Why Bible Teachers face a Stricter Judgment

all Bible students should be careful in how they interpret the Bible but Bible teachers have an even greater responsibility because their wrong interpretations can lead people astray my name is Lex and welcome to unlearn if you were raised as a Catholic you were taught to see the Bible through a Catholic lens if you're raised as a Baptist you were taught to interpret the scriptures with the Baptist lens Pentecostals have one lens and Presbyterians have another lens the challenge is learning how to set aside that lens of interpretation and to see the Bible with fresh eyes Proverbs 3:5 says trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding interpreting the Bible correctly requires us to trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding instead of looking at a verse or a passage with the mindset that you already understand it try looking at it through the eyes of a child who's reading it for the first time don't lean on your own understanding seek fresh understanding from the Bible itself to do this we have to approach the scriptures with humility stop thinking we know so much and come with a heart that's eager to learn we're supposed to approach the Lord with humility this means we also need to approach his word with humility not pridefully thinking we already have it figured out the humble man is hungry for the word of God the Bible says that God humbled the children of Israel and allowed them to get hungry then he gave them Mana to eat and this example was given to teach the people to live by the word of God so he humbled you allowed you to hunger and fed you with Mana which you did not know nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the lord we need to approach the word of God with humility take a moment to consider the giving of Mana in the wilderness the Israelites called the bread from God Mana because they didn't know what it was the word Mana literally means what is it this is a good way to begin our search of scripture ask yourself the question what is this text trying to say instead of assuming you already understand it so when the children of Israel saw it they said to one another what is it for they did not know what it was and Moses said to them this is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat and the house of Israel called its name mana and it was like white coriander seed and the taste of it was like Wafers made with honey the children of Israel humbly ate the bread that God provided even though they didn't know what it was this is how we should approach the scriptures we need to come with the mindset that we don't have the knowledge or understanding but we're hungry for truth and we have a desire to be fed by the word of God we have to determine that we don't know much because the Bible says and if anyone thinks he knows anything he knows nothing yet as he ought to know even the Apostle Paul who was trained by one of the leading rabbis of his day said for I have determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified when we approach the scriptures with humility we're postering ourselves to receive instruction a disciple sits at the feet of the master to sit at the feet is to take a place of humility and humility is the only posture that will allow you to learn when you think you already know everything you're preventing yourself from learning and hindering your growth do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly explaining the word of Truth all Christians agree that the Bible is the word of God but they disagree about how this word is to be interpreted and applied Christians aren't divided because of the word we're divided because of our interpretation of the word therefore we need to be cautious about how we interpret the scriptures we don't want to be guilty of twisting the word by teaching something it never meant to say so the first thing we need to understand about biblical interpretation is to let the Bible interpret itself the Bible gives us context for understanding the meaning of the text we have to use the biblical explanation and not try to reinterpret Things based on our own modern assumptions for example in Acts 10 when Peter receives a vision from God of a sheet filled with wild animals and he hears a voice telling him what God has cleansed you must not call common the Bible actually tells us exactly how to interpret this Vision but many Christians ignore the biblical interpretation and they apply their own bias in their interpretation saying that Peter's vision makes all unclean animals now clean for food but that's not even close to what the Bible says about this Vision listen to the biblical interpretation of Peter's vision then he said to them you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or or go to one of another Nation but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean Peter interpreted the vision to be about taking the gospel to the Gentiles and said nothing about changing the dietary laws we are given the exact interpretation of this Vision therefore we cannot reinterpret this passage to mean something different when preachers take this passage out of context and use it to justify eating unclean animals they're twisting the scripture into lawlessness interestingly Peter warns us about about untaught and unstable people who twist the scriptures to suit their own desires as also in all of his Epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the scriptures this is why understanding the difference between EXA Jesus and Isa Jesus is so important EXA Jesus approaches the scriptures with care seeking to understand what God Said in his word while Isa Jesus uses the scripture to mean whatever they want it to say ex Jesus means The Interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text is Jesus on the other hand means to lead into the text by imposing one's own ideas and agendas onto the text The Interpreter makes the text mean whatever he wants it to this is referred to as reading into the text because they're reading their preconceived ideas into the text instead of drawing meaning from the text this method is often used to create a confirmation bias or a proof text to support a previously held Doctrine or agenda someone might have this results in a sloppy