NAU Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

questions:
- have the parents of wayward children failed in their training?
- will the wayward child always return to the Lord someday?

Obviously the answer to these questions is “No.” Despite the parents efforts, their children may go astray. And maybe the wayward child will never return to God.

Just about any Christian would agree that to take this scripture to be an absolute promise and rule that children raised properly will NEVER stray from God, or that children who do stray will ALWAYS return to God, would be foolish and not in keeping with the continuity of Scripture as a whole. It would be illogical, irresponsible and foolish to read such absolute promises into scripture where such promises and rules do not truly exist.

Despite the seemingly absolute nature of the statement being made in Scripture, it must be understood within the context of the whole of Scripture. The fact that Scripture uses generalities, hyperbolies, figures of speech, understatements and overstatements, does not in any way detract from the truth of scripture, nor does it create contradictions. The only contradictions that exist are in our incorrect, legalistic, or absolute interpretations which read into scripture what does not belong there.

Take Proverbs 22:6 for example. Most Christians would agree that it would be foolish to read such promises of security for the child based on the parents ability to raise them. Yet, as foolish as this seems in this one example, it seems that we as Christians do this all over the place in scripture. We make absolute promises and rules based on our theological views, preferences, and desires where in reality they do not exist in Scripture.

Calvinist theology attempts to interpret as many passages as it can to guarantee eternal security, while glossing over others. A few cornerstone passages are always pointed to when any other scripture that might suggest otherwise is brought up. The desire is to know one’s eternal security, and so a theology is created that reads much like the following: “Once a person comes to faith and says the right prayer and does his single baptism he will always be secure in his salvation even if he turns away from God because God knows he will come back to him eventually. If he doesnt turn back and instead goes to hell then he wasnt really a christian to begin with and wasnt entitled to the promise.”

The same thing happens in Prosperity Theology. However it happens in regards to immediate worldly aspects of health and wealth rather than eternal promises of salvation. The promise here is seen as follows: “If I give enough money to God and have enough faith in God, then God will reward me and must reward me with good health and lost of wealth.”
so with that I ask:

What promises do we read into scripture that might not actually be there simply because it makes us feel better, or because that is what we want to hear?