Did you know the Bible talks about the hole in the ozone layer? Or that the apostle Paul predicted Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost? Neither did I! But, back in 1990, I received a notice from “The Omega-Letter,” which set me straight. According to that organization, Revelation 16:8 tells of the hole in our atmosphere, and 1 Thessalonians 5:3 foretells a speech given by Mikhail Gorbachev in November 1987. 

These illustrate the numerous distortions of God’s word that bombard us daily. No wonder people ridicule the Bible and those who order their lives by it. What can we learn from these examples of false teaching? 

Rest assured, we can understand the Bible. God has revealed His will to man; it is no longer a mystery (Eph. 3:3-5).  

When we understand the Bible the way God wants us to, we will understand it alike. That is not a popular view of God’s word these days, but the logic is sound and scriptural: “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17); “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

Many conclude you can prove anything by the Bible because it is used to teach many conflicting things. Many try to prove many things by the Bible, but that does not mean they succeed. No, you cannot prove anything by the Bible. Assert and speculate, yes. Prove? No. The Bible calls this twisting the Scriptures and warns it causes souls to be lost (2 Pet. 3:15-16). Do not let what others say the Bible teaches keep you from studying the Bible to learn and obey what it actually teaches. 

How can you be sure what you are being taught is what the Bible says? Be careful not to depend on someone else’s Bible study as the measure of your faith. While God wants us to teach His word, He does not want us to blindly follow teachers (Acts 8:30-35; Matt. 15:14). Like the ancient Bereans, you must “search the Scriptures daily to find out whether” the things you hear are so (Acts 17:11). Many of them believed the gospel when they examined the Scriptures (Acts 17:12). You can do the same thing.

To understand the Bible, you need to read it. Bible reading and study are essential to “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). You must spend time with God’s word if your goal is to use it properly. If your time with the Bible consists only of listening to sermons and attending Bible classes a couple of times a week, you are ripe fruit for a false teacher to pick. The apostle John warned of many false prophets in the world. He said to test their teachings with the apostles’ doctrine (1 Jn. 4:1, 6). As Paul said, we must give “attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” to accurately use God’s word (1 Tim. 4:13). 

How do you approach Bible study? Do you study with your mind already made up? That is not an open mind ready to do God’s will. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (Jn. 7:17). Do you approach Bible study determined to prove what you already believe or with the willingness to obey whatever you learn from your study (even if it refutes your present belief and practice)? Jesus rebuked those who rejected Him, saying, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me” (Jn. 5:39). The Jews had made up their minds Jesus was not the Savior. They thought they had found eternal life in the Scriptures. But by rejecting Jesus, those very Scriptures exposed their spiritual death. As Jesus said, “for if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (Jn. 5:46). They went to the Scriptures with a preconceived notion. They set out to uphold their preconception regardless of the evidence to the contrary. What a shame, for by doing so, they remained in unbelief.

We must keep an “honest and good heart” to listen to God’s word, examine it, believe it, and obey it (Lk. 8:15). Open Bibles and hearts bring souls to faith and salvation in Jesus (Rom. 1:16; 10:13-17; Acts 17:11-12; Jas. 1:21-22).

-Reprint (edited) The Spirit’s Sword, 04July04