Picking And Choosing: Why Selective Bible Reading Is Okay

Paul and the other apostles practiced selective Bible reading, just like Jesus. Here’s how you can learn to pick and choose verses like them.

Woman reading Bible under a tree — Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

In my last article, “Be Like Jesus—Pick and Choose Your Scriptures!” I discussed a conversation with a friend, in which he accused me of picking and choosing scriptures to fit my personal beliefs. I pointed out that Jesus did exactly that and expects us to do the same. Check out that article, then continue with this one. Here, I’ll discuss how the apostles took Jesus’s example to heart, and you can, too.

So, Why Do We Have the Law?

The apostle Paul encountered Christians who insisted on following the whole Bible (as much of it as they had at the time). Not only did they demand their own strict obedience—they enforced it on other believers. Paul wrote to the church at Gaul (Galatia) to explain why they no longer needed to follow the Bible all the time. Galatians 3:19-29 says:

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one.

Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

So, the law was there to guide people until they came to full knowledge of the truth through Jesus. Now that we have grace through Christ and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we are no longer bound to keep the whole law.

Picking and Choosing

Like Jesus, Paul was famous for “picking and choosing” which laws he would follow. In 1 Corinthians 9:19-21, Paul says that his behavior depends on the company he keeps.

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might gain all the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not outside God’s law but am within Christ’s law) so that I might gain those outside the law.

Some might say this makes Paul a hypocrite. It doesn’t. It makes him free. Paul considered himself free from following Jewish law, unless he was with Jewish people who would be offended by his freedom. In those cases, he reverted to law keeping to avoid giving offense. But that’s not how he lived every day. He freely decided which parts of the Bible applied to his life. How did he do this? By applying the principles Christ taught, and by following the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

The Law Written on Your Heart

This is why Hebrews 8:11 quotes Jeremiah 31:33-34, which says:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

What does it mean to have the law written on your heart? Not that you have the Bible memorized. Instead, it means that the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible lives in you. Having the law written on your heart means that if you never had a scrap of the Bible to follow, you could still live beautifully, because you are a living, walking, breathing scripture all your own. This is why you can pick and choose—because you have the Holy Spirit to help you discern the truth for yourself.

The Irony

My friend became incensed when I suggested that we can choose which parts of the Bible are applicable for our lives today. The irony is that this particular friend is covered in tattoos. Clearly, he has chosen which parts of the Bible to follow, and which parts no longer apply. (Click here to read my article, “Is It A Sin To Get Tattooed Or Pierced?) I don’t say this as a matter of criticism. I’m glad he had the understanding that allowed him the freedom to get his tattoos. I just wish he would recognize that he has freedom in other areas of life as well.

The Jerusalem Council

In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council tackled the question of whether Gentile males need to be circumcised before they can become Christians. The law called for God’s people to be circumcised. Yet, the church understood that such a requirement would prevent many people from joining the church. So, they prayed about it. Here’s what they came up with, and wrote in a letter to the Gentile believers:

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well (Acts 15:28-29).

Note the decision-making process here. “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Through prayer (through a relationship with the Holy Spirit and not a relationship with the law) They came up with their solution.

Jesus Offers a Better Way

This is the same process that Jesus wants us to use today. When challenged with a conundrum, Christians are not supposed to search the scriptures as if the Bible will save. In fact, this is why Jesus criticized the religious leaders of his day. “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me (John 5:39)!” Jesus didn’t want people’s faith to get stuck in the static pages of a book. Instead, he wanted his followers to base their behavior on what’s Christlike, not what’s biblical.

Jesus offers a better way. He said, “I have much to teach you, but you cannot bear it now (emphasis mine) (John 16:12).” Jesus knew that truth and its application are time-sensitive. What works for one generation might not work for another. What applies in one culture may not apply in another. So, Jesus only gave his disciples the bite-sized morsels they needed for the time being. Hebrew law was given to the Hebrew people at a particular place and time for a particular situation, and not intended to be universally applicable. In the same way, Jesus knew that even his words to his disciples were also bound in time and space. The better way is to move beyond our dependence on scripture and toward a spiritual heart.

Are We Without Guidance?

Does this mean we are without Divine guidance in the world? Of course not! Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).” In other words, when you need to make moral and ethical decisions, the Holy Spirit will lead you. Just the same way that Spirit guided the apostles to determine which parts of the Bible they would follow, and which parts no longer applied for their situation. We are not without godly guidance. But our divine direction comes not from stale words on a page. Instead, that leadership comes from the living Holy Spirit.

Many say that as Christians, we are not free to pick and choose which parts of the Bible we will follow. The truth is that everyone does. In fact, the tattoos on our bodies, the fabrics we wear, and the food we eat prove this to be the case for all Christians. While we may say that the Bible is inspired (click here to read my article on biblical inspiration), not all of it is equally applicable today. Anyone who says differently is fooling themselves because no one follows the Bible in its entirety.