Ye Search the Scriptures

Part ONE: THE PREPARATION OF MAN

1 Three Prerequisites 11

2 Three Penetrations 37

Part TWO: THE METHODS OF BIBLE STUDY

1 Keys to Bible Study 83

2 Practices in Bible Study 93

3 Plans for Bible Study 103

Note: Scripture quotations are from the American Standard Version of the Bible (1901), unless otherwise indicated.

The Preparation of Man

To study the Bible well two basic conditions must be fulfilled: one, the person must be right and trained; and two, the method must be correct. For the past hundreds of years, especially those following the Reformation, scores of good books have been written on the subject of how to study the word of God. These have been volumes of high quality, yet they share a common defect of the first degree, which is, that they all emphasize the method of Bible study but overlook the person who studies the Bible. 

The authors give the impression that anyone can master the Scriptures if only he adopts certain methods. Yet the fact is that many have used these methods but still do not know the Bible. Doubtless, those who write about these methods know their Bible well. Why, then, do not people obtain the same result in following their methods? It is because they forget what kind of people they are. The problem of studying the Word lies not simply in method but most keenly in man himself. Some study well, for they have learned before God; consequently, by using the right method they are able to know the Bible. But merely passing on their method without simultaneously imparting their life will not help others whose life is not right.

One thing, then, is of supreme importance: in studying the Bible, the man as well as the method needs to be right. Indeed, only the right man may fully utilize the proper method. Study method is unquestionably quite significant; without it one cannot master his study. Yet the man himself must first be transformed before he is able to study well. Those who believe that only a few are able to understand the Bible are as mistaken in their thinking as are those who consider all as being qualified to know it. For the truth really is that neither few nor all but only one class of people may actually study the Bible. Unless we belong to this class of people we will not be able to study the Scriptures too well. We therefore ought to realize that the man stands ahead of the method. If the man is not right, not one method will work; but if he is right, all these good methods may be used. We sincerely regard method as necessary; yet we will never rank it first; the man himself must be primary.

Consequently, in approaching this matter of searching the Scriptures, we should naturally divide it into two parts: first, the preparation of man; second, the methods of Bible study. What now follows is the first part, with the second part to be considered later.

1 A. SPIRITUAL.

The Lord Jesus once said: “The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit” (John 6.63). And hence the words of the Bible are not words only, nor are they mere letter, they are also spirit. We should not forget what our Lord has declared: “God is spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit” (John 4.24 margin). He is telling us there of a basic principle, which is, unless man exercises his spirit he is unable to touch God; for God being Spirit, we cannot worship Him except in the spirit. 

If we engage anything other than the spirit, we shall altogether fail to worship. We cannot worship Him with our mind, nor our emotion, nor our will. “Will-worship” (Col. 2.23) is of no value whatsoever. Because God is Spirit, He must be worshiped in spirit. This same fundamental principle governs in our Lord’s later statement, recorded in John 6: “The words that I have spoken . . . are spirit.” Since the Lord’s words are spirit, they must be read in the spirit. In other words, spiritual things can be touched by the spirit alone.

This Bible which we have is more than words printed on paper. So far as its nature is concerned, it is spirit. Hence all who intend to read this book need to use their spirit. There is no other way to read it. Of course, the spirit we refer to here points to the spirit of the regenerated person. For the sake of convenience, let us for the time being call it “the regenerated spirit”. Since not everyone has this regenerated spirit, neither can everyone understand the Bible. Only those who have this regenerated spirit are able to study the Scriptures. The spirit is to be used in reading the Bible as well as in worshiping God. Without this spirit none may know God nor know the Bible.

 Perhaps you come from a Christian family. You may recall how before you were born again you may have read a great deal of the Bible, yet you could not understand a bit of it. You knew the histories in the Bible, you remembered the events recorded there, but you did not understand anything. This is not at all surprising, for the word of God is spirit. Unless a person uses his spirit he is unable to understand God’s word.

