When I was about ten years old, I found a Bible in the bookcase and decided that I would read it. My mother always took me to Sunday School. Being in a small town and attending a small Methodist Church, we did not always have church, but we always had Sunday School. I remember sitting around the piano and singing "The Little Brown Church in the Vale." There were other songs, but that was my favorite. But the Bible was really special.

I did not know much about the Bible in those days, but I did know that it was an important book. When I found it in the bookcase it seemed only natural that I should read it. I began at Genesis.

When I read a book, I read the whole book. I read introductions, prologues, epilogues, appendices and everything else in the book. I figured the Bible was the same thing. The only way I knew to read was to begin at the beginning and read all the way through. The footnotes in the Bible did not make any sense to me so I skipped them. Everything else, I read.

However, with the Bible, my system failed me. I got to the "begats" and all the long Hebrew names and I was finished. That concluded my Bible reading for several years.

When I went to college, I was in the middle of an argument of sorts with my girl friend about the Bible. I went down to the college bookstore and asked for a Bible. The clerk plopped down a copy of the Revised Standard Version, informed me of the price and I walked out of the store with my first Bible.

I had no idea that Bibles came in different versions. To me, a Bible was a Bible and that was the end of the matter.

I took the Bible back to my room and began reading. By this time I had learned that starting in Genesis and reading through was probably not a great idea. I began reading with the New Testament. During the course of the year, I read through the New Testament. Years later I found it interesting to reread the Bible I had read my freshman year at college. It was interesting because of what I had underlined in my reading. It was evident to me years later that I had read with one idea in mind. My views were right and my girl friend was wrong and I was determined to find support in the Bible for what I believed.

What I did in my reading is not so different from what many folks do. For a lot of people, the Bible has simply become a collection of proof texts. It has become a book to prove that "I am right," and "you are wrong." Proof texts are pretty easy to come by if you ignore the context.

Someone once told the story of a fellow who was depressed and went to his Bible to find consolation. Not being a Bible scholar, he had no idea where to turn for help. He decided on a very simple method. He would just close his eyes and let the Bible fall open. With his eyes still closed, he would put his finger on a verse, open his eyes and read what his finger was pointing to.

The first time, he read this passage; "Judas went and hanged himself."

Failing to derive any comfort from that passage he repeated the procedure. The second time he read, "Go and do thou likewise."

In desperation, he tried and third time and read, "What thou doest, do quickly."

Taken together, he had Bible proof that he ought to immediately go out and hang himself. Was that a message from God? Every verse was from the Bible. Surely God must have been guiding him to the passages he had read?

If you believe all of that, I have some good news for you. That was not a message from God. That is not a way in which God wants us to approach his Word. There are much better ways to understand the Bible.

For starters, the Bible was not written in chapters and verses. Those were added much later by people who wanted to help us find passages more quickly. Instead of "somewhere around the middle of Mark," we have Mark 8:10. Some of these divisions make sense. Others seem quite arbitrary. From the addition of the chapter and verse reference points it became a simple matter to begin collecting verses that would support one’s position without regard to context.

The problem is that we end up with a passage without any knowledge of its context. Passages taken from their context can mean something radically different than the author originally intended.

The Bible was written to be read in context. Matthew was written in order that we might begin at the beginning and read through Matthew. Since the gospel of Matthew does not follow a strict chronological order there are sometimes connections between stories that are important. The context will make evident truths that are not discerned when passages are taken out of context.

The gospel of Matthew will make an emotional impact on the reader that will be missed if it is only read in bits and pieces. When the events of the trial and death of Jesus are read in an attempt to relate Matthew’s account with that of Mark, Luke and John, the main point is often missed. The death of Jesus expresses the love of God for sinners. In that expression of God’s love there is a powerful impact that has the ability to dramatically affect the direction of one’s life.

Consider the passage in Romans 10:9-10: "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Some have understood this passage to mean that there is salvation apart from baptism. If you "believe in your heart . . you shall be saved." It is certain that in this passage Paul speaks of a faith that leads to salvation and he does not mention baptism. The problem with this interpretation is that it ignores the context of the passage. In this particular case the context that is important includes the preceding nine chapters of Romans, in particular, chapters one through six.

The theme for the main part of this letter is found in chapter one, verses sixteen and seventeen. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘but the righteous man shall live by faith.’" The theme of righteousness by faith is carried through the first eleven chapters and is followed in the closing chapters with practical applications of the principles developed.

In chapters one through three, Paul makes clear that both Jews and Gentiles are sinners. The Jews have sinned by breaking God’s law. The Gentiles have sinned by turning from the evidence of God to worship idols. They have also violated their consciences by breaking the laws they recognized as right. Since all have sinned then all are in need of the salvation that is obtained through faith.