and selfish approach to the scriptures that must be avoided unfortunately this method is commonly used by preachers and teachers in churches of all denominations Isa Jesus seems to ask the question what idea do I want to present and what Bible passage seems to fit my idea for example the devil used Isa Jesus when he tried to tempt Yeshua in the wilderness then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the Pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the Son of God throw yourself down for it is written he shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone Jesus said to him it is written again you shall not tempt the Lord your God the devil was quoting scripture from Psalm 91 but he was mishandling it and twisting it for his own purpose Psalm 911 gives us comfort in knowing that God is watching over his people and he protects us from danger but it was never meant to be used to conclude that we could jump off a building and not be harmed this is why exod Jesus is the only legitimate approach to Bible interpretation we must let the text lead us not the other way around how we interpret the scripture reflects our opinion about the authority and inspiration of the word if we place high value on the scripture we'll take great care to maintain the correct understanding of it but if we place little value on the scripture then we'll use it to suit our own agendas when you read something into a Biblical text that was not intended by the author you're doing ISO Jesus you're imposing your ideas onto the text and twisting it to suit your own agendas the Bible warns us about people who do this for the time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will Heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables that's exactly what Isa Jesus does it replaces the truth of scripture with clever deception that support and encourage their false beliefs they tickle the ears of people by teaching things that people want to hear people like to come up with their own private interpretation of scripture we see this when someone disagrees with something and they say that's not what it means to me or I interpret that differently this type of private interpretation is both arrogant and disrespectful to the scriptures knowing this first that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation for prophecy never came by the will of man but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit our responsibility as Bible students is to draw out the truth from the scriptures not try to make the Bible say whatever we want it to say a great question to ask ourselves is am I allowing the Bible to change my thinking or am I only interested in confirming my own ideas if you're just looking for proof text to support your theory then you're imposing your ideas onto the Bible instead of letting the Bible lead your understanding now I want to talk about what I believe is the most important thing to keep in mind when studying the Bible and that is the entire Bible is about Yeshua from Genesis to Revelation it's all about Yeshua this is one of the most important Revelations the disciples learned that helped them interpret the scriptures Yeshua explained that everything that was written in the Old Testament was about him and the Bible tells us that this opened their understanding to comprehend the scriptures and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself then he said to them these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures if we don't understand this biblical truth that the whole Bible speaks about Yeshua then we'll never be able to correctly interpret the scriptures in fact Yeshua rebuked the Pharisees because even though they were searching the scriptures they didn't understand that the scriptures were testifying about Yeshua you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me if we're not finding Yeshua in the scriptures then we're missing the deeper meaning of the text our study of the Bible should always point us to Yeshua and draw our hearts closer to him but there were also false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves Swift destruction we're seeing more more and more of these false teachers who lead people away from Yeshua with their destructive interpretations of the Bible this is the greatest tragedy I see in teachers today instead of finding Yeshua in the text they're leading people away from Yeshua Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever do not be carried about by various and strange doctrines God doesn't change and God's word doesn't change Yeshua is the same yesterday today and forever so when someone brings in a new teaching something you haven't heard before use caution test it out study the scriptures to find out if it's true and examine the fruit of that teacher if the fruit is bad the root is bad beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves you will know them by their fruits do men gather grapes from Thorn bushes or figs from thistles even so every good tree Bears good fruit but a bad tree Bears Bad fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire therefore by their fruits you will know them the task of proper Bible interpretation is important which is why Yeshua appoints people to be Apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers because they're needed for teaching correct Doctrine and their job is to prevent people from being led astray by false teachings and he himself gave some to be Apostles some prophets some evangelists and some pastors and teachers that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting all Bible students should be careful in how they interpret the Bible but Bible teachers have an even greater responsibility because their wrong interpretations can lead people astray and they will be held accountable for anything they teach that causes someone else to fall away my brethren let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment interpreting the Bible correctly is both a privilege and a responsibility we need to be careful that we don't leave people astray with lazy and irresponsible interpretations of the Bible when we approach the scriptures with humility seeking to understand the text in context as it was intended we grow closer to God and we understand his word more clearly