When does man begin to understand the Bible? From the day he receives the Lord. Thereafter the Scriptures become a new book to him. He treasures it, and though he may not comprehend too much at the beginning, he loves to read it. Daily and yearly will he read it; he will sense hunger or loss if he does not. What is the reason for his understanding God’s word in this way? The answer is in his being born again: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The words of the Bible are spirit, and so too is the life which man receives at regeneration. It takes a man of the spirit to read the words of the Spirit. 

And only then will the Bible commence to shine and become effectual in his life. If a person is not regenerated, then no matter how clever and scholarly he may be, to him this book is a mystery. But a regenerated man whose cultural background may be quite primitive possesses greater understanding of the Bible than does an unregenerated college professor. And the explanation? One of them has a regenerated spirit, while the other has not. The Scriptures cannot be mastered through cleverness, research, or natural talent. The word of God is spirit, therefore it can only be known to whoever possesses a regenerated spirit. Since the root and the nature of the Bible are spiritual, how can anyone who lacks a regenerated spirit begin to understand it? It is a closed book to him.

“My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed,” declared the Lord Jesus (John 6.55). When those unbelieving Jews heard this statement, they strove with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Nevertheless, all who are born again know that this indicates He is the Son of God. We will bow down and confess, “My life comes from Your flesh and Your blood. Without Your flesh, I would have no life today. Without Your blood, I cannot even live today. You are indeed my food.” In reading the Lord’s word the regenerated will give thanks and praise instead of expressing puzzlement.

“It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit” (John 6.63). In these words of Jesus we see two realms: one is the spirit realm, the other is the flesh realm. In the spirit realm everything is living and useful; in the flesh realm, however, nothing is profitable. It is imperative that we read the Bible in the spirit. Regardless how learned a man is, or how resourceful in research, or how excellent in analytical power, he is not able to truly study the Bible if he lacks this spirit.

God is Spirit. Today we have the regenerated spirit, therefore we know Him. When unbelievers argue with us their eloquence may surpass us, their cleverness may exceed us, and their reasonings may seem more convincing; yet we know we know God because we have been born again—we possess the regenerated spirit by which we can touch God. It really does not matter whether we are able to explain or not; the reality is that we have touched God. Those who know not God hope to find Him through analysis, deduction, or reasoning. They may do all these, but still they cannot believe in God. For He is not to be found by human analysis and deduction.

“Canst thou by searching find out God?” challenges the book of Job (11.7). God is never arrived at through research. He is found by one way only—through the regenerated spirit. By exercising this spirit a person knows God through direct contact. Aside from this there is no other way. And the regenerated spirit is required in the study of the Bible just as it is needed in touching God. Suppose, for example, that a person desires to connect electricity to his installation. He has in his hand wood, bamboo and cloth, but no copper wire. 

Though the power company has an abundant storage of electricity, he has no way to make his electric bulbs shine. No amount of cloth, bamboo and wood can draw in the electricity. But there is another person who has neither cloth, nor bamboo, nor wood. All he has are some copper wires. But he is able to get his bulbs to shine because these wires of his will conduct the electricity. In like manner, man needs a regenerated spirit by which to touch the word of God as well as to touch God himself.

There is only one element in us which enables us to read the Bible, and this is the regenerated spirit that we have. If we employ any other element to read the Word we shall not touch the things of God. The Bible is something that may become either flesh or spirit to us. In the case of a person who does not possess a regenerated spirit but has only the flesh and the things of the flesh, the Bible will become flesh to him; but in the case of another person who possesses a regenerated spirit, this spirit will operate in him so that in touching the word of God he touches the Spirit. This is not to imply that the Bible may change its nature to be unspiritual, for the word of God is spirit.

Said Jesus: “It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit.” His words are spirit. And to His believing disciples the words of the Lord were spirit, but to the unbelieving Jews they became flesh. To those who possess the regenerated spirit the words of the Lord are spirit, whereas to those who do not have this spirit they are flesh. The way many people handle the Bible is almost laughable, since they lack this regenerated spirit. Men should not read the word of God with their own mind and cleverness. What they need is this regenerated spirit.

