Introduction - The Breath of Life

A New York-based human resources company recently compiled a ranking of cities that qualify as hardship posts based on a set of criteria that includes levels of pollution, disease, political violence, and availability of goods and services. The worst of the worst is located in an oil-rich country in the tropical region of Africa. The weather is sweltering hot and humid. The vast majority of the fifteen million people who live in this city have no electricity, running water, or toilet facilities. Trash is piled in the streets and on back roads, drainage ditches and gutters are filled with raw sewage and debris, and disease-carrying mosquitoes and rats are constant, daily companions. Over 24% of all children die of malaria before the age of five. Including adults, there are more than 25,000 malaria deaths every month, and that is only one of dozens of major health risks.

Then there is the smell. From the smoke of millions of charcoal fires over which meager rations are cooked and the diesel exhaust from power generators, mixed with the odor of rotting trash and open sewers, there is no place to catch a breath of fresh air. At the end of my first ten weeks there, I boarded an airplane for the thirteen-hour flight from Africa to Atlanta, Georgia. Exhausted from the long flight, I made my way to the tram which would take me to my connecting flight to Houston. As I exited the tram and ascended the escalator to the main floor of the Atlanta terminal, I was immediately rejuvenated by the aroma of freshly brewed Starbucks coffee and the sweet, mouth-watering smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Then it hit me…I COULD BREATHE! For the first time in ten weeks I could take a breath and not smell the sewer. I stopped for a couple of minutes, took a few deep breaths, and silently thanked God for fresh air!

Almighty God wants to give us far more than just fresh air. He wants to breathe into us everlasting life. In the account of creation, the Bible says in Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God breathes life! The Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for doctrine (teaching), rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Far worse than malaria or yellow fever, all of us are terminally afflicted with the disease of sin. The scriptures are the breath of Heaven through which we learn of the curative, atoning blood of Jesus. We have all smelled the stench of Satan’s sewer long enough. It is time for a breath of fresh air!

Because the scriptures are God-breathed, they alone are the deciding criteria for everything we believe and practice as Christians. When some of the Jews decided to leave Jesus because they could not accept His teachings, He asked His disciples if they would also leave. Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). It matters not what any man, including this author, thinks or says about a particular subject; God’s Word is the final authority. In Galatians 1:8, the apostle Paul said, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” This was such an important point in Paul’s life and teaching he repeated it again in the very next verse, “As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

This is strong language and, like today, some people who listened to Paul and the other apostles were careful about what they accepted as truth, yet others were not. In Acts 17:10-11 the Bible says, “As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” The church today desperately needs a new crop of “Bereans.”

There are many teachings prevalent today that need to be examined in light of the scriptures to see if they are true. These doctrines have permeated the modern-day Christian church, have changed its world view and the focus of its mission, and have negated the positive impact it should be having in the world. In short, much of what people hear at church and on “Christian” television is “stinking thinking” that smells more like the sewer than the fresh aroma of good news.  It is my earnest prayer that all who read this book will “Search the scriptures to see if these things are true.”

Can we know what the Bible says…and means? Absolutely! The God who created the world and loves us so much He sent His only Son to be crucified for our sin is able to write a book we can understand. How foolish of us to think otherwise. The problem with misunderstanding God’s Word lies not with the scriptures, but with our lack of study and willingness to accept what God says, especially if it means we must change our own thinking or our lives. There is more effort by many today to make the Bible say what they want it to say, to approve their own opinions and beliefs, than simply to learn and live what God says.

The Bible is not a collection of short stories about many different topics. It is a collection of the writings of many different inspired authors over centuries of time, all telling the same story. There is one overall theme in the entire Bible; the redemption of man from the consequences of sin. The Old Testament contains prophesies of God’s plan for redemption as well as physical examples showing how this great mystery would be accomplished. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old in which we see the reality of what was promised. This redemptive plan of the Creator of the Universe was the mystery of the ages. The mystery is revealed in His Word. God wants, more than anything else, to breathe life back into His most beloved creation. Take a deep breath!

There are three fundamental principles of Bible study:

Let the Bible interpret itself.

Keep scripture in its context.

Understand the historical time frame.

These fundamentals are critical to the proper understanding of any communication, written or oral. Although very simple and just plain common sense, the basic standards of Biblical interpretation are being largely ignored today, resulting in much confusion. The application of these three principles opens God’s will in clear and understandable terms. The Psalmist said, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130). In Ephesians 5:17 Paul wrote, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Remember, the Bible is God’s revelation to enlighten us. We can understand it!

Let’s look at a few examples of how these principles help us understand what the Lord’s will is. The Old Testament ends with a prophecy that the prophet Elijah would come before the great day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5). Who was this “Elijah” and when would he come? The Bible tells us. Jesus said in Matthew 11:14 that John the Baptist was this Elijah who was to come. If it were not for this verse in Matthew, one can only imagine what modern-day “prophets” would be saying about a coming of Elijah! Other obvious examples of how the Bible interprets itself are seen in what we call parallel passages. This is especially helpful in reading the Gospels. Comparing how different writers recorded the exact same teachings and events can answer a lot of questions. The Bible is a self-interpreting book. Our job is to study.

The second principle of proper Bible study is context. A statement in any language or setting means little without knowing the context. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul says it is better if one does not get married. In verse 27 he says if one is not married, “Don’t look for a wife.” Does the Bible teach that marriage is not a good thing…even though in the beginning God created Eve for Adam and said, “It is not good for man to live alone?” If we study the context of the apostle’s teaching to the Corinthians his message will become clear. They were living in some terrible times that were only going to get worse. Paul knew this because it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. In verse 26 of that same chapter he plainly says, “Because of this present crisis…” it is better not to marry. Without the context the Bible seems to contradict itself. Read in context it all makes perfect sense, and, once again, the Bible properly interprets itself.

The third principle critical to a proper understanding of scripture is recognizing the historical time in which it was written and the Biblical time in which we are living. With all the evil in the world today, why is nobody building a boat? We properly understand that Noah’s ark was a one-time event, and we are not living in the days of Noah. No boat is needed. Why do we not offer animal sacrifices today? Because, taking the Bible’s message as one entire story, allowing...