“And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Matthew 4:6-7
One of the greatest things a believer must understand about the Bible is that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. This means that we cannot run with a word solely because it is from the Bible if the Holy Spirit does not give an understanding of its application, or if our interpretation of such word is contradictory to the truth is it.
The best way to judge scripture is with the scripture through the Spirit. In Jesus’ case, He was confronted with a word from the Bible by the devil. Most Christians today might say: “Since it’s from the Bible, it must be true,” and then give in to that temptation. But Jesus countered the scripture the devil quoted with another scripture. While what the devil quoted is true, the motive was very wrong and could have tampered with Jesus’ purpose, had he fallen. The same Bible says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God…”
I John 4:1a NKJV.
Have it in mind that the devil knows what the Bible says. He even knows it better than many of us Christians. But he doesn’t have the power therein, which is our advantage. Learn to judge scripture with scripture so you do not fall into error. Ask yourself: ‘What does the Bible also say that gives divine meaning to this thing I’m reading or hearing?’ For instance, it is true that the Bible says God loves us, but it also says God hates sin; therefore, it is impossible that the meaning of God’s love is to leave us in our sin or to encourage us to be sinners. We must be spiritually intelligent.
Charge: Study to show thyself approved.
Further Study: John 6:63, Hebrews 4:12.
Remain faithful to your call.
