Inspirational: Taking Scripture Literally

By: Linda Kirby/WGON 7.27.26

In the garden, Adam and Eve were “naked” yet they were not ashamed. Why? If they were ashamed after the fall, why not before? What changed in their nakedness? It is said that they were clothed in God’s glory, God’s light. So, if they now are ashamed of being naked, it would mean that God removed His covering from them due to their sin. He provided a different covering until the lamb of God covered mankind with His sacrifice. God’s light covered them, which means since God is light, He covered them with Himself. This brings many scripture into more clarity. If we are literally wrapped in God — wrapped in Jesus — then many passages we once treated as symbolic suddenly open up in a far more literal way.

1 Corinthians 12:12–27 — The Body of Christ

Paul describes the Church as “many members” making up one body: eyes, ears, hands, feet. Traditionally we read this as metaphor. But if the Holy Spirit is inside us and Christ envelopes us, then we truly participate in His body in a literal sense.

Scripture often teaches multiple layers at once. Paul gave an explanation people could grasp, but the Spirit reveals deeper truth when we are ready. ‘We are in Christ’, or ‘We are cloaked in Christ’, tells us we are putting on Christ. Galatians 3:27. By being in Christ, God no longer sees our imperfections; He sees the righteousness of His own Son because His Son is wrapped around us. Just as Adam and Eve were cloaked in God we are also. This is not a metaphor, this is literal. We form the living, breathing Body of Christ — not only symbolically, but spiritually and literally.

  The Full Armor of God — Ephesians 6:11

Many treat the armor of God as symbolic: faith, truth, righteousness, salvation. But what if Paul was describing something far more concrete?

If Christ Himself is our covering, then every piece of armor corresponds to where He is wrapped around us. He is the One who shields, protects, and stands between us and the enemy. Without Him, we are spiritually exposed — just as Adam and Eve were left “naked” when God’s presence departed because He cannot dwell in sin. Sure we have His spiritual covering but I cannot impress upon you strongly enough that the spirit of God is not the spirit only, but His entire self as in the Garden. We have to get away from thinking of it as merely spiritually because there’s much greater protection in the literal.

So the armor is not merely imagery. Jesus is the armor. He is the only One who can defeat the enemy, which makes Psalm 91:7 suddenly make perfect sense: If God is wrapped around us, then yes — a thousand may fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us. Because Jesus is our covering.

  Daniel 12:3 — Shining Like the Stars

Daniel says the righteous will “shine like the brightness of the heavens” and “like the stars forever.” We usually treat this as symbolic because human bodies don’t shine.

But God is light. Jesus is the light of the world. And Scripture says we are the light of the world.

Our physical bodies cannot shine like stars — but Jesus can. So if we shine, it is because His light is wrapped around us, and the Spirit’s light is within us. From the inside out, we are illuminated by Christ Himself.

Daniel may have been speaking symbolically, but if not, then the only way we could shine like the heavens is if Jesus is literally our covering.

  Taking Scripture Literally

When we read Scripture with the assumption that God means what He says unless symbolism is obvious, everything becomes clearer. My mentor Chuck Missler always taught: “Take the Bible literally except where it is clearly symbolic.”

Seeing Christ as our literal covering — our armor, our light, our protection — suddenly makes dozens of passages fall into place. It makes sense of the body of Christ, the armor of God, the shining of the saints, and the promises of protection.

For me, Scripture becomes far clearer when I take it literally unless it is obviously symbolic. Passages that once made me scratch my head no longer feel confusing or abstract. Instead of thinking, “This must be symbolic,” I can now see plainly what God is saying — and it thrills me to my bones.

Symbolism is beautiful, but it doesn’t carry the same weight for me as a literal truth. When Scripture says we are the Body of Christ, that no longer feels like a poetic idea — it feels like a real, spiritual and literal reality. And that makes me smile and praise Him even more.

Psalm 91 is no longer just a comforting thought or a hopeful metaphor. It reads like an actual promise I can rely on — a real protection from a real God who is truly wrapped around His people.

The armor of God is no longer a mental picture or a symbolic illustration. It is a literal covering, a real defense, and a real safeguard. I feel far safer trusting in actual armor — Christ Himself — than in a metaphor I hold in my mind.

Taking Scripture literally, wherever possible, has opened the Word to me in ways I never expected. It has made the promises stronger, the truths clearer, and the presence of Jesus more real than ever.