DON’T QUOTE SCRIPTURES OUT OF CONTEXT

I get that statement alot. But I think people who make that statement only understand one side of the use of scriptures.

One of the mysterious things about the bible is that God can use any relative scripture you find to solve a problem – as long as you believe. Earlier this year I was trusting God to guide me on what to do regarding purchasing a property or waiting on Him for favour. Few days into my enquiry, I heard the words “covet earnestly the best gift”. I was so strenghtened by that word that it was impossible to doubt that I had heard from God regarding the situation. It was God’s way of telling me to choose whatever I felt was best for me.

However, while that scripture gave me the breakthrough I needed, I was amazed when I looked up the verse in the bible; it had no connection with what I was asking God for. Though it had nothing to do with what I was trusting God for, yet it gave me the relief I needed.

I’m pretty sure many of you have had similar experiences. In fact, that’s how most Christians live their life; their Christian life is built on several breakthrough scriptures they found in their search for relief. What they don’t know is that the one verse of scripture you stumbled upon may give you a miracle from God, but if you want a relationship with God, you’d need to read the whole chapter, and probably chapter before to understand the character of God in that context of scripture. As I read that whole chapter, a dimension of God was unveiled unto me that I never would have known if I was just looking for a breakthrough or a verse to quote.

Some pastors have even made it difficult for believers to study the Bible because they keep producing hot “scripture based” sermons. They’d tell you that all you need is just one scripture to change your life. While that is true, it’s already a red flag when it comes to developing a relationship with God.

True change isn’t when you hit a jackpot or buy a house; true change is when you’re tranformed into the same image as Christ. One verse of scripture may buy you a house, but you’d need a contextual understanding of the bible to be transformed into the image of Christ. Isn’t it amazing that the breakthrough you’re looking for a scripture to get can be gotten once you’re transformed into the image of Christ? Concerning the children of Israel, we’re told that the sea saw them and fled, mountains skipped like ram. And when they were asked what they saw that made them flee, they responded that they saw the presence of the Lord. Those who have been transformed into the image of Christ don’t look for breakthroughs, breakthrough come to them. They don’t struggle to get things done, things get done on their own accord. Whatever Christ didn’t struggle for should not be a struggle in their life.

Please don’t get me wrong; the purpose of this message isn’t to discourage you from searching the bible when you need a bail out, no! God still speaks through the voice of scriptures, and He’s very unlikely to stop doing that. Even though I love to study in context to understand God’s character, I’m spiritually intelligent enough to know that I don’t only relate with God when I align with scriptural context, I can also relate with Him based on individual scriptures. Which means God can decide to use a scripture to communicate something to me, even though the situation may not be in the same context with the scripture. It might interest you to know that both Jesus and Apostle Paul applied this principle.

In one of Apostle Paul’s charge to stronger believers on how to relate with weaker believers, he admonished them to bear the infirmities of the weak so that their strenght doesn’t become an opposition to the growth of the weak. He knew that some weak believers may still be traditional or religious on some matters, one of which was how and what they ate. So he charged the stronger ones not to go into unnecessary disputations with the weaker ones over matters that doesn’t affect their stand with God.

So according to him, stronger believers should live to please weaker believers. He went further to mention that Christ didn’t please himself during his ministry, and then quoted a Psalm of David to validate his point. Let’s see exactly how scriptures put it:

Romans 15:
1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Notice verse 3, the scripture that Apostle Paul quoted was part of a cry for help to God by King David. If this generation was present when Apostle Paul was giving that charge, they would have challenged him for using that scripture out of context. Although out of context, but it had a spiritual relevance to Apostle Paul’s charge.

In verse 4, Apostle Paul continues by saying whatsoever was written before that time was written for our learning. In other words, we can learn from the Old Testament saints and apply things we consider as wisdom in the Spirit as long as our mind is in union with Christ. So Apostle Paul learnt spiritual wisdom from something that was out of context and found it usable when dealing with matters of the kingdom.

