2 Peter 3:16 says: "As he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures." Spurgeon's quote reflects material in Everyday Bible Study because "a careless study of the Scriptures that ignores historical context will almost always lead to a misuse or misunderstanding of God's Word" (Cartwright and Hulshof 136). I believe that this applies to literal context as well. Without having an understanding of one or the other, it becomes very easy to misunderstand and misuse the Bible. One big example that comes to mind is judging other people. Often we will hear that the Bible tells us not to judge one another. While part of this is true, there is much more to it than that. While the Bible does in fact tell us not to judge, it also tells us that we are to keep our brothers and sisters accountable. Galatians 6:1 says: "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." While taking all of the context into consideration, what the Bible is saying is that we are to bring correction to our brothers and sisters in their wrong doing, however we must make sure that it is out of love.
2 Timothy 3:16 says: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." The word of God is a sacred thing, and should be read in full context so that we can understand it. According to Cartwright and Hulshof, we must perform a contextual analysis while reading the Bible. "This sets healthy boundaries for what a passage can mean and creates a safe environment for good Bible interpretation and application" (141). Too often many Bible verses are taken out of context and are twisted by people so that they can justify their actions. I believe as Christians, it is extremely important for us to have a good contextual understanding of the Bible. If we do not, we cannot get across the message that God has intended. In agreement with Hindson, we must read the passage as a whole rather than one verse at a time. This way we can understand the full meaning of what we read.