SOME SIMPLE RULES OF INTERPRETATION...

I.
1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is being spoken to?
3. What is being spoken about?

II.
1. WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? HOW? HOW MANY?

III.
1. What does it say?
2. What does it mean?
3. How do we apply it?

IV.
1. “SPECS”...things to look for:

S = sins to forsake
P = promises to claim
E = examples to follow
C = commands to obey
S = stumbling blocks to avoid

V.
1. If the literal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense, lest it result in nonsense.
2. If the literal sense makes NO sense, seek another sense until it makes good sense.
3. If the literal sense seems to make good sense, but appears to be in contradiction to other
parts of the Word, use cross-references, check original Hebrew or Greek, check
context, tenses of words, arrangement of contradictory words and see other translations.