When I provided counseling for individuals or couples I would use analogies to assist people in grasping a point, so although I am going to talk about redlights, as you can easily figure out this writing is not about redlights. When we see a redlight we know that it means to stop. Granted, not everyone actually stops, for in some cases we may not stop because we do not see the redlight or we chose not to pay attention to it, or we may even think that we should be able to go through it when the light turns red. Sometimes we even interpret the redlight to mean to speed up so we can get through it before the other traffic starts moving. But in all of these circumstances, the definition of a redlight does not change; it still means stop. However, if we choose to interpret the redlight based on our circumstances or interpretations rather than the intended meaning of the redlight, it can have ramifications including ones that could end in death. In many ways this is also true of scripture in that all scripture is true and has one meaning regardless of our opinions or interpretations of it. Therefore, to ignore God’s word or to deny it, or even to interpret it based on what is most convenient for us, does not change the fact that there is only one interpretation of scripture that is true. And therefore, if we choose to interpret scripture based on our personal circumstances or interpretations rather than on God’s intended meaning of His word, it can have ramifications including ones that could end in death and eternal punishment (See Romans 6:23).
So knowing and interpreting scripture rightly is of utmost importance for our salvation and eternal security. And it is interesting that from the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus and in the preaching of the Apostles, that they had to deal with false teachings, whether it be by the Pharisees or by other false teachers. We can see what the Apostle Peter had to say about false prophets and the consequences of such teachings in His second letter in the New Testament. “But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority” 2 Peter 2:1-10, NASB).
And, even in the Old Testament, God through Moses addressed the seriousness of false teachings and idolatry- “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you” (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
So, the conclusion of the matter is this- that even from the beginning humans have subverted the Word of God and have interpreted scripture for their own glory. (See Romans Chapter 1, especially verses 21 through 32). But the Word of God is true and it only has one interpretation that is unerring and is as God intended. And it really does not take much, if we are willing to look, to see how we have interpreted or denied scripture in our rebellion against God and in the pursuits of all of the perversions and lusts of the world. Therefore, it is time to take a stand for the truth of the Gospel, and to honor God in all of His glory. For the time is now for this generation to grasp and to hold onto the truth of His Word, and to be intentional about passing those truths to the next generations. What will you do?