RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD
2Tim2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
To rightly divide means: To cut straight, to separate God’s truth from God’s truth. It’s all truth, it’s just not all our truth to live by and follow. Only then will we understand that not everything written in the bible is to and about us, believers today, Paul calls - the body of Christ (BoC). That is why we don't have an altar or an Ark in our backyard. Nor do we need to "sell" all of what we have, as Jesus Himself said in Luke 12:33. This is because those instructions were not written to or about us (the BoC) today, for us to do. It would do our bible understanding good if we understand these divisions God has in His word:
Law from Grace
Prophecy from Mystery
Jew from Gentile
Circumcision from Uncircumcision
Heaven from Earth
Believer from Unbeliever
Salvation from Our walk with Christ
Spiritual from the Physical
Believing Israel from UNbelieving Israel
The 2nd coming from the "rapture", the catching away
Paul (apostle to the uncircumcision) from the 12 apostles to the circumcision. Gal 2:7
These are obvious divisions in our bible. To conjoin these divisions God has put in His word would be incorrect bible study. When we rightly divide God's word, we understand that certain writings were to and about the Jews only, actually about 94% of our bible.
Peter makes this very clear that he was not talking to us in the early part of the book of Acts. Notice who Peter was addressing even after the resurrection: "ye men of Judea" 2:14, "ye men of Israel" 2:22, "all the house of Israel" 2:36, and 3:12, also see Acts 3:25, 4:8. Also Peter was not speaking to us in his epistles. 1Pet 1:1 KJV Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,. We the body of Christ (BoC) cannot be scattered because we were never given a land to scatter from. Peter is talking to Israel. James' is very similar because we are not the 12 tribes. Jas 1:1 KJV James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. James is also talking to ISRAEL.
IMPORTANT: Whenever you find the distinction between the Jew and Gentile, the body of Christ is not present, this is b/c in the BoC there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Col 3:11 KJV Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. In the 4 gospels, early book of Acts, and the Hebrew epistles (Heb-Rev) there is a distinction between Jew and Gentile, but not so in Paul's epistles.
When the word of God is not divided properly as God commands us in II Tim 2:15, we will make other doctrines and gospels, our doctrine and our gospel, which were not meant for us. This is not right. Our gospel of the grace of God, is much different than the kingdom gospel Jesus and the 12 were preaching. Yes, both do include Jesus, but the question is,“how” were they preaching Jesus. Remember the 12 and Jesus were preaching the kingdom gospel in early part of Matthew before Jesus even died, before He rose from the dead. But yet they went around preaching “the gospel”.
Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
If Jesus and the 12 were preaching a gospel that didn't include the death, burial, shed blood or resurrection by which we are saved by today, then they could NOT be the same as the gospel that saves us today. This is because we are saved only when we believe in the death, shed blood, burial and resurrection of Christ and put our trust in this new gospel Jesus gave to Paul for us today, to be saved by. Thus, we need to rightly divide God's truth, from God's truth. Truth to the Jews, from truth to the body of Christ. Make sense?
Knowing all this, we understand that we get our salvation message, our instructions, our manner of life, our walk, and the instructions for the church, the body of Christ, for the most part, from our apostle Paul. Yes, all of the bible is for us, and is profitable for us, but NOT all of the bible is TO and ABOUT us. When you grasp this reality, the scriptures will open up to you like never before. The contradictions (not errors), which are many will be understood in their context, when you divide what was to Israel, from what is to us, the body of Christ.
It is also a shame to know so much about the bible and never study it the way God commands us to, to understand it correctly. Rightly dividing the word is not the end, it’s not a doctrine, it's not a religion, it is a method of study that God commands from us to understand His word correctly. II Tim 2:15. It is the means to the correct end. Rightly dividing the word of truth is what makes the Bible-believing workman unashamed so that they can accomplish the real work of learning from Christ, interpreting God’s word correctly, edifying His body and living according to the doctrine which we are to live by, given to us by the words Jesus gave to us through the apostle Paul.
2Tim2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Peace and Grace.