Why Is It So Difficult to Learn What the Bible Teaches?
Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15 (CSB)
“Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.”
Why is it that so many Christians struggle to understand the Bible? We believe it is the Word of God. We acknowledge its authority. We recognize that it contains the truth by which we ought to live. Yet many believers who have spent decades attending church still struggle to explain some of its most fundamental teachings. The difficulty is not necessarily a lack of intelligence, nor is it always a lack of desire. Understanding the Word comes by many spiritual battles. There are genuine obstacles to understanding Scripture, some arising from the distance between its original setting and our own, others arising from our fallen nature, and still others resulting from the simple failure to develop the habits necessary for learning.
Consider first the historical distance. The Bible was written over approximately fifteen hundred years, with its writings originating roughly two thousand to thirty-five hundred years ago. Its authors lived in societies dramatically different from our own. Their customs, political structures, social relationships, and ways of communicating were often unfamiliar to modern readers. Words and expressions that were immediately understood by their original audiences may require considerable explanation today. There are chronological, cultural, and linguistic distances between us and the people to whom Scripture was first addressed. Consequently, understanding what a passage means requires us to consider what its author was communicating to its original audience. We cannot simply assume that ancient people understood every expression, custom, or circumstance exactly as we do.
Unfortunately, another obstacle to learning the Bible arises from the way people approach biblical interpretation. There is a tendency among Christians to spiritualize nearly everything they read, sometimes searching for hidden meanings while overlooking the plain meaning of the text. Instead of allowing Scripture to communicate what its authors intended, readers may impose their experiences, assumptions, or preferred theological conclusions upon it. The result is that the Bible becomes a reflection of what the reader already believes rather than the means by which those beliefs are examined and corrected. Faithful interpretation requires humility. We must be willing to discover that Scripture means something different from what we initially assumed, and we must resist the temptation to make it say what we would prefer to hear.
Yet the difficulties run deeper than history, culture, language, and interpretation. Scripture teaches that humanity is fallen, and our fallen nature does not naturally welcome the authority of God. The problem is not merely that we sometimes fail to understand what God has said. Sometimes we understand enough to recognize that His Word confronts our desires, challenges our priorities, and calls us to surrender. We would rather remain on the throne of our own lives than acknowledge His rightful place upon it. Furthermore, Scripture warns that we have a spiritual enemy who seeks to deceive and destroy. Peter describes the devil as an adversary who prowls like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Thus, our struggle to understand and obey Scripture is not exclusively intellectual. There are spiritual realities involved, including our own resistance to the truth.
Nevertheless, these obstacles are not insurmountable. God has not given His Word merely to frustrate those who desire to know Him. He calls His people to grow in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and He provides the means by which that growth occurs. One of the most practical is remarkably simple: read the Bible, and then read it again. Consider how easily people remember sports statistics, historical events, song lyrics, or details from conversations that occurred decades earlier. Such knowledge is often acquired through repeated exposure. We remember what we continually revisit. Yet Christians sometimes expect to develop a thorough understanding of Scripture while giving it only occasional attention. Biblical familiarity, like other forms of learning, develops through sustained engagement.
This requires intentionality. An inclination to read Scripture must become a decision to read it. That decision must develop into a habit, and that habit must eventually become a way of life. Repetition is not the enemy of spiritual growth; it is often one of its most valuable instruments. Reading a passage once may introduce us to its teaching, but reading it repeatedly allows us to observe details, recognize connections, remember its instruction, and consider its implications more carefully. As we become familiar with the whole counsel of God, individual passages increasingly become understandable within the larger testimony of Scripture. What once seemed unfamiliar begins to take shape because we have invested the time necessary to learn.
But Bible reading must never become merely an academic exercise or an empty religious routine. The Christian does not approach Scripture as someone attempting to master an ancient document apart from its divine Author. We approach the Word of God as people who have been brought into union with Jesus Christ. Consequently, our reading and studying should be accompanied by prayer, dependence, and fellowship with Him. We seek illumination, insight, wisdom, and understanding. James tells us that God gives wisdom generously to those who ask Him (James 1:5). Paul prays that believers would receive spiritual wisdom and understanding as they grow in their knowledge of God (Ephesians 1:17–18). Our effort to study Scripture and our dependence upon God are not competing approaches. They belong together. We diligently apply ourselves to understanding what God has revealed while humbly asking Him to open our understanding and shape our lives through His truth.
Ultimately, the most important foundation for understanding Scripture is not a particular reading plan, an advanced education, or even a sophisticated method of interpretation. It is knowing Jesus Christ. He is the One to whom the Scriptures bear witness (John 5:39). Through Him we are reconciled to the Father, and in Him we receive the Holy Spirit, who guides believers into truth. This does not eliminate the need for careful study, nor does it guarantee that every passage will immediately become clear. Rather, it establishes the proper relationship in which our study should occur. We do not read simply to accumulate religious information. We read because we belong to Christ, desire to know Him more fully, and seek to have our thinking, affections, and conduct conformed to His will. Understanding Scripture begins with knowing Christ, grows through faithful attention to His Word, and bears fruit as we increasingly live in obedience to Him.
Reflect:
Have I allowed the genuine difficulties of understanding Scripture to become an excuse for neglecting it, or am I developing the disciplined habits and prayerful dependence necessary to grow in my knowledge of God?
Prayer:
Father, thank You for revealing Yourself through Your Word and, most fully, through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the times I have neglected Scripture, approached it carelessly, or sought to make it conform to my own understanding rather than allowing it to correct me. Give me a heart that delights in Your truth and a mind willing to labor diligently to understand it. Through Your Holy Spirit, grant me wisdom, insight, and discernment. Help me develop the discipline to read, study, remember, and apply what You have revealed. Above all, let my study of Scripture deepen my fellowship with Christ, transform my character, and make me increasingly like Him. Amen.