Correctly dividing the word of Truth?

[LittleSister]

:study: II Timothy 2:15 says we are to correctly divide the word of Truth! Divide it from what? Doesn't it say in II Timothy 3:16 that all scripture is inspired by God? (or God breathed?): Someone once said it meant dividing the O.T. from the N.T.?!? But, that just doesn't seem right, I mean after all it is called the OLD and NEW, isn't that already divided for us?

 

[Christina]

LittleSisterTo correctly divide the word means in its simplest explanation to keep it in the proper context,that could be who was it written to,what is the general subject matter it is speaking about,or the gen.time frame.The same subject may be covered in different books,from a different perspective to give a more complete picture.So you need to divide the word into subject matter.EXAMPLE: 1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.In these fisrt 2 chapters from Isa.2 1.who is talking ? Isaiah 2.who is he talking to? Tribe of Judah 3.what is he talking about?Jerusalem 4.When ?In the last daysThis is of course a very simple example there are entire books written on how to rightly divide the word but this will hopfully give you an idea of what it means

 

[LittleSister]

A friend said it meant dividing Gods word from mans word. That not everything in the bible is God breathed scripture. I Corin 7 Paul said the unbelieving spouse is santified by the believing spouse. v. 12 paul said " I say to you NOT the Lord" Jesus said " Follow Me." Paul said " Follow me as I follow Christ" Ummmm, I'll need to do more studing on this.

 

[Christina]

2Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. rightly diviiding the word of TRUTH (Gods word is truth)----------- not man. as I said there are entire books written on thisalthough your friend is right about separating mans word from Gods word(truth) you wont find the average mans word in the bible unless it tells you that for a reason.However that is not what this verse means .It is as I said above but it gets much more complicated it is about learning the way to understand the bible,to keep it in the right order,and context,If you dont learn to divide the word right you will find the bible very difficult to understand and learn.Try doing a google search on "rightly dividing gods word " youll get a bunch of stuff back but if you just scroll thru the titles maybe it will help you see what I'm trying to say.hope this helpsgod bless kriss

 

[Christina]

That not everything in the bible is God breathed scripture

-------------------------------------------------------------This is one of the lies we come to beleive in our modern times,we no longer havemany good teachers to help us understand and we have been told that the bible hasbeen rewritten so many times,or that it doesnt apply anymore all these are liesthe deeper you get into it and the more you come to understand you will learn this yourselfso hangin there keep studying and ask all the questions you need, Everything in the bible IS of God either breathed by God or inspired by God !

 

[HammerStone]

Everything in the Bible is ultimately the Word of God. The Scriptures are indeed the written Word of God. I see two avenues that your friend may be going down with that quote.1.) You do have to be very careful with versions of the Bible; particularly those released in the last few years that give you the "gist" of things. God's Word was done as clearly and concisely as any human could ever do. Sometimes we all just have problems listening to him and letting him guide us. You cannot play around with the entire Bible and it's very dangerous to let someone sit by and sum things up and tell you what to believe.2. You can extend the very end of what I said in #1 here. I've heard the argument that the Bible "doesn't really mean that" and so forth quite commonly lately. I don't know how many people argue for either dropping the Old Testament altogether, or that certain words don't mean what they say, but I know the number is quite large. Stay away from people like this. It's not our place to judge, but if you want to see what happens to false teachers, check out our study on the Book of Malachi. You can correctly distinguish right from wrong without judging.

 

[pointer]

(LittleSister;2554)
:study: II Timothy 2:15 says we are to correctly divide the word of Truth! Divide it from what? Doesn't it say in II Timothy 3:16 that all scripture is inspired by God? (or God breathed?): Someone once said it meant dividing the O.T. from the N.T.?!? But, that just doesn't seem right, I mean after all it is called the OLD and NEW, isn't that already divided for us?
This is one of those verses that gets repeated often, even though few people know what it means- it makes the speaker sound knowledgeable, perhaps!The Greek word does not actually mean that the workman is to divide or split up, but to make a straight cut- though in what application is uncertain, and several possibilities have been suggested- masonry, or even Paul's tent-making. Ploughing is another (and my favourite), and anyone who has tried ploughing knows the great importance of keeping furrows straight. (The secret is to keep one's eyes on the end of the field, not down on the furrow; and this is like keeping one's eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of one's faith, and not doing as Peter did when walking on water!) This metaphor would probably have been familiar to Timothy, even if he had not been of a farming family. It is perhaps an echo of Jesus in the gospel:'"No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."' Luke 9:62 NIVAnother possibility, probably rather more likely in view of Paul's rooting of almost everything in the OT, is that of straight road-building, which was of great importance to the Romans in getting their troops around quickly. It has familiar precedent in the OT:'Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path.' Ps 27:11NIV'In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.' Isa 40:3 NIVThough this passage perhaps combines both ideas:'Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.' Prov 4:25-27 NIVThe Greek word is untranslatable in the strict sense, but we can take it to mean 'correctly teaching' or 'correctly handling'.

 

[stanleyg]

(LittleSister;2554)
:study: II Timothy 2:15 says we are to correctly divide the word of Truth! Divide it from what? Doesn't it say in II Timothy 3:16 that all scripture is inspired by God? (or God breathed?): Someone once said it meant dividing the O.T. from the N.T.?!? But, that just doesn't seem right, I mean after all it is called the OLD and NEW, isn't that already divided for us?
God is extremely wise and man is extremely foolish. God had foreseen from the beginning that men would make up their own laws and put them on God. He inspired the scribes (priest) to record the laws of the Jews in the form of a Bible. In his great wisdom God knew that the Bible would be filled with hieroglphs (i.e. symbolism).Hieroglphs is a symbolic language that requires interpretations. God had forseen that the Pharisees and Sadducees (i.e. politicians) would interpret the law literally (i.e. verbatim word for word) to denote its meaning. As a result, they would misinterpret the law or prove themselves to be ungodly.Jesus was born of the Holy Ghost (i.e. God's word). The Holy Ghost served as the intercessor between Jesus the Son and God the Father. Jesus could pray directly to God to ask for anything, including wisdom or understanding. Thus, Jesus prayed as He read the Bible, and asked God to explain its meaning of the law and/or the truth. God, being of His Word, was faithful and just to answer His Son's prayers. The Holy Spirit conveyed God's message to His beloved Son Jesus. Jesus, as the Messiah, began to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. He talked about the law in accordance to the connotation that the Holy Spirit had shown to Him.The bottom line is that if any person reads the Bible without praying to God to explain its interpretation, then his or her mind will think evil. One will automatically think that the old law of judgement and condemnation is of God. When, in truth, the new law of forgiveness and grace that Paul preached is of God.
Gen40[8] And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Amen!