Context
We will look later at tools that can help us better understand the cultural context of the Scriptures, but now I want to look at the importance of context when we sit down to study a specific passage of Scripture.
Passages of Scripture exist as part of a greater work and so it is important to keep them within that larger context. There are enough words within the bible to allow us to make it say anything if we rip bits and pieces from their mooring and paste them together as we please. What comes before and after an individual passage will often help us to interpret the passage correctly.
Always take a quick look at what comes before and after a passage before you start to interpret it.
Watch for the word “Therefore.” If you see the word “therefore,” make sure you know what its there for. “Therefore” signifies that what follows is a summation or the logical consequence of something that has gone before. This will often include the limits and special circumstances of a specific application. A passage that begins with “Therefore” cannot ever be correctly interpreted in isolation.
“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.” Romans 14:13
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
The context of an Epistle is very important. An Epistle is a letter of instruction written to a specific group of people in response to a specific problem. The original audience would have known the occasion of the letter. We do not. We must do detective work with the clues the letter gives us to figure out the issues being spoken to. If we don’t know the situation the Epistle is speaking to, we will be tempted to apply its contents too widely.
A good commentary will help explain the situation an Epistle speaks into. I will talk more about commentaries later.