Why does comparing Scripture with Scripture settle a matter so that it cannot be avoided or compromised?
Comparing Scripture with Scripture settles a matter because the passages all fit together. When one part of Scripture is checked against another, the unified witness leaves no contradiction, no way to allude or elude it, and no room for compromise. The harmony of the whole confirms the truth.
Les explains that Paul said in II Corinthians chapter 2 to compare Scripture with Scripture, and when that is done, there is no alluding it or eluding it, and no compromising it, because it all fits. The reason the matter cannot be avoided or compromised is the harmony of the whole. Les illustrates this by reading II Corinthians 5:14-15, where the love of Christ constraineth us, and if one died for all, then all were dead. He notes that this means we live in a world of spiritually dead people, and then he turns to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1, to confirm that same line of thought. Because the passages agree, the conclusion stands.