“PROMISES, PROMISES!” (2)

“No…Scripture is…of one’s own interpretation.” 2Pe 1:20 NAS

Here are two more principles for discerning which promises in Scripture are for you: (1) Try to understand the context. No Scripture stands in isolation, but should be read in conjunction with every other Scripture on the same topic. If you isolate “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Php 4:13 NKJV), believing “all things” includes leaping from a twelfth-story window, don’t blame God’s Word for your unexpected demise! You should also have read the context which says, “I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all [these] things through Christ who strengthens me” (vv. 12-13 NKJV). This Scripture doesn’t mean you can do anything you want, but that God will enable you to get through anything you encounter while doing His will. (2) Test Scripture by Scripture, not by your own desires. “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” Some Bible promises are universal in application, and some are personal. The personal ones apply to the intended hearer; the universal ones apply to all believers. Know which is which. If you think the Scripture, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Ac 16:31), guarantees your entire household’s salvation, you might be disappointed and think that God failed. No, that was a personal promise made and fulfilled to the Philippian jailer. A universal word for you and your family is, “In fact, God…wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost” (2Pe 3:9 CEV). He wants your entire family to be saved!

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