This morning I am spending time studying Hebrews 6:1-8, which I'll preach on this coming Sunday. One of my tasks is to "rightly handle God's Word." Which means: I want to interpret this text accurately.
How can we do better at interpreting God's Word accurately? Gordon Fee's book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth helps us with this.
Fee writes: The aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness; one is not trying to discover what no one else has ever seen before... The aim of good interpretation is simple: to get at the “plain meaning of the text.” (Kindle location 269)
For example, in Hebrews 6:4-5 we see the term:
- "those who have once been enlightened"
What does that mean?
Here is where a reliable commentary can help me. So, I went to Google Books, typed in "Hebrews 6 enlightened," and up came a bazillion commentaries on this. F.F. Bruce's commentary appeared. You can go here to see how he interprets this. (pp. 145-146)
