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In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit.” The words of the Bible are not only letters but spirit. We also should recall the Lord’s word in John 4:24: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.” Here the Lord points out a fundamental principle: God is Spirit, and man can only touch Him with his spirit. God is Spirit, and we can only worship Him with our spirit; we cannot worship Him with anything other than the spirit. God is Spirit, and we cannot worship Him with our mind, emotion, or will. Colossians 2:23 speaks of “self-imposed worship.” This means worshipping with the will. This is wrong because God is Spirit, and because God is Spirit, those who worship Him must worship in spirit. John 6 says that the Lord’s words are spirit. The basic principle is the same: Since the Lord’s words are spirit, we have to read them in spirit. In other words, we can only touch spiritual things with the spirit.
The Bible is not only a book with words or letters printed on pages of paper. The very nature of the Bible is spirit. For this reason, everyone who reads this book must approach it with his spirit; it must be read with the spirit. The spirit that we are referring to is the spirit of every regenerated person. We call this spirit the “regenerated spirit.” Not everyone has this spirit. Therefore, not everyone can read the Bible well. Only those who have this spirit can read the Bible well; those who do not have this spirit cannot read it well. This spirit is needed to worship God. This same spirit is needed to read the Bible well. Without this spirit, a man cannot know God. Without this spirit, he cannot know the Bible either. Perhaps we were born into a Christian family. Before we were regenerated, we probably had read the Bible already, but we did not understand it. We understood the history and facts recorded in the Bible, but we did not understand the Bible itself. This is not surprising, because God’s word is spirit. If we do not use our spirit, we cannot read this book. When can a man begin to understand the Bible? On the day he receives the Lord, he can begin to understand the Bible. From that day forward, the Bible will become a new book to him; he will begin to understand and treasure this book. Although he may not understand everything in it, he will begin to love it. He will read it daily and yearly. If he misses his reading, he will feel hungry; he will feel that something is missing in his life. When he reads God’s word this way, he will begin to understand it. He can understand it because he is now regenerated. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). We should put John 4:24; 6:63, and 3:6 together: “God is Spirit,” “The words which I have spoken…are spirit,” and “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The words in the Bible are spirit. The life which a man receives at the time of regeneration is spirit, and it takes a man with a spirit to read the words of spirit. Only then will the Bible shine within him, and only then will it become useful to him.
No matter how clever and well educated a man is, as long as he is not regenerated, this book is a mystery to him. A regenerated person may not be that cultivated, but he is more qualified to read the Bible than an unregenerated college professor. The former has a regenerated spirit, while the latter does not have such a spirit. The Bible is not understood by talent, research, or intelligence. Since God’s word is spirit, only a man with a regenerated spirit can understand it. The root, the very nature, of the Bible is spiritual. If a man does not have a regenerated spirit, he cannot understand this book; it will be a closed book to him.
The Lord Jesus said in John 6:55, “My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” The unbelieving Jews were shocked at such a word. How could the Lord’s flesh be food and His blood be drink? Yet every regenerated person knows that this refers to the Son of God. He bows his head and confesses, “I derive my life from Your flesh and Your blood. Without Your flesh, I will not have life today. Without Your blood, I cannot live today. You are indeed my food.” A man with a regenerated spirit will not be bothered by the Lord’s word but will thank and praise Him instead.
The Lord said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (v. 63). Here we see two realms. One is the realm of spirit, the other is the realm of flesh. In the realm of spirit, everything is living and profitable. In the realm of flesh, everything is unprofitable. One must read the Bible with his spirit and in the realm of spirit. No matter how educated, logical, and analytical a man is, he cannot understand the Bible if he does not have this spirit.
God is Spirit. We know God today because we have a spirit. When some unbelievers argue with us, we may not match them in eloquence or wisdom, and we may not be able to tell them profound teachings, but we have the confidence that we know God because we are regenerated. We have a regenerated spirit, and we can touch God with this spirit. It does not matter if we can relate the doctrine or not. The fact is that we have touched God. Unbelievers want to find out about God through analysis, synthesis, and reasoning. But even when the analysis, synthesis, and reasoning are all well founded, they will still not believe in God, because God can never be analyzed or synthesized. Job said, “Can you find out the depths of God?” (Job 11:7). No one can find out God by research. There is only one way to find out God — by the regenerated spirit. Those who touch God with this spirit will know Him right away. There is no other way except this way. In order to study the Bible, a man must have a regenerated spirit, in the same way that he must have a regenerated spirit to touch God. Suppose a man has installed an electric lamp in his house. He wants to connect the lamp to the power source, but the only materials he has are wood, bamboo, and cloth; he does not have any copper wire. Although there is power in the electric power company, that power cannot cause the lamp to shine. No matter how much cloth, bamboo, and wood he has, he cannot tap into the electricity. Another man may not have any cloth, bamboo, or wood, but he has a little piece of wire. With that little wire he can light up the lamp because the wire transmits electricity. In the same way, a man must have a regenerated spirit before he can touch God. He must have a regenerated spirit before he can touch God’s word.