“Interpreting Spiritual Things to Spiritual Men”

Why is it, some may ask, that though I am a regenerated person and possess a regenerated spirit I cannot read the Bible well? Why is this book closed to me? To answer this question we should read a passage in the Scriptures.

 “And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2.1-4). The subject of this 1 Corinthian chapter is concerned with Paul’s preaching not in persuasive words of wisdom.

“That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world . . . We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory: . . . Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. 

But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words” (vv.5-13).

The marginal note renders the last phrase above as “interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men”. (Now in view of the context of this chapter, the marginal rendering seems to convey the better translation. Since in Chapter 3 the word “spiritual” has reference to men, the same word used near the end of Chapter 2 cannot mean otherwise. For to mean otherwise is not allowed by the law of interpretation.) Paul is here communicating spiritual things to spiritual men (“combining” in Greek may also be translated “communicating”).

 After reading this passage we can readily see the relation between the spirit and the Bible. Of course, Paul is here speaking of the words as revealed and taught by the Holy Spirit—the words of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, not those of man’s wisdom. What are the words according to the wisdom of man? Things which the eye sees, the ear hears, and the heart contemplates—these are man’s words. But where does Paul’s revelation come from? His revelation comes from the Holy Spirit, for He alone knows the things of God. How does man come to know this Holy Spirit revelation? 

Paul states that we must have the Spirit of God. This coincides exactly with what we have already seen in the Gospel of John. Who knows the things of God, save the Spirit of God? Without God’s Spirit none can know these things. Paul therefore concludes that he speaks these things not in persuasive words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, communicating spiritual things to spiritual men.

Why does Paul limit the communication of spiritual things only to spiritual men? Because communication is impossible to some people. “Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God”; he is unable to comprehend spiritual things. “For they are foolishness unto him”; he would think that we who believe in the Lord Jesus are truly “crazy”. “And he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged” (v.14). The peak of this passage is reached at the words, “they are spiritually judged”. 

Spiritual things can only be judged or discerned by the spiritual man; the natural man can neither judge nor know them. This is not a question of research. One may indeed spend time in doing research, yet he still is ignorant because he lacks a basic factor within him. The natural man is the soulical man. Scientifically, he may be called the psychological man; which means a man who is controlled by his soul. Speaking in spiritual terms, he is an unregenerated man. He is, like Adam, a living soul, void of God’s Spirit, and therefore unable to know the things of God.

As a rule, after a person becomes a Christian he should know spiritual things. Yet why is it that many brothers and sisters still do not know? This is due to the fact that though they possess a regenerated spirit, they are not necessarily spiritual men. In 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 Paul lays stress on the “spiritual” rather than on the “spirit”. John’s emphasis is on “spirit” whereas Paul’s is on “spiritual”. Man needs not only to possess this spirit but needs also to be possessed by this spirit. It is absolutely necessary to have the spirit; there is no other way. But having the spirit he must live under its principle, walk according to the spirit, and be a spiritual man; otherwise it is still of no avail.

Let us illustrate this with a parable. Suppose you take to an orchard a man who is born blind. You try to tell him about a mango tree there and what the fruit looks like. Do you think the blind man can understand? Even should he be very clever, having an extremely sensitive hearing ability, he still will not be able to fully comprehend. He can never know the green color of which you speak. The world of sight is different from the world of sound, as it is different too from the world of thought. Even so, to know the spiritual world requires the exercise of the spirit. Not all who have eyes actually see, for only those who use their eyes may see. The blind, it is true, cannot see the mango; but neither can the person with sight see unless he uses his eyes. Neither the blind nor the seeing is able to hear the mango with the ears.

Our problem today is that whereas the blind do not have eyes to see the mango, the seeing try though unsuccessfully to hear the fruit with the ears. Just as the natural man is incapable of knowing God— for none can know God by his natural organ—so the regenerate cannot know God by using the same natural means. Not all who have the spirit know God. It is possible to have the Spirit of God in a person and he still not know God. If cleverness in the heathen does not render any help to the knowledge of God, can it ever be a help in a Christian? 