This takes me to his letter to Timothy. Precisely 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

2 Timothy 3:
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Look at that, “All Scripture”, a single verse or an entire chapter, or the entire book, are given by the inspiration of God for teaching the truth, rebuking errors, correcting faults, and receiving instructions for right living. All Scripture! So if one verse pops out of the bible and instructs me on the right thing to God, that’s the inspiration of God for that moment. At that point, God isn’t instructing me based on the context, but based on my situation.

If you read Phillipians chapter 4 contextually, then it will be out of context for you to ever quote verse 19 for yourself. That verse says “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. In context, that was Apostle Paul’s prayer to the Phillipians for their liberality towards his ministry, which automatically means that if you want such a prayer or blessing, find a ministry to support, and then the man of God can pray for you. But does this mean you cannot quote that scripture for yourself without aligning to the context? No! Because you actually can.

I don’t want to make the article too long, I would have shared diverse experiences on how that scripture has worked for me. In fact, asides me declaring it, God has also reminded me of that scripture while I was worried some times back. My salary had not been paid for 3 months where the Lord asked me to work and I was worried about how I’d survive. Suddenly, I heard the Lord say “I sent you here to learn, not to earn a salary. Moreover, have I not told you that I shall supply all your need according to my riches in glory by Christ Jesus? If your salary was your need, wouldn’t I have supplied it?”. These are not things that can be doctored. I heard the Lord tell me that loud and clear. That’s just one of many encounters. Every scripture was inspired by God to be documented, and God can choose to lift anyone He wants out of context.

For instance, Abraham introduced tithing, Moses instituted it into the law, God established it and even demanded it in Malachi chapter 3. The Phillipians gave to Apostle Paul, he prayed for them that God would supply all of their needs according to God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus. If God inspired that to be written in the bible, then it means everytime I give towards kingdom advancement, I can believe in that prayer as though God is saying it to me. If God demanded for tithe He never instituted, why wouldn’t He bless me if I believe in Apostle Paul’s prayer after I’ve given – even though the prayer was not actually to the general church?

Jesus was seen to also quote Deuteronomy 8:3 out of context. In Matthew chapter 4 when he came out of the wilderness from his forty days sojourn, Satan came to him to tempt. The first thing he tempted him with was hunger, asking him to turn stone into bread. Jesus’s response was, “It is written, man must not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord shall man live”.

If you’ve read that account in Deuteronomy, it was more of a final charge from Moses to the Children of Israel telling them not to forget how God helped them in the wilderness for 40 years. One of the ways He helped them was to prove to them that they can actually sustain their life by the Word. God allowed them to go hungry, and when they couldn’t get food for themselves, He supplied them with manna that they didn’t know about. He did that to prove to them that they could actually depend on his word for material supplies. When Jesus quoted that scripture, a spiritual depth was given to it that the context would never have given. Jesus could have turned stone to bread, he had the power, but the Word he was operating with at that time probably restrained him from eating, even though he was hungry. So he was living based on what God said. Normally, man should eat to live, but when God tells me not to eat today because of something He wants to do, that means He expects me to live by what He told me today. This is Jesus’s revelation to that scripture, and it’s totally different from what you’d get in Deuteronomy.

So when I get enlightenment from a scripture and apply it, you can’t say I quoted it out of context, especially when the result is evident. It clearly shows there’s a dimension of God you don’t know yet. If it works, then there’s something that made it work. And just because you don’t know what made it work doesn’t mean it’s the devil. The devil is not that nice. While I’m not disputing that people can be manipulative, we still have to teach the truth of scriptures. The key thing is to ensure that our hearts are not hardened, so that we don’t mistake what God is doing for what the devil is doing.

Finally, if you want to mature as a believer, study the bible contextually to understand the character and nature of God. But then, don’t let anybody bully you with his spiritual maturity. Invest in your maturity, but don’t neglect the spiritual revelations that worked for you. If God inspires you with a scripture that seems out of context, don’t be ashamed to declare it on the roof tops, because it will work as it has always worked.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

I guess you’re wondering why I attached Bishop David Oyedepo’s photo to this post, well, it’s our father’s 70th birthday soon!😍🎉. The count down has begun. September 27 is a reality. Happy birthday in advance sir, we love you loads.

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