The Danger of Taking Scripture Out of Context

4:19 "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

We will talk about what principle this verse teaches, but first let’s talk about taking Scripture out of context. This verse is a classic example. It is commonly interpreted by Christians as if it stands alone and can be understood apart from the context in which Paul originally said it.

When Paul says "my God will supply all your needs" who is the "your" referring to? It has been taken to refer to all Christians (and at times to all men!). But it clearly refers here to the generous Philippians, who have sent Paul gifts. If it is read in its context, it is clear that Paul is saying that in light of their generous giving, they can count on God to meet all their needs (especially their earthly needs).

I’m not saying that this verse has nothing to say to us today. But I am saying that before we can adequately answer the question of what it means in our lives, we must first answer the question of what it meant in the lives of the Philippians to whom it was first written. Just because God promised through Paul to provide for all the needs of the generous Philippian believers doesn’t necessarily mean that He is promising to do so to stingy believers today.

There are two aspects of this danger of taking the Bible out of context.

First of all, each part of the Bible is written in a given historical situation, and faithful students of the Bible must seek to understand what they can about that historical context in order to properly understand the things that are said. For example, much of the writing of the OT prophets cannot be properly understood without understanding their historical context. This is why a good commentary is so helpful in reading the prophets - because most of us don’t have enough detailed Bible knowledge to understand the historical context of what is being said. (Want a place to start? Try reading Derek Kidner: The Message of Hosea, or Jan Ridderbos: Isaiah, or O. Palmer Robertson: Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Order these from your local Christian bookstore or call Christian Book Distributors at 1-508-977-5000 or search for them on one of the Internet bookstores.)

The second part of this is the habit of taking each verse of the Bible as if it is unrelated to the other verses around it, as if the Bible is a collection of wise sayings and truths that were tossed like a salad and served into the bowls of each book of the Bible. This is the way much of the book of Proverbs is written, but very little of the rest of Scripture. For instance, many have taken Col.3:15 ("Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts") as an instruction to base their decisions upon what they feel a "peace" about. But if you study the command in context, it is clearly talking about having a spirit of peace and not of conflict reigning in your hearts as you relate to your fellow believers.

We have to realize that our gaining soul food from Scripture needs to be a two-step process:

1- What did it mean in its original context?

2- What does it mean to us now in our context?

(I don’t mean to say that the meaning of Scripture changes over time. I mean that we cannot discern what the absolute universal teaching of God for us is until we first really understand what is going on in the text of the Bible.)

Father, may Your Holy Spirit, who inspired the words of Scripture, help me have the patience and diligence to be a hard-working student of Your word. I want to properly understand it. I want to feel the weight of its powerful teachings. And I want to know the power of the Holy Spirit to live it out in my life. Give me Your wisdom, give me a spirit of eagerness, and, Lord, protect me from error.