How Not To Read The Bible: Doctrine Of Bible Interpretation 2 by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Why This Subject Matters

2 Peter 3:15-16 — Paul's letters contain things that are hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction — as they do also the rest of the scriptures. The word of God can be twisted, taken out of context, and that twisting leads to destruction. John describes this pattern as the spirit of error.

Every person reads the Bible through a light. From the moment that light is wrong, everything seen through it will also be wrong. Because scripture is spiritual, and the enemy has access to it, he begins to bring things that confirm the wrong light — confirming a small lie until it is translated into truth in the mind, anchored with scriptures that seem to affirm it. At that point, it becomes very difficult for anyone to dislodge.

1 Timothy 1:18-20 — Wrong doctrine can make faith suffer shipwreck — to capsize, to become void, to leave the faith entirely and begin believing a lie.

2 Timothy 2:15 — "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

To understand this verse properly, it helps to see the structure of the letter as a whole:

• Chapter 1 — Guard the gospel and do not be ashamed of the testimony of Christ
• Chapter 2 — Endure hardship and faithfully pass the truth to the next generation
• Chapter 3 — The dangers of the last days and the authority and sufficiency of scripture
• Chapter 4 — Preach the word faithfully and finish the ministry well

Chapter 3 prescribes that the discernment needed for the last days is grounding in scripture that is rightly divided. Chapter 4's instruction to preach faithfully means: don't add and don't remove. Scripture is already inspired. The job is to serve it, not improve it.

You don't inspire an inspiration — you declare it.

The word "approved" in verse 15 is the Greek dokimazō — tried and accepted, as when bags are screened at security. Only what passes is cleared. The approval being sought is unto God, not men. It is possible to be sound with men and heretical with God. The minister of the word is not looking for more followers or approval from an audience. The approval that matters is God's.

The description given for this person is a workman. Studying scripture is work. The Bible says to endure sound doctrine — and endurance is for what is hard, not what is easy. If studying the word is not engaging the mind with effort, it is not being done properly.

Six Ways Not to Read the Bible

1. The Lucky Dip Method

   Opening the Bible at random and treating whatever appears as a personal word from God. The problem with this is immediately apparent: Matthew 27:5 — "He departed and went and hanged himself." That cannot be anyone's word for the day.

   What is needed instead is a chronological and progressive understanding of scripture. Luke 24:27 — beginning at Moses and all the prophets, Jesus expounded in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. The model is sequential and building.

   A reliable starting point is the Gospels — reading them to know the character of Jesus. Knowing his character is what makes accurate interpretation possible. Consider Matthew 13:10-11, where the disciples ask why Jesus speaks in parables. By observation alone, one might conclude he speaks in parables to hide understanding. But Psalm 78:2-4 already reveals why: "I will open my mouth in a parable... we will not hide them from the children." The intention was always to make truth accessible across generations. Only a knowledge of God's character reveals this — and character cannot be known by observation alone. It requires intention.

   The first revelations to pursue in scripture are the revelation of God as love and the revelation of God as Father. These two foundations make accurate interpretation possible.

   There is a difference between wanting to perform the word and wanting to know God. Those who learn the word in order to say it will exhaust it after they have said it. But those who internalize it — who make it a word found for themselves — will find it speaking in every situation. Doing becomes natural when becoming has happened first.

2. A Dose of Medicine — Two Chapters a Day

   Reading two chapters a day as a quota, unrelated to thought, context, or understanding, produces the illusion of Bible engagement without the substance. Finishing the Bible in a year by volume is not the same as knowing the Bible.

   The epistles are letters. They were not delivered chapter by chapter over successive weeks — a church gathered, and the entire letter was read aloud in a single sitting. Philippians, for example, takes less than 20 minutes to read. Each chapter opening with "therefore," "finally," and "therefore my beloved" signals a continuous thought that must be followed from beginning to end. Reading chapters 2 and 3 in isolation means missing what "therefore" is responding to.

   The goal is not chapters covered — it is thoughts understood. Small letters like 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy can be read in under 35 minutes. They should be read that way — in one sitting, as letters, following the thought from opening to close.

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   Pastor Dolapo Lawal

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3. Using a Text as a Personal Word Without Checking Its Principle

   God can and does quicken scripture to individuals — this is real and must not be denied. But there is a difference between a word genuinely given by the Spirit and a word produced by desire.

   When a minister sees something appealing — a type of program, a ministry model, a direction — and then reads a scripture that seems to confirm it, the question to ask is: does the principle of that passage apply? Or is this the voice of personal ambition finding a verse to justify itself?

   The lying spirit is not identified by being wrong — it is identified by surrounding itself with witnesses. Confirmation is not automatically validation. If you want something, every scripture you read will seem to say yes. If something is genuinely from God and you have no desire for it, the word will conflict with your preference — that tension is often a more reliable signal.

   There is divine speed but no divine delay. If a believer is late, God can fast-track. But if a believer moves ahead of God, nothing can help — the scattering has already happened. Wait. Check well.

   The safest way to vet any spiritual impression is to run it through the four classifications of scripture — poetry, epistles, history, and prophecy — using the principle of Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, and 2 Corinthians 13:1: in the mouth of two or three witnesses, truth is established.

