If you see something offensive, let me know . We must be very sure our own hearts are right with God if we would rightly interpret God's word . We must try to understand the writer's own intended meaning in every given passage, and be careful not to try to read into it a meaning of our own. We must give preference to the clearest, most evident interpretation of a passage. The Bible is its own best interpreter.
Nothing explains a text so well as another text.
This is also called the 'analogy of faith' - scripture interprets scripture. A scripture passage may have as many applications as we can draw out of it, but only one meaning. Every essential doctrine of the Bible is clearly and carefully revealed. Do not base a doctrine on any slight, questionable or figurative reference. T he Bible is a body of progressive revelation, becoming more clear as it nears completion .