Some believers wait for a pastor or theologian to explain God’s word to them, thinking they cannot understand Scripture on their own. God’s word is straightforward. Even the most challenging sections can be understood if we approach them with a childlike interpretation, not from the lofty platforms of theological understanding.

Paul wrote, “We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom” (II Corinthians 1:12).

As a result of living in God’s grace, Paul wrote, “Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand” (vs. 13).

Jesus had previously said something similar to His disciples: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). That reliance on the Spirit led Peter, a fisherman with limited education, to write two of the most profound letters in the New Testament.

Some pastors and theologians have abandoned the simple truth of God’s word, adding human interpretation “between the lines,” leading us to think that without them, we could never understand God’s word. Some of those “interpretations” are not true to God’s word.

We should seek out pastors and theologians who hold true to God’s word in the simplest terms. They are out there and may not be the most publicly noted, but their lives carry a “God-given holiness and sincerity.” They will help us trust a simple reading of God’s word more than any current and popular interpretation that tries to explain what is between the lines.