The English term Bible comes from the Greek word biblios (Matt. 1:1) and biblion (Luke 4:17), which literally means a book; however it is not an ordinary book because it is the Word of God. One of the most ignored terms among Christians is canonicity, which comes from the Greek word kanon (a norm, measuring stick) the Bible is the divine and absolute standard. The Canon of Scripture refers to the 66 books that formed one Book, the Bible.

The term testament means covenant by which God was pleased to designate the relation that existed between Him and His people. The term covenant was first applied to said relationship; afterwards it referred to the books which all contained the records of that relationship.

The Bible is the only reliable source of information with regards to all spiritual matters relating to godliness. The Bible is the most precious and most important record this world has ever known or will ever know. The Bible is called the Scripture* (Mk. 12:10, Luke 4:21, John 2:22) and the Scriptures (Matt. 22:29, Mk. 12:24, John 5:39), by which it refers to the Bible as the Holy Writings. The Bible is the inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). The term inspired comes the Greek words theos (God) and pnein (to breathe), which means

God-breathed while the phrase given by inspiration signifies that the writing of the Old Testament, in which case the apostle Paul was speaking here, are the result of divine act and influence exerted by God upon the writers of the books. God did not give the writers any importance but the Scripture they have written.  It was the message that was highlighted and not the man who wrote them. God is the focus of the Bible, not the imperfect men.

The origin of the Scriptures: Theopneustos  (God-breathed) entails the principle of inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16) which involved two actions of the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit communicated God’s complete and coherent message to human writers (Isa. 59:21, Jer. 1:9, Matt. 22:42-44, Acts 4:24, 25, 28:25) and secondly, the human writers, wrote without waiving their human intelligence, their own vocabulary, their personal feelings, their literary style, personality, and individuality. That act of the Holy Spirit in the writing process resulted to the permanently recorded Bible with perfect accuracy in the original languages (Hebrew-Chaldee, and Greek).

The word "interpretation" of 2 Peter 1:20-21 is a poor translation of the original Greek text, because the primary issue here is not interpretation but the origin of the Bible. Consider this corrected translation: Knowing this first that no prophecy of Scripture originates from one’s own disclosure. For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, The Bible is the Word of God that came from Him. Everything that God wanted us to know was passed on to the human writers of Scripture, who by the power of the Holy Spirit recorded this divine revelation in writing.

The doctrine of inspiration: Inspiration as defined by Apostle Paul is the strong, conscious inbreathing of God into men, qualifying them to give utterance to the Truth. The few and selected holy men of God wrote the scripture when they were moved to do so by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).

The people who wrote the Scripture are holy men of God, qualified by the infusion of the breath of God, who obeyed the divine command and were kept from all errors. Inspiration is God speaking through men, as though God spoke every single word of it with His own lips, whether they revealed truth previously unknown or recorded truth already familiar (Ex. 4:10-15, Deut. 4:2, Jer. 1:7-9, Ezek. 3:4, Micah 3:8. 2 Peter 1:20-21, 1 Peter 1:10-11, 1 Cor. 2:13, 2 Peter 3:1-2, Mk. 13:11).

Revelation is the act of God by which He directly communicates truth not known before by the human mind. Revelation discovers new truth while inspiration superintends the communication of that truth. The words of Satan, demons, unbelievers, carnal believers are part of the inspiration giving them equal accuracy but not equal authority. Full inspiration holds all Scripture to be equally inspired based on 2 Timothy 3:16. What is the nature of the inspiration that characterized the writers of the Scriptures, and in what degree were they under its influence?

Some of the Words of the Scripture are the identical words spoken or written by God Himself (Ex. 32:18, 24:12, Deut. 10:2, 4, 9:10, Dan. 5:5). Some of the Words of Scripture were put by God into the mouths of certain men, the exact Words they should speak and  write about (Nub. 17:2-3, Isa. 8:1, 11-12, Jer. 7:27, 13:12, 30:1-2, 36:1, 1 Cor. 14:37, Rev. 2:8, 12, 18, 10:4). In some parts of the Scripture, the writers were left (humanly speaking) to choose their own words in relating divine Truth (Dan. 12:8-9, Matt. 26:26-27, Mk. 1:11, Luke 3:22, John 11:49-52).

