Unto Their Own Destruction
Near the end of his last letter, Peter wrote about the letters of our beloved brother Paul. He admitted something honest: in them are some things hard to be understood. Then he warned that some people take those hard things and twist them, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”2 PETER 3:15–16 · KJV
Peter's word is the Greek strebloō (στρεβλόω), to twist or wrench. Greek writers also used it for torturing someone on the rack. Here it pictures Scripture stretched and bent until it says what it never said. It appears only here in the New Testament.
Notice who does the twisting: they that are unlearned and unstable. The unlearned have not done the work of understanding. The unstable are not settled in the truth, so they are moved by whatever sounds new. And notice the cost: their own destruction. Mishandling the Bible is never a harmless hobby.
Peter does not answer the danger by telling believers to stop reading Paul. He tells them to stand guard and keep growing.
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”2 PETER 3:17–18 · KJV
That is the purpose of this week. Over eight weeks we have put tools in our belt:
- Comparing Scripture with Scripture
- Authorial intent
- Genre
- Literal and symbolic language
- Word studies and the original languages
- Interpreting Scripture in light of sound doctrine
- Correct application
Now we turn those tools on the most common ways the Bible is misread. Most errors involve real verses pulled out of place, not made-up ones. Irenaeus said the Gnostics of his day were like a man who pried the jewels out of a king's portrait, reset them as a dog or a fox, and called it the king. Every jewel was real. The picture was a lie. Learn the patterns, and you will recognize them anywhere.
Always ask, “What did this mean to the original audience?” before asking, “What does it mean for me?” Never ask, “What does this mean to me?”
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For Deeper Study
- Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the BibleAmazon James W. SireA clear catalog of twenty reading errors behind false teaching, from ignoring the context to twisted translation (InterVarsity, 1980).
- Health, Wealth & HappinessAmazon David W. Jones and Russell S. WoodbridgeTwo Baptist professors weigh the prosperity gospel's history and its teaching on wealth, suffering, and giving against Scripture (Kregel, 2011).
- Basic Bible InterpretationAmazon Roy B. ZuckA practical, readable guide to grammatical-historical interpretation by a longtime Dallas Theological Seminary professor.
- Exegetical FallaciesAmazon D. A. CarsonA more technical survey of common mistakes in word studies, grammar, and logic, for readers ready to go deeper (2nd ed., Baker, 1996).
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Foundations of Interpretation
Hermeneutics is how we learn what the Bible means, not just what it says, so that we draw truth out of the text instead of reading our ideas into it.
Open Doctrine