Hermeneutics Lesson Synopsis
Understanding the word of God
Class Synopsis:
Ephesians
4:5
says
"One
Lord,
one
faith,
one
baptism"
.
Yet
when
we
look
we
see
many ^faiths'
which
claim
to
be ^the
true
faith
which
comes
from
the
Bible'.
1Thessalonians
5:21
says
"Prove
all
things;
hold
fast
that
which
is
good."
According
to
the
Bible,
"that
which
is
good"
is
what
comes
from
God.
When
we
"hold
fast"
,
we
still
have
it
after
the
worst
storm.
If
we
lose
it
we
may
have
"held"
it
but
we
did
not
"hold
fast"
.
When
we
look
at
the
spiritual
condition
that
America
had
when
we
became
adults,
and
compare
that
to
the
conditions
we
find
today,
we
will
have
a
hard
time
explaining
to
God
how
we
obeyed
His
command
to
"hold
fast"
.
The
basic
reason
that
God's
people
failed
to
"hold
fast"
is
because
they
used
the
wrong
methods
to
"prove
all
things"
,
including
having
the
"one
faith"
which
is
to
be
in
obedience
to
"One
Lord"
.
Many
people
believe
that
they
have
the
"one
faith"
,
and
many
honestly
believed
that
they
did
the
best
that
they
could
to
live
right,
but
the
evidence
says
that
our
generation,
and
several
prior
generations,
failed.
The
most
basic
evidence
is
the
existence
of
many ^faiths'
which
claim
to
be ^the
true
faith
which
comes
from
the
Bible',
since
it
is
impossible
for
all
of
these
differing ^faiths'
to
be
God's
"one
faith"
.
Let me illustrate what happened. My brother bought a house that was built in the 1800s. All of the interior walls had large cracks in them. He hired a team to tear out all of the lathe and plaster and put in new wallboards. A couple of years later the cracks were back. He chewed out his team, made them repair their work, and a couple of years later the cracks were back again. Having about 40 years personal experience in construction, he then did the job himself, and a couple of years later the cracks were back again.
At this point he started looking elsewhere and found serious problems with his foundation and main support truss. He had to (slowly) lift the house back into the proper position, fix the foundation and main support truss, wait for the house to settle in the correct position, and only then could he fix the cracks and have them stay fixed.
All
while
this
was
going
on
his
wife
complained
and
demanded
that
he
fix
the
cracks
and
stop
causing
more
damage.
If
he
had
done
what
she
demanded
their
house
would
have
fallen
in
on
them.
When
I
try
to
show ^good
godly
Bible
Believing
fundamental
Baptist
preachers'
God's
plan
for
fixing
the
foundation
of
our
"faith"
,
I
keep
getting
demands
to ^stop
trying
to
fix
the
foundation
and
just
repair
the
cracks'.
It
is
very
simple.
The
techniques
that
people
want
to
learn
are
in
the
later
lessons.
God's
"way"
is
to
start
with
our
relationship
with
God.
He
gives
us
the
spirityal
point
of
view.
He
then
changes
our
attitude.
It
is
only
after
we
are
in
line
with
God
that
He
can
work
in
us
and
through
us
to
give
us
the
right
answer.
Men
want
to
skip
the
steps
which
connect
us
to
God
and
jump
directly
to
what
we
can
do
in
the
flesh
and
then
wonder
why
they
fail.
The primary requirement is to get God involved. Without God we are acting in our flesh and will fail. The primary failure of methods for interpretation the Bible is that they told people how to get God involved and then concentrated on techniques that we do in the flesh. In the process of teaching fleshly religious methods, our heritage has also skipped the primary fleshly step. Thus, most people currently base their doctrine on the sand of religion and what some famous preacher, or some Bible school, taught them was doctrine. This method is different. The primary things taught are how to get God involved before we do anything in the flesh.
For
at
least
100
years
Baptists
have ^kept
the
pulpit
hot
about
sin',
and
the
evidence
is
that
they
are ^fixing
the
cracks'.
The
same
problems
(cracks)
keep
returning
and
the
situation
is
getting
worse.
They
are
not
looking
at
the
foundation
of
our
"one
faith"
.
They
believe
what
they
have
been
taught,
which
is
that
our
foundation
is
the
word
of
God.
However,
the
Bible
tells
us
that
our
foundation
is
not
just
the
word
of
God,
but
includes
the
Way
of
God
for
using
the
word
of
God.
When
the
devil
tempted
Jesus
he
quoted
the
Bible.
The
problem
wasn't
what
he
quoted
but
what
he
left
out.
We
are
losing
our
"one
faith"
because
our
foundation
does
not
include
the
Way
of
God
for
using
the
word
of
God.