Divine inspiration affected the choice of words directly and immediately by dictating them in the soul (kardia) not in the human ears but through working on their nous (mind) producing vivid and clear ideas of thought and facts that the writers could find words fit for the purpose. From the divine side: The Holy Spirit gave through men clearly and faithfully that which He wished to communicate with us using human expressions. From the human side: that communication came forth in language such as men themselves would naturally have chosen.

The unity of the Bible: Most of the 40 writers of the Scripture lived in different era and were of different background. Some were common men, others were nobles and distinguished citizens of their time. Most of them did not have the opportunity to meet each other, and yet the Bible has a perfect writer*s agreement and single focus on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God used dead languages (Hebrew, Aramaic & Greek) to preserve its accuracy. These languages were effective for circulating and proclaiming the Truth of Bible doctrine by the time of its writing and for a long period of time preserving its textual accuracy. The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls revealed the accuracy of the original texts. The inspiration of the Scripture refers only to the original texts written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

All the English versions and translations were not inspired by God. The problems in the modern translations and versions are mainly due to the careless translation procedures and the untrustworthy translators (unbelievers and nominal or carnal believers) who have negative volition toward Bible doctrine.

The Greek term didaekalia (translated in English as doctrine, or teaching, refers not only to that which is taught but also to the authority of the teacher of Bible doctrine (James 3:1-2), who is spiritually mature, trained, and experienced in the Word of God.  Bible doctrine alone is inspired by God, which is the systematic presentation of biblical teaching in manner comprehensible and intelligible to the soul of the believers (Col. 2:22, Eph. 4:12, Titus 1:9). Didache, the art of teaching Bible doctrine (2 Tim. 4:2) denotes the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22, Titus 2:1, 7, 10) and of the apostles of Christ (2 John 9-10, Acts 13:12).

  Bible doctrine is the teaching of Christ directly given to us through His apostles, prophets, and the few selected men He used. It is the teaching of God revealed in the Bible and not the teaching of any person or religious sect. There is only one Bible doctrine but most denominational or religious sect teachings are only church doctrines. Church doctrines are man-made teachings invented by various religious leaders for the purpose of supporting their personal views. Church doctrines are inferior and can accomplish nothing but the temporal religious objectives. Most church doctrines arrogantly claim their source coming from the Bible but a careful study would reveal otherwise.

Four benefits from Scripture (based on 2 Tim. 3:16)

Doctrine: Doctrine is the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), the sum total of the divine viewpoint of the spiritual life (Isa. 55:8-9) and should, therefore, become the basis of our walk in the Spirit in time and our confidence for the future (see: The divine plan of Grace for blessing men) Reproof: The Scripture rebuke us without bias or prejudice. It shows us where we have gone wrong as well as when we do right. Correction: Reproof should always lead to correction.  Biblical correction results in the utilization of unlimited operating assets by which we can have perfect happiness, peace and spiritual stability. Instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:17): The divine objective is to make the man of God spiritually mature and completely equipped unto all (divine) good works. This involves the entire scope of the Scripture which contains all the vital information necessary for reaching spiritual maturity and its results, the divine good works.

How to Determine Bible Doctrine?

Through Exegetical Approach: that is studying the Scriptures in their original texts (Hebrew-Chadee for Old Testament, Greek and Aramaic for New Testament) is the only way to bring out its real meaning. Any theological conclusion must pass the biblical exegetical process in agreement with the established biblical teaching of the original texts otherwise it is considered questionable.

The Scripture has only one doctrine. The numerous unbiblical liberal interpretations come from questionable versions and from incorrect translation, interpreted by a religious but unredeemed or saved but carnal person. Man invented religions and their various doctrines that separate, divide, and create conflict among men in response to satanic call to deceive people. These are satanic advocates, volunteers for the kingdom of the devil with the wrong notion that they are serving God.

Through Historical Approach: Bible doctrine is the result of systematic interpretation of Bible text in its historical context, in terms of the author's intent, its target audience, in the light of time and place in which it was written, who wrote it, for which it was written, why it was written, and everything related to its historical background.

Through Categorical Approach: This is the meticulous process of comparing all pertinent passages in categorizing subjects because a term or phrase in Hebrew is different in the Greek language. A Hebrew or a Greek term or phrase may possess two or more meanings with different application. The English language is unable to give accurate translation of both Hebrew and Greek terminologies. For example, there are seven different terms for death in Greek and each with different application which does not exist in the English vocabulary.

