II Peter 3:15b,16 – “Hard to be Understood?”

My very literal translation of this passage would be as follows:

“…just as the beloved brother of ours, Paul, has written to you, according to the wisdom given to him, as also in all [his] letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable contort, as [they do] the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Peter apparently intends to reinforce his admonition for people to “bear in mind that the patience of the Lord means salvation,…” (v15a) by appealing to the apostles’ solidarity. The false teachers unfortunately greatly confuse the common folk, because they seem to teach from the Bible too, but come to very different conclusions. One of their favorite subjects has always been the things “hard to be understood.” They seldom teach on that which is all too clear. The things “all too clear” leave no room for them to weave their deceptions. Even while Peter condemns the false teachers (all of chapter 2), the existence of the “things hard to be understood” remains. What are we to do with the things “hard to be understood”?

First of all, Peter acknowledges that there are these “things hard to be understood.” One could ask, “Why is it particularly Paul’s writings in which Peter finds these ‘hard’ things?” Interestingly, look back at my literal translation and note there is no “his” in the Greek. It is merely understood (hence I put the word in the [  ]). The thing is anyone knows there are “hard” things all through the Bible. That isn’t at all disputed.

Rather, acknowledging them, Peter goes on to say the problem is not that the “hard” things are there, but that false teachers, who are “the unlearned and unstable” contort them, and that to their own destruction. So the problem is not with the Scriptures, not even with the “hard to be understood” parts of the Scriptures, but rather with the morally responsible agents handling them. In the false teachers’ case, them impiously contort the Scriptures (again see all through chapter 2 and the book of Jude, among many other places). The problem is with hearts that have no intention of acknowledging the King.

So, first of all, we ought not be dismayed by the seemingly infinite preponderance of charlatans, quacks, idiots, and bald-faced liberals who flood the earth with a hopeless cacophony of their confusion. They may in fact have twelve degrees but they’re still “unlearned” and, since they’ve never ever “built their house on the rock” they remain “unstable” though they’re allowed to sin for a lifetime.

Second, of all, we should pause and consider this whole business of “hard things.” What are we to do with it? These men handle the “hard things” “to their own destruction.” Should we somehow be intimidated ourselves from reading and studying the Scriptures, lest we handle them to our own destruction?

One of the great and championed doctrines of the Protestant Reformation was called the “Perspicuity of Scripture.” Contrary to the “magisterium” teaching of the Catholic Church (which said only the clergy could understand the Scriptures), the Reformers insisted that the Bible was written in such a way as to be clear for anyone to understand.  That doctrine in particular drove them to translate the Bible into people’s mother tongues, so anyone literate could read for themselves and enjoy the life-giving power of the Word of God.

As I have studied this matter and looked up passages to support the Perspicuity of the Scriptures, I am driven to say: I have been reading and studying the Bible myself for over 30 years. To my knowledge not a day has gone by in the last 30 years that I did not spend some time reading from the Bible. Proof-texts aside, I feel qualified and confident to assert that the entire Bible from cover to cover invites the simplest to hear its message and live. “Wisdom has built her house … ‘Let all who are simple come in here!’ she says to those who lack judgment … Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding’” (Prov 9:1-12). “Now what I’m commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond you …No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth, and in your heart so you may obey it” (Deut 30:11-14). I have always and will continue to encourage anyone and everyone to open the Water of Life and read it for themselves. It is the very personal message of a very personal God intended to very personally impart life to every man, woman, boy, and girl who would personally drink from it. Even the Bereans were commended because they “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). I could multiply texts to support this doctrine but, what I’m saying is, “Read it for yourself. See for yourself if it does not speak clearly to you from cover to cover. See if you ever get the feeling that God somehow didn’t intend for you to read it.” I guess I’m calling the Bible as its own witness and challenging anyone to be the judge. It is clear. It will speak to you. It is alive. It is powerful. Read it yourself.

But what about the “hard things?” As anyone would read from cover to cover, will you find things “hard to be understood?” Yes, you will. I remember the first time I read through the Old Testament. I have to confess there was much I did not understand. But there was also much I did. And it benefited me greatly. What truly amazed me was to read through it again a year or two later and realize how much more I did understand. Since then I have read the entire Bible through from cover to cover so many times I have long since lost track of the number. I still find many things “hard to be understood.” But I also find it constantly speaking to me, teaching me, correcting me, guiding me, and, again and again, I still find it true, “When you know the truth, the truth shall set you free!”  

But they are there. Why are they there? The first and most obvious reason is exactly what I’ve found as I read it through over and over: Jesus told His disciples, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Yet, when He, the Spirit of Truth shall come, He shall guide you into all truth” (John 16:12,13). “…you cannot bear them now.” Truth must be learned. And learning is a process. As the writer of Hebrews expressed, “Strong meat is for the mature, for those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern good and evil” (Heb 5:11-14). There will always be much in the Bible that I find “hard to be understood” simply because it is the Word of God, the infinitely deep well of divine truth, from which I may draw and draw and draw and draw and never plumb its depth. I personally do not find the “hard things” intimidating or discouraging. I honestly find them exciting. To find things I don’t understand means I might … if I read and study and pray. And if I don’t, I read and study and pray on, and still someday I might. In the meantime, the Lord is saying to me, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now …”

Another reason there are hard things is because there are some things He actually does not intend us to understand (yet). In John 14:29, Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.” “…so that when it happens …” When it happens. While I believe we all should study every verse of prophecy we can as long as time and life allows. We should strive to understand it. We should even try to put it together into some kind of logical order. Yet, what Jesus’ words should do is humble us. His words should make us hold our understandings with humble, gentle, kind hearts, with open hands saying, “Perhaps I don’t have it all put together correctly. I’ve tried to give it my best shot. But the most important things is that I know the Scriptures themselves, that, ‘when it happens’ I’ll be moved by the Scriptures and not by my own understandings. It simply is true that, particularly in prophecy, there will be truths that are “hard to be understood” precisely because they weren’t meant to be understood … until it happens.

Of course we could discuss the problem of spiritual enlightenment, that “the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God” (I Cor 2:14). It will ever be a problem of our fallen nature that we must humbly and prayerfully inquire of the Author to understand what He meant. To not do so is an evil presumption, a “barging in where angels fear to tread.” To approach the Bible with anything less than a humble, teachable spirit guarantees there will be much that is “hard to be understood.”

And then we need to add that a “humble, teachable spirit” of necessity includes the intention to come away obediently applying truth to one’s life. The man who “built his house on the sand” heard the Word just like the other. The difference was that he “did not put it into practice” and his house came down “with a crash.” Anyone who studies the Scriptures without the intention of personally meeting the Author, of personally receiving His loving message, of personally embracing and applying whatever truth He might show him, guarantees he’ll find therein many things “hard to be understood.”

So then let us acknowledge the presence of “things hard to be understood” but let us give ourselves humbly, obediently, and diligently to the reading and study of the Words of the Living God. While others may presumptuously peer into the Ark and pay for it with their own destruction, may we eat the Bread of Life and live.