Further,
the
Bible
tells
us
that
God
gives
us
a
"perfect
way"
.
Unfortunately,
many
people
reject
this
God
given
Bible
truth
because
the ^way'
that
they
use
is
not
"perfect"
and
their
own
pride
keeps
them
from
admitting
personal
error.
This
course
will
cover
the
"way"
of
God
for
using
the
"word
of
God"
and
it
will
teach
that
"way"
at
several
levels.
Most
people
will
not
use
the
most
technical
methods
presented.
However,
it
is
important
that
they
get
at
least
a
basic
understanding
of
how
thorough
and
accurate
those
methods
are
so
that
they
can
have
confidence
in
the
simpler
methods
which
will
also
be
offered.
At one time in my life I had to take 28 prescriptions per day. All of the doctors assured me that I would have to take this many and more for the rest of my life. I was completely disabled and being told that it was permanent.
I now take 5prescriptions per day and hope to reduce that. I have not been disabled for several years. The way that I improved my physical health was using the same methods that this course teaches. Those methods can improve your personal spiritual health and the spiritual health of all whom you influence.
However,
even
my
personal
experiences
do
not
make
a
true
Biblical
witness
that
the
way
presented
in
this
class
works.
The
true
witness
is
that
this
way
has
been
used
to
interpret
over
5,000
verses
that
are
cross
referenced
to
over
55,000
verses
and
there
are
NO ^problem
verses'.
Further,
these
results
are
on
the
web
where
anyone
in
the
world
can
show
where
the
results
go
against
the
literal
interpretation
of
the
1611
KJV
Bible,
and
no
one
has
provided
any
evidence
of
error.
Many
people
who
claim
to
not
be ^Bible
Correctors'
still
blame
their
"perfect
word
of
God"
by
claiming
that
there
are ^problem
verses'.
We
have
a
"perfect
word
of
God"
that
is
a
"perfect"
picture
of
a
"perfect"
God
Who
is
"not
the
author
of
confusion"
.
However,
when
men
get
a
conflict
between
their
interpretations
of
two
different
passages
in
the
Bible,
they
blame
the
"perfect
word
of
God"
instead
of
admitting
that
they
made
a
mistake
or
that
their
method
of
interpretation
caused
the
conflict.
The
method
interpreting
your
Bible,
which
comes
directly
from
the
Bible,
can
be
learned.
However,
there
are
two
problems.
First
is
that
our
preachers
have
been
taught
an
incomplete
method
of
interpretation
but
were
told
that
it
was
complete
even
though
it
created
so-called ^problem
verses'.
As
a
result,
like
we
see
all
through
the
Bible,
people
hold
onto
what
they
were
taught
even
when
they
are
shown
the
error.
Think
of
the
disciples
who
left
Jesus
when
He
asked
the
apostles
"Will
ye
also
go
away?"
(John
6:67).
The
second
problem
is
that
while
Hebrews
11:6
says
"But
without
faith
it
is
impossible
to
please
him:
for
he
that
cometh
to
God
must
believe
that
he
is,
and
that
he
is
a
rewarder
of
them
that
diligently
seek
him"
,
most
people
are
not
willing
to
fulfill
God's
definition
of
"diligent"
.
Thus
they
do
not
do
what
God
requires
in
order
for
God
to
"reward"
them.
In
spite
of
this,
many
want
to
claim
to
be
a
greater
authority
than
someone
who
did
fulfill
God's
definition
of
"diligent"
.
This
is
plain
and
simple
pride
and
anyone
with
any
spiritual
maturity
knows
how
God
reacts
to
pride.
You
are
invited
to
learn
this
method
for
yourself
and
personally
test
this
way
of
interpreting
God's
Word
in
order
to
see
if
it
causes
any
conflicts.
However,
be
warned
that
it
will
require
you
to
fulfill
God's
definition
of
"diligent"
in
order
to
receive
God's
"perfect"
interpretation.
While
many
people
will
not
be
able
to
do
that,
they
can
still
benefit
from
learning
the
truths
presented
in
this
class
because
that
will
enable
them
to
tell
when
someone
is
using
a
wrong
method
to
get
their
doctrine.
I am not a medical expert and never have been. Nevertheless, I could tell the liars from people telling the truth by looking at how they generated the ^proof' that was supposed to back their claims. This class will allow many people to do the same for conflicting doctrinal claims. I already told just a little of the benefits to my physical health by using this method for medical information. However, is not your personal soul, and the souls of your followers, much more precious than physical health?
There
are
certain
things
that
we
only
truly
understand
after
we
do
them.
