Bible Interpretation {type) To Use As A Writing Model

When one ignores the literary genre, the person violates the covenant of the Biblical author and the Holy Spirit. In the process, the understanding of the message would not be in agreement with God’s will and, therefore, would be misleading. For example, parables do not have a direct meaning and requires one to interpret them as the author intended to get the right meaning. At the same time, the way one reads and interpret Proverbs e.g. the book of Proverbs is not the same way one would read and understand prophetic-apocalyptic literature like the book of Revelations.
Ignoring the immediate context often leads to an erroneous understanding of the Bible verses. For example, Mathew 5:34-37 warns Christians against false promises/oaths. Verse 36 prohibits believers from swearing by their heads for no one can make even one hair white or black. Most people use the verse to oppose dying of the hair i.e. making it white or black. However, reading the verse alongside the immediate context, the meaning is entirely different. Matt 5: 34 instructs Christians not to swear any oath. While Matt 5:37 directs that all that people need is to say “yes” or “no” because taking an oath is evil since humans have no influence on the things they use to swear and, therefore, would be lying if they swore. Matt 5: 36 has nothing to do with dying the hair.
Topical preaching is valid if it is possible to understand various passages in their context and the main message does not violate the individual context of the passages. It follows that the original ideas in the readings must synchronize with each other whether the genres are different or not, and the meaning of the individual verses do not give conflicting ideas. However, if the original ideas read in their immediate and surrounding context do not match, then topical preaching becomes invalid.