Only one part within our whole being can study the Bible — our regenerated spirit. If we use any other part of our being to touch the Bible, we are doing something apart from God, and such activity will not touch anything related to Him. The Bible can either be a matter of flesh to man or a matter of spirit to him. If a man does not have a regenerated spirit, and if all he has is the flesh and things related to the flesh, the Bible will be a matter of flesh to him. If a man has a regenerated spirit, and such a spirit is functional within him, he will touch the spirit when he touches God’s word. This is not to say that the Bible can become something other than spirit. The Bible itself is always spirit. The Lord Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The Lord’s words are spirit. Yet they are spirit only to the believers who have believed into Him; to the unbelieving Jews His words were received as a matter of flesh. The way many people study the Bible is outrageous. The reason they do this is that they are lacking the spirit. A man cannot study God’s Word according to his own mind or intelligence. He must have this spirit before he can study God’s word.
Some may ask, “I am regenerated, and I have a regenerated spirit. But why can I not study the Bible well? Why is the Bible like a closed book to me?” In order to answer this question, we should turn to one passage in the Scriptures — 1 Corinthians 2. First let us read verses 1 to 4: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, came not according to excellence of speech or of wisdom, announcing to you the mystery of God. For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling; and my speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” The subject of this chapter is Paul’s preaching being not with persuasive words of wisdom. Read also verses 5 to 7: “In order that your faith would not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. But we do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom not of this age…But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory.” Read also verses 9 to 13: “`Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God. But we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been graciously given to us by God; which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.” In the margin of the American Standard Version we find the alternate translation for the last part of verse 13: “Interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men.” This is a better translation of the original language. The subject of chapter three is the different kinds of persons. Therefore, the end of chapter two cannot be speaking of things. It is contrary to the rule of interpretation to explain a word in two different ways within the same passage. Paul was saying that spiritual things can only be communicated to spiritual men. (The word interpreting in Greek can mean joining together, mingling together, or coordinated together. Therefore, it can be translated as “communicating” — communicating spiritual things to spiritual men.)
In reading this passage, we find the relationship between the spirit and the Bible. Paul was speaking here about words revealed by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit, and words of wisdom from the Spirit, not words of wisdom from men. What are words of wisdom from men? What the eyes see, what the ears hear, and what comes up in the heart — these are men’s words. Where was Paul’s revelation coming from? His revelation came from the Holy Spirit, because only the Holy Spirit knows the things of God. How can men have this revelation from the Holy Spirit? Paul told us that in order to have this, there is the need to have the Spirit of God. This is identical to what we saw earlier from the Gospel of John. Here it says that no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God. It follows, therefore, that anyone who does not have the Spirit of God does not know the things of God. Paul further stated that he did not speak these things according to excellence of speech or of wisdom, nor in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things to spiritual men.
Here Paul said that spiritual things can only be communicated to spiritual men. It is impossible to communicate some things to some people; such things are not compatible with these people. Verse 14 says, “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.” Not only will the soulish man not receive the spiritual things, but “they are foolishness to him.” He will think that believers are fools. A soulish man will not know, “and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually.” This word touches the peak of this passage. It shows us that spiritual things can only be discerned by spiritual men. A soulish man cannot discern these things and does not know anything about them. This has nothing to do with spending time or not spending time in the exercise. Even if a soulish man spends all his time in discerning, he cannot and will not know these things. He is short of one vital faculty. A somewhat more scientific description of the soulish man is the psychological man, the man under the control of his own psychology. Spiritually speaking, it is the unregenerated man. A soulish man is a natural man, an unregenerated man. He is like Adam, a living soul, who does not have the Spirit of God within him and who cannot know the things of God.
As a rule, after a man becomes a Christian, he should know the things of the Spirit. But why is it that so many brothers and sisters do not know them? The reason is that though they have a regenerated spirit, they are not necessarily spiritual men. Paul’s emphasis in 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 is not merely the spirit but to be spiritual. John’s emphasis is the spirit, but Paul’s emphasis is on being spiritual. A man must not only have the spirit but must be spiritual according to this spirit. One must have the spirit; without the spirit one can do nothing. But to have the spirit alone without living under the principle of this spirit, that is, without living in this spirit and walking according to this spirit to be a spiritual man, is useless.