Hebrews
5:8-9
says
"Though
he
were
a
Son,
yet
learned
he
obedience
by
the
things
which
he
suffered;
And
being
made
perfect,
he
became
the
author
of
eternal
salvation
unto
all
them
that
obey
him"
.
Please
notice
that
the
Son
of
God
had
to
personally
experience
things
in
order
to
"learned
he
obedience"
.
In
addition,
we
have
the
word
"and"
within
this
sentence
which
means
that
His
"being
made
perfect"
and
His
"becoming
the
author
of
eternal
salvation"
was
added
after
He
"learned
obedience"
.
That
is
why
we
must ^trust
and
obey'
what
makes
no
sense
to
us
until
after
we
have
the
experience
which
is
required
in
order
for
us
to
understand.
The
homework
assignments
are
designed
to
give
the
student
the
experience
required
to
understand
that
this
method
works,
even
if
they
do
not
get
enough
experience
to
fully
understand
how
or
why
it
works.
That
level
of
understanding
only
comes
after
using
this
method
for
years
and
seeing
God
consistently
bless
it.
Please
use
the
following
homework
assignments
as
you
go
through
these
lessons.
Lessons:
Isaiah
28
is
the
basis
of
all
of
these
lessons.
If
you
look
at
the
verses
in
Isaiah
that
are
referenced
in
the
high-level
points
that
are
below,
you
will
see
that
these
lessons
follow
the
order
of
the
chapter.
If
you
read
only
the
high-level
points
before
each
couple
of
lessons,
you
will
see
the
specific
steps
that
we
are
to
personally
do,
and
see
them
in
the
order
that
God
tells
us
to
do
these
steps,
if
we
are
to
follow
God's
"way"
.
to
proper
interpretation.
- First
Step:
Eliminate
the
source
of
error
just
like
Isaiah
28:1-8
symbolizes.
Isaiah
28:7
says
"they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment."
Since they are"out of the (God's only) way"
, and they"err"
and teach error in"vision"
and"judgment"
, God will not use them. Since God does not change, God will not give us reliable doctrine by using anyone who teaches error. Therefore, God tells us to get rid of the influence from any source of error and this is our first step in interpretation. - Lesson 01: Three ways to use God's Word: The Gospels tell us of the example that Jesus gave. Please see the incomplete Book Study on Psalms 119. The incomplete parts, towards the end of the Psalm, show the first steps in how to do the type of study that is taught in this class. The start of the Study show completed sections. Thus, you have an example of the steps that you will go through as you do the homework that is part of this class.
- Lesson 02: Primary Way to avoid false doctrine: 1John 4:1. Please see the Study called False in addition to what is in this lesson.
- Second
Step:
Use
God's
Way
to
understand
(interpret)
God's
Word
like
Isaiah
28:9-11
says.
God's
"way"
. always has us match the character of God and gives us godly attitudes before godly actions. Thus, the most important thing to do is learn the character of God, which is a never-ending task since there is more about God than we can learn in a life-time. - Lesson 03: Use godly Attitudes to understand (interpret) God's Word. Please also see the Study called Prove in addition to what is in this lesson because most people fail to do all that God requires in order to prove their doctrine and they lose some of the blessings that God wants to give us.
- Lesson 04: Use godly Actions to understand (interpret) God's Word. Please see the Study called Basic Rules in addition to what is in this lesson. These rules are to always be used in order to get the correct interpretation.
- Third
Step:
Now
we
verify
that
our
foundation
matches
the
true
character
of
the
God
of
the
Bible.
God
always
rewards
obedience
and
punishes
disobedience.
Therefore,
we
need
to
verify
that
we
are
doing
exactly
what
God
tells
us
to
do.
Please
notice
the
exact
wording
of
Isaiah
28:12.
Some
people
received
God's
"rest"
and some didn't. The people who refused to"hear"
part of what God said did not receive the blessings. Hebrews 3 explains that this difference is the same as the difference between the"wise man"
and the"foolish man"
in the parable found in Matthew 7. God gives His"rest"
only to those saved people who accept all parts of God's character. If we do things any other"way"
, then we get the judgment of God instead of God's"rest"
. - Lesson 05: Judgment is coming to God's people. Please see the Study called Fear the Lord in addition to what is in this lesson.
- Lesson
06:
God
is
Lord. ^He
said
what
He
meant
and
meant
what
He
said'
.
Context
is
critical.
