April 5, 2025 • 12 mins
Imagine having a guide that makes the most complex ancient texts understandable for everyone. In this episode, we’ll explore what the clarity of scripture means and provide some practical steps to deepen our understanding of God’s word.
Do you want to learn how to study the Bible? Check out the YouTube channel Faithfullyliven youtube.com/@faithfullyliven
Do you want to read about how to live faithfully? Check out the blog http://lyfe102.org
Get a free Road Map to get started learning how to study the Bible https://mailchi.mp/88f9c9405da0/bible-study-road-map
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we
learn how to live for Christ inour daily lives.
I am Dwan, your host, and Iwould like to invite you on a
journey with me to explore andlearn how to be a faithful
follower of Christ.
Hi everyone, welcome toFaithfully Living, the Podcast,
(00:26):
where we strive to encourage youto live for Christ faithfully
by offering guidance on how tostudy the Bible, how to
understand the Bible better andhow to remain faithful to
historic Christianity and acontemporary society.
In this episode, we're going totalk about the clarity of
scripture.
It's our ability to understandthe message of the Bible.
So when I was in high school, Istruggled with English
(00:53):
literature, especially when itcomes when it came to poems.
I could never understand whatthe poet was saying and I always
thought to myself like whycould the poet not just tell us
plainly what they meant?
But unlike my struggles inEnglish, the Bible has been
written so that we canunderstand it.
So when reading and studyingthe Bible, I'm sure you come
across passages that are easierto understand and then others
(01:18):
that are more challenging tounderstand.
And even though we have thisvariation in understanding, the
Bible is written where a personcan learn what's needed to be a
follower of Christ and to livefor one.
The Bible is the word of God Interms we can understand.
(01:40):
It is God's will for us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theClarity of Scripture is one of
the doctrines called Bibliology.
As usual, I'm going to defineour terms.
Wayne Goodham in hisdefinitions in the Doct the
(02:02):
clarity of Scripture fromsystematic theology and
introduction to biblicaldoctrine.
His definition is the clarityof Scripture means that the
Bible is written in such a waythat it is able to be understood
.
But right understandingrequires time, effort and use of
(02:23):
ordinary means and willingnessto obey and the help of the Holy
Spirit.
And our understanding willremain imperfect in this
lifetime.
During the Reformation theReformers believed that the
general public should be able tounderstand the Bible.
I got a little history fromgotquestionsorg.
(02:44):
It says the doctrine of theclarity of scripture was a main
belief of the reformers.
Martin Luther taught againstthe Roman Catholic claim that
the Bible was too obscure anddifficult for the common people
to understand.
The Bible the priests andbishops taught was unclear and
the people should not be trustedto interpret or even read it
(03:07):
for themselves.
On the contrary, the Reformersencouraged lay Christians to
study and interpret God's wordon their own.
The Reformers believed that theBible proclaimed itself to be
inherently clear and that God isable to communicate his message
to all men, even the unlettered.
(03:27):
The main tenet of theReformation is that scripture is
clear enough for the simplestperson to live by.
Because of their belief in theclarity of scripture, men like
John Wycliffe, john Wycliffe,william Tyndale, martin Luther,
(03:52):
thomas Matthews, went to greatlengths to translate the Bible
into the vernacular.
The Bible is clear about thefact that God wants us to
understand his word.
We can know the truth.
Rc Skrull, truth, rc scroll.
So in the definition that arethe definition I um quoted from
(04:13):
wayne grudem's systematictheology talked about different
elements on how to understandthe bible more clearly.
So let me just rehash thedefinition that he had.
He says the clarity ofscripture means that the Bible
is written in such a way that itis able to be understood.
But right understandingrequires time, effort, the use
(04:33):
of ordinary means, a willingnessto obey and the help of the
Holy Spirit, and ourunderstanding will remain
imperfect in this lifetime.
So Dr Goodams lists outspecific requirements on how the
Bible could be understood.
And scripture can be understood, but it will require, like he
(04:55):
says effort, time.
Effort, use of ordinary meansthe reader's willingness to obey
help from the Holy Spirit andwill not always understand it
rightly or completely.
So let's talk about time first.
Understanding the Bible is notgoing to happen overnight.
It's going to take time for usas we study and read it over and
(05:17):
over again.
It's going to take our lifetimeof reading and understanding
the Bible.
