HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE EFFECTIVELY
Frank Walton
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE EFFECTIVELY
A. Studying God’s Word is the noblest of all pursuits. Preachers are called to grow in the Word of Christ to effectively teach it to save others and themselves (1 Tim. 4:11-16). This “rightly dividing (lit. cut straight) the Word” (2 Tim. 2:15). This sacred task is to get out of the Word according to what God revealed in it (Psa. 119:130).
B. All Christians, as disciples (learners) of Christ, are called to be life-long Bible students and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (1 Pet. 2:2, 3:18). The truth makes us free (Jn. 8:32). A lack of knowledge is destructive (Hos. 4:6).
1. The Proper Attitudes for Effective Bible Study – Ezra 7:10
A. To Know & Love God Foremost – Jn 17:3, Psa. 119:2, 10; Mk. 12:29-30, Jn 14:23, 15:10, 1 Jn 5:2. When we read the Bible we ask ourselves what we learn of God’s character to adore or imitate.
B. Love for Divine Truth and Meditation Daily – Psa 119:48, 97; 2 Thess. 2:10. An eager mind and common sense will help one discover the truth (Matt. 22:31, Ja. 1:25).
C. Honesty – Psa. 119:18, Lk 8:15. Objective examination is essential to know the truth, or else we can deceive ourselves! Our feelings do not alter the truth! The truth will meet us on judgment day.
D. Humility out of Respect for God’s greatness – Ja. 1:21, Isa. 66:2. We must seek God’s will, not our own will, in Bible study in order to please Him.
E. Noble-minded – Acts 17:11, Matt. 5:6. We should be idealistic, open-minded truth seekers, always willing to learn. We are more concerned about what is right rather than who is right.
F. Belief that Scripture can be understood – Eph. 3:5, Rev. 1:3. God’s Word is a revelation of His will for our lives, not a riddle of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).
2. Key Truths About the Bible – Psa. 119:89
A. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, perfect Word of God revealed by the Holy Spirit as His will to mankind – 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Jn 10:35, Psa. 19:14, 2 Pet. 1:19-21, 1 Cor. 2:13.
B. The Bible is confirmed to be God’s one and only Book by miraculous prophecies which proves the Bible is true – Isa 41:21, 46:10; Jn 13:19, 14:29
C. The central character of Scripture is the Person and saving work of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world – Lk 24:27,44-45, Jn 1:45, 5:46, Acts 3:20-26, Rom. 10:4, Eph. 1:10, Col. 1:18, Rev. 1:17.
D. The Bible is our complete, perfect guide for faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16-17). “All truth” was revealed to the apostles (Jn. 16:13, Jude 3, 2 Pet. 1:3). There is no continuing revelation past the apostolic age (1 Cor. 13:8-13, Jude 3, Zech. 13:1-4).
3. Important Concepts in Bible Interpretation – 2 Tim. 2:15
A. The central theme of the Bible is God revealing Himself to mankind for a loving relationship (Ecc. 12:13; Jn 17:3, 1 Pet. 1:16). Sin is man’s greatest problem and salvation from sin his greatest need (Rom. 6:23). Jesus Christ is the central character of Scripture to accomplish God’s gracious plan of salvation through obedient faith (Gen. 12:3, Rom. 3:23-28, Eph. 2:8-10). God’s eternal purpose is we “might be conformed to the image His Son” (Rom. 8:29-30).
B. Discern 3 Dispensations of Bible History: Patriarchal, Mosaic, Gospel Ages – Heb. 1:1-3, 8:1-8.
1. The Patriarchal Age (Fathers led family religion) was from Adam to Moses (Gen. 8:20, Job 1:5). Revelation was to individual prophets, like Job, Enoch, Noah and Abraham (Jude 14, 2 Pet. 2:5, Rom. 4:16). Gentiles continued under universal moral law until Christ (Gen. 18:20, Rom. 2:14-16).
2. The Mosaic Age (National religion of Jews revealed at Mt. Sinai) was from Moses to Christ (Exodus 20 to Acts 2). The Law of Moses was only given to the Jews (Deut. 5:3). It ended at the cross (Col. 2:14, 16; Rom. 10:4, Heb. 8:6-13). The law was only a tutor to lead sinners to Christ (Gal. 3:24-26; 2 Cor. 3:6-11).
3. The Gospel Age (Good news of Christ for all mankind) reveals the law of Christ, of salvation through grace by active faith to all (Gal. 3:28). It began in Acts 2 when Christ’s kingdom was established and will continue to the end of time (Jn. 1:17, Heb. 10:9-10).
D. Take all the Bible say on any topic as God’s pattern on that subject – Matt. 4:4, 28:19; Acts 3:22-23. For example, we are saved by faith (Jn. 3:16) but not faith only (Ja. 2:24). Faith includes baptism (Gal. 3:26-27) and steps of faith (Rom. 4:12, Mk. 2:5). Beware of the partial view.
E. Interpret the difficult in light of the Bible’s clear teaching, because all of Scripture is harmonious – 2 Pet. 3:16, 1 Cor. 14:33, Jn. 17:17, Acts 15:15. For example, whatever the meaning of “baptism for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29) it would not contradict the clear teaching of personal responsibility (Rom. 14:12, Ezek. 18:20) and that there are no second chances after death (Heb. 9:27, Lk. 16:22-26). Also, the controversial verse “there is neither male nor female in Christ” (Gal. 3:28) does not invalidate Scripture teaching male leadership and female submission in the home and church (1 Tim. 2:9-10).
