You Don’t Have to Understand The Bible to be a Christian

If understanding the Bible was a requirement to be a Christian, then nobody would be one.

Let me explain. Every year since 1988, I’ve read through some version of The One Year Bible. One January 1st, after reading the Genesis 1 account of creation, I squealed, “Mystery abounds!”

That year I decided to put the initials “MA” at the bottom of every page with something I didn’t understand, that raised a question, or seemed shrouded in mystery.

Can you guess on what percentage of the pages I put “MA”?

All of them!

Mystery, which is truth beyond human understanding, is built into the deal.

God declares, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

We all get this. We’ve all had to hold back information from someone we didn’t think could handle it.

There can be no mistake: the Bible is crystal clear on the plan of salvation. And much of the rest of the Bible is equally clear.

But much of it is very difficult to interpret. That’s why people with noble intentions often come up with different, sometimes weird, interpretations. (There will be a lot of kooks in heaven).

Net net: Let’s not try to make our interpretation of any “difficult to understand” part of the Bible into a requirement for us to consider someone else a Christian.

Faith and repentance are all that Jesus requires. Should we require more?