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Hebrews 2:5–9
“We see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (v. 9).
Scripture must be read and interpreted to be of use to us, and since God is the ultimate Author of Scripture, we want to find the meaning He intends. Only the Holy Spirit can give us a saving understanding of scriptural doctrine (1 Cor. 2:6–15), of course, but He does so as we read and study the Bible and hear it preached. Our goal is to uncover what the human author intended to communicate, for the human author was inspired by God, and his intent can never be contrary to God’s intent. We also recognize that Scripture, because it is divinely inspired, has a depth of meaning that is not always evident on our first reading (Ps. 119:96). Thus, we seek to plumb the depths of Scripture as we return to the text again and again, looking for the fullness of what the Lord wants to teach us.
Our efforts at finding the full sense of Scripture will not succeed if we approach God’s Word in a piecemeal fashion. Since the diverse books of the Bible have the same divine Author, Scripture ultimately teaches the same truth, though we recognize that there are many facets to this truth that complement one another. Consequently, we must read each text of Scripture in light of the whole. This is the interpretive principle of allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.
One application of this principle involves interpreting earlier revelation by later revelation, examining the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. In today’s passage, later revelation interprets earlier revelation as the author of Hebrews applies Psalm 8 to Christ. Reading Psalm 8 in isolation from the rest of Scripture might lead us to see only an exposition of humanity’s dominion over creation as God originally ordained it. But when we read Psalm 8 in light of Hebrews 2:5–9, we see the fuller meaning of the psalm. It is about mankind’s dominion over creation, but it also points us to the fulfillment of this dominion in Christ through His incarnation and exaltation.
Another way that we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture is given to us by Augustine of Hippo. He wrote in On Christian Doctrine that “from the places [in Scripture] where the sense in which they are used is more manifest we must gather the sense in which they are to be understood in obscure passages.” This principle, enumerated also in Westminster Confession of Faith 1.9, tells us that we should let clearer texts in Scripture interpret the less clear texts and not the other way around. We will avoid many errors if we do this.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Many false doctrines arise when people use unclear passages to interpret clear ones. For example, Mormons take the less clear passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29 as justification for baptism on behalf of the dead to provide the possibility of redemption after death even though other passages tell us that we can be saved only if we believe in Christ before we die (Luke 16:26; Heb. 9:27). Using clear passages to interpret less clear passages will help us avoid false teaching.
For further study
- Matthew 5:21–30
- John 8:51
- Galatians 1:6–9
- 2 Peter 1:16–21
The bible in a year
- Exodus 16–18
- Matthew 19:16–30