Suppose you take a man who is born blind into a garden and tell him that he is standing in front of a mango tree. You can explain to the blind man what the fruits are like. But will he understand what you are saying? Even if he is very clever, very discerning, and has very sharp ears, he will still not understand what a mango tree is like. You can tell him about green, but he will not understand what green is. The world of sound is different from the world of sight, and the world of sight is different from the world of thoughts. In the same way, one has to exercise his spirit before he can realize the spiritual world. Those who have eyes may not necessarily see; one must exercise the function of the eyes before he can see. A blind man cannot see the mango tree. A man with good eyes can only see the mango tree if he opens his eyes. A blind man cannot see the mango tree with his ears. A normal man cannot see the mango tree either if he only uses his ears. The problem today is that blind ones have no eyes to see the mango tree, while men with good eyes try to hear the mango tree with their ears. A soulish man cannot know God; no one can know Him by turning to soulish faculties. But a man with a regenerated spirit does not know God either if he only uses his soul. This does not mean that anyone who has a spirit can know God. Even after God’s Spirit has entered into a man, it is still possible for that man to not know God. Wisdom and intelligence do not help an unbeliever know God; neither do they help a Christian know God. Knowledge does not help an unbeliever understand the Bible; neither does it help a Christian understand the Bible. The way to understand the Bible is by the spirit. It is not merely a matter of having the spirit, but a matter of being spiritual. No one can say that he has a spirit but does not have to walk according to it and instead can walk according to his former ways. Such ways were unacceptable when the man did not have a regenerated spirit; they are equally unacceptable now that he has a regenerated spirit. The fundamental way to the understanding of the Bible is through the spirit. This is the reason Paul showed us in 1 Corinthians 2 that the issue is not having or not having the spirit, but of being spiritual or not being spiritual. Spiritual things are discerned only by spiritual men.
First Corinthians 3:1 says, “And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ.” Here is another word: fleshy. The Corinthian believers were infants in Christ; they were fleshy. This is the reason verse 2 says, “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food.” To be sure, such ones are not totally ignorant of spiritual things. Yet they can only touch the most obvious revelations; they cannot touch anything deeper. They are fleshy, and therefore they can only take milk, not solid food. Milk is for those in their first stage of life. This means that these ones can only take the most elemental revelations in Christianity. Solid food, on the other hand, is for a grown-up throughout his lifetime. It refers to the deeper and more profound revelations. A man does not continue drinking milk all the time; there is only a short period during his life when he has to drink milk. Yet there are men who, like the Corinthian believers, are drinking milk all the time. “For you were not yet able to receive it. But neither yet now are you able.”
First Corinthians 2 and 3 show us three kinds of men:
First, there is the soulish man. Such a man merely possesses all the faculties of the soul. We can call him the psychological man. A soulish man is an unregenerated man; he does not have a regenerated spirit and does not have the proper organ to understand God’s word. Such a person cannot understand the Bible.
Second, there is the fleshy man. Such a man has God’s life and His Spirit within him. But he walks not according to this spirit but according to the flesh. He has a regenerated spirit, but he does not use his spirit or subject himself to the rule of his spirit. He has a spirit, but he does not come under the control of the spirit or allow the spirit to take over everything. The Bible calls this kind of person fleshy. He has a very limited understanding of the Bible. He can only take milk, not solid food. Milk is something that is first digested by the mother. It refers to indirect revelations, revelations that do not come to a person directly. A man who drinks milk cannot receive any direct revelation from God. He receives revelation from other spiritual men, who transfer such revelation to him.
Third, there is the spiritual man. Such a person has the Spirit of God. He operates under the power of the living Spirit and walks according to the principle of the Spirit. The amount of revelation he receives is unlimited. God’s Word says that spiritual things can only be discerned by spiritual men.
In order to study the Bible, we have to remember these basic requirements: We must be spiritual and we must walk according to the spirit.
The Bible is the word of God. It is full of God’s light. Yet this light will only enlighten those who are open to Him. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord.” The basic qualification for being enlightened by the glory of the Lord is to behold Him with unveiled face. If a man comes to the Lord with a veiled face, the glory will not enlighten him. God’s light will only enlighten those who are open to Him. If a man is not open to God, he will not receive God’s light. The trouble with some people is that they are closed to the Lord. Their spirit, heart, will, and mind are all closed to God. As a result, the light of the Scriptures will not reach them. Even though the sun is full of light and shines on the whole world, its light will not reach a person who sits inside a room with closed door and windows. The problem is not with the light but with the person. Light will only shine on those who are open to it. This is true of physical light, and this is also true of spiritual light. Whenever we lock ourselves in, light cannot shine through. Some people are closed to the Lord; they can never see God’s light. We must not pay attention just to reading and studying; rather, we should ask if we are open before the Lord. If we do not have an unveiled face, the glory of the Lord will not shine on us. If our heart is not open to God, God cannot give us any light.
Light operates according to a law. It shines on those who are open to it, and the amount of shining depends on the amount of openness. This is a law. If all the doors and windows of a room are closed but just one crack is left open, light will still come in. It is not difficult to get the light. As long as one follows this law, he will receive the light. But if he acts contrary to this law, he will not have any light. A man who is closed to God may study and pray much, but he will remain ignorant as far as understanding the Bible is concerned. It is hard for a man to expect any light when he is not open to God. God’s light does not come unconditionally. In order to have God’s light, one must first fulfill the conditions for receiving it.
Every child of God has a Bible in his hand, but the amount of light each receives from this book is different. Some are completely ignorant of what the Bible says. Others receive some light from reading it. Still others are full of light when they read it. The reason for the difference is that the persons reading it are different. God’s light is the same, but the persons are different. People who are open to God can understand the Bible. Others who are closed to God cannot understand the Bible. Some are closed completely, and as a result they are in complete darkness. Others are closed partially, and as a result they receive partial light. Any lack of sight that we experience, whether great or small, complete or partial, means that we are in darkness. We should never consider it a small thing to find ourselves having difficulty understanding the Bible. If we have difficulty understanding the Bible, it can only mean one thing: We are living in darkness! It is a very serious thing to read God’s Word and not understand or receive any light from it.
