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The Text in its Context. 2 Timothy 2:15. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The word translated “rightly dividing” or “handling aright” is defined as follows:
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2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The word translated “rightly dividing” or “handling aright” is defined as follows: • Thayer’s Definition: 1) to cut straight, to cut straight ways 1a) to proceed on straight paths, hold a straight course, equiv. to doing right 2) to make straight and smooth, to handle aright, to teach the truth directly and correctly • Strong’s Definition: to make a straightcut, that is, (figuratively) to dissect (expound) correctly (the divine message): - rightly divide
To “Rightly Divide” we must Consider the Context • Truth can and should be proven by Scripture!(Acts 18:28) • But beware of Contextomy! • “A means of twisting the Scripture by removing a passage from its context in a way that distorts its intended meaning.” • A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text • Taking verses out of context, one can prove anything! • Satan can quote passages and misuse them! (Matt.4:6)
What we learn from the Scriptures about Context • We MAY USE partial passages as PROOF (Acts 13:33-41; Romans 10) • We may apply general principles (Deuteronomy 19:14-15; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Matthew 18:16) • Some scriptures were intended to have multiple applications (Matthew 13:35; Psalms 77:2; 68:25; 108:9; Acts 1:20) • Scripture may imply truth unrelated to the context (Matthew 22:31-32; Exodus 3:6)