Ron asked an interesting question: “What are the ten most misunderstood Bible verses or passages?”

I have a book on the ten most misunderstood words in the Bible. But I don’t have one on this question. Maybe I will write a book in response.

In this blog I will consider the first five verses or passages that I think are the most misunderstood, along with a brief explanation and a link to an article or blog on the subject.

John 3:16. Why is this simple verse one of the most misunderstood? It is because people do not think that regeneration by faith alone makes sense. So they change “whoever believes in Him” to whoever turns from his sins, commits his life to Christ, and follows Christ. See this article.

James 2:14-17. People wrongly think that salvation in verse 14 refers to salvation from eternal condemnation. It actually refers to salvation from God’s judgment in this life. James doesn’t say that faith without works is not faith. He says that faith without works is dead, that is, unprofitable. Compare “What does it profit?” in 2:14 and 2:16. See this article.

Hebrews 6:4-8. The warning here is not about hell. It is about judgment in this life. Verses 7 and 8 show that the issue is blessings versus curses in this life. See this article.

Hebrews 10:26-31. Again, the warning here is about judgment in this life, not hell. See this article.

Matthew 7:21-23. Lordship Salvation people turn this passage on its head. They think the Lord is saying that these people will be sent to the lake of fire because they did not have enough good works. The actual issue is that these people think they should get into the kingdom because of the good works they did. But the only way to enter the kingdom is by faith alone, apart from works. See this article.

A key to interpreting Scripture is this: Let clear Scripture help you understand difficult Scripture. In the case of the saving message, John’s Gospel is clear. John 3:16 is clear. Many people go to difficult texts, come up with a faulty saving message, then misinterpret John 3:16 in light of their misinterpretation of tough texts.

Here are five simple texts in John’s Gospel that should be part of all our interpretation tool belts: John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35-40; 11:25-27; 20:31.

Keep grace in focus by letting the clear texts help you understand the difficult and not the other way around.