If mental knowledge cannot teach the heathen the Bible, can it ever instruct the Christian? The only way to know the Word is by using the spirit. The question is more than having a spirit; it is a question of using the spirit. None may infer that because he has a new spirit he is allowed to follow his old way instead of walking after the spirit. If the old way was unusable before he possessed a new spirit, it is equally unfit to be used today after he has obtained the spirit. The basic avenue to the knowledge of the Bible lies in the spirit. Hence in 1 Corinthians 2 Paul indicates that the question is not over having or not having the spirit, but over being spiritual or not being spiritual. Spiritual things can only be judged by spiritual men.

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ” (3.1). Here is another term, “carnal”. The Corinthian believers are babes in Christ, since they are carnal. For this reason Paul adds: “I fed you with milk, not with meat” (v.2a). Not that they cannot touch spiritual things altogether, but that they can touch only the simplest revelation. Anything deeper is beyond their reach. Because they are carnal they can only drink milk; they cannot eat meat. 

Milk is consumed at the early stage of life; therefore it represents elementary revelation. But meat is used later in life; so that it points to higher and more advanced revelations. Only a small percentage of a lifetime is dependent on milk; yet some, like these Corinthian believers, seem unable to take in anything else for an inordinately long while. “For ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able” (v.2b).

In 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 we are shown three classes of men:

(1) The natural man. Such kind of man possesses merely what belongs to the soul. He may also be called the psychological man. A natural man is unregenerated, does not have the regenerated spirit, and lacks the faculty for knowing God’s word. This class of people cannot understand the Bible at all. (natural man = psuchikos Strong's # 5591)

(2) The carnal man. Such a class does indeed possess God’s life, having the Spirit of God in them; but instead of walking after the Spirit they walk according to the flesh. Having the Spirit, yet not touching the Spirit; having the Spirit, yet not submitting to His authority; having the Spirit, yet not ruled by Him—this is the class of people that is termed the carnal men in the Bible. Their understanding of the Scriptures is very limited. They can only take in milk, not meat. Milk is food predigested by the mother, hence this reference of Paul’s cannot point to direct revelation, it can only signify indirect revelation. Such people are unable to receive revelation directly from God. They are compelled to receive it indirectly from others.  (carnal man = sarkikos Strong's # 4559)

(3) The spiritual man. This type of person not only has the Spirit of God within but also lives under the Spirit’s power and walks according to the Spirit’s principle. The revelation this class will receive is unlimited. The word of God states clearly that only the spiritual judges all things.  (spiritual man = pnuematikos Strong's # 4152)

In this matter of studying the Bible, we must remember this basic prerequisite—that the man must be spiritual, he must follow the Spirit.

Heart Must Be Open

The Bible is the word of God. It is full of God’s light. This light is to enlighten all whose hearts are open to Him. “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3.18). Beholding the Lord with unveiled face is a basic condition to being enlightened by glory. If anyone approaches the Lord with veiled face, how can he expect the glory of the Lord to shine on him? God’s light shines only on those who are open to Him. Unless one is open to God, he has no way of obtaining His light. 

The problem lies in his being closed to God. His spirit, his heart, his will, and his mind are all closed to Him, and hence he will not have the light of the Bible to shine on him.

 It is just like the sun which, being so full of light, is meant to enlighten the inhabited world; but if we sit in the house with all doors and windows shut, its light is not able to enter and shine upon us. The difficulty is not with the light, but with the person. Light can only illumine those who are open to it. Now if this is true in the case of physical light it is equally true with spiritual light. Whenever we close ourselves up, light is prevented from lightening us. 

Some believers are closed people to God, and they will therefore never see His light. Instead of only spending time on reading, let us also examine ourselves as to whether we are open to God. If our face is veiled, the glory of the Lord is unable to illumine us. If our heart is not open to God, how can He give us light?

Light has its precise law. It enlightens all who are open to it. The measure of openness determines the amount of illumination. Even if we should shut all doors and windows of a room, the physical light will still in some measure penetrate should there be any fissures. Consequently, it is not difficult to receive light. Simply follow this law of openness, and you will have light. Whereas, if this law of light is violated then there can be no light whatsoever. 

