What happens when the church reads the Bible out of context? Some of our most cherished beliefs, songs, and platitudes are based on proof-texting, which means that the original historical and literary context of the Bible is ignored.
What happens when we re-examine commonly referred to Bible passages in light of their context? Dr. Craig Keener helps explain the original meaning. In Part III of this video series he tackles five passages. View Part I here. View Part II here.
- 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 will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” In this passage, Paul is quoting Deuteronomy 30:14 and teaching that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Word and Law of God.
- Romans 10:17 – “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” In this passage, Paul is speaking of saving faith—receiving the message of the gospel, not discipleship practices such as reading one’s Bible.
- Matthew 18:18 – “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” In this passage, Jesus is referring to judgment and church discipline done in the authority of Jesus.