The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 1301-J, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 12."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1980. All Rights Reserved.

Question

There are so many Bibles and there are so many people who interpret the Bible, how do you know what’s the correct interpretation?

Answer

You know when people ask me that what I tell them? Get your Bible out and check me out. See, I always say, I know I’m right, because if I was wrong, I’d change my view. Right? It’s so simple. Wouldn’t you do that if you were wrong, you’d change your view, wouldn’t you? Of course. I must be right, or I’d change. Oh, so you don’t know how to handle that, do you?

No, you want to know something? I stand and I stand there with great sense of awe and respect—I stand in a tradition of hundreds and hundreds of years of Bible teachers and preachers. I don’t—I’m not out on a limb; I’m not out on a tangent. I stand right where they’ve stood for years, in the main line of Bible interpretation. There are not a lot of interpretations. There’s only one and a whole bunch of wrong ones. Satan clutters the air with all kind of smokescreens of untruth and so forth.

But the only answer you can give to someone like that is to say, all right there is truth. Somebody’s right. If there are two views, one’s right and one’s wrong, or both are wrong. But both aren’t right. But there is a right interpretation of the Bible, and I just say, check it out.

I’ve been here for twelve years, and I’ve been preaching, I’ve preached more than anybody ought to preach to the same people. And I’ve said enough, and I’ve sent out the tapes enough that if I was a heretic, or if I could have been torn to pieces, it would’ve happened long before now. And I’m not saying that to defend myself. I’m saying that because I don’t think it’s that tough. If you go to the Word with an open heart and an open mind, I believe it’s not that hard. The Bible says, "A wayfaring man though he be a fool need not err." So I feel that we can know the Word of God, and we can understand how to interpret it. And I’m not doing anything different than what everybody behind me has done. So just tell her to check it out.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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