Appropriate is an interesting word.(yes, I'm a word nerd) I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it doesn't mean what I thought it did. I thought it meant to use something. The meaning is actually somewhat stronger and broader than that. It's meaning is to grasp something, claim it, and then use it for what it is was meant to be used for and in the way it was meant to be used.
This reminds me of what Jesus' disciples and Paul did with the Gospel. Once Jesus offered it to them, they recognized it's inestimable worth, grabbed the bull by the horns, jumped on top of it, and rode it to the ends of the earth. Once we have repented and surrendered to the lordship of Jesus, we can appropriate the Gospel by following the advice(instructions really) of Paul;
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."
-2 Timothy 2:15
This is how we can keep ourselves from wrongly dividing, and from being duped by those who do. This is how we can avoid misappropriation of Holy Scripture and recognize it happening elsewhere.
This reminds me of what Jesus' disciples and Paul did with the Gospel. Once Jesus offered it to them, they recognized it's inestimable worth, grabbed the bull by the horns, jumped on top of it, and rode it to the ends of the earth. Once we have repented and surrendered to the lordship of Jesus, we can appropriate the Gospel by following the advice(instructions really) of Paul;
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."
-2 Timothy 2:15
This is how we can keep ourselves from wrongly dividing, and from being duped by those who do. This is how we can avoid misappropriation of Holy Scripture and recognize it happening elsewhere.