Comparing Spiritual Things with Spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13)

2023-03-27

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)

The Spirit of God is our main Bible teacher. We have pastors in our churches, and these are necessary. However, the Spirit is the one who prepares the heart and takes of the Word of God and sows it within us. One thing we do when we study the Bible is wait on Him. Since the Bible was authored by the Holy Spirit, the best way to interpret the Bible is to use other parts of the Bible, since it is all His words.

To find a meaning of something, we look at the passage in context. It is not taking isolated verses without considering the context. The Bible says, “And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). Well, that sounds nice, but we find out from the previous verse that Satan said this, and he is trying to tempt Jesus. The Bible accurately records events, but it does not necessarily endorse them. The context needs to be considered.

If we see a word, a phrase, or a concept in Scripture, where else can you find the word, phrase, or concept in Scripture? In this way, you compare spiritual things with spiritual. For example, we see that Jesus is called the first and the last in Revelation 1:11, we know He is declaring His deity, since God also used this phrase of Himself in Isaiah 41:4. When He called Himself “I am” in John 8:58, we know He is calling Himself by the name of God in Exodus 3:14. Also, we use parallel passages to help us, such as the Kings/Chronicles and the four Gospels.

The Bible always interprets itself better than outside ancient sources do. These are no doubt helpful and interesting. However, the built-in system the Spirit provided is far better.