Rightly Dividing

People are always puzzled by bible phrases that seem difficult to understand. One of them is the phrase you see in 2 Timothy 2:15 where Paul talks about a saved, bible believing individual who “needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The issue is WHAT IS IT that we are to rightly divide? Is it the bible? Is it to separate the “old testament” from “the new?” Is it to just go through the bible and pick out verses we particularly like or certain promises we see in there that we want to claim for ourselves. What is “rightly dividing the word of truth?”

Well, the phrase, “the word of truth,” appears exactly five times in a King James Bible. It is used once by David, in the book of Psalms, once by James in the book of James, and three times by Paul. In the book of Psalms, David writes:

Psalms 119:43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

Now from that I can understand that the “word of truth” is something in your mouth, in other words, it would be words. Now, does the GOSPEL consist of words? Doesn’t the bible say that God decided “by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe?” (1 Corinthians 1:21) Doesn’t the bible say that “faith cometh by hearing?” (Romans 10:17) Now the verse goes on to say, “and hearing by the word of God.” So there is no doubt that the “word of truth” is the word of God, but does it mean the same thing? Are those phrases interchangeable? Or does the bible get very specific about the meaning of the “word of truth?” Look at what James says:

James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Now James the Apostle, who wrote the book of James to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, was killed by the sword in Acts chapter twelve. He NEVER heard Paul preach. He was dead when Paul showed up in Jerusalem at the time of Acts chapter fifteen to “communicate unto them that gospel that I PREACH among the Gentiles.” (Galatians 2:2) Now look what Paul wrote to some Gentiles who were “trusting the Lord:”

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Notice that Paul DEFINES the word of truth. He says it is THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION. Now James wrote to the TWELVE TRIBES, but the bible says 18 TIMES that PAUL is the APOSLLE OF THE GENTILES. So who wrote down the WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION…in the bible? Was it James, or was it Paul?