Twisting the Easy Verses
The Bible clearly affirms that there are some things in the Bible which are difficult to understand. Peter obviously had read some of the epistles of Paul and described the wisdom which had been given to Paul. He then adds, “In all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16, English Standard Version). Note that Peter does not say they are impossible to understand, just hard to understand.
Note that Peter says that individuals come to the Scriptures and twist them. Read the rest of the verse where he says they even twist the things which are easy to understand. There are so many illustrations of this.
Years ago women hardly ever cut their hair and would wear it “bundled” up on the top of their heads. This bundle was called a top knot. There was one preacher who, wanting to gain notoriety, announced that in his next sermon he would show that God had specifically declared that women should not have this style of hair. Needless to say there were many who came and, sure enough, he read the proof from the Bible where God said that the top knot had to come down. His text was from Matthew 24:17. Jesus said, “Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.” Now you may have to read Jesus’ words again to see what the preacher did. He twisted the words of Jesus “ . . . housetop not come down” to fit his doctrine of “Top Knot Come Down.” Talk about twisting the Scripture!
Others, wanting a verse to use to forbid the use of instrumental music, twist the words of Amos 6:1-5. “Woe to you who . . . Invent for yourselves musical instruments like David.” Now do not misunderstand me. The Bible forbids the use of instrumental music in our worship, but this passage is not discussing this topic. The fourth verse pronounces a woe on those who eat lamb or beef. Read Amos’ words carefully and you will see that he was condemning the complacency of Israel in their service of God. If we expect others to honestly use the Bible, then we must be just as honest. We must never twist any Scripture to prove any “truth.”
People have twisted the Scriptures to find prophecies of the automobiles (Nahum 2:4) and guided missiles (Rev. 9:19) and to forbid having long hair like the Beatles made popular (Rev. 9:8). There is no limit to which many will go in twisting the scriptures.
The Bible is our only source of authority. However, we must never twist any of its words. Not even the “easy” ones!