Is the Bible so hard to understand?

Why is it that I just do not seem to understand the Bible? Is there some secret to understanding it?

Left alone, our minds remain closed to the Word of God. The scriptures are spiritual, but our nature is not. We need someone spiritual to open our minds. The answer may be in The Gospel of Luke 24:25.

“And he opened their minds that they might comprehend the scriptures.” Luke 24:45.

The verse above is from the passage where the resurrected Christ reveals himself to the disciples. In the midst of his teaching is this statement that he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. These men had been with him for three years, and you would think that if anybody knew the scriptures, it would be the students of Jesus, but they still needed to have their minds opened.

HE OPENED

He opened their minds. Jesus can do this because of who he is; he is the Living Word of God. We cannot open our minds in this way; we can be open to ideas at best. Education, meditation, seminars, books, and every other system and method will fail to open our minds to God's Word- only Jesus can do that.

THAT THEY MIGHT

To say it "might" means possible, but it is not an absolute guarantee of something. It means the ability is there, but access or use is lacking.

OPEN THEIR MINDS

Our minds are naturally closed to spiritual truth and godly teaching. Our sin has blocked us from receiving it, and our world system has conditioned us against it.

Our minds must not remain closed. In one sense, we must be open and willing to let go of preconceived ideas and old attitudes to receive his teaching.

COMPREHEND

To comprehend is not just a taste or a sample but to fully understand everything. God desires us to know him this way; it is His will that we understand the Bible because it is His will that we understand him.

There are no secret mysteries in the Bible, but there are things that we are not ready for, so they seem mysterious, and those who do not know God say they are mysteries.

THE SCRIPTURES
The scriptures are holy writings, and they come from a holy God whose ways are far above our ways; we cannot understand them alone. We must pray and ask God to open our minds. We must be open and then, in faith, diligently study them.

Understanding the Bible does not come from osmosis. We have to apply ourselves to study the Word with a prayerful attitude, asking Jesus through his Holy Spirit to open our minds.

If you do not have salvation, you will never comprehend the Bible, but God gives you His Holy Spirit to teach you His word when you become born again. To find out more about how to get saved, follow the link to my other blog about the Gospel.

6/30/15