Please
see
the
Study
called
God
is
a
Spirit
and
pay
special
attention
to
what
is
said
about
"truth"
which is a demanded part of our"worship"
. - Fourth
Step:
Now
that
we
have
verified
that
we
know
God's
"way (to) teach knowledge...and...make to understand doctrine"
, we need to see how this gives us consistent rules of interpretation while also allowing many different applications. What is the same shows us"precepts"
. Please notice the similarities and differences between Isaiah 28:1-12 and Isaiah 28:12-18. We must follow the"precepts"
of God's Word before we look at details for applications in the lives of people. God's people are led into doctrinal error and receive judgment when they acknowledge"precepts"
but fail to apply them to their personal life. Please notice that Isaiah 28:13 tells us the consequences to God's people who failed to apply God's"precepts"
in their life. - Lesson 07: God is not a Communist but a Capitalist. Please also see the Study called Bible Economy 101 in addition to what is in this lesson.
- Lesson 08: Confess and forsake error and trust God's Way especially when it disagrees with the flesh and man's religion. Please also see the Study called The Knowledge of God in addition to what is in this lesson.
- Fifth
Step:
Please
notice
that
Isaiah
28:14
says
"Wherefore hear the word of the LORD"
. This is opposed to the word of religious leaders that God calls"ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem"
. We need to continually recheck what we believe against God's written Word in order to catch ourselves when we start to drift from God's truth. Most importantly, we must verify that we have God's spiritual view and are not following the physical view that comes from the world and from religion. Since we are human, error will come in and we need to keep correcting those errors before they become big. When we apply"line upon line"
it must be exactly what is in"the word of the LORD"
and not the interpretation of that"word"
that comes from men. - Lesson 09: We have more than a ^God breathed' word of God in English. We have a God translated and God preserved word of God in English. Please also see the Study called Hyper Spiritual. It mentions ways that people think they are spiritual while rejecting what God's Word literally says.
- Lesson 10: Requirements for God to call you a spiritual adult. God uses the church to teach basic doctrine but He expects us to spiritually mature enough for Him to start teaching us personally. Please see the sub-study called sins that Paul dealt with in 1Corinthians (see Test of Spiritual Maturity), in addition to what is in this lesson.
- Sixth
Step:
Now
that
we
know
God's
"way"
and have accepted godly attitudes, we must be"diligent"
when we apply godly actions to receive God's"knowledge"
and"understanding"
. Please notice that Isaiah 28:16 says"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."
We must be diligent enough to find every usage before we claim that we have the single interpretation and not just an often repeated application. People who are truly"wise"
and have been diligent enough to dig down to God's"Rock"
(personal relationship with"Christ"
), and put their foundation on Him,"shall not make haste"
."He that believeth shall"
('absolutely, positively will') take the time to be"diligent"
in their"study"
so that they get God's"reward"
(Hebrews 11:6). - Lesson 11: The proper Way to do Word Studies. Also the difference between ^interpretation' and ^application'. Please see the Word Study on Adultery for an example of a proper Bible Word Study.
- Lesson
12:
"Rightly dividing the Word of truth"
. If we must be"rightly dividing the Word of truth"
it should be obvious that people will be"wrongly dividing the Word of truth"
. They will be made"ashamed"
by God and it might not happen until the"judgment seat of Christ"
, when it is too late for them to correct their error. This is where we apply God's method of"line upon line"
, which requires us to use the punctuation which controls how those"lines"
are put together. While verses are good for the application of the word of God, they lead to doctrinal error when trying to interpret the word of God. Please see the Study called Rightly Dividing in addition to what is in this lesson. - Seventh
Step:
Isaiah
28:26
says
"For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him"
. Here are the detailed actions, to build our ministry, that we do after we get our foundation of God's"Rock"
and not the sand of religious procedure. This is where most Hermeneutics classes start, and they lead to error by skipping the first steps. God's"way"
starts with getting to God's foundation, then applying God's character, then sticking with God's"precepts"
, then considering context as we study"line upon line"
, and only after that do we get into the methods of finding personal applications which are many and vary between people. Bottom line: we must follow God's procedures step-by-step without skipping any of God's steps. - Lesson
13: ^Progressive
Revelation'
and
how
to
get
God's
"discretion"
by going beyond the initial revelation of what is literally said. This lesson covers most of the steps that most Hermeneutics classes teach in more detail. These steps are required to build a ministry upon whatever"foundation"
you chose to use. Please see the Study called Doctrine in addition to what is in this lesson. - Lesson
14:
This
is
a
review
and
summary
of
what
has
been
taught.
Now
the
students
can
present
their
homework
projects
and
show
how
well
they
applied
the
lessons
of
this
class
to
their
chosen
chapter
of
the
Bible.
Please
see
the
Study
on
Proverbs
9
in
addition
to
what
is
in
this
lesson.
It
tells
us
how
God
says
that
"wisdom"
builds a ministry.