Technical Rules for Understanding the Bible

This lesson is only for those people who are spiritually mature enough to handle it.  Such people should already completely understand that there is a lot of doctrinal error that is taught using the Bible.  Such people should understand that while it is good to feel good about what is preached, emotions need to be put aside and an analytical mental approach is needed to separate error from truth.  The spiritually immature and Biblical fools will hold onto things that are not good for them, and are even bad for them, because those things make them feel good.  Just look at all of the type II diabetes as an example of the consequence of not having a disciplined life.

If someone is not a true disciple of God's Word then they may choke on the meat of this lesson.  Non-disciples need to stick with the "milk of the word"  until they can feed themselves spiritually in a disciplined way.

1. Every word
1. Bible basis
1. In Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 we are told "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God".
1. The last phrase of "that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"  means that we have to use the meaning that God had when He spoke His Word.
2. The phrase "every word"  means that we can't ignore any of the Words that God used and we cannot change any of them.
3. The main message of these three verses is that we must obey exactly what God says, down to the literal meaning of each and every word, if we want God's life to grow in us.
4. In order to find the single definition of a word we must look at "every"  usage of that word and find the single definition that matches every occurrence.
2. In Matthew 18:16 and 2Corinthians 13:1 we read "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."
1. The word "witnesses"  lets us know that this is a matter that will be brought up in God's court when we are personally judged.
2. If we ignore when God gives "two or three witnesses",  such as the first three verses referenced, then we will be judged by God as sinners.  Elsewhere in the Bible we are warned that doing this can result in sickness and early death.
3. The phrase "be established"  means this is a rule that all saved must believe.  This is one of the most important rules to avoid doctrinal error.  The Bible must say something literally in at least two places for something to be a doctrine that everyone must believe.  If it only occurs once, God may want you to believe and act on it but you are not supposed to demand that others believe it.
4. When we see the word "Amen"  it is doubling what was just said and making the prior statement something that all believers are to accept.
5. In Proverbs 14:15 we read that the "simple"  believe everything that someone tells them but "the prudent man"  verifies what he is told before acting on it ("looketh well to his going").  You should verify all religious claims against the Bible.
6. In Proverbs 30:5 we read "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him."  When we trust "Every word of God"  He protects us but when we let our religious traditions convince us that the Bible means something other than what it literally says then God removes His protection from us.
3. Bible examples where this makes a critical difference.
1. In Acts 7:44-45 and Hebrews 4:8 we see that Joshua, of the Old Testament, is called "Jesus".  In Colossians 4:11 we read "And Jesus, which is called Justus".  These two references let us know that that "God in human flesh"  is the main application of the name "Jesus"  but it is not the definition.  The definition is "the name of a literal human man".  From this correct definition we can find where the Bible tells us about the humanity of the Son of God.  We also can look in the Gospels to see ^What Did Jesus Do?' in order to know how to act in our flesh using the power of the Holy Ghost.
2. In 1John 5:13 we have an "and"  which tells us that the same Bible that was used to lead us to salvation is also to be used for our spiritual maturity.  This shows us the error of the modern-day "Gnostics"  who claim we are saved by believing an English Bible but must believe their interpretation of "the Greek"  in order to grow spiritually.
2. In general, the following words tell us that things in the Bible are connected and that context is important.  Religious people want you to ignore these words so that you won't object when they take parts of the Bible out of context, like Satan does, in order to teach doctrinal error.  Most of these words are critical to proper understanding and yet we are conditioned to overlook them as small and insignificant.
1. "and"  is the math function of addition.  Sometimes two items are added next to each other and while both must be there, either can be first.  Sometimes one is added on top of the other like a second floor of a cement building is added on top of the first floor.  Then the order is critical.  The context makes it clear which use of the word "and"  is involved but, the main point is that someone is teaching doctrinal error if they leave out either side of the "and".
2. "or"  tells us when we can have either side by itself or even have both sides at the same time.  This specifies a choice.
3. "but"  connects what follows it to what came before it while going in a different direction.  The critical thing to realize is that both sides of a "but"  are speaking about the same subject.  When the word "but"  follows a colon the two sides are polar opposites.  Sometimes, the Bible puts one word on one side and a expression on the other side.  This gives us a definition of the word by telling us what it is not.
4. "because"  is the verb of existence called "be"  combined with the word "cause"  to give us a reason that already exists.
5. "for"  is a future reason.  ("Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.") The thing that a lot of people miss is the fact that what follows the word "for"  tells us why what came before it is true.  Without this understanding it is easy to miss the connection that is in the context.
6. "therefore"  is a conclusion that will happen "there",  at some time in the future.  What comes before the "therefore"  tells us where it will happen and what follows the "therefore"  tells us what will happen.
7. "wherefore"  is a future conclusion that will happen "wherever you look",  at some time in the future.  Like the "therefore",  what comes before it tells us where it will happen and what follows it tells us what will happen.
8. "now"  means ^after understanding what was just said'.  We must be careful to understand what precedes the "now"  or we can be led into doctrinal error.
9. "if"  specifies a condition which must be met in order to receive the result of the "if".  The main error associated with this word is that people like to "claim"  the result while ignoring God's condition.  Then they believe that the promises of God aren't reliable when it is their own failure to fulfill God's condition.
10. "then"  after what preceded the "then"  is true.
11. "in"  attached to an identifier of God is speaking about our being "in"  a relationship with that role of God.  For example, all saved always have the Holy Spirit "in"  them.  However, "Christ"  is a role of the second person of the Trinity and the Bible makes it clear that there are times that saved people do not have "Christ in"  them.  The saved must do their part to maintain that particular relationship in order to receive the blessings from it.