Next, we should ask what is the meaning of being open to God? Openness comes from unconditional and unreserved consecration. Openness to God is not a temporary attitude; it is a permanent disposition which a man develops before God. It is not an incidental temperament but a continuous practice. Openness to God can only come from unconditional and unreserved consecration. If a man’s consecration to God is perfect and absolute, he will have no reservation toward God and will not be closed in any way. Any closedness reflects shortages in one’s consecration. Darkness is the result of being closed, and being closed is the result of a lack of consecration. Any time there is a shortage of consecration, there will be reservations. When a man refuses to humble himself before God in any area, he will try to justify himself instead. As a consequence, he cannot understand the scriptural truth related to that same area. As soon as he touches that area, he will try to dodge it. This is the reason we say that darkness comes from being closed, and being closed comes from a lack of consecration. All kinds of darkness come as a result of being closed, and being closed in any area is the result of a lack of consecration and submission.
Many portions of the Bible explicitly speak of light. In Matthew 6:22 the Lord Jesus spoke on the light of the heart, saying, “The lamp of the body is the eye.” The Lord did not say that the eye is the light of the body. Rather, He said that the eye is the lamp of the body. Light relates to God, while the lamp relates to us. Light is in God’s word, whereas the lamp relates to us. The lamp is the place where light is retained. In other words, the lamp is the place where God deposits His light. It is also the place where we retain and release the light. In order for God’s word to shine in us, we must have a lamp within us. This lamp is our eye. “If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark” (vv. 22-23). In order for our whole body to be full of light, the Lord specified one condition — our eye must be single.
What does it mean to have a single eye? Although we have two eyes, there is only one focus; they only see one thing at one time. Our eyes are sick if they have two foci and see two objects at one time; neither have a clear view. They are not single. In order for the eyes to see clearly, they must have only one point of focus; they cannot have two foci. In receiving the shining there is the matter of light, and there is also the matter of the seeing of the eyes. If we have never experienced any grace and mercy, we have never experienced any light upon us. But now that we have received grace and mercy, light is upon us. The next problem is not with the light, but with our eye. If our eye is not single, we cannot perceive the light. Many people’s eye is not single; they see not just one thing but two things at the same time. Sometimes they see one thing as if it were two things. Light is not clear to them. In fact, they may be in total darkness.
The Lord said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (6:24). Many people do not have light because their eye is not single. The reason their eye is not single is that they are short of consecration before the Lord. What is consecration? It is serving Jehovah alone. A man cannot serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other; he cannot serve both well. He cannot maintain such a balance. No one can serve the Lord on the one hand and serve mammon on the other hand. All those who try to serve two masters find out sooner or later that they love one and hate the other. We must either consecrate ourselves to the Lord absolutely, or we will serve mammon completely. The Lord said that the eye has to be single. This means that our service and our consecration must be single. Singleness of the eye signifies singleness of consecration.
May the Lord show us this basic principle. If we want to read the Bible, understand its teachings, and receive its revelations, we have to bear one responsibility before the Lord: We have to consecrate ourselves absolutely to Him. Only this will give us light through the Bible. Once we have a problem with our consecration, we have a problem with our seeing. When we have a problem with our seeing, it means that we first have a problem with our consecration. We must be fully convinced that no man can serve two masters.
The other master has a name — mammon. Mammon signifies money and wealth. Much light from the Bible has been veiled because of money. Many people have been veiled from the light of the Bible because of mammon. Many people fail to see the truth in the Bible because they have a problem with money. In addition to God, they have money, and they are not willing to drop their pursuit of money. There is a conflict between the truth and their personal interest. If they could lay aside their personal interest and pursue the truth at all costs, the Bible would be crystal clear to them. Many people sacrifice the teachings of the Bible because they have a problem with mammon. If all the Christians were settled in the matter of mammon, there would be a big increase in the number of obedient ones. We have to heed this warning from God. Whenever we are careless and turn a little to our private interest, God’s light will be cut off. In order to see light, we cannot serve mammon. We cannot have two interests. We cannot maintain God’s interest as well as our own interest. We can only consider one interest — God’s interest. Once our personal interest is taken into consideration, we have two masters, and our eye is no longer single. A double-minded person cannot study the Bible; neither can one who has reservations from private interests. Only those with a single eye can study the Bible.
How can the eye be single? The Lord said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (6:21). The amazing thing is that when mammon is under our direction, it will not become a harm but a help to us. When our heart is for mammon, we love money, and it is difficult for our heart to be inclined to God. But if we are able to direct our treasure, we will be able to direct our heart. This is the reason we have to learn to give our treasures away. The Lord said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” When a man stores up his treasure on the Lord’s side, spontaneously his heart will go to the Lord’s side. If a man stores up his treasure in heaven, his heart will be in heaven. Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. If everything we have is with God, our heart will spontaneously be with God, and our eye will be single.
