Think as you read: What was the situation in the church or in Israel, among those people, that accounts for the precise words of my subject text? What was the situation in the city or in the nation? What was the political situation? What historical era does the book deal with?

True interpretation of individual verses in Scripture must harmonize with the entire Biblical revelation. If my interpretation of a Scripture contradicts other Scriptures, my interpretation is wrong. The Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself.

Reading the Bible through on a regular basis will give a good foundation for avoiding the mistake of drawing conclusions from a limited perspective. For example, Paul writes, "I bow my knees before the Father," Ephesians 3:14. Thus we have "Apostolic authority," witnessed to by inspired Scripture, that bowing the knees in prayer is Biblical. But this does not mean kneeling is the only acceptable, or even preferable, posture for prayer because other Scriptures authorize prayer while raising hands, standing, or lying prostrate.

Heresies and false doctrine seem to have Biblical support because their promoters use only the verses that appear to teach their doctrine while ignoring others. If a verse seems to give new and great revelation, one must resist adopting such new "revelation" until one has thoroughly compared it with the rest of what Scripture says.

What was once binding upon God’s people may not necessarily be binding today. For example, Scripture shows that God commanded His people not to eat pork. But other Scriptures show that God Himself lifted that restriction. Thus it is actually unbiblical for people to attempt to please God by observing this, or other Biblical food laws.

Most Biblical mandates have been completely abolished. Other mandates have become matters of choice, which are practiced voluntarily in an altered form. For example, Saturday Sabbath keeping is no longer valid for us because it was abolished along with all other "commands contained in ordinances," Ephesians 2:15. But it is practiced voluntarily in an altered form by meeting for worship on the first day of the week. The NT revelation of the New Covenant, the meaning of Christ’s resurrection, and the practice of the early church, shows the seventh day Sabbath was not practiced by first century Christians.

Some take the NT alone as modern authority for Christians, thereby eliminating instrumental music from worship. But this ignores the harmony between OT and NT and the essential oneness of God’s revelation. The Bible is not two books; it is one unified revelation of God’s mind.

Using the NT alone, or Gospels alone, or the Epistles alone to form belief, is invalid. Learning the full truth about any Bible subject requires treating the entire Bible with equal dignity and respect, and using all of what it says as the mixture from which we make our final conclusions.

Cultural or historical contexts will not settle all questions about Biblical meaning and present application. But no one should feel they have done thorough Biblical research until they have tried their best to understand Scripture as its original readers must necessarily have understood it. What it meant to them is its true meaning. Anything written, by any Bible author, must necessarily have meant something specific both to him and his readers. He could not possibly have written words that meant nothing to himself, and he would not have written nonsense to his readers.

Given the tendency of words to change meanings over time, plus the fact that cultural practices, mores, concepts of good and bad, etc. also change – sometimes dramatically – we are faced with the task of uncovering the original setting of all Biblical writings. If we are unwilling to do the hard work necessary for this we should withdraw from Biblical study, and most definitely we should cease to pose as teachers of the Bible. Without such hard research we will be led astray in our own conclusions and will consequently lead astray those whom we teach.