Christians living a defeated life? The answer is, they aren’t prepared to fight the good fight of faith, and when the enemy attacks them they are incapable of defending themselves. They simply don’t know how to fight or they refuse to fight. This must change. Let’s look at God’s instructions on fighting our spiritual battles. Let’s get ourselves equipped for our spiritual struggle in life.

Putting on the Full Armor of God, Part 1

Title: Putting on the Full Armor of God, Part 1

Text: Ephesians 6:10-13

Date: November 8th, 2009

 

Today I’d like to pick up on some point I made a couple of weeks ago in another context. If you remember I was talking about “binding the strong man” as we read about in Matthew 12:29, or in other words, dealing with the devil. At the end of that message I presented some practical tips on how to deal with demonic attack through putting on the full armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:10-18. I didn’t have time enough at the end of that message to develop the topic of the full armor of God, so today I’d like to attempt to explain in practical terms how we as Christians can actually “put on the full armor of God.” I say practical because I’ve heard and I’m sure you’ve heard messages on Ephesians 6:10-18 or putting on the full armor of God, but often the teaching will be more or less a verse-by-verse covering of the biblical passage, reading and explaining what the Bible says, but with little or no practical application of what the verse means and how it can be followed in real life. Often the teacher of this passage will simply read the verse and make a few comments, perhaps about the background and context of the verse or some historical explanation of Roman armor, but then never get around to explaining how we as Christians are to “put on the full armor of God” within our lives today. Obviously, the reference to “putting on armor” is symbolic, a metaphor for something spiritual, something spiritual we must do in order to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) in our day and age. But often we don’t get the application of what all this means to our lives today. So in order to correct this typical oversight in teaching Christian truth, I’ll attempt to make practical application of this passage to our lives today. I’ll make some historical references, but I won’t go into great detail about describing details of the armor worn by soldiers of the Roman Empire, nor spend a lot of time setting the historical background and context. I think it’s pretty clear what the spiritual meanings and applications found in this verse, and so I’ll simply make the spiritual applications as they are made in the verse itself, starting with Ephesians 6:10-13, because there’s no way we can get through the whole verse today in one teaching. In the context of my message a couple of weeks ago on Matthew 12:29, Jesus is teaching us how to deal with the devil or demons. We are looking for the best way to defend ourselves against evil spiritual attacks. That’s why Ephesians 6 is so important because it gives us a methodology for battling spiritual opposition. This is not the only instruction we have in the New Testament about dealing with demonic assault, but it might be the most important. If we can successfully “put on the full armor of God” we can successfully survive any or all spiritual opposition, so it is important to follow these instructions as carefully as we can. They come for the Apostle Paul, who is speaking under the impulse and inspiration of God, so we can trust that it’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Let’s consider a few points.

Binding the Strong Man

Title: Binding the Strong Man

Text: Matthew 12:29

Date: October 25th, 2009

 

