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Since religion is ultimately concerned with spirituality, salvation, eternal life, and the relationship between ourselves and God, it is important to understand Scripture from a spiritual point of view and to avoid interpreting it in a manner that reduces God's Word to a purely materialistic or worldly meaning. For example, the Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord. Yet this lordship does not consist of a lordship like that of conventional kings and rulers. Jesus' lordship is over a dominion made up of the hearts of those who believe in Him and willingly accept Him because of the truth of His teachings and the sacrifice He made. This lordship is spiritual and eternal in nature. It is entirely different from the lordship of kings and rulers whose dominions are held together by, and are dependent on, the material force of armies. (22:3) Similarly, when Jesus said that He had brought a sword (Matt. 10:34) we know that this was not a literal sword. Jesus used the word 'sword' to symbolize the power of the Word of God to conquer sin (Eph. 6:17). Spiritual lordship, like spiritual power and glory, is altogether different and superior to worldly lordship, material power and material glory. This type of distinction is important to understand when we are interpreting Scripture.
(22:4)
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