So the only way that the Bibleshows us is by meditating on
God's word.
When we meditate on somethingwe tend to rehearse it over and
over again in our minds.
We have this illustration inthe book of Joshua.
(05:39):
It's in Joshua, 1.8, that saysthis book of the law shall not
depart from your mouth, but youshall meditate on it day and
night so that you may be carefulto do according to all that is
written in it.
For when you for, then you willmake your way prosperous and
(05:59):
then you will have good success.
So time is essential factor inunderstanding God's word.
And then, along with time, itwill take effort to understand
God's word.
That means you're going to haveto put something into it.
You're going to have toconsciously decide what's what
you're going to do and howyou're going to do it.
In the book of Ezra we readthat Ezra had set his heart to
(06:24):
study the law of the Lord and todo it and to teach his statutes
and rules to Ezra.
And that was that's in Ezra 7,10.
So Ezra was a priest and ascribe, so he knew God's law
already, but he took time tostudy it fully.
(06:45):
Next is using ordinary means.
Dr Gruner explains this asusing ordinary means would
entail having a Bibletranslation in one's own
language, listening to teachersof the word, reading, commentary
, studying with other believersin a small group Bible study and
using tools such ascommentaries or Bible handbooks,
(07:05):
to name a few.
So now, as Christians inAmerica, we have access to many
translations of the Bible, so wehave the ability to find a
translation that we can read andunderstand.
So we don't have an excuse onthis one as far as finding
ordinary means, all right.
Next, we must be willing toobey it.
(07:27):
In other words, we have to bewilling to apply God's word to
our life.
So we know studying the Bibleis great, but it's no good if
you don't put it into action.
We must be willing to obeyscripture.
Psalms 119 connects a prayer ofunderstanding with a desire to
(07:49):
obey what is understood.
Psalms 119.34 says Give meunderstanding that I may keep
your law and observe it with mywhole heart.
When you want to understandsomething, you tend to spend a
lot of time and effort to get tounderstand it.
And it's kind of like when yougo to school or you're going for
(08:09):
a degree you want to do yourbest and you put time into
studying and trying tounderstand the material.
And that's the same way withthe Bible.
If you have a heart to know andunderstand the Bible, you're
going to put time in to learnand to know and understand the
Bible.
If you have a heart to know andunderstand the Bible, you're
going to put time in to learnand to know and understand the
Bible.
A person's understanding ofGod's word can only be as deep
(08:32):
as their understanding ofthemselves, jr Packer.
So next on the list for specificrequirements on how to study
the Bible could be understoodfrom Wayne Goodham is that we
don't always understand rightlyand we need help from the Holy
Spirit.
So let's face facts.
(08:53):
We're all still sinners and ourunderstanding of the Bible can
be distorted at times, of theBible can be distorted at times.
Our understanding could bepartial or is partial, because
we are finite beings and we'reliable to misunderstand
something that we read in theBible and we're not going to
always understand it rightly.
(09:14):
So that's why it's importantfor us to not forget to ask for
help for the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a teacherJohn 14 26 tells us but the
helper, the Holy Spirit, whomGod will send in my name, he
will teach you all things andbring to your remembrance all
(09:35):
that I have said to you.
So every time you open up yourBible, it's important to ask the
Holy Spirit to help you in yourunderstanding of God's word.
And then, lastly, we will nevercompletely understand the Bible
.
So as we continue to read andunderstand the Bible, we're
(09:55):
going to grow in maturity anddevelop a deeper understanding
of God's word and develop adeeper understanding of God's
word.
But we have to have in the backof our mind that we are finite
and trying to understand aninfinite God, we're never going
to understand him completely andwe're not going to understand
his word completely.
So you know, in God giving ushis word, he has revealed to us
(10:19):
what he wants us to know and hehas given his word to us so that
we can understand him better.
I love what dion moody says.
He says it's it is amasterpiece of the devil to make
us believe that children can'tunderstand religion, when christ
have made a child the standardof faith if he had known that it
(10:45):
was not capable ofunderstanding his word.
So clarity is a property ofscripture, not a property of his
readers.
You know, what god has revealedto us in his written word can
be understood, and sometimes wejust a lot of times, rather, we
(11:17):
need a little help to understandit.
Alright.
So knowing what we believeabout the Bible is important,
and knowing that you canunderstand God's word with just
a little help is helpful to knowand comforting to know.