When Jesus came two thousand years ago to begin his work of salvation on earth for us, he didn’t come into a friendly or even neutral world. He came into a hostile environment, because Satan or “the god of this world” as the Bible describes him (John 12:31, 14:30,  2 Corinthians 4:4), had already laid claim to the planet earth and all its occupants. So Jesus was really invading enemy territory when he arrived in his incarnate, human form. But if this is so, how could Jesus go about his work of converting and leading people out of “darkness into his marvelous light” — as another biblical passage describes (1 Peter 2:9)? The answer is Jesus had to first deal with the Devil, defeat him, and then and only then could he free the spiritual captives from sin, death and damnation. That’s exactly what Matthew 12:29 is describing, “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.” I like how the King James Version puts it – “binds the strong man,” because it conveys the sense of seriousness involved in subduing Satan or Lucifer, that is, actually “binding” him fast so that he can’t actively have his way in the life of an individual. The ancient world was a very dark place – not that today’s secular, modern world isn’t a very dark place also – but ancient times were particularly dark because at that time there was no Christian truth and light present in society, or any Christian church heritage to refer to. We take it for granted that for 2000 years biblical Christian values have shaped Western civilization and American culture. We are seeing the rapid erosion of those biblical Christian values in our culture today, particularly in America with abortion and homosexual rights gaining power, but it’s nothing like it was in ancient times. At least today there is the memory of the Bible, of the church, of the Christian faith standards for right and wrong, of true and false. But in ancient times, in most nations, there was gross immorality and deep darkness; there was dark spiritual error as the normal state of affairs. The Devil and his demons had a field day, so to speak, in the world at that time. The Jewish nation was somewhat of an exception to the norm as far as spiritual truth and good, because God had taught it through the prophets of the Old Testament, but it too was operating in a state of spiritual darkness by the time Jesus arrived on the scene. Its religion had degenerated into a state of rule-keeping and very little spiritual insight and power. So when Jesus began his ministry in the land of Israel, he found the Devil and demons everywhere opposing him, both directly in one-on-one encounters and indirectly through evil opposition in the person of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Jewish scribes, and other leaders. So one of the first priorities of Jesus was to deal with or neutralize the threat of organized evil. He had to constantly “bind the strong man” in order to free the captive souls of humanity. That’s what I’d like to talk about today. What use do we have for this kind of teaching? It’s a reminder that there should be a priority to our struggle to do God’s will in our lives – we should deal with any spiritual opposition we find first before we try to carry out the will of God. This only makes sense. Let me explain.

The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Rights

Title: The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Rights

Text: Isaiah 5:20

Date: October 15th, 2009

 

Less than a week ago, president Barack Obama spoke at a “gay” rights group dinner in Washington D.C. where in his official position as president promoted gay rights and gay marriage. He also criticized those who would oppose so-called “gay” rights. But what is most disturbing is that he went further than any president before him in affirming the homosexual lifestyle and in promoting gay marriage. For example, at one point in the speech he stated, “My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians – whether in the office or on the battlefield. You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman. You will see a nation that’s valuing and cherishing these families as we build a more perfect union – a union in which gay Americans are an important part. I am committed to these goals. And my administration will continue to achieve them.” Notice the sentence in particular — “You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men and two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.” I emphasized the last part to bring out the radical step the president took. Never before has any president ever advocated that homosexual relationships be seen as the moral equivalent of traditional heterosexual relationships. Never has any president ever considered the homosexual relationship between two men or two women as legitimate, as moral, as right as the traditional heterosexual relationship of man and woman. This is nothing less than the complete normalization of homosexuality in society. The president says, “I am committed to these goals. And my administration will continue to achieve them.” He’s calling for nothing less than the total and complete normalization of homosexuality in the United States. Now what has the reaction been to this radical statement by the president? There’s basically been no wide-scale reaction because hardly anybody has heard or seen the president’s speech repeated or reported. The television networks haven’t reported it. The newspapers haven’t reported it. Maybe a few radio talk shows have mentioned it, but nothing like any kind of national coverage or discussion. It’s as if the news outlets are simply ignoring the whole thing, as if what the president said wasn’t anything unusual. But it is very unusual and very significant. We now have a president who is now calling wrong right, and right wrong. Isaiah, the Old Testament, warned against just such a thing, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter,” Isaiah 5:20. I’ll mention just three things about this.

