Apologies in advance because I thought by now I would have found a new 'graphic' to go over in a new study series but alas, right now I have a lot on my mind that I wanted to talk about so....You have to deal with Jongo and some left field theology today :)
There's a lot that goes into an in depth bible study. Obviously, we should pray before we ever open scriptures. But after that, we use different tools, there are various methods of study as well. However something that I think must be first and foremost when it comes to properly interpreting scripture is the context of the verse / chapter.
Remember, these books were written centuries ago and it's kind of hard to pick apart the thoughts of the writers when you are used to reading 'IYKYK' in online platforms. Point being, this was written in a different time within earth's history and while still very relevant for us today, we have to understand the context to get proper interpretation.
A good rule of thumb is found in the book of Isaiah:
Carefully. Thoughtfully. Prayerfully.
One of the biggest faux pas I see usually comes from Acts 10. Let's take a look and the verse and see where people usually go wrong. There are a few verses that people like to highlight when it comes to eating unclean foods. And while I'm not here to debate the validity of it all, I do believe that this verse is never used in proper context to prove that all meat is now clean.
Here's the scripture:
See, there you have it!
God is telling Peter that no 'meat' is unclean..... Let's go grab that pack of bacon and get sizzlin'!!!
And here is the problem I have with trying to prove a point from scripture without the context of the whole chapter. Because if we follow the story in Acts 10 and flip down to verse 28 we get....Context.
Take your time to go through the entire chapter and we see the conversion of Cornelius and his family. He was a Roman who had a vision from an angel to call upon Peter to minister to him. Peter is then summoned by the Lord to go with the men that will knock at his door.
These men where Gentiles and back then, Jews like Peter considered these people unclean. The bible is ripe with stories about how these nations rarely got a long and when they did it ended in bloodshed.
Peter has the vision and God tell shim that the 'meat' he is seeing should never be called unclean or common. Peter doesn't really argue too much because we then see him off to Cornelius' house. And then we get to verse 28.
God was not telling Peter that all meat is clean, no matter what biblical gymnastics people wish to flip in with. This is clearly about God making Peter understand everyone can come to repentance. This is the gospel! It's available for all....Common or not :)
Now again, this isn't meant to make a statement about whether or not unclean food is still unclean. I don't think it's salvational, but the issue is when you try to make a point appear in the bible, without context....False doctrines and teachings can pop up.
That's why like I mentioned above, we have to FIRST ask in prayer for the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. And that truth will always be revealed WITH proper context.
Come study the bible with us! We have a small community of believers here on the blockchain that post about our faith in the community plus hang out on Discord and talk scripture. We'd love to have you!