The one who is closed to God cannot be a person who knows the Bible, regardless how much research he engages in or how long he prays. It is extremely hard for anyone to expect enlightenment with a closed heart. God’s light is not given unconditionally to man. For man to obtain God’s light, he must fulfill its condition.

Although all the children of God have the same Bible, the enlightenment they receive from it varies greatly. Some seem to have no understanding of the Book at all, some receive a little light, while still others find it full of light. The reason for such variation lies in the readers. The light of God remains the same, but people themselves are not the same. Some are open to God, so they are able to understand the Bible; but others are closed to God, hence they are not able to understand. 

Some people’s closure is complete, therefore their darkness is likewise total; while the closure of others is partial, and consequently the light they receive is partial. Whatever may be the degree of incapability to see—whether large or small, whole or partial—it all proves the darkness within us. Never think for a moment that to study the Bible well or not is an insignificant matter. If a person does not study the Bible well, it indicates one fact—this man lives in darkness! How very serious it is for a person not to be able to understand God’s word and see the light therein.

The question may be asked, What exactly is meant by being open to God? This openness must come from a consecration which is unconditional and without reservation. To be open to God is not a temporary attitude; it is a permanent characteristic before Him. It is not occasional, it is continuous. If one’s consecration to God is perfect and absolute, his attitude towards God will naturally be unreserved and nowhere in him is he closed to God. Any indication of closure only points to the imperfection of one’s consecration. All darkness comes from closure, and all closure comes from lack of consecration. 

Wherever consecration is lacking there is a place of reservation. Where one is unable to yield to God, there he must defend himself; and in that area he has no way to the truth of the Bible. For when he comes to that area, he will only circle around and around it. Simply stated, then, darkness arises out of closure, and closure stems from lack of consecration.

Eye Must Be Single

There are many places in the Bible which speak distinctively of the light. In Matthew 6 the Lord Jesus talks of the light of the heart: “The lamp of the body is the eye” (v.22). Notice how the Lord does not refer to the eye as the light of the body, but only as the lamp of the body. For light belongs to God, whereas a lamp belongs to us. Light is in the word of God, but the lamp is in us. 

Lamp is where we obtain the light. In other words, the lamp is where God puts His light and hence the place where we receive as well as release the light. In order to have God’s word shine upon us it is necessary that we have the lamp in the body. Now this lamp is our eye, and “if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness” (vv.22,23). To have our body full of light we are told by the Lord of one condition, which is, that our eye must be single.

Psa 119:105  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  [Please keep this verse in mind, it will be very relevant later-mdw]

What is meant by singleness of eye? Though we have two eyes, the focus is one; for both eyes look at the same thing simultaneously. Suppose a person has eye trouble. Instead of being single, the two eyes produce two foci, thus seeing two things concurrently though seeing neither clearly. For the eyes to see anything accurately there can be but one focus, never two. Now in order to receive light, the matter of whether the eyes can see or not is as much a problem as whether there is light. There will be no light if we have not received grace and mercy; but light is already in us if we have received grace and mercy. So our difficulty now is not concerned with light but with the eyes. If the eyes be evil, light will not be manifested. Unfortunately the eyes of many are not single; they see two things instead of one thing or see one thing as two things. As a consequence light is either dim in their lives or else they are totally in darkness.

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other” (v.24). The reason many cannot see light is because of their eyes being evil, which in turn is due to their lack of consecration before God. What is consecration? Consecration means: I will serve the Lord alone. A man cannot serve two masters. If he respects the one he will despise the other. If he hates the one he will love the other. 

It is absolutely impossible to serve two masters well. There is no way to strike a balance. No one can serve the Lord on the one hand and serve mammon on the other. Sooner or later he who serves two masters will encounter this dilemma. And he will finally come to love the one and hate the other. If a person does not consecrate himself fully to the Lord he will be serving mammon wholly. The Lord insists that the eyes need to be single, which means that our service and our consecration must be single. The singleness of a man’s eyes expresses itself in the singleness of his service.

