Paul's Scripture

The Apostle Paul tells his young disciple and servant of the Lord, Timothy, that Christians should rightly handle the Word of truth in 2 Timothy 2:15, stressing the importance of accurate interpretations of the Scriptures and appropriate applications in the lives of believers. Paul shared this with Timothy because many false teachers, gods, and beliefs were present during that time. Much like the days of Paul and Timothy, believers today must be aware of what the Scripture teaches and be on guard against those spreading false doctrine. Christians can achieve the goal of rightly handling the word of truth be learning and applying biblical hermeneutics when studying the Scriptures. While the term hermeneutics sounds intimidating to some, its

For instance, people like to use Jesus’ words of Matthew 7:1-6 as a basis to say that people (especially Christians) should not judge. Is Jesus really saying that people should not judge at all? Of course not! Jesus taught that believers must deal with the sin in their own lives and should not condemn others, for that is not the believers place. However, He did not mean all judgments are prohibited. "Judgment is an ambiguous word, in Greek as in English: it may mean exercising a proper discernment, or it may mean sitting in judgment on people (or even condemning them)” (Bruce). We as believers, have a right and responsibility to agree or disagree with certain practices and behaviors. Our beliefs are formed by making proper judgments. This is just one example of a verse of Scripture that is repeatedly used out of context. As Dr. Rae eluded to in his lecture, the biblical definition of marriage found in Genesis chapters one and two, is when one man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to one woman, becoming one flesh. A hermeneutical study of Genesis 1 and 2 along with the rest of Scripture, will show that it is God’s intention for procreation and sexual relationships to be between a man and a woman and within the confines of the marriage relationship.