Facts about Bible Doctrine

God is the Author of Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine pre-existed the human race, it is the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), it was with God long before He created man. Bible doctrine is not the invention of man; but the work of God for the benefit of man. God used elect men as secretaries to put Bible doctrine into writing.

The heritage of Bible doctrine existed in the Old Testament times and was later on illustrated the New Testament (Psalm 138:2). The heritage of Bible doctrine will not cease after the termination of the human history (2 Peter 3:1-14) but will carry its legacy into eternity future. Bible doctrine is the only thing a believer can bring to eternity.

The perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ depended on Bible doctrine for His spiritual stamina and legacy. The power of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine sustained Him all throughout the Hypostatic Union. After His ascension, the Lord Jesus Christ passed it on to the royal family of God, the source of His stamina and energy inside the divine dynasphere, which is the Bible doctrine.

 The plan of God is both advanced and vindicated through Bible teaching and nothing would come in-between unless revealed in the Bible doctrine (Isaiah 53:10, Psalm 51:4). God's plan, will and purpose for man has been revealed through the Bible doctrine. Rejection of Bible doctrine results to spiritual ignorance that leads to self-destruction.

Bible doctrine is more real than experiential or empirical knowledge (2 Peter 1:12-21). Bible doctrine is not based on the experience of man but on the veracity and immutability of God. Our human experiences, especially our religious experiences must be evaluated based on the truth of Bible doctrine. We do not create a teaching or doctrine based on human experiences like talking to angels, receiving visions, seeing apparitions, speaking in tongues, divine healing and holy laughter.

 Bible doctrine is part of the principle of living grace for the believers. There is no spiritual growth without Bible doctrine in the soul of the believers. There is no spiritual maturity apart from Bible doctrine because its systematic and progressive intake is the only source of spiritual growth and momentum. Basically, Satan will do everything to deprive believers of Bible doctrine.

Genuine spiritual maturity is measured by the amount of maximum Bible doctrine stored and resident in the human soul. The communication of Bible doctrine established the balance of residency between the filling of the Holy Spirit (spirituality) and the Bible doctrine that keeps the soul nourished (abiding in the word). The only Bible doctrine usable is that which has been transferred from the pages of the Bible or transcript (called gnosis) into "Living Word" of God inside the soul of the believer (called epignosis).

Bible doctrine contains the Canon of the Bible communicated by the authorized personnel (mature, trained and experienced in the Word) on the basis of exegesis and analysis of the original languages used and classification of its original text, translated into the English language for easy understanding of its hearers. The priority of every pastor is to study, learn, apply and communicate to others the Word of God. Every pastor is accountable for the advancement of his congregation through Bible doctrine. A church without Bible doctrine is more intimate with Satan than with Christ.

Importance of Bible Doctrine

 The believer's mental attitude (positive or negative volition) towards Bible doctrine is the basis for the believer's blessing or discipline (Prov. 8:33-36). The absence of Bible doctrine results to carnality or reversionism (prolonged carnality) that leads to the destruction of a person, and sometimes a nation as a whole (Hosea 4:1-6).

Bible doctrine in the soul directs the believer to the plan, will and purpose of God. It produces genuine confidence toward God and courage before men (Job 5:24-27, Habakkuk 10:35). Bible doctrine in the soul stabilizes the believer (James 1:8) making the believer steadfast and strong in the might of the Lord.

Bible doctrine in the soul is the key to mental attitude dynamics which opens the window to the divine viewpoint of life (2 Cor. 10:5). Bible doctrine in the soul is the basis for divine guidance; God cannot guide or lead a believer without God's Word in his soul. The Holy Spirit utilizes the Word of God stored in the soul in guiding, leading and assisting believers to accomplish and fulfill the will of God (Romans 12:2-3). No believer will be able to glorify God without Bible doctrine in his soul.

Bible doctrine in the soul leads the believer to super grace status of occupation with Christ, and capacity to love God (Eph. 3:19). Possessing Bible doctrine in the soul is the only means to attain and hold the super grace status or spiritual maturity (Phil. 3:12-). Bible doctrine in the soul is the basis for glorifying God (Bible doctrine is His integrity), and God loves His Word wherever it is found.

Bible doctrine in the soul is the only way to the tactical victory of the Christian under the angelic conflict. No believer will be able to overcome the devil, the old sin nature and the cosmic system without Bible doctrine in the soul. Genuine spiritual changes in the life of believers is only possible through resident Bible doctrine in their souls, and it is the only means of attaining the surpassing grace blessing of eternity (Hebrews 11:9-10, 13, James 1:25, 2;12-13).

