![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/rocketScience.jpg\")
Do you remember math class? We were taught that in multiplication the answer is called the product; in division, it is called the quotient; in subtraction, it is the remainder; in addition, it is the sum.<\/p>\nDo you remember math class? We were taught that in multiplication the answer is called the product; in division, it is called the quotient; in subtraction, it is the remainder; in addition, it is the sum.<\/p>\n
Psalm 119:160 says, “The sum of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.<\/em>” The emphasis is on totality. Everything God says is right. Every one of His ordinances is binding. And the truth about any subject is determined by adding up all He says about it.<\/p>\n The principle of adding together all of God’s revelations is vital in Bible study. It is easy to err if one teaches a conclusion before weighing everything the Scripture says on a topic. Consider a few examples:<\/p>\n Some folks act as though Matthew 7:1 says everything there is to be said about judging: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.<\/em>” They seem to think this verse prohibits any and all judgments that one might make about another. However, I Corinthians 5:12 requires churches to judge their members with reference to fellowship. Jesus, Himself said, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment<\/em>” (John 7:24). The fact is, there are a number of situations in which we must assess one’s character, position, or conduct.<\/p>\n If one reads Jesus’ teaching about divorce only in Mark 10:2-12 or Luke 16:18, he would conclude that divorce is not allowable for any reason. Any remarriage following a divorce would constitute adultery. Matthew’s account, however, reveals one exception: divorce for fornication (Matthew 19:9).<\/p>\n When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, they replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved<\/em>” (Acts 16:31). Is that all there is to it? Many think so. But when the Jews on Pentecost asked Peter the same question, He answered, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins<\/em>” (Acts 2:38). Further reading in Acts 16 implies that Paul went on to tell the jailor the same thing. Neither Acts 16:31 nor John 3:16 nor any other verse contains all that God says about salvation. The sum of God’s word is truth.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Frank Himmel via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 25, June 22, 2008. Do you remember math class? We were taught that in multiplication the answer is called the product; in division, it is called the quotient; in subtraction, it is the remainder; in addition, it is the sum. Psalm 119:160 says, “The sum of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[37,78,529],"class_list":["post-59885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apologetics","tag-authority","tag-hermeneutics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60846,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-constitutes-obedience-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":59885,"position":0},"title":"What Constitutes Obedience? (Thetford)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Thetford A passage of Scripture comes to mind when I hear the word \"obedience\" and that is from I Samuel 15:22 which says: \"And Samuel said, \"Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26207,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-accepted-jesus-so-many-times-how-can-i-be-sure-that-christ-lives-in-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":59885,"position":1},"title":"I’ve accepted Jesus so many times! How can I be sure that Christ lives in me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I\u00a0surely know that Christ lives in me? Because every time that I'm at my church and they ask who wants to receive Christ, I always feel something in my heart. But I've accepted Jesus so many times! Almost every Sunday I pray: \"Lord I don't know if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37668,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-handwriting-of-ordinances\/","url_meta":{"origin":59885,"position":2},"title":"What is meant by “handwriting of ordinances”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is meant by the \"handwriting of ordinances\" that Paul says was against \"us\" (including himself along with his audience)? Was the church at Colosse Jewish, Gentile or both? Answer: Colosse is located in the area that we now know as Turkey. The city was located in a valley\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83931,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-may-have-confidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":59885,"position":3},"title":"We May Have Confidence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Everything is not up for question and doubt. There are some things we can know and be certain about. John says we \"may have confidence\" (I John 2:28) at His coming. He says, \"By this we know that we know Him\" (I John 2:3). We can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/post-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":59885,"position":4},"title":"Post-Truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer If we cannot know truth, then we cannot know anything, for any knowledge claim is a truth claim. For the Christian, truth is as fundamental as it gets. It speaks to the heart of what is real, and without a sense of reality, we are indeed lost.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57255,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-ideal-bible-teacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":59885,"position":5},"title":"The Ideal Bible Teacher","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Johnny Ramsey via\u00a0Gospel Minutes, Vol. 55, No. 39, Sept. 29, 2006 Jesus was born to die, but He lived to teach. I know that we have all heard that, but there are some statements that we hear over and over again that never get old. We have also heard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Bible-Reading-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}