The Bible has been written so that we can understand it. Paul told the brethren in Ephesus, “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4). He expected them to be able to take the letter he wrote them and come away with the same understanding that he had of the things that God revealed to him. As these inspired writings have been preserved for us, we can do the same today.
However, the fact that the Bible is understandable does not mean everything in it is easy to understand. Referring to Paul’s writings, Peter said, “As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). Peter did not say Paul’s writings were impossible to understand. But some passages are more difficult than others. Despite the difficulty, we still have Paul’s assurance that we “can understand” what we find in the inspired word of God. We just might need to put some additional effort into studying certain topics or passages.
Sometimes a particular passage may seem difficult because we do not quite understand the words being used. Some words we find in the Bible are not typically used in everyday conversation, so we may be unsure what they mean. Yet when we properly define these words, we can gain insight into what is taught in the passage under consideration.
In this series, we will examine some big words in the Bible. All of them are “big” in terms of importance. They are also words found in Paul’s letter to the saints in Rome. While some of them may be “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16), we “can understand” (Ephesians 3:4) if we take time to define the terms and consider the context in which they are used.
Over the next several weeks, we will be studying the following big words:
- Propitiation
- Reconciliation
- Sanctification
- Justification
- Resurrection
When we have a proper grasp on what these terms mean, we will have a better understanding of the message of the gospel and the hope that we have in Christ.