12. "of"  means ^belonging to'.  The "word of God"  is the ^Word that belongs to God with nothing from any other being added in'.  "Peace of God"  is the ^peace that belongs to God and that He puts in us so long as we are in proper relationship with Him'.
13. "with"  means ^alongside'.  We have "peace with God"  when we are walking by His side and not fighting His direction in our life.
14. "by"  means ^how you get from one place to another'.  For example, you can go to Bacolod by the ocean road.  When something is "by Christ"  then our relationship is how we get from not having the blessings to having them.
15. "So"  means ^as a result of what came before it'.  What follows the "so"  is a conclusion.
16. "through"  gets you from one side of a barrier to the other side by taking you inside of the barrier.  For example, Galatians 4:7 says: "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."  We get from being separated from the blessings of God to receiving them by being taken inside of our ongoing personal relationship with the Son of God which the Bible calls "Christ".
3. Words which teach about our personal relationship with God.
1. "ye"  means ^each and every one of you personally'.  This is opposed to the use of the word "you"  which identifies the group or an individual in a non-personal way.
2. "thee"  means ^you personally, meaning the whole person especially the inner-most person'
3. "thou"  means ^you personally when dealing with others'
4. "thy"  means ^something that belongs to you personally'
5. "thine"  means ^a part of you such as thine heart'
6. Go to Psalms 23 and Psalms 25 and look at the usage of these words.
4. Words that teach ongoing attitudes and actions.  (Words that ends in "th"  or "st".)
1. James 1:25 says "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
2. Acts 13:43 says "Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God."
3. In Acts Paul and Barnabas "persuaded them to continue in the grace of God",  but only did this one time.  In James, the requirement to "looketh"  and to "continueth"  is a requirement to ^keep on keeping on'.  That is: these are not just a one-time act.  The words "continueth"  and "continue"  are different in the Bible.
5. Other words:
1. "let"  this is a command that has the power of creation behind it.
2. "as"  means ^in the same way'.  Look for how something was done before this word and use the same procedure for what follows the word.
3. "even"  means ^having the same weight'.  When two sides of a balancing scale are "even"  they have the same weight.
4. "which"  adds a qualifier.  What follows the word "which"  qualifies (limits) what preceded the word "which".
5. While more could be said, we need to move on.
6. "Amen".  Is always a separate sentence and it doubles the prior sentence making it doctrine that all saved are to believe.
6. Punctuation:
1. In any language, a sentence is the minimum expression of a single thought.  Therefore, the first thing to look for is the end of a sentence.
1. The end is indicated by a period, exclamation mark or question mark.
2. Romans 1:1-7 is a single sentence and, while complex, is a single thought.  Using any part of that sentence, outside of what the entire sentence is sating, is perverting the word of God.
3. Parentheses are the next thing to consider and they are treated EXACTLY like in an Algebra equation. 
1. Parentheses were added when the word-for-word translation failed to translate the message from one language to another.  Italicized words are used the same way for a single word.  As you know, there is not a one-to-one translation between any two languages but, often, extra words are required in one of the languages to convey the same idea in both languages.
2. When parentheses are within an outer sentence, what is within the parenthesis must be resolved / interpreted first and the interpretation replaces all that is within the parenthesis within the outer sentence.  The important part is that the true sentence is the outer sentence.
3. When parentheses enclose one or more sentences and are between complete sentences then the text is read as if there were no parentheses.  It only means that the word-for-word did not convey the complete idea and extra explanation was required in the new language.
4. The colon is the next punctuation mark to consider and it shows equivalency within a sentence.
1. Same message presented two different ways.  This concept comes from Math.  2 squares that enclose the same area are equal and equivalent.  A square and a circle which enclose the same area are equivalent, because they enclose the same area, but are not equal since they have different shapes.
2. When a colon is followed by the word "but"  the two sides are polar opposites as in the North Pole and the South Pole.  Think of when there were picture negatives.  What was black on the negative was white in the picture and what was white in the negative was black in the picture.
5. A semi-colon always is within a sentence and any part of the sentence separated by colons.  Semi-colons show steps within a procedure.
6. If a sentence has colons and semi-colons on either side of the colon then each side of the colon is a separate procedure with the semi-colons showing steps only within the part of the sentence started or ended by the colon.
7. Commas separate items of equal value and they can be considered in any order.  While things often happen in the order that words appear in a sentence, when separated by commas, but they may also happen in a different order within real life.
7. Sentence format:
1. Explain that God does not make mistakes, not even in grammar no in punctuation.
2. Go to the end of Acts 21 and point out the comma.  Explain that the verse format was added by men after God had John finish Revelation.  The verse format was introduced by the Devil for the purpose of causing men to accept and support doctrinal error.
8. Demonstration:  Show verse format and sentence format side by side for:
1. All of Ephesians in sentence format and show how each sentence is connected to the prior except when a series of commands are given.  The commands are based upon what preceded them but each is independent and to be obeyed as stated.
2. Go through Ephesians 1 and show how the chopping up of sentences hides the flow and connection of the sentences.
3. Do the same for the beginning chapters of Colossians.
4. Show Romans 1 and 2 in sentence format.

Conclusion:

Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25 say "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."  Proverbs 10:29 says "The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity."

We have two different ways to read, study and try to understand our Bible.  Using the Verse format to understand leads to all of the doctrinal error which is taught and claimed to come from the Bible.  Using the Sentence format to understand and study is "The way of the LORD".  Yes, we need to use the verse format when preaching and teaching the less spiritually mature because that is how their Bible is written and we don't want to cause confusion by adding a distraction to the basic lesson while teaching novices.  However, the more spiritually mature should use the sentence format for their own private study and understanding.

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