Examining the Totality of Scripture

Articles

Derek Long
08/19/18 - Understanding The Bible

Examining the Totality of Scripture
By Derek Long
There are several useful principles to remember when
studying the Bible. Knowing some basic principles can help us in our effort to be “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). One helpful thing to remember when studying a Bible subject is to examine everything the Bible says on a subject before drawing our conclusions. We cannot assume everything the Bible teaches about a subject is contained in one verse. However, when we examine everything the Bible says about a particular topic, we are more likely to understand the truth regarding that topic.
People at times will claim the Bible contradicts itself when really the passages they cite are simply supplying additional details. For example, Matthew 27:5 tells us how Judas, “threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Acts 1:18 describes what happens to Judas in different language. It says, “Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.” We do not have two contradictory accounts of Judas’ death contained in the Bible. Rather, we have more details being supplied in Acts which complement what Matthew says. It is completely possible Judas hung himself and afterward his body falls and bursts open. By examining both passages we actually get more details about what took place. Several places throughout the gospel accounts we find how each gospel reveals slightly different details about an event in Jesus’ life but the differences are not contradictions but complementary accounts.
Dangerous views can develop about the nature of God if we only examine certain passages while neglecting others. Many in the religious world today speak about the love of God (1 John 4:8). We need to remember God is love. We also need to remember the wrath of God toward sin. We need to remember “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) and deserves to be treated with reverence and godly fear (Hebrews 12:28). We need to take all the Bible says so we have an accurate view of God which includes both His goodness and His severity (Romans 11:22).
Dangerous views can develop about salvation when a person take one passage or just a handful of passages and forgets about other passages dealing with the subject. The Bible contains verses showing the necessity of grace in order for us to be saved. Romans 3:24 speaks of us, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” However, we must remember there is more than grace involved in our salvation. We must respond to God’s grace and accept God’s grace through faithful obedience. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Both grace and faith are essential to our salvation. Yet we must remember the faith which saves is a living, active, working faith. James 2:17, 20, 26 speaks of faith by itself or without works as dead. James 2:24 tells us what kind of faith justifies us, “You see then that a man is justified
by works, and not by faith only.” We are justified by a living, working, active faith. People who teach one is saved by faith only neglect to mention the role grace and works play in our salvation and thus have failed to consider everything the Bible teaches on the subject of salvation. The Bible teaches the necessity of faith to be saved (Hebrews 11:6) but it equally teaches the necessity of baptism to be saved (Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). To simply look at passages mentioning faith being essential to salvation and neglect passages teaching baptism as essential to salvation is to fail to study all the Bible says on a particular subject.
The Bible contains God’s truth as revealed to mankind (John 17:17). We are capable of studying the Bible, learning the truth, and being set free by the truth (John 8:32). We need to remember “the entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:160). If we examine everything God says about a subject and keep those passages in their proper context, we will be able to arrive at the truth on any Bible subject.
I hope this article helps remind us all of the manner in which we need to approach Bible study. If you would like to study the Bible further or discuss how we should study the Bible, please let us know.