In order to understand the Bible, we need an absolute consecration. Without consecration, our heart will not go to God. One special characteristic of consecration is that it brings our heart to God. When we offer up everything to God, our heart will follow us because our treasure has moved on. There are two kinds of consecration. With one kind, the heart goes first. With the other kind, the heart follows afterward. Some people consecrate their treasure after their heart is touched. Others find their heart following, after they have consecrated their treasure. Whether or not we think our heart will follow us, we only need to take care of our consecration. Whatever we hold on to most dearly should go first. We should give it away in the name of the Lord to needy ones. When our things are given away, our heart goes to the Lord. When all our things are with the Lord, our eye will be single.
Once our eye becomes single, it becomes clear, and light will shine through. The Lord said, “Your whole body will be full of light” (v. 22). What does it mean to have the whole body full of light? It means to have enough light for our feet to walk, for our hands to work, and for our minds to think. In other words, we have light in all areas. Light fills our emotion, will, mind, love, walk, and pathway. We see everything, for our eye is single.
Previously, we have said that only spiritual men can understand the Bible. Now we have to add one more thing: Only consecrated ones can understand the Bible. If a man is not consecrated, he can never read the Bible well. As soon as he opens the Bible, he will come across places that he has held back in consecration, and darkness will be with him. As he reads on, he will come across further unconsecrated areas, and darkness will be with him again. Once darkness is with a man, he cannot hope to receive anything from God. A man must be absolute for God. He cannot serve the Lord on the one hand, and expect to take his own way on the other hand. Some people have argued that they are sincere in seeking God’s will, yet they do not know what the Bible teaches. They say they do not know where their problem lies. But this is an excuse; it is not a fact. A man does not know because he does not want to take God’s way. If he is truly serious about taking the Lord’s way, he will find the way clear and obvious before him. The only kind of person who is never clear is one whose eye is not single.
God grants us revelation of scriptural teachings according to the measure of obedience we render to Him. The more we obey Him, the more light we will receive. If we continue to obey God, we will continue to see. Without consecration, we cannot see. Without a continual obedience, we cannot continue to see. If our consecration is not thorough, the shining will not be great. If our obedience is not fine and detailed enough, the light we receive will not be fine and detailed enough. Therefore, the fundamental issue is consecration. If a man does not understand the meaning of consecration, he cannot understand the Bible. A consecrated person must not only have an initial, fundamental consecration, but he must sustain an obedience before the Lord all the time. Only then will he continually see. The amount of light a man receives depends on the amount of obedience he sustains after his initial consecration. If we are perfect in our obedience, we will be perfect in our seeing.
We should pay special attention to the Lord’s word in John 7:17: “If anyone resolves to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.” If a man resolves to do God’s will, he will know. In other words, obedience is the one condition for knowing. A resolution to do God’s will is a condition for knowing God’s teaching. If a man has no intention to do God’s will, yet wants to know God’s teaching, he is asking for the impossible. In order to know God’s teaching, a man must first resolve to do His will. This resolution relates to one’s attitude. God wants us to be obedient first in our attitude. If a man is obedient to God in his attitude, God’s teaching will be clear to him. We should not ask what the Bible teaches. Instead, we should ask if we are willing to obey His word. The problem is with our attitude; it has nothing to do with the teaching of the Bible. Whether or not the Bible will be open to us depends on our attitude towards God. We are responsible for our attitude, while God is responsible for His teaching. If our attitude is right, God will reveal Himself to us and open our eyes immediately. If we supplement this with our obedience, our attitude will be right once again and God will grant us further revelation. First there is a right attitude, and then there is revelation. If we respond to the revelation with obedience, we will have more of the right attitude and will receive more revelation.
Many people claim that they have seen truths in the Bible. Actually, only those who resolve to do God’s will have seen them. Only they can claim that their seeing is clear and thorough. The Lord has to do much work in us before we can “resolve” this way. Do not think that light comes without a price. Every seeing is accompanied by a high price; we have to pay a price to see. Sometimes God has to bring a person through two or three experiences before he sees something. Sometimes God has to bring him through six or seven experiences before he sees anything. God’s light often comes to us in a reflective way. First it shines on something else, and then it is reflected to us. God’s light is often reflective light. We must see light from one angle before we can see light from another angle and then a third angle. Sometimes we need to go through a few experiences before we can see light. If we are disobedient in one thing, we miss the revelation. This is the way God’s light acts. Many times we can only see clearly after we have positioned ourselves in different angles. The more price we pay before the Lord, the more light we see. One experience of obedience will lead to another experience and then to even more obedience. One experience of light will lead to another experience and then to even more light. God’s will is behind every arrangement He has made. Whenever a man misses two or three opportunities to obey God, he suffers loss before God.
