Finding meaning in Scripture
Interpretation or Application?
The blessing of being a follower of Jesus Christ is that the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. Part of the role of the Holy Spirit is to illuminate Scripture. Simply put He helps us understand God's Word. Understanding God's Word is called interpretation. It is quite common for this term interpretation to be misused or misunderstood these days. Some say there are numerous interpretations of the Bible. This statement can be very dangerous as it is saying that there is no stable meaning in a text other than what each individual finds in it. Is that possible? Who determines the meaning of a text?
This world is full of communication. In fact you communicate everyday. As you are in a conversation with another person you find meaning in what he or she is saying by determining his or her intended meaning. You don't sit in a room and when a person talks you go around and have 20 people share thier view of what they thought the speaker meant. No the only one that knows the meaning is the author. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that all Scripture is God-breathed. It all comes from God through human authors. So to find the meaning of a text we must determine what God was conveying through the orginal author to his audience. So we determine the meaning of a text in Ephesians by figuring out what Paul was intending to communicate to the Ephesian church. To find this out we look at the context asking who, what, when, where, why and how the pasage was written. We look at what literary type of writing is being used. Is it poetry, prophecy, a letter, or a historical narrative to name a few. So the Bible is no different than any other form of communication to understand its meaning you must get to the authors intent.
This brings us to application. While the interpretation of Scripture is stable and for each text there is one intended meaning that doesn't change the applicaton of a given text is far reaching. It is accurate to say that there is one meaining, but many applications of a passage. Once one determines the interpretation there are many ways that truth can correctly be applied. So many people say, "Well, thats just your interpretation of the Bible." I think they often mean to say that is how you "apply" that truth. Many people mean there are many implications of a text not many interpretations. The implications of don't get drunk apply to all alchol not just wine. The implications of that statement also point to not getting high or losing control of our right state of mind via any substance.
So as you read your Bibles know that the meaning is there and it does not change because God's character and truth are stable and unchanging. The one thing that does change is how we apply that truth to our lives as the Holy Spirit works in us to convict us of sins and help us become like Christ.
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