Relative sense and absolute sense in Bible

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The Bible is written in a dual sense:

i.e.     (1)     Absolute sense and

          (2)     Relative sense. Absolute sense is the sense of the spirit. i.e. when it is mentioned light, it means perfect light and when it is mentioned  good, it means perfectly good. The relative sense is the sense of the human beings. In relative sense, when it is mentioned light, it just means that it is more lit than any other area of less light. i.e. in comparison with another area of less light, or with a fixed standard, it is light. e.g. when compared with bright sunlight, the moonlight is dark. The same moonlight is bright in comparison with a dark night. i.e. the brightness of the moon is dark in comparison with sunlight and it is bright in comparison with the dark night. Similar is the case of mentioning of good, hot, cold etc. Human knowledge fell from the absolute sense to the relative sense when man ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge.   

The Bible is written in a dual language:

(1)     Spiritual language and (2)  Earthly language. This is because the Bible deals with eternal truths pertaining to human spirit and its Creator, both eternal; but the Bible conveys its message to human beings who live on the earth, i.e. having a very short span of life. So a spiritual language and an earthly language are mixed together in the Bible. Some examples of the Biblical verses in spiritual language in the absolute sense and some others in the earthly language in the relative sense are given below.

(i)      Spiritual language in the absolute sense

          (a)     Jesus said: “None is good, but God alone” (Mark 10:18)  

          (b)     Jesus asked: “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46)

          (c)     Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father (God) but by Me” (John:14:6)

          (d)     “If we (all human beings) say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and truth is not in us”
(I John 1:8)

(ii)     Earthly language in the relative sense

The following passages are written in comparison with others, as man usually says. i.e. expressed in human parameters or standards.

          (a)     “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1 - Explanation is given in ‘Two languages’)

          (b)     And they (Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth) were both righteous before God, walking in all commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:6- Explanation is given in ‘Two languages’)   

All the precious words uttered by Jesus Christ touch both the spiritual realm and physical realm, and hence are true in the absolute sense and the relative sense.

God Himself has certified about the Bible, thus- “Seek and read from the Book of the Lord. Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the Lord has commanded and His Spirit has gathered them” (Isaiah 34:16, 17). These verses explicitly state that we can see everything in the Bible, if we diligently seek and read it. The reason is also given-All the Bible verses are written by the inspiration and command of God by different men of different locations, professions, and generations. Later it was compiled by the Holy Spirit, through some other men. St. Paul has written about this Book- “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16,17). i.e. the Bible verses were not originated from human intellect or any other wrong source, it originated directly from the almighty God, the omniscient Holy Spirit. Moreover, everything that is needed for a man to become perfect is contained in the Bible.

As the Bible is written by the Holy Spirit, human intellect is insufficient to understand and interpret it fully. Man must turn to the  Holy Spirit, accepting his limitation, ignorance, and inability to understand and make use of it. He must never depend on the human intellect. (More details are given in ‘The Church’). God says: “But My people did not listen to My voice; Israel have none of Me; so I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own counsels” (Psalm 81:11,12). When man does not listen to God’s voice, God allows him to depend on his own intellect. God also says: “If My people listen to Me and walk in My ways …..I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the Rock, I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:13-16). The finest wheat, honey etc. refers to God’s words found in the Bible and the Rock refers to God’s Word, Jesus Christ.

When man tries to learn and interpret the Bible, depending on his intellect, he loses its essential part- the life, Jesus Christ. Moreover, he fails to understand the spiritual language and miserably falls to the limited facts explained in the Bible, in the relative sense. When an un-regenerated man (who is not yet born again) study and interpret the Bible, all these problems arise and he will interpret it in the light of his own acquired knowledge, philosophies of the world and finally he will see the Bible as one among the good books; Jesus Christ as one among great men and finally he will go astray after false gods. He will find Astrology, Palmistry and their ilk which are quite abominable before the living God as pure science. How pathetic a fall it is!                                                                  

  I was trying to learn the Bible exactly in the same way, before regeneration, and was in the same pathetic condition explained above; but my God’s infinite grace brought me to salvation, bought and cleansed me with His precious Blood. If my Saviour the Lord of all, Jesus Christ could bring me to salvation, I am sure, He can bring anybody to salvation, whatever may be his or her present condition.

When a regenerated man turns to the Bible, accepting his limitation, listening to the voice of God, and depending wholly on the Holy Spirit who wrote it, he will see the ultimate truth in the absolute sense; he will see his Saviour and the Lord of all, Jesus Christ-the one and only way to eternal Life; the peerless teachings of the Master of all masters, Jesus Christ. He will finally find that all the philosophies of the world and teachings of the saints which seem perfect, when viewed through certain directions, and in certain life situations, come to an end. All will prove themselves futile before certain other problems or other life situations. (Refer the commentary on ‘Mahabarat’ by late Sri. Joseph Mundasseri). Ultimately he will see the sterling beauty of the teachings of Jesus Christ.  He will find His teachings which seem impractical to the carnal mind of man, when put to practice, is perfectly efficacious, in all circumstances, for all problems and at all times. The Psalmist says - “I have seen an end of all perfections; but Thy (God’s) commandment is exceeding broad” (Psalms 119:96, O.K.J.V). The blessed man sees an end  or limit to all worldly ideas and philosophies, which are acclaimed as perfect, when he sees God’s commandment .i.e. we cannot compare any worldly ideas, philosophies or doctrines with God’s words.                                      

Some great people teach that there are many ways for the salvation of our souls, and Jesus Christ is one of them. The Bible discards it emphatically and says: “The way of peace they do not know and there is no judgment (discernment) in their paths, they have made their roads crooked, no one who goes in them knows peace” (Isaiah 59: 8). One of the prophecies about Jesus Christ says: “and this Man shall be called peace” (Micah 5:5). If a man tries to find out a way to salvation, other than Jesus Christ, he will never succeed. The real and genuine peace which the world cannot give, and none can take from us is given by Jesus Christ alone. (John 14:27).

On trying to learn the Bible, I realized one thing beyond doubt- I am too little to learn and understand the Bible; but I just cannot resist the immense treasure of eternal life flowing from ‘Genesis’ to ‘Revelation.’ It is the most joyous thing in life to sit beside this ocean of eternal life and look into it. I do know that it is unfathomable in depth and width. Let this little (myself) look into the Deep (the Bible or God’s thoughts, God’s Spirit or God’s heart –Psalm 92:5, Psalm 42:7).