So I hope you learned about thedoctrine of the clarity of
scripture and knowing that youcan understand the Bible.
(11:37):
Until next time, remember Godis always good and he's always
faithful.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
Do me a favor by following thepodcast and leaving a review to
help spread the word.
I look forward to hearing fromyou.
You.
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we
learn how to live for Christ inour daily lives.
I am Dwan, your host, and Iwould like to invite you on a
journey with me to explore andlearn how to be a faithful
follower of Christ.
Hi everyone, welcome toFaithfully Living, the Podcast,
(00:26):
where we strive to encourage youto live for Christ faithfully
by offering guidance on how tostudy the Bible, how to
understand the Bible better andhow to remain faithful to
historic Christianity and acontemporary society.
In this episode, we're going totalk about the clarity of
scripture.
It's our ability to understandthe message of the Bible.
So when I was in high school, Istruggled with English
(00:53):
literature, especially when itcomes when it came to poems.
I could never understand whatthe poet was saying and I always
thought to myself like whycould the poet not just tell us
plainly what they meant?
But unlike my struggles inEnglish, the Bible has been
written so that we canunderstand it.
So when reading and studyingthe Bible, I'm sure you come
across passages that are easierto understand and then others
(01:18):
that are more challenging tounderstand.
And even though we have thisvariation in understanding, the
Bible is written where a personcan learn what's needed to be a
follower of Christ and to livefor one.
The Bible is the word of God Interms we can understand.
(01:40):
It is God's will for us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theClarity of Scripture is one of
the doctrines called Bibliology.
As usual, I'm going to defineour terms.
Wayne Goodham in hisdefinitions in the Doct the
(02:02):
clarity of Scripture fromsystematic theology and
introduction to biblicaldoctrine.
His definition is the clarityof Scripture means that the
Bible is written in such a waythat it is able to be understood
.
But right understandingrequires time, effort and use of
(02:23):
ordinary means and willingnessto obey and the help of the Holy
Spirit.
And our understanding willremain imperfect in this
lifetime.
During the Reformation theReformers believed that the
general public should be able tounderstand the Bible.
I got a little history fromgotquestionsorg.
(02:44):
It says the doctrine of theclarity of scripture was a main
belief of the reformers.
Martin Luther taught againstthe Roman Catholic claim that
the Bible was too obscure anddifficult for the common people
to understand.
The Bible the priests andbishops taught was unclear and
the people should not be trustedto interpret or even read it
(03:07):
for themselves.
On the contrary, the Reformersencouraged lay Christians to
study and interpret God's wordon their own.
The Reformers believed that theBible proclaimed itself to be
inherently clear and that God isable to communicate his message
to all men, even the unlettered.
(03:27):
The main tenet of theReformation is that scripture is
clear enough for the simplestperson to live by.
Because of their belief in theclarity of scripture, men like
John Wycliffe, john Wycliffe,william Tyndale, martin Luther,
(03:52):
thomas Matthews, went to greatlengths to translate the Bible
into the vernacular.
The Bible is clear about thefact that God wants us to
understand his word.
We can know the truth.
Rc Skrull, truth, rc scroll.
So in the definition that arethe definition I um quoted from
(04:13):
wayne grudem's systematictheology talked about different
elements on how to understandthe bible more clearly.
So let me just rehash thedefinition that he had.
He says the clarity ofscripture means that the Bible
is written in such a way that itis able to be understood.
But right understandingrequires time, effort, the use
(04:33):
of ordinary means, a willingnessto obey and the help of the
Holy Spirit, and ourunderstanding will remain
imperfect in this lifetime.
So Dr Goodams lists outspecific requirements on how the
Bible could be understood.
And scripture can be understood, but it will require, like he
(04:55):
says effort, time.
Effort, use of ordinary meansthe reader's willingness to obey
help from the Holy Spirit andwill not always understand it
rightly or completely.
So let's talk about time first.
Understanding the Bible is notgoing to happen overnight.
It's going to take time for usas we study and read it over and
(05:17):
over again.
It's going to take our lifetimeof reading and understanding
the Bible.
So the only way that the Bibleshows us is by meditating on
God's word.
When we meditate on somethingwe tend to rehearse it over and
over again in our minds.
We have this illustration inthe book of Joshua.
(05:39):
It's in Joshua, 1.8, that saysthis book of the law shall not
depart from your mouth, but youshall meditate on it day and
night so that you may be carefulto do according to all that is
written in it.
