Wresting The Scriptures

"Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction." There are basically three definitions for the word "wrest". The first is "to forcibly pull something from someone's grasp." The second is "take power or control from something after considerable effort." The third is "to distort the meaning or interpretation of something to suit one's interests or views." We can learn something about what it means to "wrest the scriptures" from each of these definitions. The scriptures were written by revelation from the Spirit of God, but just as importantly, they must be read by revelation from the Spirit of God. Any meaning in the Scriptures is carried by the Spirit, so when we wrest the scriptures, or when we attempt to read or interpret them without or in spite of the Spirit, then we are trying to forcibly pull the power of the scriptures from the Spirit. The problem with trying to distort the meaning of the scriptures so that it matches our own interests is that we can't hold onto the Spirit of revelation against or in spite of God's will. We can rob the scriptures of meaning but it's only to our detriment. Just as God would never force us against our will, we ought not to attempt to force the Spirit against God's will. We should never have to twist or pull or yank meaning from the Scriptures. If we surrender up unto the Lord our will, then the Lord will surrender up unto us His mysteries.