Romans 6:19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

Paul was a good preacher/writer, and here he mentions one of his important techniques: using terminology and images his audience could relate to. Slavery isn’t a perfect image, but it was one his audience was very familiar with, because slavery was an established part of society. Today that image is very highly influenced by racial overtones because of American history, but in Paul’s day that was not the case; people of any ethnicity could be slaves. Slavery was sometimes a matter of birth, but more often a matter of circumstances, such as debt or capture in war. Shifting social context is an important reason to study the Bible and not just read it casually. It is not unusual for people to take a passage to mean something entirely different from the intention of the one who wrote it. That said, the Holy Spirit is entirely capable of giving us accurate understanding of any or all of the Bible, because He’s the one who inspired people to write it in the first place. Scholarship by itself is no substitute for the tutelage of the Holy Spirit.

This is an issue of vital importance for me, because I am charged with “correctly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) I come from a line of Bible scholars going back several generations, which is certainly unusual, but it’s no reason for complacency. In addition to understanding the social and linguistic context of what I read, I need an unhindered relationship with the Author, or I will quickly get off into nonsense. Like Paul, I need to communicate God’s truth in words and images my hearers can understand, and often that’s not easy for me. In English, my vocabulary is much larger than average, so when speaking I must be careful to tailor what I say to the educational level of my audience. I don’t always do that very well! On top of that, in Japanese my vocabulary is very irregular, going into highly technical terms in some areas but having gaping holes in others, because of my never having attended school in Japanese. I speak fluent “churchese,” but that doesn’t communicate to people who are in church for the first time! My task is not simply understanding the Bible myself, to put it into practice, but helping others understand it so that they may put it into practice. For that, I must have the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.

Father, thank You for this important reminder. I make a mess of communication all too often! I ask You to place a guard on the words I say and write so that I may neither distort Your truth nor cloud it, but express it in words that indeed “penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow,” (Hebrews 4:12) to cut people free from the lies and misconceptions that have bound them, and lead them into Your light and life, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!