The Servant Messiah

Title: The Servant Messiah

Text: Matthew 12:15-21

Date: September 20th, 2009

 

I recently watched a debate on CNN between a conservative evangelical Christian and a liberal religious leader. In an attempt to harmonize Christian values with the agenda of President Obama’s administration, the liberal church leader said that because evangelical Christians are all about “good news” they should welcome the new emphasis on “good news” for the unemployed with greater job growth, the poor with more social assistance programs, and the uninsured with national health care. According to this spokesman, evangelical Christians should welcome all these initiatives because they represent “good news.” But he’s obviously using the phrase “good news” in a loose and general sense, not in the very specific biblical sense of salvation from sin, judgment and damnation. The “good news” or “Gospel” found in the New Testament is a message of spiritual salvation, not just “good news” in any or every sense. For example, what is “good news” to the drug addict? More drugs. Or what is “good news” to an alcoholic? Another drink. To an addict of any kind, “good news” would be more of the same kind of thing that they’ve grown to crave – the fulfillment of their addiction in whatever form that manifests. So then, we see that we can’t simply say that any loose or general application of the phrase “good news” is appropriate. People can get into their minds what they think is good news, but what they think or consider “good news” might not be best in the long term. That’s why we simply can’t equate Christians as promoting anything that comes along that seems to be good news to somebody, because that has nothing to do with what really is good news from a long term or eternal perspective. The salvation of the soul is the ultimate good news, and that is why Christianity preaches the Gospel message, but Christians are not under any obligation to promote simply anything anyone might consider good news because that would take the church far from its primary mission. That’s why I can’t go along with the statement, “Evangelicals are all about good news, and therefore should support all of the Obama administration’s initiatives.” In the short term, it might be “good news” to get a government paycheck, but what are the long-term consequences to out-of-control government spending? What may be “good news” for some people now, might be “bad news” for everybody down the road when the bills come due. The ancient Jews at the time of Christ were also thinking short term when it comes to the promised Messiah. They wanted a conquering hero to free Israel from Roman occupation. They wanted another king like David to rule a free Jewish nation. That’s why most Jews didn’t accept Jesus as Messiah, because he didn’t bring the “good news” of freedom and independence they were wanting. The real “good news” for them would have been a conquering Messiah similar to David; that’s what they wanted Jesus to be. But that wasn’t the “good news” Jesus brought, instead he came with the gospel of freedom from sin, freedom from judgment and freedom from eternal damnation. We see Jesus explaining this in Matthew 12:15-21 (read). Now the question we must ask ourselves today is – are we trying to fit Jesus into our short term expectations about life or are we letting him be our Savior on his own terms? Are we letting Jesus set his own agenda for our lives or are we trying to fit Jesus into our own agenda for life? Let’s look at the passage more closely to find out.

Is it Ever Permissible to Break the Law?

Title: Is it Ever Permissible to Break the Law?

Text: Matthew 12:1-14

Date: September 3rd, 2009

 

Of all the laws among the ancient Jews there were probably no greater number of laws than those surrounding the Sabbath. If you were to accuse the Jews of legalistic religion you could point to no greater example than the Sabbath laws. According to some sources there were at least 39 separate categories of activities forbidden on the Sabbath. Starting from the simple command of God, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy,” found in the Ten Commandments, the Jews had multiplied law after law in order to cover nearly every conceivable activity. The Old Testament actually gives only a few instructions on how to keep this law, however that didn’t stop Jewish scribes from working out a whole system of Sabbath law-keeping that defined what this command meant down to the smallest detail. So when Jesus and his disciples thought they were entering a simple grain field looking for something to eat – which was permissible in those days, to eat from someone’s field only enough for oneself – they actually walked into a minefield, because the Jews were ready to fire at them with legalistic laws. The topic for today, then is, is it ever right to break the law? What is the difference between the law of God and the law of man? Is all law strictly absolute or are there exceptions? We need to answer these questions today because as Christians we are confronted with many laws found in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. How are we to follow all of these laws? Do any of these laws sometimes conflict with one another? If and when they do conflict, which of them are we to obey? Now before I go any further, let me answer a question that some Christians raise in respect to God’s law. “Aren’t we free from the law of God since we are saved by grace alone through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross?” In other words, the question is, “Aren’t we now free from God’s law, aren’t we free from the obligation to obey it?” Well, the answer to that question is yes and no. Yes, we are saved by grace through faith and not by observing the law of God; but no, we are not free from our obligation to live by God’s will or law. It doesn’t save us, our obedience to the law, but it’s our instruction from God how to live, so we must follow it. But the deeper question is, how do we follow all of God’s will, because after all it’s not just a simple thing of following a list of rules. God’s complete law sometimes seems to conflict in life. For example, how do I as a parent balance God’s will for disciplining a child with God’s will to love that child? How strict should a parent be with his or her child? Does every act of disobedience demand punishment or are there exceptions? These are all important questions that Matthew 12:1-14 (read) touches on. The question is not, should we follow God’s law, but the question is, how shall we follow God’s law. Jesus teaches us some very important things to consider. Let’s consider them.

