“Please explain(opens in new tab)” is a regular feature in Forward in Christ. A writer answers a question that is based on a Scripture reading you are likely to hear in a worship service that month.

The question is designed to be one that a nonchurchgoer could ask. The answer is intended to be one that you could share with such a person—in conversation and by referring the person to the magazine or website(opens in new tab) for a fuller explanation.

With the title of this month’s column, I am not attempting to undermine the “Please explain” feature or rename it. I am hoping this column will illustrate its value in explaining Bible verses and biblical concepts.

Throughout my ministry, I have had the privilege and responsibility of trying to explain a lot of information to people. Sometimes I have been successful, other times not.

But here is where the title of this month’s column comes into play. Try as I might, I cannot explain some things in the Bible—to my satisfaction or that of others.

How can God be three persons yet one God? I can’t explain that. How could God have made everything from nothing? I can’t explain that. How can sprinkling a little water, while speaking a few words, change a person’s heart? I can’t explain that. How can Jesus’ body and blood be present with bread and wine? I can’t explain that.

What I can do with teachings like these is present to others what God reveals in the Bible.

But God reveals only so much, doesn’t he? And our minds can comprehend only so much, right? So in considering some Bible teachings, the time comes when we need to stop and say, “This is as much as I can understand. I don’t get it, but I believe it.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m okay with that. Actually, I am more than okay with that. I am glad there are things about the nature of God and his work that I do not understand. Personally, if I were to understand God completely, he would be too much like you and me. I want a God who far surpasses my understanding, and that is exactly what the only true God is like.

Part of the apostle Paul’s doxology at the end of Romans chapter 11 provides a helpful approach to our difficulty in understanding the nature and work of the Lord. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ” (vv. 33-34).

Rather than being a cause for frustration, the vast superiority of the Lord is a reason for praise. That was the view of the psalmist: “Praise [the LORD] for his surpassing greatness” (Psalm 150:2).

So keep reading “Please explain” and appreciate how our writers answer questions. But don’t be surprised if my response to one of your questions is “I can’t explain that.”

James Pope | FIC Editor

Author: James Pope
Volume 113, Number 09
Issue: September 2026
Photo: iStock