Bible doctrine stored and resident in the soul is the only thing the believer can bring to eternity. The human soul will last forever, either in hell without Christ (or in heaven if with Christ). Every act of human good work (done under the dictates of old sin nature, under carnality and contrary to God's Word) is useless and is never credited for eternal rewards. Every act of divine good work (done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, under spirituality and according to the protocol of God's Word) is credited for eternal rewards for the believer.

Genuine worship of the true God is only possible with Bible doctrine in the souls of believers. Without personal relationship with Christ and without the knowledge of who and what God is, there is no real worship. No worship is real worship without Bible doctrine preached and proclaimed systematically and accurately.

No activities, presentations or special numbers, and religious programs should take the place of Bible doctrine. If you take away Bible doctrine from the church, then it is nothing but a club, an organization, a gathering of people wasting their time for refined entertainment. Every local church is a classroom for Bible doctrine. Any local church claiming as a part of the Body, but withholding Bible doctrine is robbing the believers with the most precious thing that the Lord Jesus Christ left for them as a legacy.

The act of freewill volition (the decision of the soul) plays an important role in the perception and assimilation of Bible doctrine. The act of the volition responding positively to the plan and purpose of God is our non-meritorious faith.

There are three stages in this act of the volition:

First stage: The believer chooses to reside in the divine dynasphere, (that is to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, to be positive toward doctrinal teaching and to resist any distraction or avoid being displaced from concentration on the Bible doctrine by anyone or anything (1 Cor. 2:12, Heb. 10:35). The first stage is the decision of the believers under spiritual childhood.

Second stage: The positive believer chooses to think about Bible doctrine, to pay attention and believe what he hears, to integrate the new learned doctrine, to keep knowing the true Celebrity in focus, to continue spiritual momentum until he reach spiritual maturity,  storing Bible doctrine in his soul on a day to day basis (1 Cor. 2:13). The second stage is the decision of the believer under spiritual adulthood.

Third stage; The believer chooses to apply the Bible doctrine he has learned in his daily life and to keep learning Bible doctrine after reaching spiritual maturity and to continue learning beyond spiritual maturity. The third stage is the decision of the believer under spiritual maturity. There are three systems of human perception namely faith, rationalism and empiricism.

Rationalism relies on human reasons and logical consistency as the criterion for reality, totally apart from authority or revelation of the Scripture, and where philosophy becomes the authority and reality.

Empiricism is the human perception that utilizes the senses in establishing reality or truth. It establishes reality based on human experience of senses such as hearing, smelling, touch, taste and the so-called sixth sense. Reality is what you see, hear, touch or smell.

Faith is the perception based on the confidence under the authority and veracity of God. Reality is based on the justice and righteousness of God not on human reasons or experiences. Faith is the non-meritorious system of human thought which comprehends infinite spiritual truth that is beyond the finite mind's reasoning powers and sensory system. Bible doctrine is understandable only through faith under positive volition. The carnal or reversionist believers cannot understand the Word of God apart from spirituality and positive volition toward Bible doctrine. God has provided the grace resources for understanding the Scripture.

Figure of speech: The Bible uses figure of speech we call language of accommodation like anthropomorphism and antropopathism. Anthropomorphism is the language of accommodation which ascribes to God human physical characteristic which He does not actually possess, in order to comprehend His divine policy, character or function. Antropopathism is the language of accommodation which ascribes to God human emotion and thought which He does not actually possess, so that man may comprehend His divine policy, acts, and decisions. The believer must take caution that exaggeration and over-use of phrase involving anthropopatheism and anthropomorphism may not  result to unbiblical claim.

A Fortori Logic. The idiom of greater degree which means *with stronger reasons* is composed of two parts: the greater and the lesser part, attached by the phrase *much more*. A Fortori logic states *If God can do something that is extremely difficult, then. He can do something that is much easier* (Rom. 5:9-10. 15, 17, 11:12-24, 1 Cor. 6:3).

Hapax Legomenon: A word or term or phrase which occurs only once in the Bible, demands careful study and interpretation. Biblical terms and phrases not defined in the secular dictionaries or encyclopedia give different meaning and poor interpretation since they are not written by believers. Christians must be selective in consulting the Lexicon, Bible dictionary with Greek and Hebrew meaning but avoid commentaries written by modern preachers. Christians must avoid ecumenical leaning authors and publishers since they are advocating human viewpoint disguised as Word of God.

