Have you ever been afraid of Bible verses? Maybe you weren’t afraid of the verses BUT afraid that someone would bring them up? When I was a kid, I attended a religious school that did not teach what the Bible teaches about salvation from sins. I was that kid in the back of the room, who frequently raised my hand to say, “What about this verse?” When the subject that was being taught was salvation from sins, I often asked, “What about this Bible verse on the necessity of baptism for salvation?”
Of course, as a kid, I had “my verses” on baptism, and they had “their verses” on faith. (At least, that is sometimes the way we think about it—“my verses vs. their verses.”) I knew “my verses” and was ready with them, and I knew some of “their verses” and was usually ready with a Bible answer to their arguments. However, I remember being nervous that they might bring up certain verses. What a weird feeling—to be nervous about Bible verses.
As I grew (and still growing), I began to realize—“Wait a minute! These verses are not ‘my verses.’ Those verses are not ‘their verses.’ They are ALL GOD’S verses.” Think about that for a moment. God didn’t put some verses in the Bible for one group to grab as “Our verses,” and then put other verses in the Bible for a different group to grab as “Our verses.” Every verse in the Bible is “inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16), for it is (think about this designation) the “word OF God” (Eph. 6:17). It is not the “word of David”! They are not “David’s verses”!
Therefore, God’s verses are all going to work in harmony together! God does not have more than one will for mankind, but there is “the [singular] will of the Lord,” and He expects us to “understand” what that “is” when we “read” His inspired book (Eph. 5:17; 3:3-4). If we have two different understandings of the will of God, then we have too many. God makes His will plain in Scripture, especially when it comes to our salvation from sins.
Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). There is not a single verse that someone can quote which is going to contradict or negate the fact that “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Every verse of God works in harmony with every other verse of God!
Don’t be afraid of Bible verses! Study them all! Love them all! Welcome them all! See how they all work together! All of God’s Word is going to lead to the same plan of redemption—God’s verses will explain each other, supplement each other and maybe even repeat each other, but they will never contradict each other. All Bible verses are God’s verses!