Rightly Dividing The Word

[Ask Mr. Religion]

What is the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation? And how do you rightly divide it?

Rightly dividing, properly interepreted, means "to handle correctly". Literally, the phrase means literally cutting something in a straight way. Figuratively, teaching or expounding correctly. Unfortunately, Scofield's wooden literalism of the phrase led to the movement that cuts up or divides the Word into many divisions versus "rightly handling".

What right dividing is not:
1. Assuming all of the Bible is for our learning, but is not addressed to us or is about us.
2. Assuming there are many "gospels" in the Bible, and that we must carve out gospels only meant for us.
3. Assuming Paul's writings are disjointed, and in need of gleaning out of matters relevant to just Gentiles or to Jews.

Rather, per the whole counsel of Scripture rightly dividing is rightly handling, straightly furrowing, and wisely discriminating. Accordingly the right way to handle Scripture is to treat it like the sword it is, as it is not meant to be played with.

Rightly dividing implies a straight cutting just as the plowman stands with his plow, and he plows right along from this end of the field to the other, making a straight furrow. Thus we have Paul who would have Timothy make a straight furrow right through the Word of Truth taking up its full counsel. The Truth of God is a straight line, and so must our handling of the Truth be straightforward and honest, without shifts or tricks.

For example, one of those furrows that should be plowed straightly is that of free grace. “Salvation is of the Lord”—He begins it, He carries it on, He completes it. Salvation is not of man, neither by man, but of Grace alone. Grace in election, Grace in redemption, Grace in effectual calling, grace in final perseverance, grace in conferring the perfection of Glory—it is all Grace from beginning to end.

Another straight plowing would be the matter of man's moral inability—to preach that man is fallen, that every part and passion of his nature is perverted, that he has gone astray altogether, is sick from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet—yes, is dead in trespasses and sins, and corrupt before God. “There is none that does good, no, not one.” The discerning will notice some plowing this furrow very crookedly, for they say, “There are still some very fine points about man, and many good things in him which only need developing and educating such that he will decide rightly." Sigh.

Rightly handling the Word of God requires discrimination and dissection, as in the division between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace. We must always distinguish between the root (e.g., regeneration) and the fruit (e.g., faith). Putting the cart before the horse is a very absurd thing, but many do it.

There are simple steps to rightly dividing, as in:

First step- Word Focus: etymology, synonyms, antonyms
Second step- Word Relations: grammar, syntax
Third step- Context: immediate context, whole book context, whole Bible context.
Fourth step- Culture: Social—the customs of the times; Temporal—the period in history; Geographical—the place on earth.

See an example of this in action here:
http://theologyonline.com/showthrea...-of-Men-quot&p=4655903&viewfull=1#post4655903

Rightly dividing requires exegetical ability, as in the following ten steps:

1. Identify the Genre (the Literary Form)
2. Get the Big Picture: Establish the Historical and Literary Context
3. Develop a Thesis Statement
4. Outline the Progress of Thought in the Passage
5. Consult Secondary Sources (a Good Commentary) on Your Passage.
6. Analyze Syntactical Relationships
7. Analyze Key Terms and Themes
8. Resolve Interpretive Issues and Problems
9. Evaluate Your Results From the Perspective of Wider Contextual and Theological Issues
10. Summarize Your Results

Now you know what rightly dividing really means.

AMR