In chapters four and five, Paul emphasizes the importance of faith. He cites the example of Abraham as one whose faith caused God to count him as righteous. Apart from faith there is no salvation from our faith. The matter does not end at chapter five as Paul continues to discuss how that salvation is worked out through faith.

The opening verses of chapter six are remarkable for several reasons. The chapter begins with a question. "Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?" The implication is that some among the Christians at Rome were arguing that sin was a matter of indifference to those who were saved by grace through faith.

Paul’s response is an emphatic, "No!" Christians cannot continue to sin. The reason Paul gives goes back to their conversion. "How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."

There is a very precise order in Paul’s statement. First of all, there is death to sin. These Christians had made a conscious decision to leave sin behind. It was as though they had died with respect to sin. Second, there was a burial. This burial was accomplished through baptism. It was a baptism with Jesus and a baptism into Jesus and into his death. Finally, there was a new life. The Christians experience thus duplicated the gospel. As Jesus died, was buried and then raised, these Christians had died to sin, been buried in baptism and had begun a new life.

Their future victory was based upon their past experience and the continued help of God. Paul continues to recount the struggle with sin in chapter seven. In chapter eight he moves on to the victory that is accomplished with the help of the Spirit and by the power of God.

Nothing is chapter ten will contradict the argument that is contained in chapters one through eight. There is not one way of reaching the salvation in Christ in chapters one through six and a different plan found in two verses of chapter ten. The people to whom Paul refers in chapter ten are the same people to whom he refers in chapter six. They are all Christians who have been baptized into Christ. Context is everything. Chapter ten cannot be interpreted by ignoring chapters one through eight.

One of the most commonly quoted and memorized verses in the Bible is found in the third chapter of John’s gospel at verse sixteen. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

For many, this is the verse that "says it all." If it is not in this verse then it is not necessary for salvation. The death burial and resurrection of Jesus are not mentioned here. They may be inferred from the statement that God "gave His only begotten Son," if you know that from other sources. That still leaves us with a need for other sources in order that we might know those important truths. The verse says nothing about the need for the cleansing blood of Christ. Again, it might be inferred from the same phrase, but we would still be ignorant of that truth without other sources. For these reasons, John 3:16 cannot be the only word that is necessary for salvation.

Again, we need to note the importance of context. The broader context of John’s gospel will tell us of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. That broader context will also tell us of the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross.

There is another part of the context of John 3:16 that is not so remote. That context is the part contained in the beginning of chapter three. The conversation that climaxes with John’s statement at verse sixteen begins with Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night.

Nicodemus began the conversation by praising Jesus. "We know that You have come from God as a teacher." In reply Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

When Nicodemus expressed confusion over that statement, Jesus continued by explaining the new birth. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Any correct understanding of John 3:16 will have to take into consideration the comment of Jesus on the necessity of the new birth. Without an understanding of the new birth there will be no entrance to the "kingdom of God." In fact, one will not even be able to "see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus might have been expected to understand the new birth because he was a "teacher of Israel." As such he could be expected to understand the Old Testament. In particular, the passage in Psalms 51:10-13 should have opened his understanding to accept the need for a new birth. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee."

The new birth, as taught by Jesus, included two elements, water and Spirit. Notice that Jesus did not say one must be born of water and born of Spirit as though he were speaking of two births. He spoke of one when he said that we must be "born of water and Spirit." The construction is the same whether read in English or the original Greek of John. There is one birth. It is a birth of water and Spirit.

Therefore when Jesus speaks of God’s love in verse sixteen, the love that saves, he does not speak of a salvation apart from the new birth of water and Spirit.

The water of the new birth is an obvious reference to baptism. Until recent times that was a view widely held among all Bible scholars and students of the Word.

The difficulties of the book of Revelation are numerous. These few brief comments will not resolve all of those difficulties. We hope in this to again illustrate the importance of context in understanding the Bible.

First of all, it is impossible to take everything in the book of Revelation literally in spite of the attempt by some to do so. It becomes a matter of what must be understood literally and what must be understood figuratively.

One of the guiding principles is found at the beginning of the letter. The opening verses seem to cry for a literal reading. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near." There seems to be no underlying reason why all of this should not be understood quite literally.

Two statements, in particular, should be noted. One is the comment that the revelation concerns "the things which must shortly take place." The second is the comment that "the time is near."

Both of these statements point to a fulfillment within the lifetime of those who were the original readers. Events 2000 years removed from the writer would not appear to meet the criteria of taking place shortly or the time being near.

