More precisely, the question will be worded: if God is good, all-powerful and all-wise then why does He allow two or more believers to read a passage of Scripture and interpret its meaning differently? As it relates to the essential doctrine of our faith (the Trinity; the Person and work of Christ; Salvation, etc.) God has providentially preserved His Church. He has not allowed His people (His Church ) to remain in misunderstanding or be lost (collectively as His body) in bad doctrine that are essential to the faith (who God is, the person and work of Christ, salvation, etc.). However, the question still stands and is relevant today as many believers can look at a passage and interpret them different within orthodoxy (i.e., related to working on the Lord’s Day, consumption of alcohol, baptism (infant v. believer/confessor) and the Lord’s Supper. )

In order to answer this question we should first begin with the nature of the source (who is God) of the material being interpreted (which is the Bible).

God is a holy God who is truth and never tells a lie. He is unchanging, and He is infinitely wise, and powerful. He is sovereign over all of His creation’s, thoughts, words, and actions.  Therefore, whatever He decides to do, or not do, will be without error, permanent, and intentional.

Since the Bible is God breathed in its entirety (2 Tim. 3:16), then, like God, His Words –the Bible– are without error and unchanging.  Just as a pure water reservoir only distributes pure water, an infinitely wise unchanging and true God only distributes true, error-free, unchanging words.  Therefore, we can confidently make our first conclusion:  if God is wise, true, and unchanging and the Bible is true, error-free, and unchanging then any misinterpretation of the Bible is not the result of God’s doing. 

We are the problem, not God nor His word. In other words, God is not to blame for multiple believers interpreting the Scriptures inaccurately. Such would be contrary to His nature.   Therefore, we (people) are the culprits of all misinterpretation of Scripture, not God.  

What about us makes us susceptible to misinterpreting the Bible? The answer is, sin. Our sinful flesh gets in the way of good Bible reading.  Pride, fear, laziness, anger, and doubt are just a few examples of  what can skew our interpretation of the Bible. 

Why might God permit us to struggle with the flesh when reading our Bible? God can give us a trial in this context. That is, in His providence, He gives us a hard passage to read and understand and the test (or trial) is in the reading, researching, collaborating with other believers, thinking hard, and formulating an interpretation of the text given and ultimately believing (faith) God’s Word. He gives us trials in other life experiences as believers, why not in the reading and understanding of His word? However, while God may give us a trial in the discipline of Bible reading God will never be the source of the temptation of the sinful actions that lead to misinterpreting the Bible when we read it (James 1:13-18). 

So, our sinful flesh is to blame for the misinterpretation of the Bible, not God. Yet, God will use it for His glory and our good (Rom. 8:28; 11:36).

One might object and say “if God is sovereignly directing and governing the thoughts, words, and activity of people, including His Church, then even if we cannot say that He causes us to misinterpret the Bible He nonetheless permits good faith believers to misinterpret the text. In response, we must admit that yes, He does permit believers to misinterpret Biblical text. Rain doesn’t fall, a bird isn’t fed, and a person doesn’t do –anything–unless God governs, directs, and permits Him to so.  However, we do need to distinguish between what God desires and what He permits in this context of interpreting the Bible. 

In the Bible, God shows us that He takes no pleasure in anyone failing to interpret His Word correctly (Deut. 6:1-9; 18:20; Ezek. 13; Eph. 4:4-6, 14-15).  God also reveals to us that He is working all things for His glory and our good (Rom. 8:28-30; 11:36). Therefore, why do God permit His Church to misinterpret passages?  His glory, our good.  That we can know for sure. Yet, there are certainly some sanctifying fruit and glimpses of GOd’s divine attributes that we witness as this bears out in the life of the Church. Here are some grace-filled glimpses:

1. He is longsuffering with His Church.  God’s longsuffering, His divine patience, with us in our fumbling over text in the minor issues.  He desires us to be in unity and yet despite our disunity over passages He still loves us, still nurtures, protects, and guides us. Just as a parent continues to love their child even in their disobedience,and correction and discipline, likewise so does the Lord continue to love us. (This of course, does not mean that God looks over failure to believe the essentials of our faith.  God makes clear that we must believe who He is and what He has done for us in Christ and how we are to respond in repentance and faith.  Misinterpretation is not an excuse in the dogma).

2. We have another reason to read our Bibles with both confidence and humility. We have much reason to read the Bible with humility because we interpret the Bible with our minds. Hence, we are susceptible, like every other use of our minds, to make mistakes. We have much reason to read the Bible with confidence because (a) we have the Holy Spirit guiding us and (b) He has promised wisdom to those who seek it trusting in Him. Even if the wisdom comes at the end of a grueling, patience-testing, body and mind sanctifying, trial such as interpreting hard-to-understand, biblical text. 

3. Because we can misinterpret Scripture we have another reason anticipate glorification. In First Corinthians Paul writes “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (13:11-12). This is the future of every believer. When Christ returns He will call us to Himself to a bodily existence to enjoy Him for eternity, forever free of sin and death. That includes free of  the bondages of sin that cause us to think incorrectly about the truth of the Bible (i.e., misinterpret). As a result, everything that God reveals about Himself to us in eternity we shall fully know. The Exegete of all exegetes will forever shine His light upon us . . . and David’s words shall certainly be ours: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Ps. 27:4). Amen