God’s Word

The scripture cannot be broken– John 10:35

The Word of God is a unified and faultless body of truth. It cannot be broken, as Jesus reminds his audience; it cannot be properly taught or accepted in parts. It cannot be broken up in order to pit one verse or truth against another. They all stand or fall together.

The same word “broken” is used in the book of Acts when a congregation “broke up” after a meeting (13:43). Each person went his or her own way, without regard to the others in the crowd. Jesus says the Scripture is not like this — not a single verse goes astray from the rest, or expresses truth apart from the rest. The Bible is a perfect whole, but it is only perfect when it is whole.

Almost every major cult or aberration of orthodox Christianity has come out of affirming one part of Scripture, while denying or ignoring the rest. This always produces lop-sided theology. It is only by taking a careful and thorough “analogy of the faith” that we come to a well-rounded, accurate understanding of God’s message to us.

Is this how you read the Bible? Is this how you study the Bible? Do you pick favorite verses, or “pet” texts, in order to shape your opinions of God and his Word, or do you perform the hard work of systematic exegesis in order to grow in grace and in the understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

The scripture cannot be broken, so the ones who wrest the scriptures—bending, twisting God’s Word—do so to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).