All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work- 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 NASB 

According to a 2024 study done by Arizona Christian University only four out every hundred people can think like a Christian. 

Yikes.

This depressing statistic became utterly demoralizing after reading the criteria defining a Christian worldview. It’s good stuff, just depressingly basic. It comes down to:

  • A Biblical understanding of God (Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 40: 28-29, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 46:10, Psalm 11:7, Psalm 90:2., Malachi 3:6, 1st Timothy 1:7, 1st John 1:5)

And the belief that:

  • People are sinful by nature (Psalm 36:1-4, Psalm 51:5, Romans 1:18-32, Romans 3:23, Romans 7:18).
  • Jesus Christ is the only hope of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 10:34-43, Romans 10:11)
  • The entire Bible is true, reliable, and relevant (2nd Timothy 3:15-17, 2nd Peter 1:20-21).
  • Absolute moral truth exists— those truths are unchanging (Psalm 119:160, Romans 1:18, John 17:17).
  • The ultimate purpose of human life is to know, love, and serve God (1st Samuel 12:24, Colossians 3:23-24, John 12:26).
  • Success on earth is defined as consistent obedience to God (Joshua 22:5, Matthew 6:20-24, Hebrews 6:10).

None of the above is exactly new news, nor is it terribly complicated. Those beliefs have been the foundation of orthodox Christianity for two thousand years. Yet this knowledge has been lost to most Christians.

Sigh. 

No wonder the world is such a dumpster-fire. 

Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of biblical illiteracy. Although, access to the Bible is readily available, few people read the Bible and even fewer know how to apply the Bible to issues of life. No one needs a theology degree to understand the Bible. However, one does need to pay attention to and understand the following five aspects of Bible interpretation:

Proper heart attitude is essential- 

The Bible is not Amazing Comics or a Tom Clancy novel. The Bible is a unique book (Psalm 119, 2nd Timothy 3:16, 2nd Peter 1:20-21) that must be approached with humility and the understanding we ALL need to learn and grow (Proverbs 11:2, James 3:13). Without the proper heart attitude Bible reading is essentially pointless.  

Commands are not suggestions –

The Bible is full of commands. Commands are easy to understand and rarely complicated to follow. If every Christian would simply do what the New Testament commands Christians their obedience would revolutionize the Church and transform society. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Christians feel New Testaments commands such as the ones found in Colossians 3:1-25, 2nd Peter 1:5-11, Romans 12:1-21, 1st Thessalonians 4:3-8, Hebrews 12:4-8, Hebrews 13:1-17 are optional or were intended only for the original readers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Commands are for everyone. 

Promises are not universal and are often conditional-

There are three kinds of Bible promises: promises God makes to everyone, promises God made to specific people concerning specific circumstances and the promises God makes about Himself. The promises God makes to everyone are often conditional. All of the New Testament promises concerning salvation fall into this category (Acts 16:31, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:38-39, 1st John 1:9). It is critical we understand all of the promises related to salvation are conditional on one placing their faith in Jesus (2nd Corinthians 1:20). There is no universal salvation apart from faith in Jesus (Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31). There are also promises God made specifically to Israel or others concerning special circumstances they found themselves in (Luke 2:35, 1st Kings 9:5, Joshua 6:1-5). These promises are not meant to be liberally applied to every person and every situation. Insisting God keeps promises made to a specific person or group of people long ago is low-level insane and will only result in spiritual frustration. That said, many of these types of Bible promises contain ageless principles that can be applied to everyone on the condition they choose to obey the Lord (examples include Isaiah 41:9-11, Jeremiah 29:11). Promises God makes about Himself are in some ways the best kinds of promises. They remind us of who God is and what He is all about.  I personally believe God loves it when His children remind Him of what God says about Himself. Therefore, it is perfectly okay to remind God He says nothing is too difficult for Him when we have a big ask in prayer (Jeremiah 32:27, Luke 1:37). Nor is wrong to remind God He promises to be our ever-present help in times of trouble when the going gets tough (Psalm 46:1).

Context matters- 

Context is not just knowing what an entire passage says (rather than a single verse). Context is about understanding the who, what, where and why of the Bible books. Any half-way-decent Bible commentary or study Bible will give the what’s-what on who the book was written too, what the writer was intending to communicate to the original readers, where the book took place (historical context). It is critical we understand these things before we make personal application. If we don’t our personal application will be off in left-field.  

Be humble concerning prophecy-

There are two kinds of prophecy in the Bible: fulfilled prophecy and unfulfilled prophecy. All the unfulfilled prophecy is related in some way to the return of Jesus (Matthew 24, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12, Daniel 6, Revelation). It is essential we know these prophecies but refrain from thinking we understand exactly HOW God will fulfill them. When we make the mistake of thinking we have unfulfilled prophecy all figured out we run the risk of doing what the first century Jews did. They missed the messiah because they were prideful and arrogant regarding things that had not yet happened. 

Understanding and applying the Bible is critical to our spiritual success. Without basic Bible knowledge and a willingness to apply what we know to every aspect of life we become sitting ducks for worldly philosophies and are easily outwitted by even the simplest of Satan’s schemes (Colossians 2:8, Ephesians 6:11, 1st Peter 5:8).