The devil, in tempting Jesus to jump off "the pinnacle of the temple," quoted words from the book of Psalms (91:11-12), "He [God] will give orders to his angels about you ... On their hands they will carry you, lest you strike your foot against a rock." Jesus showed that one should not draw a conclusion from one passage of Scripture if his conclusion would make him violate another passage of Scripture.

In this case, the theatrical exhibition of jumping off the temple pinnacle would violate another passage of Scripture, which he quoted to Satan: "Again it is written, `You shall not make trial of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:6-7). The principle, "Again it is written," of putting one passage alongside another is a search for "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27), because "The sum [totality] of your word is truth" (Psalm 119:160).

God’s book is so written that by "proof-texting" alone one can prove anything. Alone "proof-texting" misleads people who read verses, not to learn, but to prove their own ideas. God "sends to them a working of error, that they should believe a lie" and condemn themselves (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

Jesus thanked the Father that divine truths are "hidden" from those who, in their own estimation, are "wise and intelligent," while the Father has "made them known to children. Yes, Father, for so in your will" (Matthew 11:25-26).

This article is devoted to a discussion of some passages which, taken alone, could lead to false doctrines.

EXODUS 4:21

Of Pharaoh God said, "I will harden his heart" (Exodus 4:21). Alone God’s statement could leave the impression that the reason why Pharaoh was so mean to the Israelites (Exodus 5:1-21) goes back to God, not to Pharaoh. On the contrary, what God did was to ask Pharaoh "to stand" and "to show" God’s "power" that God’s "name" might "be declared throughout all the earth" (Exodus 9:16; Romans 9:17). That request did not appeal to the Egyptian monarch, and so Pharaoh, not God, hardened his "heart" (Exodus 8:15, 32).

God has never hardened anyone’s heart, for he is LOVE (1 John 4:8, 16). Everybody in the world is God’s child (Luke 3:23, 38), and God loves everyone (John 3:16) so much that he "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" (Romans 8:32). Therefore those verses that say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4) must not be taken alone. The principle of "Again it is written" must be applied to reach "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).

ACTS 13:48

Of some Gentiles Luke wrote that "as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48). Alone, Luke’s statement is used to attempt to prove that nobody has control of his own destiny, that "eternal life" is "ordained" for some people unconditionally. But "Again it is written" that everybody does have control of his own destiny, that every person "ordained for eternal life" will "give account of himself to God"

(Romans 14:12), and that God "will render to every man according to his works" (Romans 2:6). "Again it is written" that "there is no respect of persons with God" (Romans 2:11), and "all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things he did in the body, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

ROMANS 8:28

Paul’s statement of "them that are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28) some take to mean that only a certain number are "called according to his purpose." But, "Again it is written," that "according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11) "whosoever believes in him" and "obeys him" receives "eternal life" (John 3:16; Hebrews 5:9), and so they who believe and obey Jesus are the "called according to his purpose." They are further described as "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1) "through" the "gospel" (2 Thessalonians 2:14, and "they" are "called sons of the living God" (Romans 9:26) and "by a divine revelation" they are "called Christians" (Acts 11:26).

ROMANS 8:29

Paul’s statement about some whom God "foreknew" (Romans 8:29) has been taken to mean that a certain group arbitrarily selected by God back in eternity will be saved, but "Again it is written," that God "will render to every man according to his work; ... for there is no respect of persons with God" (Romans 2:6, 11).

Also Paul’s word "foreordained" (or, "predestinated") some take to mean that God from all eternity foreordained that certain people will be saved regardless of how they live, but "Again it is written," "to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2); and "Again it is written," "glory and honor and peace to everyone who is doing good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for God is not partial" (Romans 2:10-11).

ROMANS 9:11

Alone "the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls" (Romans 9:11), could leave the impression that God arbitrarily has elected certain people to salvation "not of works, but of him who calls." However, "Again it is written," that "God is not partial; in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is welcomed by him" (Acts 10:34-35), and "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26), and that which "avails anything" is "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6).

ROMANS 9:16

The statement of Romans 9:16, "So it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy," is misapplied to mean that what people do has no effect on their salvation. However, as regards heaven and hell for each person, "Again it is written," there is willing, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:17), and "whosoever wills, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17), and there is running, "So run, that you may obtain" (1 Corinthians 9:24), and "let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).

ROMANS 9:18

The statement by itself that God "has mercy on whom he wills, and hardens whom he wills" (Romans 9:18), leaves the impression with some that people in no wise determine whether they receive mercy or whether they become hard-hearted. But "Again it is written," that "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting ... to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them" (Psalm 103:17, 18), and "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion in the day of the desert trial. Your fathers tested and tried me, and saw their works forty years. So I was angry with that generation, and said, `They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, `they shall not enter my rest.’" (Hebrews 3:7-11; Psalm 95:8-11).

ROMANS 11:7-8

The statements by themselves "That which Israel seeks, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened," and "God gave them a spirit of stupor" (Romans 11:7-8), could leave the impression that God arbitrarily has elected certain people to salvation and has hardened others with "a spirit of stupor." But "Again it is written," that "God is not partial; in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is welcomed by him" (Acts 10:34-35).

"Encourage one another daily ... lest any of you becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, for we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast to the end the firm beginning of our confidence" (Hebrews 3:13-14).

1 CORINTHIANS 1:17

Those opposing the necessity of baptism find support in quoting one verse by itself: "Christ sent me not to baptize" (1 Corinthians 1:17). If Paul meant to make baptism unimportant, he did what his Lord did not do: Christ walked some 70 miles (a three day trip) to be baptized, and then had to persuade John to baptize him (Matthew 3:13-15). If baptism is unimportant, one wonders why Jesus himself "made and baptized more disciples than John" (John 4:1), and one wonders why the last thing the Lord did, before going back to heaven, was to command that "all nations," "every creature" in "all the world" should be baptized (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-16).

Moreover, Christ put baptism on Paul’s "must" list: "go into the city, and you will be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:6). Accordingly, in the city Paul was told to "be baptized and wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16). Then, not only was Paul baptized, but he taught "all" of his converts to be baptized (Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Thus 1 Corinthians 1:27 is important, showing the baptizer himself is not important, but his message is. On the other hand, the divine requirement that every sinner be baptized is displayed in many "Again it is written" passages: "Look! Water! What hinders my being baptized?" (Acts 8:36; 2:38; 22:16; Mark 16:16).

JOHN 6:37

Those holding to the impossibility of apostasy find support in Jesus’ words, "I will never cast out the one who comes to me" (John 6:27). But "Again it is written" that those who will never be "cast out" are they who "hear my voice" and "follow me" (John 10:27). However, if they become "lukewarm," they will hear Jesus say, "I will vomit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16).