"Understanding the Bible"

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." 2 Timothy 3:16a

A cousin and I were talking the other evening and he made the statement that in all the other religions of the world their "Bible- Sacred Book" isn't hard to understand.  Their followers all get the same meaning and same understanding when they read it.  He said the Christian Bible is hard to understand, it contradicts itself, its followers don't get the same interpretation, and they can't agree on what it means.  Have you ever had anyone say that to you?  I've heard it a lot.  But it isn't true.

On one hand the Bible is not hard to understand.  Its message is so simple that even a child can understand it and respond to it by faith.  On the other hand, it is not easy to understand because the natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned-- the word is spirit and truth.

I told him that I disagreed with what he was saying. This is why.  The principles of the Bible are not hard to understand.  And they are not hard to interpret.  The Ten Commandments are principles of the Bible-- what's so hard to understand about "Thou shalt not kill"; "Thou shalt not steal"; etc.?  The principles of salvation are not hard to understand; the Bible is very plain and clear on the subject... "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  The wages of sin is death.  But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."  Anyone can understand the principles and it doesn't take a Bible scholar to interpret them.  

The reason there "seems" to be so many different interpretations (why you and I both can read the same verse and get a different meaning) is because the Bible is NOT just black words on white paper.  It's alive; it's a person- (John 1:1,14) "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.  And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as that of the only begotten of the Father."  Jesus Christ is the Living Word. Therefore, the written word is alive.... it's Christ.  That's why I can read a verse today and get one meaning and read it again tomorrow and get a different meaning.  It's Christ written on paper.  And because it's Him, can we ever fully understand Him?  Doesn't He reveal Himself to us a little at a time.  He is infinite so there is no way that as we read the scriptures we can get all the understanding at once.  It has been said that it will take God an eternity to reveal Himself to us because He is so great.  It's like this... God will "peel back" layers and layers of His divine nature to us as we read His word and commune with Him in His presence.  This is one reason why there are many different interpretations... God may show me something different about who He is as I read it than He shows you as you read it.  I may have needed Him in a different way than you did so He met me where I was at through what He revealed to me.  

Have a great day.  It's not really that hard to understand.