For when you for, then you willmake your way prosperous and
(05:59):
then you will have good success.
So time is essential factor inunderstanding God's word.
And then, along with time, itwill take effort to understand
God's word.
That means you're going to haveto put something into it.
You're going to have toconsciously decide what's what
you're going to do and howyou're going to do it.
In the book of Ezra we readthat Ezra had set his heart to
(06:24):
study the law of the Lord and todo it and to teach his statutes
and rules to Ezra.
And that was that's in Ezra 7,10.
So Ezra was a priest and ascribe, so he knew God's law
already, but he took time tostudy it fully.
(06:45):
Next is using ordinary means.
Dr Gruner explains this asusing ordinary means would
entail having a Bibletranslation in one's own
language, listening to teachersof the word, reading, commentary
, studying with other believersin a small group Bible study and
using tools such ascommentaries or Bible handbooks,
(07:05):
to name a few.
So now, as Christians inAmerica, we have access to many
translations of the Bible, so wehave the ability to find a
translation that we can read andunderstand.
So we don't have an excuse onthis one as far as finding
ordinary means, all right.
Next, we must be willing toobey it.
(07:27):
In other words, we have to bewilling to apply God's word to
our life.
So we know studying the Bibleis great, but it's no good if
you don't put it into action.
We must be willing to obeyscripture.
Psalms 119 connects a prayer ofunderstanding with a desire to
(07:49):
obey what is understood.
Psalms 119.34 says Give meunderstanding that I may keep
your law and observe it with mywhole heart.
When you want to understandsomething, you tend to spend a
lot of time and effort to get tounderstand it.
And it's kind of like when yougo to school or you're going for
(08:09):
a degree you want to do yourbest and you put time into
studying and trying tounderstand the material.
And that's the same way withthe Bible.
If you have a heart to know andunderstand the Bible, you're
going to put time in to learnand to know and understand the
Bible.
If you have a heart to know andunderstand the Bible, you're
going to put time in to learnand to know and understand the
Bible.
A person's understanding ofGod's word can only be as deep
(08:32):
as their understanding ofthemselves, jr Packer.
So next on the list for specificrequirements on how to study
the Bible could be understoodfrom Wayne Goodham is that we
don't always understand rightlyand we need help from the Holy
Spirit.
So let's face facts.
(08:53):
We're all still sinners and ourunderstanding of the Bible can
be distorted at times, of theBible can be distorted at times.
Our understanding could bepartial or is partial, because
we are finite beings and we'reliable to misunderstand
something that we read in theBible and we're not going to
always understand it rightly.
(09:14):
So that's why it's importantfor us to not forget to ask for
help for the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a teacherJohn 14 26 tells us but the
helper, the Holy Spirit, whomGod will send in my name, he
will teach you all things andbring to your remembrance all
(09:35):
that I have said to you.
So every time you open up yourBible, it's important to ask the
Holy Spirit to help you in yourunderstanding of God's word.
And then, lastly, we will nevercompletely understand the Bible
.
So as we continue to read andunderstand the Bible, we're
(09:55):
going to grow in maturity anddevelop a deeper understanding
of God's word and develop adeeper understanding of God's
word.
But we have to have in the backof our mind that we are finite
and trying to understand aninfinite God, we're never going
to understand him completely andwe're not going to understand
his word completely.
So you know, in God giving ushis word, he has revealed to us
(10:19):
what he wants us to know and hehas given his word to us so that
we can understand him better.
I love what dion moody says.
He says it's it is amasterpiece of the devil to make
us believe that children can'tunderstand religion, when christ
have made a child the standardof faith if he had known that it
(10:45):
was not capable ofunderstanding his word.
So clarity is a property ofscripture, not a property of his
readers.
You know, what god has revealedto us in his written word can
be understood, and sometimes wejust a lot of times, rather, we
(11:17):
need a little help to understandit.
Alright.
So knowing what we believeabout the Bible is important,
and knowing that you canunderstand God's word with just
a little help is helpful to knowand comforting to know.
So I hope you learned about thedoctrine of the clarity of
scripture and knowing that youcan understand the Bible.
(11:37):
Until next time, remember Godis always good and he's always
faithful.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
Do me a favor by following thepodcast and leaving a review to
help spread the word.
I look forward to hearing fromyou.
You.
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