False teachings generally have some truth in them. Satan uses enough truth to make his lies sound right. His effort to tempt Jesus reveals this favorite trick. Satan emphasizes part of Scripture, but leaves out the balancing part. He builds up entire doctrines and religions on one side of a biblical subject, while ignoring the other side of that subject, which the same Bible teaches just as plainly. Suppose a father says to a child, “You can go out to play today. But you must do your homework first.” The child has little interest in the second sentence, but he likes the first sentence! So he plays all day. The father returns and asks his child why he did no homework. The child replies, “Daddy, you said to me, ‘You can go out to play today.’” The child’s excuse has some truth. The father did use those words. But the father also said more on the subject. The father’s other words complete the picture, and show the whole truth on the subject. To accept the first sentence, but to leave out the second, is to twist the father’s words.
We understand this childish example. Do we understand the same lesson in dealing with God’s word? Peter said that ignorant, unstable people “twist” the Scriptures, and so destroy themselves (2 Peter 3:16). People today are just as capable of twisting the Scriptures. Perhaps the clearest example of imbalance has to do with the nature of saving faith. One group emphasizes Scriptures on the importance of “works.” Another group focuses instead on Scriptures about “faith.”