May God enable us to see this basic principle: that if we wish to study the Bible, to understand its teaching and to acquire the revelation therein, we have a responsibility before the Lord, which is, that we must consecrate ourselves absolutely and entirely to the Lord. Then shall we be able to see the light in the Scriptures. Whenever our consecration becomes doubtful, our vision becomes unclear. If our seeing becomes clouded our consecration must be faulty. Let us thoroughly learn that a man cannot serve two masters.

The other master is called mammon. What this term represents is riches or wealth. How the light of the Bible is impaired by mammon! Owing to the veil that is put on by mammon, many are not able to see the light in the Bible. They do not see the truth of the Word because they have this problem of mammon in them. They will not deny themselves the pursuit of wealth when they find the truth in conflict with their personal gain. If people could lay aside their personal gain or loss and pursue after the truth at whatever cost; they would quite naturally come to know the Bible. But due to the problem of mammon remaining unsolved, many have compromised the teaching of the Bible. Were Christians to have mammon fully dealt with, the number of those obeying God would be greatly increased.

For this reason, then, we need to take this warning to heart, for whenever we become careless and care somewhat for our own selfish gain, the light of God will immediately be veiled. In order to see light we must not serve mammon. We cannot have two interests—our own as well as God’s. We can only consider one interest, which is God’s. If we intrude our own interest we will instantly have two masters, and our eyes will not be single. The double-minded is unable to know the Bible; he who wishes to preserve his own interest is automatically disqualified. Only the single-eyed can truly study the Bible.

How can our eyes be single? “Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also” (v.21). This is quite singular: that if we are able to control mammon, we shall be helped instead of harmed by it. Our heart naturally loves mammon. It is quite difficult for us to incline our heart towards God and not towards gain. Yet if we could control our wealth, we would also control our heart. 

We should therefore learn to send out our treasure. For the Lord says here that “where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.” When one dispatches his treasure to the Lord’s side, his heart will just naturally gravitate to the Lord. By sending his treasure to heaven the believer sends his heart to heaven as well. Where our treasure is, there will be our heart. So by surrendering all to God our heart will spontaneously be all towards Him. And thus shall our eyes be single.

For us to understand the Bible we need to have a perfect consecration. How can our heart be inclined towards God if there is no consecration? Consecration produces a special action; that is, it sends our heart to God. When we consecrate our all to Him our heart cannot help but go to Him, because our treasure has already been dispatched there. Two different situations may happen at consecration: one person’s heart may go first, whereas another person’s heart may follow afterwards. Some are moved in their heart before they consecrate, while others consecrate and are then moved in their heart. Regardless what our heart condition may be, let us consecrate. Let us send forth the thing we are most reluctant to part with. In the name of the Lord, let it be dispatched to the needy. As we send it off, our heart will go to the Lord’s side. When all things are sent to His side, our eyes spontaneously turn single.

As the eyes become single they begin to see clearly and are then able to be enlightened. “Thy whole body”, says the Lord, “shall be full of light” (v.22). What is meant by having the whole body full of light? It means having sufficient light to teach our feet to walk, our hands to work, and our mind to think. In other words, we have light on all sides. Light will flood our emotion, our will, our mind, our love, our walk, and our way. No area about us remains unseen if our eyes are single.

We have already stated that only the spiritual can study the Bible. We will now add that only the consecrated can know the Bible. Except a person is consecrated, he will never be able to study the Word well. When he reads the Scriptures he will encounter this or that area where he has not yet consecrated, and darkness will be upon him. As he reads on, he will be confronted with more unconsecrated areas and more darkness. With darkness upon him, he is incapable of obtaining anything from God. 

And hence it behooves him to be absolute before God. He cannot serve the Lord on the one hand and expect to go his own way on the other. Someone may say: I really want to know the will of God, but I just do not know what the Bible teaches on this matter. That is his excuse; it is not true. He knows not because he has no desire to go the Lord’s way. If he truly wishes to walk in the way of the Lord he shall see the path clearly marked out ahead of him. Only one kind of people is unclear—those whose eyes are not single.