Part 1, 3 Levels Of Scriptural Understanding

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God’s Way Bible Study

Part 1, 3 Levels Of Scriptural Understanding

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

God’s word is written in letters, but they are Spirit and they are life. They are spiritually discerned. 

There are three levels of meaning and understanding to God's word. There is first the literal meaning, then the spiritual meaning and thirdly, the life/living/application meaning.

The Ethiopian Royal Official

The story of the Ethiopian eunuch shows us the three levels of meaning and understanding. 

Acts 8:29-38 (NKJV) 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, [here is] water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

The Ethiopian Eunuch was a literate, well educated government official. When he read the prophecy of Isaiah, he got it. He understood the writings on the page. Amazingly, he was knowledgeable enough to realize that there was a deeper layer of meaning behind the literal. 

Level 1: Literal

When Jesus spoke to the people in his earthly days, He spoke in their common language, Aramaic. They understood Him literally. He used expressions that were common to them, illustrating his teachings with things they had around them to aid their comprehension. They understood Him literally. The people who heard and the people who read the prophets also understood them literally. The same applied to the 10 commandments. The people did not need dictionaries, lexicons, or Bible commentaries to understand what  God meant by, 

2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me.” Exodus 20:2-3 (NLT)

They understood Him literally. 

Reading the New Living Translation makes for a decoded literal understanding. The King James Version is majestic and lofty. It reads like Shakespearean language.  Modern readers who have not studied 16th century literature will need help to  decode its language. This seems like an additional level but it isn’t. It is just an extra hurdle to overcome before gaining the first level of understanding. At the end of that laborious process, they will now gain a literary understanding of the scriptures. Reading the NLT removes that extra hurdle. 

A literal understanding is necessary. It provides the foundation for the second level of understanding, the spiritual. 

One of the cardinal rules of hermeneutics is that the text must not have a different meaning for later readers than it had for the original audience to whom it was first addressed. 

Without a proper literal understanding, what we call spiritual understanding would be highly suspicious. Some will scoff and say things like, "That's just the literal meaning of the verse.” 

A literal meaning is not wrong, in the sense of being inaccurate. 

It is merely insufficient because it does not go far enough to get to the meat, the intended message which the words and their literal meaning were intended to convey.

Be that as it may, the spiritual meaning of a text cannot be separated from its literal meaning. It builds up on it like a house is built on a foundation. 

Despising The Foundation

Separating a spiritual meaning from its literal meaning is like laying a foundation, then ignoring it and then proceeding to build the house, not on the foundation, but beside it. The built house has no foundation. It cannot stand. 

A house built beside a foundation cannot stand.

This is worse than the foolish man Jesus spoke of, who built his foundation on sand. At least, he built his super-structure on a foundation of some sort. It will stand until the rain, the floods and the wind come. 

If a house built on a foundation is at risk, how much greater is the risk of a house that is not built on any foundation at all? 

Many times we have quoted the scriptures and prayed from them but our prayers contradict what the scriptures actually mean. So we cannot stress too much the need for a proper, accurate understanding of the word. 

At this level, we know what the scriptures say. We have memorized many verses, passages and even entire chapters. We are looked upon with admiration by those who have not yet put in the work, and with camaraderie by those who like us can quote the scriptures. 

• Our danger at this level is one of intellectual pride. The cure is humility.

Let us learn from the Ethiopian Eunuch. 

Having taken care of the literal, we can now move to the spiritual with safety. 

Level 2: Spiritual

Colossians 1:9 NKJV For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

There is a problem though. While the word of God was spoken and written in human language, the real meaning is deeper than any human language can fully capture. 

It has been observed that truly wise people are often humble because they know enough to recognize that they do not know enough. The fool however is content with his limited knowledge because he confidently, but mistakenly, assumes that all he knows is all there is to know. Many are educated, but remain unwise still. 

The merely educated will assume that their level of comprehension is the highest standard. What they read and their understanding of it must be all there is to it. Because they view their knowledge as the standard, they dismiss anything they cannot understand as unintelligible nonsense.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NLT Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. [27] Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. [28] God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. [29] As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

The Ethiopian eunuch is a demonstration of a person who is both educated and wise. He got the literal meaning. But he also understood that what Prophet Isaiah wrote was not merely a literary work, to be read, enjoyed and analyzed as one would a Shakespearean play. There was some deeper spiritual significance to the writing. This level of meaning eluded him, hence when Phillip asked if he understood what he was reading, this highly educated man was not bashful to admit his cluelessness.  

Philip began to teach him the next level of meaning. Philip gave him a masterclass. He did not deviate from the literal meaning, but simply went deeper. He brought out the spiritual significance of the words he had read. 

• Sealed Scroll

Some biblical prophecies were sealed by Divine instruction. There are three reasons for the sealing: timing, separation and battle strategy. 

i) Sealed For The Right Time

Isaiah 29:11-12 NLT All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, "We can't read it because it is sealed." [12] When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, "We don't know how to read."

 Daniel 12:4 NLT But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase."

ii) Sealed For The Right People

God, like an examiner, keeps the answers to Himself, to separate between the serious and the unserious, the wise virgins from the foolish, the noble Christians from the lazy.

Matthew 13:10-17 NLT His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?" [11] He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. [12] To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. [13] That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. [14] This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, 'When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. [15] For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' [16] "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. [17] I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it.

2 Timothy 2:15 NLT Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

Acts 17:11 NIV Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

iii) Sealed as Battle Strategy

God keeps the enemy in the dark so they can work unwittingly for God’s purpose.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 NLT Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. [7] No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God-his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. [8] But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. [9] That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." [10] But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. [11] No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. [12] And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. [13] When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. [14] But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. [15] Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. [16] For, "Who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?" But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them,] because they are spiritually discerned.

At this level, we have gone deeper. 

We have gained some spiritual understanding. 

We can draw out from the scriptures the deeper meanings that a casual reader misses. When we speak, we sound deep. 

Our words are no longer quick and glib, but instead have a weight to them. 

People now come to us with the serious issues in their lives; matters of theological and moral consequence. 

The number and caliber of people who listen to us has gone higher. 

They may even begin to address us with titles like Dr., Professor, MOG, Bishop, etc

• Our danger at this level is spiritual pride, which is far worse than intellectual pride. The cure is a conscious and deliberate effort to humble ourselves. Daily.

Let us learn from Jesus, our Lord. 

Philippians 2:5-8 NLT

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. [6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.

I'm sure you can predict already, that even a sound spiritual meaning is not an end in itself.  We must progress from sound spiritual understanding to practical real life application.