No matter how much confidence we have in our consecration and obedience, we have to realize that something is wrong with our consecration whenever we are veiled. Whenever we fail to see, our eyes are wrong. God is never short of light, but whenever He sees any unwillingness on our part, He will hold back His speaking. God never forces anyone to do anything, but neither does He release His word in a cheap way. If there is any unwillingness on our part, the Holy Spirit will shy away; He will retreat and not release Himself in a cheap way. If something is wrong with man’s consecration, God will not give him any light. It is not a small thing for a man to fail to understand the Bible, because it underscores a problem in his consecration. Spiritual eyesalve involves a price; it does not come freely. Every seeing involves a price. No seeing comes freely.
Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the full-grown, who because of practice have their faculties exercised for discriminating between both good and evil.” The word practice can be translated as “habit.” There is one condition to receiving God’s word — a man must be full-grown. Only a full-grown man can eat solid food. Why must a man be full-grown before he can eat solid food? This has to do with his habit. A full-grown man can take solid food because he is used to it. His faculties are exercised, and he can discriminate between both good and evil. Verse 13 speaks of being experienced in the word of righteousness. To be experienced in the word of righteousness means to be experienced in the word of God. The word experienced in Greek has to do with industrial skill; it means to be dexterous. Some workers are unskillful, while others are dexterous. A dexterous worker is one who has passed through much training and who has become skillful in his trade. A person who is experienced in God’s word is one who is well trained and skillful in His word. If a man wants to study the Bible and understand God’s word, he must be experienced in his practice.
The Bible exposes our condition. The kind of person we are determines the kind of Bible we read. If we want to know what a person is like in character and habit, all we have to do is to show him a chapter of the Scriptures and see what he gets out of it. The kind of person he is will determine the kind of reading he will have. A curious man will find the Bible full of curious things. An intellectual person will find the Bible full of reasonings. A simple-minded person will find the Bible merely a collection of verses. It is a fact that a man’s character and habit are often revealed through his reading of the Bible. If a man is not disciplined by God in his character and habits, he will fall into total error, and his reading of the Bible will be spiritually fruitless.
What kind of character and habits must a person have in order for him to read the Bible?
Every reader of the Bible should learn to be objective. No subjective person can understand the Bible. A subjective person is not suitable to be a learner. If we speak to an objective person, he will understand after we speak once. But a subjective person will not understand after we speak three times. Many people do not understand what others are saying, not because they are unintelligent, but because they are too subjective. They live entirely in their mind and cannot take in others’ words. They are full of thoughts, opinions, and proposals. Others’ words cannot find any ground in them. Their mind may be focused on water, while others may be speaking about mountains. They interpret what they hear and take the mountains to mean mountains with water. A subjective person cannot understand men’s word accurately, let alone hear God’s word! He cannot understand worldly things, let alone spiritual things.
One interesting thing about those who are good at studying the Bible is that they are all quick to listen. Once others say something, they understand exactly what has been spoken. An objective person can listen to others, and he can also understand the Bible. In contrast, some people do not have any idea what others are saying even after listening once or twice. They have too many things in their head. They are full of thoughts, opinions, and proposals. Others can repeat the same thing to them once or twice, but they will still not get it. In order to find out if we are subjective, we only need to ask ourselves if we understand what others are saying. Can we understand what others are saying even if they speak very briefly? Our days on this earth are limited. If we are subjective, the time that is available to us will be greatly reduced. An objective man can get more from reading the Bible one time than a subjective man can from reading it ten times. A subjective man will miss what he reads even after he reads it once, twice, or even nine or ten times. The Bible will slip by him and not leave any impression in him.
Recall the story of Samuel. When the Lord called him, he went to Eli again and again because he thought Eli was calling him (1 Sam. 3:4-10). God was calling him, but he thought that Eli was calling him. He had heard Eli’s voice many times, but this time it was surely not Eli’s voice. Could he not tell the difference? Samuel’s subjectivity made him think that Eli was calling him. This is the reason he could not differentiate between Eli’s voice and God’s voice.
The problem with many people is that they will not allow God to break down their subjectivity. No matter how much they study the Bible, they cannot form any impression of it. It seems as if they never hear God’s speaking. When we go to the Lord to read His word, our mind must be open to Him. Our opinions, feelings, heart, and everything we are must be open to Him as well. In other words, we cannot be subjective. We must realize the importance of this matter. If a man is not dealt with in this matter, he cannot read the Bible well. An objective person is full of waiting; he waits for God to speak. His inward being waits quietly for God’s word. If a man is in this state, he will easily understand what God is saying when he opens to His word. It is unnecessary to ask whether or not a man is spiritual. All we have to ask is what he has received when he reads a certain chapter of the Bible. Some cannot tell us what they have received. This proves that they are subjective. It is not easy for a subjective person to listen to others. He is like those in Hebrews 5:11, who are “dull of hearing.” Some people are full of many things, and others’ words cannot find any room in them. Subjectivity is a very serious problem. A subjective man cannot hear God’s word and cannot touch spiritual things.
