The reformers taught the perspicuity of Scripture. That is to say, that the Scripture is basically clear, although there are passages that are obscure and require hard study.

Teaching Notes:

The Clarity Of Scripture

Intro: have discussed Canon, Inerrancy, Trustworthiness. Today Clarity.

1. Can The Bible Be Understood By Ordinary Believers?

1) Deut.6:6-7 What did God require Jewish parents to do? What would have been necessary in order for them to fulfill this duty?

2) Psalm 1:1-3 What does it mean to meditate on God’s Word? Can you do this if you do not understand God’s Word?

3) Psalm 19:7; 119:130 In these 2 passages, who is made wise and given understanding by God’s Word? Should we think that because we do not know Hebrew and Greek, we can not read and understand the Bible sufficiently to become wise by it?

4) Mt.12:3; 21:42; 22:31. What do these Scriptures have in common? Did Jesus expect the people of His day to be able to understand the OT Scriptures? How many years before Christ did David live? Moses?

5) Who were the NT letters written to? Leaders with special academic training or all God’s people?

6) Eph.3:4 Did Paul expect the entire congregation to be able to understand his letter to them? 1Jn.5:13 – what about John?

7) Many NT churches were populated primarily by Gentiles. They had little or no prior understanding of the history and culture of Israel. Yet Paul wrote to them, quoting OT Scripture, and expecting them to be able to understand him.

2. What is Necessary to Understand the Bible?

1) 1Cor.2:14 Who cannot accept the things of the Spirit? Who is the “natural” man? Why can’t he accept them?

2) 2Cor.4:3-6 Who is the gospel veiled to? What has the god of this world done to them? Who is the “god of this world”? Why has he done this? How does anyone receive the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (vs.6)?

3) Hebrews 5:11-14 What had happened to these Hebrew believers (vs.11)? What should they have been able to do by this time (12)? What did they need instead? Who is able to take in solid food? How does Paul describe the mature believer?

4) John 7:16-17 What did Jesus say is necessary for a person to know whether His teaching is from God or not?

3. What Do We Mean by the Clarity of Scripture?

“The Bible is written in such a way that all things necessary for our salvation and Christian life are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God’s help and being willing to follow it.”

4. Why Do Believers Disagree on the Meaning of Scripture?

If Scripture can be understood by the ordinary believer, why are there so many doctrinal and ethical disagreements (baptism, church government, predestination)? Obviously, some have made mistakes in interpreting the Bible. Why do we make mistakes in interpreting Scripture?

Sin: pride, greed, lack of faith, selfishness. Sometimes we display a lack of objectivity. We interpret the Bible in a particular way, because we want the Bible to say a particular thing.
Lack of Diligence: sometimes we fail to devote enough time to prayerfully reading and studying Scripture, in order to interpret it accurately.
Inaccurate or Incomplete Information when Interpreting Scripture: If we interpret Scripture using inaccurate information (customs or culture of the day, isolating a text apart from its context, interpreting figurative literature literally, using wrong definition of a word, etc.) we will make mistakes. Likewise, if we draw doctrinal conclusions without considering all Scripture has to say on that subject, we will draw wrong conclusions.
Making Affirmations where Scripture is Silent: we must be very careful in coming to conclusions on issues the Bible really does not speak to. (Examples: Will animals be in heaven? Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden? Why did God choose some to be saved, and not others? Should we watch TV? Should we vote?)

Conclusions:

1) We should not say that the teaching of the Bible is incapable of being understood correctly.

2) We should not say that God deliberately intended the Bible to be written in such a way as to confuse us, rather than reveal to us.

3) We should not think that persistent disagreements on some subjects through the history of the church means we will be unable to come to a correct conclusion o that subject ourselves.

4) We should not forget that there has been an amazing amount of doctrinal agreement on the most central truths of Scripture over the history of the Church.

5) We should have great encouragement to read our Bibles daily with great eagerness.