Kaiser on bad Bible application

From Walt Kaiser's book, Toward an Exegetical Theology.

Believing (rightly) that the message of the text in its verbalized form is the very word which God Himself wanted to be communicated through His free, but obedient, writers, many go on to invest every word and phrase with almost an independent meaning(s) of its own apart from its context. Without thinking they allow this to pass over into a quasi-magical use of the words of Scripture where they may be detached from their context and used at the pleasure of the exegete—just as long as this is done for spiritual purposes and is in general harmony with the teaching of Scripture somewhere else.
But we will have no part of this bad business. (p. 70)
We must guard against misapplying God's Word in our lives by taking a verse out of its context. It is tempting in the weariness or weakness of our flesh to not take care, especially when there are some verses that are popularly used incorrectly. But, as Kaiser says, it is "bad business" to grant a verse meaning that God Himself did not intend.

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