Second, no one can be careless in reading the Bible. The Bible is a very accurate book. Not a single word of it can be misread or replaced. If a person is somewhat careless, he will miss God’s word. A subjective man will miss God’s word, and a careless man will also miss God’s word. We have to be careful. The more we know God’s word, the more careful we will be. A sloppy person has a sloppy reading of the Bible. As soon as we hear a brother speak on the Bible, we know whether he is a sloppy person or a careful person. In reading or memorizing a verse, many people make careless mistakes with crucial words. This is a terrible habit. It is easy for us to become inaccurate in our habit. This leads to an inaccurate understanding of the Bible. In many instances a little carelessness on our part will lead to a misunderstanding of God’s word. Let us consider a few examples.
The Bible pays much attention to the distinction between singular and plural forms. We have to differentiate between the singular and the plural form of a word; we cannot be careless about it. Sin and sins are different in the original language. Sin in the singular form refers to man’s sinful nature, whereas the plural form of the word, sins, refers to man’s sinful acts. When the Bible speaks of God’s forgiveness of man’s sins, it uses the plural form — sins, as the many sinful acts. God never forgives man’s sin — the sinful nature. Sin cannot be forgiven. We need deliverance from our sinful nature (the singular sin), but we need forgiveness for our sinful acts (the plural sins). The Bible makes a clear distinction between the two.
There is also a difference between sin and the law of sin. If a man is not delivered from the law of sin, he cannot be delivered from sin. Romans 6 is on deliverance from sin, while chapter seven is on the law of sin. If we are a little careless, we will think that these two things are more or less the same. When we read Romans 6, we may think that the problem of sin is fully settled by the end of the chapter, because at the end of the chapter Paul anticipates the beginning of chapter twelve, where the offering up of one’s body and members is spoken of. However, Paul knew clearly that in order to be delivered from sin, we also have to know of the law of sin, and in order to overcome the law of sin, there is the need of the law of the Spirit of life in chapter eight. If we are careless, we may not think that there is much difference between sin and the law of sin, and may thus overlook God’s word. God’s word is pure; every word has its proper emphasis. If our speaking is careless, we will be led to think that God’s word is also careless, and this will frustrate us from understanding His word.
In Romans 7, in addition to the law of sin, there is another law — the law of death. If we are careless, we may think that the law of sin and the law of death are more or less the same. But actually the two are entirely different. Sin refers to one’s defilements, while death refers to one’s impotence. Willing to do good but not being able to do so is the operation of the law of sin, whereas to will to refrain from evil but not being able to refrain from it is the operation of the law of death. Sin leads one to involuntarily do what he does not want to do, whereas death prohibits one from doing what he wants to do. We are delivered from the law of sin through our death with Christ, and we are delivered from the law of death through our resurrection with Him. Romans 7 shows us not only the law of sin but also the law of death. If we are careless and sloppy, we will miss these truths. It is therefore obvious that only those who are careful and accurate can study the Bible well.
I have heard some say that we put on the righteous robe of the Lord Jesus, that God has given us the righteousness of Christ as our robe of righteousness, and that we are no longer naked, but now can come to God. But the Bible does not teach this. Nowhere in the Bible do we find the righteousness of the Lord Jesus being given to us for our righteousness. The Bible says that God has given us the Lord Jesus as our righteousness. He has not torn off a piece of the righteousness of Christ and given it to us for our righteousness. He has given us the Lord Jesus, the very person, to be our righteousness. There is a very big difference here! A careless person will think that the righteousness of the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus as righteousness are more or less the same. Little does he realize that the righteousness of the Lord Jesus belongs to Him alone; it can never be transferred to us. Everyone should be righteous before God, and the Lord Jesus also has to be righteous before God. But His righteousness is for Himself. His righteousness is the righteousness He lived while He was on earth. If we can become righteous simply by assuming His righteousness, why did the Lord have to die? The righteousness of the Lord Jesus is not transferable. His righteousness belongs forever to Him alone; no one can share in it. Our righteousness is the person of the Lord Jesus; our righteousness is not His righteousness. In the entire New Testament we only can find the Lord Jesus as our righteousness (except one instance in 2 Peter 1:1, which means something different), never the righteousness of the Lord Jesus as our righteousness. The righteousness of the Lord Jesus qualifies Him to be our Savior. Because He is righteous, He does not need redemption for Himself. The Lord Jesus is fully justified by God. Now God has given Him to us to be our righteousness. The righteousness which God has given us is Christ. We put on Christ. When we have Him on us, we have righteousness. We are not justified by our conduct. We put on Christ, and Christ is our righteousness. We are accepted in the Beloved; we are not accepted in the righteousness of the Beloved. In order to study the Bible well, we have to be accurate and not allow any point to slip by.
Some have said that the blood of the Lord Jesus gives us life. This means that our new life is based on the blood of the Lord Jesus. They say that when we drink the Lord’s blood, we acquire His life. They quote Leviticus 17:14, which says that life is in the blood. If we read this verse in a superficial way, we may agree with this teaching. But the blood does not bring us a new life. Blood is for redemption; it is to satisfy God’s demand. Exodus 12:13 gives us the governing principle concerning the blood: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” The blood is for God. It is to satisfy God’s demand, not our demand. There is only one instance in the Bible where the blood is spoken of as being for us. In that place it says that the blood is applied to our conscience (Heb. 9:14). However, even the conscience is for God.
