The Agreement Principle

a. Definition.
That principle under which the truthfulness and faithfulness. of God become the guarantee that He will not set forth any passage in His Word which contradicts any other passage.

1. There are no contradictions in scripture; there is organic unity. Though there are 66 books. yet it is perfect unity as shown in structure, history, purpose, doctrine, and theme, which is Jesus Christ. There are always critics who declare that the Bible is full of discrepancies. inaccuracies, contradictions, and errors, but the Bible is not a Bible of mistakes, and this is guaranteed by the God of truth and faithfulness— Psa. 119:90; John 17:17.
2. If the Bible is a book of errors. then we must reach one of two conclusions.
   a. The Bible is not God’s book; for God is faithful.
   b. I it is God’s Look, then Cod is not faithful. Both thee conclusions may be rejected—Num. 23: 19; Rom. 3:4; Deut. 32:4; Tit. 1:2. There are a lot of books written by man which do not contain the truth, and many commentaries on scripture do not contain it. God is the Author of the Bible, through the Holy Spirit, and the Bible is ■ perfect unity, though ridiculed by many modernists.
   a. Examples of this principle.
   This agreement principle is illustrated by Bible testimony on topics of human disagreement. There are some things in scripture upon which the scriptures agree, but on which human beings are disagreed.
3. Gathering of the Jews. Many say Cod is through with the Jew. If you talk of the time when Israel will be the head instead of the tail there will be disagreement among men; but not so in scripture. God is all through the Bible concerning the dispersion and regathering of Israel—-Deut. 30:1-3; Isa.
   Exek. 36; Erek. 37; Jer. 23:3; Matt. 21:31; Rom. 11:25,26; Amos. 9:14-15. The Old Testament and the New Testament are perfectly agreed on this subject.
4. Is the world growing Letter or worse? People say that it is getting better in spite of the evidences of decay and corruption. Others say it is getting worse—no agreement at all. The Bible is agreed upon this subject as well—As it was in the days of Noah.” “As it was in the days of Lot.” “When the Son of Man cometh will he find faith in the earth?” “In the last days perilous times shall come.” Some people seem to think that the Lord will come back because the world is getting so good, but the truth is that the world is so corrupt that He must come.
5. Contrast between the writing of Paul and James— James 2:24; Rom. 4:2-4. Paul says you are justified by faith: James says you are justified by works. But Paul is showing how the sinner is justified be- fore God by faith, and James shows justification before men by works. God sees our faith, but when we say we have faith, men look for works as a proof. Paul is talking about the fact of justification; James about the fruits of justification. Paul is talking about the doctrine of justification; James about the experience of justification. Paul is rebuking the Pharisees for their lack of faith; James is rebuking the people for their license and lawlessness.
   a. Need for accuracy in the study of the Word of God.
   Never preach on a text until you have studied it in the light of your concordance; know every word in your text.
   There are many so-called errors which would never be set forth by man if every man were accurate.
6. Some of man’s errors.
   a. A man near Chesapeake Bay was a fisher of oysters, and a Christian. He was a member of the ME. Church, and wanted the church to grant him the license to preach. Since he was very unlearned, the preacher kept Putting him off. At last the preacher said that the next time the presiding elder came, he might preach, and get the opinion of the presiding elder. In due time his opportunity came, and he preached on the text, “Thou art an oysterman.” He had the Lord Jesus out in the bay fishing for oysters. When he gave the invitation four people responded. Afterwards the preacher said to him, “You made a terrible mistake.” The would-be preacher could not understand why. and then the preacher explained that the text should have read, “Thou art an austere man. — 19:21,22. To which the man replied, “What’s the difference? Didn’t we get four fish?”
   b. A preacher of very little education once preached on the text, “He took him and held him and lethim go. and was trying to explain how this was done when a man in the audience called out, she took him and healed him and let him g0″–Lk 14.4. We need to be careful in reading the Bible.