Biblical orthodoxy is the cautious way to the Truth in God*s Word. Christians must separate themselves from the liberal, humanistic, and ecumenical views of biblical interpretation. The bible is the Word of the immutable, unchangeable, eternal God who does not adjust to worldly trends. The inferior man must adjust to the superior God. Bible doctrine or teaching of the Bible cannot adjust to human emotion, desire, trend, ambition, or greed. The perfect God has a perfect plan for the imperfect man, and that perfect plan is revealed only in the Bible doctrine. Biblical orthodoxy is the first step in knowing the perfect plan of God for ones life, while following the modern trends always leads to reversionism.

To follow the humanistic and ecumenical trends is to play with the devil. The biblical orthodox believer studies the Bible exegetically, historically, grammatically, and categorically. Some preachers are charis-magicians because they boldly preach the Word without going through the process of correct biblical interpretation.

Mystery doctrine: The Greek word usterion, which is translated as *mystery* in English, was borrowed from a term in the pagan community which originally referred to the secret doctrines undisclosed to outsiders but well-known to its members. The apostle Paul used the term in referring to the Church Age believers as the initiates and the doctrines as the "musterion". Mystery doctrines are well known teachings of the Church Age but will remain secret to those outside the royal family of God. The mystery doctrine is perceived only when the believers are inside the realm of spirituality that is when they are spirit-filled inside the divine dynasphere.

God did not disclose the mystery doctrine to the writers of the Old Testament Scripture but are now  openly revealed throughout the New Testament epistles (Rom. 16:25-26, Eph. 3:1-10, Col. 1:25-28, 1 Cor. 2:7, 1 Tim. 3:9). The Lord Jesus Christ was the first to announce the mystery doctrine (John 14-17), which gave every member of the royal family God access to divine power in his spiritual life (Phil. 3:10). The Bible doctrine is the nutrient that the Holy Spirit uses to produce the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Christ has known the mystery doctrine from eternity past (but has been enforced only for nearly 2000 years since the ascension of Christ).

Mystery doctrine reveals all the politeuma privileges (see: Politeuma - heavenly privileges on earth) of the Church age believers, which set apart the Church Age from other dispensations (Eph. 3:18). The ten politeuma privileges are; the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the protocol plan of God, the portfolio of the invisible assets, the equality factor, the royal commissions, the indwelling Trinity, the availability of the divine power, the personal impact of the invisible heroes, and mystery doctrine which excludes prophecy for the Church Age. The mystery reveals the riches God has lavished upon the Church Age believers, which is the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:6-8, 18, 3:8, 16, 20, Phil. 4:19, Col. 1:27, 2:2), making them  fabulously wealthy.

No human genius, super IQ, power, wisdom, capability or endowments can penetrate or access the mystery doctrine (1 Cor. 2:6-9). The only access is by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The mystery doctrine is hidden to carnal and reversionist believers, and totally inaccessible to all unbelievers (1 Cor. 2:14). There is no way to understand mystery doctrine apart from salvation and spirituality. The believer in spiritual childhood can understand minimal truth of the Bible doctrine while the spiritually mature believers receive maximum perception and understanding since they already have the frame of references (1 Cor. 2:6-8, 10-13). The maximum understanding of the mystery doctrine is called epignosis (full knowledge). God taught the Old Testament believers Bible doctrines through animal sacrifices and rituals, and later on, through verbal proclamation of prophets since most of them cannot read and that the Scripture was not yet finished at that particular time.

However, the Church Age believers are privileged to have the complete canon of the Scripture and are therefore responsible to study it. God has provided hermeneutics (the branch of theology that deals with the science of scriptural interpretation) which utilizes the four means of determining Bible doctrine (that is, exegetical, historical, grammatical and categorical).

In exegetical approach, the believer carefully compares the meaning of a word with other Greek or Hebrew meaning. For example, there are 7 terms for death in the Bible, each of which has a different meaning. All Hebrew word has different meaning, sometimes even opposite or extremely different from other usage. Every term should be studied in all of their occurrences and should never be substituted for each other without carefully viewing the term in their different usage under different context.

