Rightly Dividing is a beautiful way to study the Bible. The basic concept is to be careful about 4 things while you read and study the Bible:
- Who is speaking — the Bible contains the words of: men (Jews, Gentiles, Kings, slaves, saved, and unsaved), angels, heavenly creatures, God the Father, Jesus Christ, demons, and even Satan — therefore it’s important to be careful about who is speaking.
- To whom — some things were written: to a single person (such as Adam or Daniel or Timothy), to a small group of people (such as the Benjamites or the church in Corinth) a large group of people (such as the Jews, Gentiles, and Church), or to everybody (for instance, “all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory”), to angels, to heavenly creatures, to demons, and to Satan — therefore it’s important to be careful about who is being addressed.
- On whose authority — some things are written: on man’s authority (such as the book of Ecclesiastes), on a prophet’s God-given authority (such as Isaiah and Jeremiah), on God’s authority (such as, Jesus Christ), on a heavenly creature’s authority, on a demon’s authority, and even on Satan’s authority — therefore it’s important to be careful on whose authority they are speaking.
- For what time period — some things were written: about eternity past, while Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, after the fall of mankind, before the Noaic Flood, after the promises to Abraham, after the promises to David, after the Ten Commandment Law was given, during the time Jesus Christ presented himself on Earth as the King of the Jews, after Jesus Christ was crucified, from now until Jesus Christ will return in the future, during the future tribulation, or in the future kingdom, or in eternity future, etc. — therefore it’s important to distinguish what time period is being addressed.
So, when comparing spiritual things with spiritual things (1 Cor 2:13), it is important to keep these 4 things in mind. This is in contradistinction to a popular “Christian” children’s song: Every Promise in the Book, which goes…
Every promise in the Book is mine!
Every chapter, every verse, every line.
I am standing on His Word divine,
Every promise in the Book is mine!
That song is not completely absolutely accurate, and if you’re not careful, that kind of thinking can lead to confusion and evil consequences. In the worst case, this can lead to wrongly dividing.
Rightly dividing is a wonderful and beautiful way of studying the Bible, which opens up many clear teachings from the Scriptures, but it is much harder than just opening the Bible at random and pointing at a verse at random and trying to apply it in our daily lives. For more in-depth information, please read Rightly Dividing the Word.