No Wresting

2 Peter 3:16

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.

To be absolutely honest with every word of the Bible must be the imperative of the Bible student and especially the Bible preacher.

·       To be clever with words

·       To be masterful at the manipulation of them

·       To be skilled at saying what you wish while making it a appear you are preaching God's Word

these are traits of wickedness and not of God.

One must be vigilant, remembering that they may be deceived by their own heart. It is not enough to be convinced a thing is true. The thing must be true. The preacher/student of the Word is obligated to discover the truth of God's Word, even if the passage is "hard to be understood" and harder still to accept. The message we deliver must be faithfully excavated from the pages of God's Word and presented for what it says and not for what we want it to say.

Anything else, no matter how appealing it may seem, is destructive.