Most of the Hebrew terms are built upon verbal roots of three consonants called radicals. There are over 1,850 verbal roots in the Old Testament, from which various nouns and other parts of speech have been derived. Many of these verbal roots represent theological, moral, ceremonial concepts that have been obscured and corrupted by the passage of time. It is not enough to merely clarify the meaning of each root word because each term can take on different shades of meaning as it is employed in various contexts.

Therefore, the sincere student of the Bible will study the various occurrence of the same term or word in the Scripture to arrive at an accurate understanding of its intended meaning, applying the exegetical, historical, grammatical, and categorical approach to biblical interpretation. Anything that fall short of this process is dangerous.

Hebrew synonyms often have pivotal doctrinal repercussion which means that word for word method of translating from Hebrew into English is impossible and it will result to meaningless or incorrect translation because of the following factors:

The Hebrew language is different in structure and function than the English language. This particular characteristic made a number of the Hebrew consonants impossible to translate into the English language.  Most Hebrew words are built upon a three consonant root. The same root may appear in a noun, a verb, adjective and an adverb, all with the same basic meaning.

The Hebrew morphology or forms of words is consists of three consonant root and three vowels, of which two are internal and one final. Note also that there are 22 consonants and 15 vowels in the Hebrew alphabet.

The Hebrew word order of a verbal and written sentence of narrative or prose passage is different from the English language. The Hebrew word order is: verb-object-indirect object or pronoun-subject.

The Hebrew of the Old Testament does not have one neat and concise structure. The Old Testament was written for a period of over 2000 years creating a vast linguistic tradition and peculiarities in certain books. The books of Job and Psalms have ancient Ugaritic phrases, while the book of Ruth preserved the archaic Moabites speech, and the books of Samuel have the colloquial idiom of wartime era.

The Hebrew language contained some foreign words that are already obsolete and unfamiliar to us. No linguistic expert can translate correctly because the Bible is not an ordinary book that is dependent on human IQ or skills for its translation into other languages. God has provided every Church Age believer the best Teacher, (the Holy Spirit) so that the Scripture can be understood not through human IQ, wisdom, power or ability but through the grace provision of God. No believer can perceive and understand the Word of God apart from spirituality and outside the divine dynasphere.

Principles Of Biblical Interpretations

General Principles:

Rule 1: Work from full conviction that the Bible is authoritative, that is it the supreme court of truth.

Rule 2: Saving faith and the filling of the Holy Spirit are necessary to understand, perceive, assimilate, and accurately interpret the Scripture. When unbelievers use the Bible as his authority it results to heretical or cultic teachings, and when carnal believer distort the truth it leads to reversionistic doctrines. A spirit-filled novice or immature believer does not guarantee accurate interpretation. Always begin your Bible study or work of interpretation from the point of spirituality and function inside the divine dynasphere. Spiritual IQ is not operational outside the divine dynasphere, for this reason, no unbeliever will ever understand the Word of God.

Rule 3: The Bible interprets itself. The Bible is explained by the Bible, Scripture best explains Scripture. Let the Bible be its own commentary. Never trust any Bible commentary because it is not an accurate interpretation but a personal viewpoint of the author.

Rule 4: Interpret personal experience in the light of Scripture and not Scripture in the light of personal experience. The veracity of the Scripture alone is the basis of all truth. Human experience is not reality since they are variable, inconsistent and controlled by the old sin nature. The Scripture did not emphasize human experiences but the doctrinal point of view behind every human experience.

Rule 5: Any biblical example is authoritative only when supported by a command. The believer is free to do anything that the Bible does not prohibit based on biblical context. Every believer is free to obey any legitimate command under his dispensation.

Rule 6: Some passages are not to be applied in the same way they were applied at the time they were written.

Rule 7: Each believer has the right and responsibility to investigate and correctly interpret the Scripture for himself.

Rule 8: Church History is important but is not decisive in the interpretation of the Scripture. The church does not determine what the Bible teaches rather the Scripture determines what the church should teach.

Rule 9: The promises of God in the Bible are not available to all believers of all generation. There are 3 categories of promises intended for specific individual or group of individuals in the Scripture. First: personal conditional promises given to specific person for a specific purpose (Gen. 6:13-14). Such promises are not applicable to another person. Second: personal unconditional promises given to specific person for specific purpose (Gen. 12:1-3). Such promises are not transferable and only applicable for another person. Third: General conditional or unconditional promises exclusively given to specific people of specific generation in the Old Testament (Jos. 1:2-9). Such promises are not applicable to Church Age believers.

