The Four Steps To Explaining The Meaning Of Scripture

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When studying Scripture, we must interpret correctly to avoid misinterpretation. When understanding and studying the correct meaning of Scripture, we can apply it to our lives. To properly interpret Scripture, we must correctly use four procedures. According to Duvall and Hays, we must grasp the text in their town, measure the width of the river to cross, cross the principlizing bridge, and grasp the text in our town (100). Using these four steps, we can correctly interpret the meaning in Galatians 5:16-18. The first step to interpreting is to figure out “what the text meant to the biblical audience” (Duvall & Hays, 100). At that time, the Galatians were turning towards a works-based salvation instead of a faith-based salvation. Galatians …show more content…

God’s promise of salvation continues today and forever. Jesus took away our condemnation to sin and replaced it with freedom in Him. “Salvation is by grace, which means freedom from sin by the indwelling, fortifying, cleansing life of the Spirit, and not by works of the law” (Willard, 88). We obey God’s commands not to get into heaven, but because we love Him. Christians today love others and serve God because of the desires of the Spirit. With the freedom in Christ, we are to love and not do what the flesh wants. No Christian is perfect, but by living and walking by the Spirit, we are freed from the condemnation of the law and of the …show more content…

By understanding the situation of the biblical audience, we know that the Galatian believers struggled to understand that salvation is not from the works of the law but of the works of Jesus. Next, we decipher the differences between those believers and us today. They were more threatened by the Mosaic law than we are. After this, we can determine the theological principle of the freedom in Christ and being led by His Spirit. Finally, we can apply this principle to our lives by knowing we are free from the law and from sin in Jesus and we desire to love and serve him because of His Spirit in

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