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Spiritual truths are not like natural facts that can be expressed precisely. They can only be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Bible talks of getting the eyes of our understanding opened (Ep.1:17,18). This begins to happen only after we are born again and the Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit which was dead towards God till then. When people discuss doctrines according to their natural intellect and individual experiences, they tend to go astray and reach different conclusions. Spiritual truths are metaphysical, transcending physical matter and the laws of nature. So, when we try to express them with human words we cannot be precise as in the case of scientific facts. We must keep this in mind when we try to understand the Bible, and avoid falling into extreme positions.

Look at the truth of the Trinity, that God is only one and yet He has three Persons in Him, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We cannot understand this with our natural limitations. But then some people try to explain this as one God appearing at different times as three different forms. This is a heresy called modalism. Some others think of God as three beings who are entirely different from one another, with independent wills. To remain within the balance of the truth in this matter, we must learn to remain within what the word of God says, rather than try to find plausible natural explanations.

Look at the subject of the husband being designated as the head of his wife in marriage (1Co.11:3). Especially in the face of pressure from feminists, some have negated this and taken an egalitarian view in marriage. Some others have taken man's headship to an extreme, implying that he has absolute authority over his wife. The balance of truth lies in recognising the position of responsibility that the Lord has given to the husband and the complementary role of the wife in submission to him. But we can argue this with mere human ideas, until we are willing to come under the authority of the scriptures that God has given to us.

When we try to look at any difficult subject like the above from the Bible, isn't it necessary for us to be conscious of our natural limitations, and subject ourselves to the Holy Spirit giving us 'revelation', willing to do what He tells us (Jn.7:17)? Of course, we recognise that we are not looking for revelation that contradicts the Bible or is extra-biblical. But we look for the true meaning and application of the things that are given in the word.

It would be helpful for us to know first what the author originally meant when he wrote to particular audiences. Understanding the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words will be helpful for this. But then, we need to avoid looking at words or sentences by themselves, and seek to see their context within the particular book of the Bible and in the overall revelation of God to man through the Bible regarding His character and His plans for man.

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