Sabbath School for Adults: How To Interpret Scripture: Lesson 5:By Scripture Alone— Sola Scriptura

Wednesday April 29


Scripture Interprets Scripture

Only because there is an underlying unity of Scripture can the Bible function as its own interpreter. Without such unity, Scripture could not be the light that reveals its own meaning, where one portion of Scripture interprets other portions and thus becomes the key to understanding related passages.

Read Luke 24:27, 44, 45. How does Jesus refer back to Scripture to explain who He is? What does this teach us about how we can use Scripture?

The beauty of letting Scripture interpret Scripture is that it sheds further light on its own meaning. In doing so, we do not indiscriminately string together various passages to prove our opinion. Instead, we carefully take into consideration the context of each passage. Besides the immediate context before and after a passage under investigation, we should take into consideration the context of the book in which the passage is found. Furthermore, since according to Paul in Scripture, “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us” (Rom. 15:4, NIV), we should study all that Scripture says on a given subject.

“The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole, and to see the relation of its parts. He should gain a knowledge of its grand central theme, of God’s original purpose for the world, of the rise of the great controversy, and of the work of redemption.”—Ellen G. White, Education, p. 190.

When we compare Scripture with Scripture, it is important to study the Bible thoroughly. If possible, we should do so in its original languages, or at least with an appropriate Bible translation faithful to the meaning contained in the original Hebrew and Greek. Though knowledge of the original languages is not necessary to have a good understanding of the Bible, it certainly helps when possible. If not, faithful and prayerful study of the Word, with an attitude of humility and submission, will still surely bear great fruit.

Think of a doctrine, such as the state of the dead, for which focusing on a few select passages could lead to error if other passages are ignored. What does this tell us about how important it is to gather and read all that the Bible says about a topic in order to understand best what the Bible teaches?