Overall, do you find the Bible hard or easy to understand?
Or both perhaps?
Do you ever read a verse or a passage or even a whole book and think, “What does that mean?”
If so, this post is for you.
Here are some thoughts on the topic of “difficult Bible verses.”
1. You are not alone.
When it comes to dealing with “hard to understand” passages, here’s one that should help us all.
15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
2 Peter 3:15-16
The Apostle Peter wrote that Paul’s letters contain “hard to understand” passages.
Did I mention that an Apostle wrote that?
I find much comfort in knowing that Peter found “some things” in Paul’s writings that were not easy to comprehend. Don’t you?
So, whenever you read a verse and its meaning escapes you, relax. It’s OK. It’s to be expected. Peter didn’t always understand what Paul wrote, and neither will you and me.
2. Ultimately, God wrote the Bible; therefore, even mature Christians with much Bible knowledge will wrestle with passages from time to time.
In his excellent book, How to Succeed in the Christian Life, Reuben Torrey writes that “Sooner or later every young Christian comes across passages in the Bible which are hard to understand and difficult to believe.”
I would add that if you removed the word “young” from the sentence above, you would be correct.
And I believe Dr. Torrey would agree. He goes on to explain why this is so.
“What is the Bible? It is a revelation of the mind and will and character and being of the infinitely great, perfectly wise, and absolutely holy God. But to whom is this revelation made? To men and women like you and me, to finite beings. To men who are imperfect in intellectual development and consequently in knowledge, and in character and consequently in spiritual discernment.
“There must, from the very necessities of the case, be difficulties in such a revelation made to such persons. When the finite tries to understand the infinite there is bound to be difficulty . . . When sinful beings listen to the demands of an absolutely holy God, they are bound to be staggered at some of His demands; and when they consider His dealings, they are bound to be staggered at some of His dealings.
“There must be, in any complete revelation of God’s mind and will and character and being, things hard for a beginner to understand, and the wisest and best of us are but beginners.”
More thoughts from Dr. Torrey (see below for a link to get a free copy of his book) . . .
3. “Difficulties in the Bible . . . rapidly disappear upon careful and prayerful study.”
“How many things there are in the Bible that once puzzled us and staggered us that have been perfectly cleared up, and no longer present any difficulty at all! Is it not reasonable to suppose that the difficulties that still remain will also disappear upon further study?”
That has been my experience. And I still have many passages that I do not understand. But the more I study the Bible, the more I have seen the truth of the previous paragraph. How about you?
4. How do you go about studying those difficult passages? Dr. Torrey recommends the following seven attitudes and practices:
With honesty. “Whenever you find a difficulty in the Bible, frankly acknowledge it. If you cannot give a good, honest explanation, do not attempt as yet to give any at all.”
With humility. “Recognize the limitations of your own mind and knowledge, and do not imagine there is no solution just because you have found none.”
With determination. “Make up your mind that you will find the solution if you can by any amount of study and hard thinking.”
With fearlessness. “Do not be frightened when you find a difficulty, no matter how unanswerable it appears upon first glance. Thousands have found such before you. They were seen hundreds of years ago and still the Old Book stands.”
With patience. “Do not be discouraged because you do not solve every problem in a day.”
With Scripture. “If you find a difficulty in one part of the Bible, look for other Scriptures to throw light upon it and dissolve it. Nothing explains Scripture like Scripture.”
With prayer. “It is wonderful how difficulties dissolve when one looks at them on his knees.”
Great advice from a wise man. To get a free copy of How to Succeed in the Christian Life in Kindle format, click here.
For more on this topic, check out these resources:
Encountering Difficult Passages
https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2018/11/encountering-difficult-passages/
6 Wrong Ways to Approach Difficult Bible Passages
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/approach-difficult-bible-passages/
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