What then is the meaning of the word life in Leviticus 17? The word life there is the same as soul in the original language. It refers to the soul-life. The Lord Jesus poured out His soul-life unto death. Isaiah 53:12 says that He poured out His soul unto death. The Lord Jesus shed His blood, that is, poured out His soul unto death for the accomplishment of redemption. He cried on the cross, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). Having said this He expired. His body was hung on the cross, and His soul, through the blood, was poured out for the accomplishment of redemption. (The characteristic of man is his soul. A sinful soul has to die; that is, the seat of a man’s personality must die.) At the same time He committed His spirit to God.
John 6 says several times that those who eat the Lord’s flesh as well as take His blood will have life. It also says that those who eat His flesh will have life. But at no time does it say that those who only drink His blood will have life. If a man drinks His blood, he also must eat His flesh before he will have life. We have to learn to be careful persons. If we mix up what God has separated, we will end up misunderstanding what He has said. We cannot expound the Bible carelessly. We must study God’s word carefully, find the hundreds of instances where the blood is spoken of, and study them one by one before we will see the light. The blood is to satisfy God’s demand; it is not to satisfy our demand.
Suppose John Wesley came and told us, “The Lord Jesus’ blood will cleanse our heart and eradicate the root of sin from us, and we will sin no longer.” What should we say? We should say, “The blood of the Lord Jesus has never cleansed our heart. The Bible never says that the Lord Jesus’ blood will cleanse our heart. God has given us a new heart. Man’s heart is more wicked than all things and can never be cleansed.” The blood is for redemption, not for cleansing. It is for forgiveness, not for sanctification. (There is a difference between sanctification before God and sanctification before men.) Some may ask, “Does not Hebrews 10 tell us that the blood of the Lord cleanses our heart?” [Translator’s note: This is the rendering in the Chinese Union Version.] No! The book of Hebrews speaks of the sprinkling of the conscience (10:22). The conscience is only a part of the heart. The only part within man that is conscious of sin is the conscience. The blood satisfies God’s demand and also satisfies our conscience’s cry. When we realize that the Lord Jesus has redeemed us from sin, spontaneously our conscience will no longer be conscious of sin. The function of the blood in our conscience is not to free us from sin but to remove our consciousness of sin. Freedom from sin is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the blood is different from the work of the Holy Spirit; we should never confuse the two.
Before the Lord we have to develop the habit of being accurate. If we are inaccurate, we will sacrifice God’s accuracy. If we have a habit of being inaccurate, we will not get anything when we read the Bible. We have to realize how accurate the Bible is. It is so accurate that it has no room for any confusion. We must be trained by the Lord to be accurate.
Third, in trying to be accurate, we must not become curious. God’s Word is accurate, but we must never search it with a curious mind. If we search God’s Word with a curious mind, we will miss the spiritual worth of the book. The Bible is a spiritual book, and we must exercise our spirit before we can understand this book. If the purpose of achieving accuracy is the satisfaction of our curiosity, not the satisfaction of our spiritual needs, we are on the wrong track. It is unfortunate that many people read the Bible with the goal of digging out strange things. Some people have spent a great deal of time trying to ascertain whether or not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a vine tree. This kind of study of the Bible is vain. We must remember that the Bible is a spiritual book. We have to touch life, touch the spirit, and touch the Lord. Once we touch the spiritual things, we will spontaneously recognize the literal accuracy of the Word because all spiritual things are intrinsically accurate. But if our premise is not a pursuit of spiritual things, we will be on the wrong track.
Some people like to take the pathway of curiosity. Their study of prophecies is driven by curiosity. They study prophecies not for the sake of waiting for the Lord’s return, but because they want to know about the future. There is a big difference between being spiritual and not being spiritual. If we are a curious person, all spiritual and valuable things will become non-spiritual and dead when they fall into our hands. This is a very serious matter. Before the Lord, we have to distinguish between things which are valuable and things which are not so valuable. We have to distinguish between the things which are important and the things which are unimportant. The Lord Jesus said, “One iota or one serif shall by no means pass away from the law” (Matt. 5:18). But He also said that there are “weightier matters of the law” (23:23). The law is so accurate that one iota or serif cannot pass away. But there are also weightier things in the law. Curious ones constantly pick up lighter things and study them. If they keep taking the lighter things, they will end up being lighter persons. As the Lord Jesus said, they are straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel (v. 24). They strain out the tiniest things and swallow the biggest things. This kind of reading is altogether wrong. This error comes from one’s disposition for curiosity. If we do not change our disposition, we cannot expect to read the Bible well.
The above mentioned traits — subjectivity, carelessness, and curiosity — are common flaws among men. We must try to overcome these flaws before the Lord. We must be objective, accurate, and non-inquisitive. An objective, accurate, and non-inquisitive character will not come to us in one or two days; we have to discipline ourselves to develop such a habit. As soon as we pick up the Bible, we should read it objectively, accurately, and non-inquisitively. When we have the right character and the right habit, we will know how to read the Bible properly.