This means simply that the bulk of Revelation refers to events far removed from twentieth century life. They concern things that happen, for the most part, in the first century.

Another passage in Revelation, chapter twenty, refers to a time period of 1000 years. What follows then are things that take place a long time after the writer’s death. These are things concerning the return of Jesus and the judgment.

The relevance of Revelation for modern Christians is found by considering the seven letters recorded in chapters two and three. Each of the letters closes with a blessing. A phrase common to each of the letters is, "to him who overcomes," or something quite similar.

The book of Revelation is written to Christians to encourage them to overcome or persevere through their difficulties. The later chapters refer to trials brought on by the government and trials brought on by religious antagonists. In each case John encourages his readers with the thought that these trials are only temporary. God will deal with the persecutors. He who overcomes will gain the victory. The victory is in Jesus.

So, the same message holds true for Christians throughout history. In spite of difficulties, persecutions, trial and pain, the Christian is the one who will experience the final victory. All enemies will be destroyed. All who oppose the will of God will be thrown down.

The context for chapters one through nineteen is events that will soon take place. The context for chapters twenty through twenty-two is events that are far in the future for first century Christians, but which may be close for us today.

Again, in Ecclesiastes, an important part of the context is found in the opening verses. Without giving due consideration to the opening statements, one may easily be misled and reach a wrong conclusion by considering only the matter contained in later chapters.

A good example is found in chapter ten, verse 19, "Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything." Money is the answer to everything? How can that be harmonized with the rest of scripture? It cannot be. We must look to the context for the solution.

Consider the opening lines of Ecclesiastes. "’Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.’" Useless. Is everything truly useless? Is it useless to love God? Is it useless to pursue righteousness? Is it useless to live by faith? Emphatically, no!

Ecclesiastes is written from the standpoint of one who has chosen to ignore God. How does one find meaning in life apart from God? How is one to live his life if there is no God? The answers to those questions are explored in the first eleven chapters of the book. The conclusion is expressed in those opening lines. Every pursuit apart from God is vanity. All is an illusion. The dead are dead. Money is the answer to everything. These are statements that are only true in a context of life without God. Since there is a God, these statements are not true.

Chapter eleven gives the conclusion reached after exploring every option that does not include God. "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person."

The section from verse four through verse 33 is often applied to our day and the coming return of Christ. The problem again is the context. The verse before and after present the immediate contextual problem for the application to our times.

Consider first of all verse three. Jesus had just told the disciples that the temple would be destroyed. "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

Keep in mind that this conversation took place before the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Prior to Jesus death, his disciples consistently refused to believe that he would die. They did not consider that the Messiah could be taken from them since the prophecy was that his reign would be "forever." If Jesus was not expected to die, neither was he expected to be raised. This explains the conduct of the twelve when the women reported the tomb empty. Peter and John ran to see. They did not believe the resurrection until Jesus appeared to them a short time later.

If they did not believe in his death and resurrection, then they certainly cannot have been expected to believe in his "second coming." The questions that they asked Jesus concerning the destruction of the temple had nothing to do with the second coming. The context forbids us putting that interpretation on what they asked. Rather, the questions are in reality a single question, "When will the temple be destroyed and how will we know when to expect it?"

The idea of "coming" is a frequent expression in the Old Testament to signify a judgment of God. Isaiah, chapter thirteen uses similar language to express God’s coming in judgment against Babylon. Another passage is found at Ezekiel 30:3.

Second, there is the problem of verse thirty-four. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place."

It is quite amazing the tortured explanations that have been placed upon this passage in order to support a theory that the preceding verses apply to the second coming. The context of Matthew 24 is spoken discourse with the twelve. The words were not addressed to some reader at a time far removed. The words were spoken to living people who were standing with Jesus. The question that must be answered is how they would have understood.

"This generation," simply will not stretch beyond the first century. This generation includes only those people who were contemporaries of Jesus and the apostles.

It is interesting that the apostles took seriously the warning found in this passage. When the Romans came a few years later, Christians were prepared. They fled Jerusalem and avoided the devastation and suffering of those who remained in the city. Truly the generation of Jesus who rejected his reign as Messiah and refused to heed his words paid dearly for their unbelief.

The context of Matthew 24:4-33 leads us again to a correct understanding of the passage. It is also interesting to note what follows this passage.

Verse 36 begins with "but." This indicates a transition in thought. The coming judgment of God brings to mind another judgment of God that will involve all nations. Jesus proceeds in the verses following to discuss that greater judgment.

Although the disciples have not asked about the final judgment of the world, Jesus used the occasion of their question about the temple to teach them further. The transition is made plain by the "but" of verse 36.