It is impossible to obey every instruction from the Lord in the Bible. There are instructions from the Lord that conflict with earlier instructions, instructions that are no longer feasible, or instructions that were simply not written to us.
We would never think of following God’s instructions to Noah to build an ark, or to Peter to walk on water. We must understand the context of the instructions and obey those which are intended for our obedience. Our job then is to discern which instructions we should obey and which we should not, the reasons why, and the context in which they should be obeyed. This is popularly called dispensational Bible study or right division.
To determine the context of a passage, ask who, what, when, where, and why? Here are
some simple questions to ask to determine the context of a passage:
1.) Who is speaking?
2.) To whom are they speaking?
3.) What are they speaking about?
Next, you must ask if you fit in the audience of the passage. If you do then obey; if
not, then you must let it be as instructions not written for your participation.
For example, if the Devil is speaking then you can conclude that the lying words that
come out of his mouth are not for you to obey. If God is speaking Noah to build an ark
you can determine that you are not in that audience since the Flood is already past.
If God is speaking about making a covenant with Israel, you can also determine that
you are not in the context since you are not Israel (if you are a Jew reading this then there are other questions you must ask).
If we ask these questions throughout the scriptures, we find that many passages have
the same context. These doctrinal contexts, dispensations, need to be rightly divided
from one another.
We are living in the dispensation of God’s grace where Jesus gave instructions to the
apostle Paul that are more excellent for us than the instructions in other dispensations
(Phil 1:10, Eph 3:2) . Jesus’ instructions to Paul revealed a mystery not known before in other ages (Col 1:26, Eph 3:5). The mystery of Christ created a new doctrinal context that changed the relationship between God and man.
A failure to rightly divide the mystery information given to Paul (Rom 16:25) from the
prophecy information (Acts 3:21) given to God’s prophets since the world began produces significant doctrinal confusion(2 Tim 2:7).
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – 2 Tim 2:15
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