Grammatical Principles:

Rule 10: Scripture has only one meaning and should be taken literally unless implied or specified as figurative. Every diligent student of the Scripture will benefit from textual criticism, which is the science of determining the exact text of Scripture as it existed in the original manuscripts, as well as its composition, authorship, date of writing, and historical value as judged from internal evidence. Few books on this are now available at the bookstore.

Rule 11: Interpret words in harmony with their very own meaning at the time of writing. The avid student of the Bible must determine 4 things in studying a particular word or phrase:

• Its original meaning as used by the writer
• Its relation to its immediate context and its use by the time of writing.
• Its root meaning (etymology) using Bible Dictionary and Hebrew-Greek-English Lexicon.
• It current use  by the modern English translators.

Rule 12: Interpret a word in relation to its sentence and context. Never skip a word because our vocabularies are different from the original languages of the Bible. An Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words by W.E. Vine, or Unger or White will be helpful.

Rule 13: Interpret a passage in harmony with its context. Relate the passage to material surrounding it, to the book and then to the entire teaching of the entire Scripture. A teaching is said to be biblical when it is consistent with the teaching of the Scripture as a whole.

Rule 14: When an inanimate object is used to describe living beings the statement may be considered figuratively and when the life and action are attributed to inanimate objects, the statement may be considered figurative.

Rule 15: When an expression is out of character with the very thing described, the statement may be considered figurative. A word or phrase cannot mean more than one thing at a time. When at all possible a passage should be interpreted literally.

Rule 16: The principal parts and figures of a parable represent certain realities. Consider only these principal parts and figures when drawing conclusions. Do not extend the purpose of the parable beyond the writer's intent.

Do not make the parable say too much. Each parable has one chief point of comparison and exaggeration because undefined and unclear details will corrupt its original intent. Every biblical parable is explained by the Scripture itself.

Rule 17: Interpret the words of the prophets in their usual, literal, and historical sense, unless the context or manner in which they are fulfilled clearly indicates they have symbolic meaning. Their fulfillment may come in parts, each being a pledge of that which is to follow.

Historical Principles:

Rule 18: Since Scripture originated in a historical context, it can be understood only in the light of biblical history not as church history. Inspiration includes the historical accounts of the Bible which guarantees its accuracy. Whenever a question arises between secular and biblical history, then biblical history remains infallible. No historian (secular or religious) is more reliable than the veracity of the Scripture.

Rule 19: Though God*s revelation in the Scripture is progressive, both Old and New Testaments are essential parts of this revelation  forming a unity. It is the human understanding of God and perception of His revelation that is progressive. God is unchangeable and immutably perfect.

Rule 20: Historical facts or events become symbols of spiritual truth only if the Scripture so designate them.

To allegorize historical facts is to subtract from the intended meaning. No extra-biblical facts or events are considered symbols of spiritual truth. God*s revelation to man is complete by itself.

Theological Principles:

Rule 21: A believer can understand the Bible theologically only after he understands it grammatically. The Spirit-filled believer can understand what a particular verse means (spiritually) only after he understands what it says (grammatically). You must understand what the passage says before you expect to understand what it means by exegetical process.

Rule 22: A Bible doctrine cannot be considered biblical unless it sums up and includes all that the Scripture says about it. A teaching is not conclusively biblical without being related to the teaching of the entire Scripture.

Rule 23: When two doctrines taught in the Bible appears to be contradictory, accept both as scriptural in the confident belief that they resolve themselves into a higher unity. Contradiction appears only in the mind of men not in the truth of the Scripture. Consistent, progressive and correct methods of Bible study will bring the answers to every doubt and what appears to be contradictions in a matter of time.

When interpreting the Bible, do not allow human logic to make it say more or less than what the fact says. Exaggeration and over simplification are not helpful but destructive.

Rule 24: A teaching merely implied in Scripture may be considered biblical when a comparison of related passages and general content of the Bible support it.

Rule 25: Our first and primary allegiance is not to a system of theology, church or denominational beliefs or doctrines but to the Scripture.

The importance of Bible doctrine is far beyond our carnal knowledge. Let Proverbs 2:1-11 serves as the conclusion for this article.

  My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you,

Keep the good fight of faith!

©2005-2009  J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries