Using the Immediate Context of Scripture

Discerning the purpose and plan of a book is helpful in putting each passage into its broader context. The immediate context, however, is the most important guideline for determining the meaning of a passage; ironically, it is probably among the most neglected. Studying the immediate context helps the reader understand the intended meaning better, as we can see in studying three different passages in Galatians, Romans, and 1 Thessalonians.

Galatians 5:4: Falling from Grace

When Paul spoke of falling from grace (Gal. 5:4), was he speaking of a person’s losing his salvation? A quick check on the context will indicate that is far from the meaning of the expression in that passage. He was speaking of the circumcision party (who sought to bring believers under the bondage of the Old Covenant) and warning the people in Galatia that if a person seeks justification through obedience to the law, he has rejected the way of grace, or is fallen from grace.

Romans 14:13–15:1: The Strong and the Weak

We might think that a strong person is one who is strong in his opinions, his convictions, his character, or his spirituality. One who is weak is weak in one or more of those areas. That view is legitimate. But is that what Paul was contrasting in Romans 14 when he spoke of the strong and the weak? The context must determine. He was speaking of being strong in faith and weak in faith. The one who is strong in faith has confidence that he may eat anything. The one who is weak in faith lacks that confidence. In Paul’s case, he was the strong person and biblical in his convictions. However, it is quite possible to be strong and wrong. Such a person could be weak in character or weak spiritually and still be “strong” in the sense in which Paul used the term here.

It is important for the interpretation of the entire passage to learn from the context what the meaning is. That is, incidentally, another good example of how the context extends beyond chapter divisions.

In Romans 15:1 we have additional exhortation and contrast between the strong and the weak: “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” Paul then gives Christ as a model to show how that difficult injunction can be obeyed—all in another chapter but part of the same thought.

1 Thessalonians 5:2: The Day of the Lord

Here Paul tells us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. How does a thief come in the night? Many have taken this passage to indicate that the Lord will come stealthily or secretly. Once again, the context must control. The following verse uses another analogy, the way a woman’s birth pangs come upon her suddenly, without warning. Then, in verse 4, the contrast between day and night is used in another way, but one that sheds light on the nature of a thief in Pauline usage: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief.” Here again, Paul is speaking of the thief’s overtaking or coming suddenly. So it would seem from the con-text that the characteristic of a thief coming at night does not refer to secrecy or stealth, much less to the immoral behavior of the thief. Rather, it refers to his unexpectedness or suddenness.

For further light, the preceding context would seem to say the very opposite of stealth: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). If 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is taken to mean that thief-like coming refers to secrecy, then those two verses must refer to different events, and the interpretation that “the day of the Lord” and “the coming of the Lord” are different events would be reinforced. But if the thief-likeness of Christ’s coming does not have to do with any other characteristic of a thief except his unexpected coming, the two could fit together very well. I have used several guidelines in analyzing this statement, but chiefly it is the context that yields a more accurate understanding of meanings.