   • History — Has this happened to someone before?
   • Prophecy — Was it prophesied?
   • Poetry — Was it declared in the Psalms?
   • Epistles — Did the apostles write concerning it?

   If none of these four classifications contain the thought, no matter how compelling it sounds, it should not come out of the mouth. If it contradicts any clear statement of scripture, drop it immediately — do not look for a Greek word to save it.

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   The Secondhand Bible Study Method

   Knowing the Bible only through other people's sermons, devotionals, podcasts, and commentaries — without ever engaging the text personally, directly, and independently.

   Sermons and commentaries are tools, not substitutes. When a believer has never sat alone with the text, they have no personal anchor to detect when a teacher is off. They become entirely dependent on the discernment of others. Acts 17:11 — the Bereans examined the scriptures daily to verify what they were being taught.

   Devotionals are bullet points toward a broader study. A student cannot pass an examination by reading only key points from a textbook. The Bible must be opened personally. What has not been personally seen cannot stay in the heart. What is in the heart, nobody can steal — but it must be placed there through personal encounter with the text.

   The practice of writing what is received from personal study is valuable — it reveals how much was received that might otherwise go unnoticed.

5. Looking Up Verses to Support a Preexisting Opinion

   Starting with a conclusion and mining scripture for verses that defend it. This is using the Bible, not studying it. When the objective is to win an argument rather than find truth, relevant contrary evidence will be passed over because the goal is victory, not understanding. What is detrimental to the soul is the willingness to skip what challenges the position being defended.

   The Bereans did not pull verses — they examined them. They searched the broader witness of scripture before accepting any teaching. The call is to search the scriptures, not to use them as a search engine for preferred conclusions.

   Studying to be right is different from studying to be a blessing. The word of God is not to be argued — it is to be taught.

6. Textual Interpretation — Reading Verses in Isolation from Their Context

   Kenneth Hagin called textual interpretation a curse to the church. One of the anchor scriptures used to justify World War II was "fight the good fight of faith" — a reference to the fight of doctrine, not physical combat. When verses are read without their context, they can be made to mean almost anything.

   Chapterization is interpretation. The chapter divisions in the Bible were not given by God — they were added by human editors. Those editors made interpretive decisions. The sub-headings in modern Bibles are a further layer of interpretation on top of interpretation. This means that chapter breaks can obscure the flow of thought and make connected passages appear separate.

   Examples of passages that belong together but have been separated:

   • Genesis 1 and 2 — Genesis 1 gives the overview of creation. Genesis 2 zooms in on the creation of man and the garden. They are one continuous account of creation.
   • Isaiah 52 and 53 — One continuous prophecy known as the Servant Song. The prophecy begins at Isaiah 52:13 and runs through Isaiah 53:12. The chapter break splits a single messianic prophecy into two.
   • Ezekiel 1 and 2 — Ezekiel 1 describes the vision of God's glory. Ezekiel 2 immediately continues with Ezekiel's prophetic commissioning following that vision. Vision and commissioning belong together.
   • Acts 18 and 19 — Acts 18 introduces Apollos in Ephesus. Acts 19 continues with Paul's arrival in Ephesus and the disciples who only knew John's baptism. Together they form a connected account of the Ephesian ministry beginning at Acts 18:24.
   • Matthew 5, 6, and 7 — The entire Sermon on the Mount is one message. The beatitudes, giving, prayer, fasting, and forgiveness were spoken in the same address. Chapter divisions create the impression of separate teachings when they are one cohesive sermon.
   • Luke 17 and 18 — Luke 18:1 ("men ought always to pray and not to faint") is frequently read as a general exhortation to persistent intercession. But it opens with "and he spoke a parable to them" — meaning it is explaining something already said. What was said? Luke 17 contains Jesus' teaching on the coming of the Son of Man and eschatology. The parable in Luke 18 is about how believers should live while waiting for his return. Luke 18:8 confirms this: "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" That faith is the not-fainting. The instruction is about endurance in waiting for his coming — not a warfare prayer method.

   A further example of textual misinterpretation: Matthew 11:12 — "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force." This verse has been used to justify aggressive, combative prayer postures. But Luke 16:16 presents the parallel: "since that time the kingdom of God has been preached and everyone is pressing into it." The violence is the pressing — the rush of people streaming into the kingdom since John the Baptist began preaching. It describes hunger for the gospel, not spiritual warfare. A kingdom whose promised end is lamb and lion grazing together, no weeping, no sorrow, no mourning, cannot be a kingdom that rewards violent prayer. The God who put back the ear that Peter cut off is not asking for aggression.

   Also: Luke 17:21 — "the kingdom of God is within you" is a mistranslation. The Greek word is entos, which here means "in your midst" or "among you." Jesus was speaking to Pharisees who had not received him. The kingdom of God could not have been within them. He was referring to himself as the kingdom standing among them. That translation changes everything the passage is saying.

   The writer of Hebrews, authoring the deepest book in the New Testament — a full exposition of the Levitical order demonstrating that Jesus is greater — quotes the Psalms in chapter 2 and Genesis in chapter 4, both times saying "in a certain place." He cannot remember exactly where the texts are. That is what settled knowledge looks like. It is not performance. It is not quotation by reference number. It is a word that has become part of the person — present and available without being announced.

   That is the kind of knowledge worth pursuing.