Jesus Offers Relief for the Weary Modern World

Title: Jesus Offers Relief for the Weary Modern World

Text: Matthew 11:28-30

Date: September 2nd, 2009

 

Today we come to one of the most comforting of all teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Unlike many or most Christian churches today, we just can’t go through the Bible preaching and teaching the sweet and pleasant verses while at the same time omitting and ignoring the difficult ones. That’s what congregations seem to want these days — all sweet and no sour – but we can’t do that and be faithful to the whole revelation of God taught in the Bible. No, we must state the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as we are reminded each time someone is “sworn in” to give testimony in a court. So too we must hear the entire message God gives from his Word without editing out unpleasant parts or teaching exclusively from pleasant passages. And that’s the balance I try to maintain in my ministry – actually it’s easy to keep such a balance when I’m teaching verse-by-verse through a book or section of the Bible, because if I’m accurately explaining each verse there will be a balance between sweet and sour truths. But today we come upon one of the more pleasant passages in all of God’s Word, the invitation of Christ Jesus for everyone to find rest for their soul in him. That’s good news for a weary world like we live in today. The pace of life is so fast today, it seems like everyone is always so busy. And there is also lots of pressure today that wasn’t present in times past. Someone once observed that with all our laborsaving devices such as the washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, for example, that we have more time not less time for everything we desire to do. Wrong. When we get more time we quickly fill it up with something else so that we are just as busy as we ever were, only now we actually have more things to do! But it’s not just the pace of life that’s a problem today, it’s the way of life that even more troubling. As faith in God and obedience to his will slips more and more in society, as we try to live our lives on our own terms rather than God’s, we suffer a lose of meaning and purpose at the center of our lives. Our lives become hollow and empty. This may be the biggest problem facing the modern world today. It’s not so much that we are tired of activity as much as we are tired at the core of our being because we are more and more losing the very point and purpose of life. Our modern problem is truly a spiritual problem but few people identify it as spiritual. Most people today think it’s psychological – so they visit a counselor or therapist to get themselves fixed. They complain of a lack of drive or motivation, or low self-esteem, or depression or anxiety, for example, but the real problem stems from a lack of meaning and purpose because they’ve ignored God and God’s Word. They’ve substituted other things for God in their lives and wonder why they are so empty. But even Christians can get off track and begin substituting other things for God at the center of their lives, so the malady isn’t limited to non-Christians by any means. What is needed is a re-centering of God in our lives. God must be front and center in our lives, not just in theory but also in fact. Only then can we feel the peace and security he offers us through his Spirit, only then can our lives be properly ordered so that meaning and purpose flow from God at the center outward into every activity we involve ourselves in. That’s what Jesus invites us to in this passage. That’s what is such good news. Let’s explore it further.

