Again; he who follows the true analogy of faith will not allow a doctrine which runs through the whole tenor of divine revelation to be weakened or set aside in the interest of some other scriptural doctrine.

The Scriptures teach, for example, with great frequency and clearness that men are saved, not from the merit of their good works, but solely by God’s free grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  They teach also with equal frequency and clearness that without repentance and obedience to the divine law there is no salvation.  These two deductions are not contradictory, but supplementary to each other.  They present two sides of one and the same way of salvation.  Yet it may happen that a Biblical student will find himself unable to reconcile in a logical way two such deductions as the following:  “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28); “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).  What then shall we counsel him to do?  Plainly it is his duty, first of all, to receive and hold both doctrines. Afterwards he may properly seek to reconcile them with each other in a logical way; but if he fails to accomplish this task to his satisfaction, he must not deny one truth, or sink its importance, in the interest of the other.  The same general principle applies to various other doctrinal difficulties, which need not be here specified.

Finally, a true regard to the analogy of faith will make our system of belief and practice entire and well proportioned in all its parts.  Every declaration of God’s word is to be received in a reverent and obedient spirit.  But inasmuch as the Scriptures insist much more earnestly and fully on some things than on others, it is our wisdom to follow, in this respect, the leadings of the Holy Spirit.  It will be the aim of the enlightened believer to give to each doctrine and precept of revelation the place and prominence assigned to it in the Bible.  Especially will he be careful that no obscure or doubtful passage of Scripture be allowed to contradict the plain teachings of inspiration.

The practical study of the Bible, that is, the study of it as “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” resolves itself in a great measure into the comparison of Scripture with Scripture, especially the comparison of doctrinal parallelisms.  All that the Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation concerning God’s being and attributes, his providential government over man, the person and offices of Christ and the way of salvation through him, and the final destiny of the righteous and the wicked, should be diligently compared, that from the whole we may gather a full and well-proportioned system of faith and practice as it is contained in the pages of inspiration.  So far as we fail