Perhaps you are like me…weary of pastors and teachers explaining what “is really meant” by various Bible passages. Why is it so difficult to just be honest? Why can’t Scripture actually mean what it says, particularly when it is obvious that we are not reading a parable or allegory that doesn’t have some deeper meaning? Here’s a plain passage of Scripture that I have often heard interpreted dishonestly:

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12-13).

As always, Paul chose words and ordered them in a sentence to communicate truth. And he meant what he said. The problem is, what he said doesn’t agree with the theology of so many pastors and teachers, so they twist Paul’s words to fit their underlying false premise. When they read Philippians 2:12-13, they inwardly say to themselves, “That can’t mean what it says because it doesn’t fit with what I believe. So I must find a way to make it fit my theology.” And their attempts to make Paul fit their theology expose them as dishonest.

I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate (Rom. 7:14-15).

Romans 7:14-15 is often used as scriptural proof that genuine Christians act no different than non-Christians. The only difference is that Christians hate their sin, whereas unbelievers love their sin. If Paul, arguably the greatest Christian who ever lived, was “sold into bondage to sin” and “practiced” what he hated, who are we to claim that genuine Christians demonstrate their faith by holy and obedient lifestyles?

The trouble with that interpretation of Romans 7:14-15—as with all Scriptural misinterpretation—is that it ignores context. It begs the question, “Why then did Paul repeatedly affirm—just seconds earlier in his writing —that all believers have “died to sin” (6:2), are no longer “slaves of sin” (6:6, 17, 20), are “freed from sin” (6:7, 18, 22), are “slaves of righteousness” (6:18), and are “enslaved to God” (6:22)?

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (KJV: “filthy rags”);
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who arouses himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities (Is. 64:6-7, NASB).

I always feel sorry for professing Christians who identify with Isaiah’s words above, confessing that all their “righteousness is like filthy rags.” Their confession reveals that, either they have not yet been born again, or they have grossly backslid.

As far as we know, Jesus only once used the expression, “wolves in sheep’s clothing”—near the close of His Sermon on the Mount. To best understand what He meant by that expression, it would seem wise to consider it within its context.

In the same sentence (Matt. 7:15), Jesus revealed that wolves in sheep’s clothing are “false prophets.” Fundamentally, false prophets are those who claim to be speaking on behalf of God, but who actually are not. That being so, the primary way to determine if someone is a false prophet is to listen to what he says and ask the simple question, “Does what he says agree with what I’m certain God has already said?” And since we are certain the Sermon on the Mount was spoken by God in the flesh, we would be wise to ask of any teaching, “Does it agree with what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount?”

Church splits can be painful for both sides, the “stayers” and the “leavers.” But either side can find solace in the Bible.

For those who stay, for example, 1 John 2:19-20 offers great encouragement: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.”

It is wonderful to just know in your heart from the Holy Spirit that you are on the right side and the people who left the church are on the wrong side.

The word righteousness, and the related words, righteous and righteously, as well as the negative versions, unrighteous and unrighteousness, are found over 180 times in the New Testament. I’m sure you agree that righteousness is certainly not an obscure concept in Scripture. So what does it mean to be righteous or to possess righteousness?

A number of times in his letters, Paul mentions “the mystery.” Concerning it, he says “in other generations [it] was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to [God’s] holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5). So, what was that “mystery”?

Tragically, some are teaching that it was previously hidden truth that superseded, and even nullified, the teaching of Jesus. They claim, for example, that God revealed to Paul that salvation is granted through God’s grace under the new covenant, whereas under the old covenant, it was allegedly earned through works. And since Jesus’ earthly ministry was conducted under the old covenant, they say that explains why He so often tied obedience to salvation in His teaching and preaching. Now that the new covenant has been inaugurated, and the “mystery” has been revealed, we realize that we can ignore everything Jesus said that ties salvation to holiness, as it has no application to new covenant believers who are saved by grace!

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Pet. 4:18, KJV).

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? (NASB).

Peter indicated that there are two categories of people, the righteous and the unrighteous. The latter he describes as “godless” and “sinners.”

It would be absurd to imagine that the “righteous” of whom Peter wrote are people who are just legally righteous but who are every bit as much sinners as the ungodly. Clearly, Peter was contrasting people who live righteously, that is, people who are holy and obedient to God, with people who don’t live righteously, that is, ungodly sinners.

Among the 613 laws given by God to ancient Israel, there are some real head-scratchers. I’ve been scratching my head over some of them for almost 50 years. But here’s one that is more of a chin-scratcher:

If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him, then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley…. All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; and they shall answer and say, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.” And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them. So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord (Deut. 21:1-9).

The immediate thought of most readers is, “But only the murderer is guilty,” followed by the immediate question, “So why does this law seem to impute guilt upon everyone in the nearest town?”

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:23-27).

How liberating it is to read the Bible honestly. When we do, we can just believe what it plainly says without having to twist it to fit our predetermined theology or make it mean something it doesn’t say.

Take Matthew 24:23-27, for example. It is a section of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, which He spoke, not to the multitudes, but to a small group of four of His closest disciples, namely, Peter, James, John and Andrew (see Mark 13:3). When Jesus used the word “you” in the above-quoted passage, He was referring to them. His words were relevant to them, obviously. And He was warning them against being misled during a time when many people would be misled. Just seconds earlier He said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many” (Matt. 24:4-5, emphasis added).