Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
The Power of Primary Verses
The Primary verses are the most powerful scriptures in the Bible for one reason. They hold God’s truth!
There are literally thousands of denominations within Christianity. Each one of them with their own set of doctrines they teach. The vast majority of them will claim they were led to the truth by the Holy Spirit. There is only one true God, who gave to us only one true set of doctrines. So somehow, the Holy Spirit has led thousands of different people to thousands of different doctrines. Really?
Look, let’s face one truth right from the start here. Far too often, we cannot tell the difference in the voice of the Holy Spirit, and our own thoughts! In my experience, those who claim the loudest that they are led by the Holy Spirit, are the ones who know Him the least. In respect to the truth, I will even admit that I often struggle to know the difference between my own thoughts and the Holy Spirit.
I will tell you the truth right now. The reason we have so many different denominations is because people tend to all make the same mistake. They attempt to interpret the Bible! God’s truth is so plainly written that people will often read right past it as they look to try and interpret the scriptures instead of finding His truth!
When I got into studying the Bible, it was the one thing I worried about the most. I had tossed out everything I was taught in the past and began looking for the truth on my own, and I kept making the same prayer to God. “How can I expect to find Your truth Lord, when so many others have obviously failed. Father, show me how to find Your truth and not my own interpretation.” Then one day, God opened my eyes to the answer.
I started noticing how some verses were so plainly written that it seemed impossible to logically interpret them any other way than what they already clearly said.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
How can anyone interpret this verse to say anything other than, “If you say you don’t sin, you are lying to yourself”?
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. How can you twist that to mean anything other than what it plainly says? It even goes on to explain it deeper. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. You simply cannot twist that to mean anything other than what it says.
I began referring to these verses that are so plainly written that they can only be interpreted to mean exactly what they say, as “Primary” verses. As I continued to study each subject, I found that every doctrine has at least one primary verse that supports it and they never contradict another primary verse.
So why are Primary verses so special? That comes down to simple logic. God’s Word cannot have any direct contradictions! So if a verse is so plainly written that it can only have one possible meaning to it, then by default that verse absolutely must hold the truth. God’s truth!
From that point on, every doctrine I study, I gather every verse I can find that pertains to that doctrine. Then I attempt to interpret each verse to support two different interpretations. If I can imagine a logical second interpretation, I move on to the next verse and consider that verse to just be an interpreted verse. If the verse leaves things for the reader to assume, it is not a primary verse! When I find a verse that I can only imagine one logical interpretation, I mark that verse as a primary verse. After going through all of the verses, if all of the primary verses support the same argument, then I know that I have God’s truth and not man’s interpretation.
On a rare occasion, I would find what seems to be primary verses that contradict each other. Logically this is impossible because God would not contradict Himself. So then I needed to dig into each of the primary verses and look for one of two things. One of them has to either have a problem in its translation, or there is an interpretation for one I am not thinking of. So far, every single time, I have either found an article where someone explains why there is a problem with its translation from Greek or Hebrew, or I find an article giving an alternate interpretation that actually fits it. Not even one doctrine that I have studied, has ended up with two primary verses that contradict each other. Not once.
The fact is, the truth of God’s word, God’s truth, is plainly written in the Bible. The only reason we have so many debates over the Bible is because people have a habit of trying to interpret the other verses instead of finding the truth that is plainly written in the Primary verses. The interpreted verses should only be used to support the Primary verses!
There are literally thousands of denominations within Christianity. Each one of them with their own set of doctrines they teach. The vast majority of them will claim they were led to the truth by the Holy Spirit. There is only one true God, who gave to us only one true set of doctrines. So somehow, the Holy Spirit has led thousands of different people to thousands of different doctrines. Really?
Look, let’s face one truth right from the start here. Far too often, we cannot tell the difference in the voice of the Holy Spirit, and our own thoughts! In my experience, those who claim the loudest that they are led by the Holy Spirit, are the ones who know Him the least. In respect to the truth, I will even admit that I often struggle to know the difference between my own thoughts and the Holy Spirit.
I will tell you the truth right now. The reason we have so many different denominations is because people tend to all make the same mistake. They attempt to interpret the Bible! God’s truth is so plainly written that people will often read right past it as they look to try and interpret the scriptures instead of finding His truth!
When I got into studying the Bible, it was the one thing I worried about the most. I had tossed out everything I was taught in the past and began looking for the truth on my own, and I kept making the same prayer to God. “How can I expect to find Your truth Lord, when so many others have obviously failed. Father, show me how to find Your truth and not my own interpretation.” Then one day, God opened my eyes to the answer.
I started noticing how some verses were so plainly written that it seemed impossible to logically interpret them any other way than what they already clearly said.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
How can anyone interpret this verse to say anything other than, “If you say you don’t sin, you are lying to yourself”?
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. How can you twist that to mean anything other than what it plainly says? It even goes on to explain it deeper. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. You simply cannot twist that to mean anything other than what it says.
I began referring to these verses that are so plainly written that they can only be interpreted to mean exactly what they say, as “Primary” verses. As I continued to study each subject, I found that every doctrine has at least one primary verse that supports it and they never contradict another primary verse.
So why are Primary verses so special? That comes down to simple logic. God’s Word cannot have any direct contradictions! So if a verse is so plainly written that it can only have one possible meaning to it, then by default that verse absolutely must hold the truth. God’s truth!
From that point on, every doctrine I study, I gather every verse I can find that pertains to that doctrine. Then I attempt to interpret each verse to support two different interpretations. If I can imagine a logical second interpretation, I move on to the next verse and consider that verse to just be an interpreted verse. If the verse leaves things for the reader to assume, it is not a primary verse! When I find a verse that I can only imagine one logical interpretation, I mark that verse as a primary verse. After going through all of the verses, if all of the primary verses support the same argument, then I know that I have God’s truth and not man’s interpretation.
On a rare occasion, I would find what seems to be primary verses that contradict each other. Logically this is impossible because God would not contradict Himself. So then I needed to dig into each of the primary verses and look for one of two things. One of them has to either have a problem in its translation, or there is an interpretation for one I am not thinking of. So far, every single time, I have either found an article where someone explains why there is a problem with its translation from Greek or Hebrew, or I find an article giving an alternate interpretation that actually fits it. Not even one doctrine that I have studied, has ended up with two primary verses that contradict each other. Not once.
The fact is, the truth of God’s word, God’s truth, is plainly written in the Bible. The only reason we have so many debates over the Bible is because people have a habit of trying to interpret the other verses instead of finding the truth that is plainly written in the Primary verses. The interpreted verses should only be used to support the Primary verses!
