CONTEXT
When studying the Bible, context is everything. You use context to determined 1. Who wrote the passage. 2. To whom the passage applies. 3. What period of time the passage applies to. This is where most "christians" drop the ball.
Knowing the context of a passage is very simple. Paul's writings for instance, were letters(epistles). Paul wrote letters to certain people and churches. When you read a passage of scripture you need to know who is dong the talking and who is he talking to. For example, when you get the mail you look at the envelope and determine who it is to. Then, you look to see who it is from. If it is addressed to you then you know it is for you. If it is not your name, then, you do not open the letter. If you apply this technique throughout the Bible you will never go wrong.
Let's look at a few examples:
Romans. Who is doing the talking? Rom. 1:1 Paul. Who's he talking to? Rom. 1:7 "all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints." He is talking to born again christians in Rome! There location is not important. Who they are is what is important. Romans is safe ground for a christian. You can apply this letter to you.
Hebrews.Who's doing the talking? Heb. 1:2 a hebrew, key word is "us" referring to hebrews. Who's he taking to? Title of the letter is HEBREWS. This is not safe ground for a christian. Be very cautious of applying this letter to christians.
This technique can be applied to individual verses as well as books in the Bible. Take Gal. 5:4 it says " Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." Who's doing the talking? Gal. 1:1 Paul. Who's he talking to? Gal. 1:2 Christians. But in Gal. 5:4 Paul throws in a statement to unsaved people! Notice, it says "...whosoever of you are justified by the law..." Last time I checked christians are justified by "FAITH" (Rom. 3:28), not the law. Therefore, Gal. 5:4 cannot possibly be applied to a born again christian.
I hope this helps to answers some question you might have about certain passages in the Bible.