Jesus — The Only Way

Title: Jesus – The Only Way

Text: Matthew 11:27

Date: September 1st, 2009

 

One of the really exciting things about the Bible is the way it can teach us so much from just one verse! That’s what we have today as we work verse-by-verse through the Gospel of Matthew. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” Matthew 11:27. This verse shows what theologians call “the exclusivity of Christ,” or in other words, how Christ is the only way to God. I’m aware that this is a disputed fact among people of the world today; it’s even being questioned by some so-called Christians as well. Today, it’s popular to say that all religions are different paths to God. All faiths are valid as long as they are sincerely held. To claim that Christ or Christianity is the only way to God smacks of bigotry and narrow-mindedness. But if we are honest to God’s Word, if we are consistent with unanimous biblical teaching, we must agree that Jesus Christ is the only way to have access to God the Father in heaven. Now that doesn’t answer all the questions the critics have concerning the relationship between Christianity and all the other religions and philosophies of the world, but it does accurately express the Bible’s teaching on the subject. And Matthew 11:27 is just one of many passages that teach the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. There are others. For example there is the famous passage where Jesus clearly states, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s pretty clear. Another example of the exclusivity of Christ is found in Acts 4:12, where the apostles make this claim, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” I could give still other passages in the New Testament to support the exclusivity of Christ, but I’ve mentioned enough to prove the point – the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, the only way of salvation. But what about all the people from all the other religions? Can they be saved following their own religion sincerely? That’s what most religious leaders like the Dali Lama teach. For example, in countless interviews he has expressed the belief that for him Buddhism is the religion of choice, but for someone born in a predominantly Muslim society, Islam would be just as valid a choice. For someone born in a majority Christian society, Christ could be the way of salvation for him or her. He teaches the relativity of all religion. Or, in other words, all religions, if sincerely believed and practiced, can lead a person to God and the way of salvation. This view is fast becoming the view of most people today, although the Bible contradicts it. Just what does the Bible teach about Jesus Christ and the way of salvation? Does it really teach that Jesus is the only way? Let’s look at Matthew 11:27 and find out.

Interpreting the Bible Correctly

Title: Interpreting the Bible Correctly

Text: Deuteronomy 29:29, Matthew 3:5-7, Daniel 9:2

Date: August 15th, 2009

 

I’ve been teaching on the Bible for the last few weeks, covering such topics as why there are no real errors or contradictions in the Bible, only apparent problems. I also taught about how divine inspiration works in connection with the human authors of the biblical books and showed how God assigned each writer a prophetic task to communicate his Word using their own language and styles, while keeping them from any errors of any kind in the process. Today, I’d like to focus in on how to read and interpret the Bible. It does us no good if we totally believe in the divine inspiration, inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible, yet read it sloppily and interpret it incorrectly. It’s critical that we read, interpret and apply the Bible correctly in order to believe and live by its truth in our lives. This is one of the major problems in the Christian church today and in the lives of Christians today – the misinterpretation and misapplication of the Bible. There are countless churches which hold strongly to the doctrine of divine inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, yet err in their interpretation and application of it. There are Christian colleges and seminaries which hold to both inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible, training Christians to be influential leaders, yet permit administration and faculty members to operate under false and corrupt interpretations; thus practically nullifying any advantages of holding to an inerrant and infallible Bible. As they say, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If Christian leaders, churches and Christian institutions hold to biblical inerrancy and infallibility in theory, yet in practice permit wild and irresponsible interpretations of the Bible to spread within their circles of influence the end result is often the same as if no inerrancy or infallibility were held at all to begin with. The end result is the same – false doctrine and improper behavior. So it’s critically important that basic rules of correct biblical interpretation be followed within Christianity. The good news is that the basic rules of interpreting the Bible are not difficult or complex; they are simple, and once learned, can be applied always and everywhere. So today, I’d like to outline just a few basic rules of biblical interpretation that will help Christians read, interpret and apply the truth of the Bible correctly. Not that there will ever be 100% agreement on every interpretation of every biblical passage, but at least the ground rules for interpreting can be agreed upon, which goes a long way in bringing about unity and truth within the Christian church. Today, I’ll only mention three basic rules for interpreting the Bible. First, the plain or common sense rule. Second, the rule of context. And third, the harmony rule. Three simple guidelines for interpreting the Bible that will eliminate most misinterpretations. I’ll mention a few other rules, but cover only these three in any detail.