Most of the Bible can be taken literally and simply

God says what He means and means what He says

Some of the words are hard to understand

2 Pet 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in
which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned
and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.

We should therefore not only read superficially, but also analytically. Why?
1. God gave us a language
2. God gave us a book
3. God gave us a mind
4. The Lord takes issue at people who don’t understand His words

Matt 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matt 12:3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he
was an hungred, and they that were with him;

Matt 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Matt 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith
unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
thou hast perfected praise?

Matt 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The
stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner:
this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Matt 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read
that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,

How to Read a Book: Rules for Analytical Reading

From Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren,

1. Classify the book according to kind and subject matter.

2. State what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity.
3. Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and analyze these parts as you have analyzed the
whole.
4. Define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve.

II. Interpretation: Rules for Interpreting a Book's Content

5. Come to terms with the author by interpreting his key words.

6. Grasp the author's leading propositions by dealing with his most important sentences.
7. Know the author's arguments, by finding them in, or constructing them out of, sequences of sentences.
8. Determine which of his problems the author has solved, and which he has not; and of the latter, decide
which the author knew he had failed to solve.

http://faculty.tcu.edu/grant/30643/HOWTOREADABOOK.PDF

RULES IN UNDERSTANDING A BOOK

 1. We should read it according to the intention of the author
2. We should read statements in the context it is provided
3. We should read words according to the meaning of the word when it was written
4. We should not impose our own preferred understanding, especially in difficult passages
5. We can arrive at a better understanding of an obscure, difficult or puzzling statement by comparing
that statement to the same group of words written in another section of a book

TASK: UNDERSTAND I John 2:2

I Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world.

1. WORD STUDY
a. Same words used in other passages
b. Original language - LEXICON
c. Other translations
d. Bible dictionary

2. DIFFERENT IDEAS POSSIBLE

a. Ideas Accepted by churches of the Lord (Matt. 16:19; I Tim 3:15)
b. Ideas of those who are godly men, soul winners, who have studied more thoroughly and read
the Word more – elders

3. CLOSE CONTEXT
a. Grammar – tenses, form (noun or verb), plural or singular,
b. Who is speaking, to whom, purpose, date - dispensation,

4. ANALOGY OF FAITH
a. The whole teaching of the Scriptures in General will not contradict itself in parts

The analogy of faith is not the principle that Scripture interprets Scripture, but that all Scripture is in
agreement and will not contradict itself

propitiation
late 14c., from L.L. propitiationem (nom. propitiatio) "an atonement," from L. propitiare "render favorable,"
from propitius "favorable, gracious, kind," from pro- "forward" (see pro-) + petere "go to" (see petition).
Earliest recorded form of the word is propitiatorium "the mercy seat, place of atonement" (c.1200),
translating Gk. hilasterion.

If a man propitiates for the DEBT of someone, the DEBT is automatically cancelled upon payment of the
propitiator. The cancellation of the debt does not depend on the status of the debtor.