Are Paul's Letters Hard to Understand?

The Holy Spirit used Paul to write 13 of the 27 New Testament books.(1) 

When describing Paul's letters, Peter said, they “contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).

Does this mean that Christians will have difficulty understanding Paul’s letters? 

Only those who fail to study God's Word. 

When Christians are ignorant of Scripture, they are "unstable" and easily misled by false teachings, especially when they hear some of the “ex-vangelical” teachings which typically distort Paul’s epistles.(2) 

That’s why God stresses our need to be knowledgeable and discerning (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4).(3)  

There are also people who are "unstable" because they’re unteachable. They hear a false teaching and won't let go of it, no matter how many Scriptures refute it (Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 15:10; Proverbs 15:12).

However, if we're teachable and we're regularly growing in our understanding of God’s Word, we'll be able to recognize and reject false teachings. We'll be neither ignorant nor unstable, and we'll enjoy the rich content of the Pauline epistles.

The choice is ours.

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Footnotes:

(1) Many Bible scholars also believe Paul wrote Hebrews, which would mean he wrote 14 New Testament books. To read more on this: Who wrote the Book of Hebrews?  

God used the personalities and writing styles of the men who wrote His Word, but they wrote what God wanted them to write. In describing Paul’s epistles, Peter identifies them as Scripture, given by God (2 Peter 3:14-18; Paul’s Letters are Scripture).

(2) False teachers can distort any teaching in Scripture. But Paul addresses many subjects that are controversial with our modern world, so his letters are most often discredited and/or distorted. 

(3) See Are You a Bottle-fed Christian or a Meat-eating Christian? 

 

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