4. Set a Plan for Bible Study
A. Set aside time and place for study and prayer when you can think clearly without unnecessary interruptions – Psa. 119:148, Lk 5:16, Mk. 1:35.
B. Different Topics of Study (which may vary each year)
1. Read the New Testament through twice annually is a doable goal. It takes about 12 hours to read the NT through. One hour daily will take your though the 27 books of the NT twice monthly!
2. Read the Bible through annually to grasp the connected, agreeing themes of Scripture (Acts 15:15).
3. A longer study may be to prepare a brief book-by-book survey of each book of the Bible in order to grasp the unique theme, outline, key words and message. Good reference works, like Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, give clear outlines of a Bible book.
For example, Acts’ chapters can be outlined from Acts 1:8 into 3 major parts: (1) Preaching in Jerusalem (1-8:3), (2) Preaching in Judea & Samaria (8:4-12), (3) Preaching to the Uttermost Parts of Earth (13-28). Galatians chapters may be outlined into 3 parts: (1) Personal (1-2, Paul defends his credibility), Doctrinal (3-4, Justification through Gospel not Law) and Practical (5-6, Walking by the Spirit). Know this helps you to visualize the logical flow of thought through the book.
4. Bible books that relate to a preacher’s personal development – 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus, the Prophets (inspired preachers!), 2 Cor. & 1 Thess. (Paul’s motives for preaching), Psalms (personal devotion).
5. Addressing needs in the church:
a. Faithfulness to Follow Jesus Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
b. Cases of Conversion (Book of Acts).
c. Gospel Plan of salvation by grace through faith (Romans, Galatians, Eph. 1-3)
d. Church problems and challenges (1 Cor., Rev. 2-3)
e. Dealing with suffering and problems (Job, 1 Peter, Philippians)
f. False teachers and false doctrine (Colossians, 2 Peter, Jude)
g. Daily Christian living (James, Rom. 12, Eph. 4-6, Col. 3-4, 1 Thess. 4-5)
h. Resisting liberalism in the church by contending for the faith (Jude, 2 Peter)
6. Word/topical studies: Deity of Christ, love, faith, sin, worship, salvation, justification, holiness, the church, leadership, the home, judgement, heaven/hell etc.
5. Reading the Bible Text
A. Open you mind with prayer (Ja. 1:5, Psa. 119:18). Be completely honest and read the text afresh with no prejudice, as if you have never read it before (Lk. 8:15).
B. Analyze context of a book or paragraph to grasp the specific meaning intended by the Spirit. For example, Ecclesiastes says “the dead know nothing” (9:5) but one perspective of the book deals with “life under the sun” as if God doesn’t exist. Paul’s thorn is the flesh that caused him weakness can be grasped by reading the context of 2 Cor. 11:18-12:13. His weakness was from persecution. He states what this thorn is in 12:10!
C. Analyze sentences, clauses and words. Is Eph. 4:29 a conditional sentence or a command? Note whether a word is plural or singular (Gal. 3:16, Rev. 1:3 “he” vs. “they”). “Therefore” introduces a conclusion from the foregoing (Rom. 12:1, Eph. 4:1, 2 Cor. 12:10). We can learn a word’s meaning from usage, like baptism is a “burial” (Rom. 6:4), requires much water (Jn. 3:23) and a going down into the water (Mk. 1:9-10, Acts 8:38).
D. Ask good questions:
1. Who is speaking/acting (God? Apostle of Christ (1 Cor. 14:37)? The devil?)
2. When are they speaking (OT or NT)? For example, the thief on the cross died under the OT before Christ died, so baptism in his case is not relevant to being saved today (Lk 23:43, Heb. 9:15-16). The use of instrumental music in the OT physical Temple does not authorize it in the NT spiritual temple, the church because we follow Christian worship, not Jewish worship (Col. 3:17).
3. Who is being spoken to? For example, a Christian or non-Christian? Cf. confess and pray (Acts 8:22) vs. repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). The apostles had special revelation promised that wasn’t promised to all Christians (Jn. 14:26, Mk 13:11).
4. What do I learn of the nature of God (1 Pet. 1:16)?
5. What do I learn about the nature of men, good or bad (Heb. 11:1-2, 1 Cor. 10:11).
6. Is there a command for me to obey (1 Cor. 10:31)?
7. Is there a sin to confess or avoid (Matt. 5:23-24)?
8. Is there an example to follow (1 Pet. 2:21)?
9. Is there a promise to claim (Heb. 13:5-6)?
10. Is this a mere custom or a command or limited in context (ex. holy kiss, foot washing, fasting, etc.)
E. Tools: A literal reliable translation like the NKJV, NASB, ESV. Other thought for thought translations are good as a concise commentary. Use a good clear pen and paper for notes, a concordance to look up words, a Bible dictionary for background information and a reliable commentary for helpful insights into the text. BibleHub is an app for android phones and e-Sword is for apple phones to access many reference works with an internet connection. All human reference works should be read with critical discernment.
Conclusion: After study and meditation (Josh. 1:7-9), the Bible student must ask himself what he is going to do about what he has learned (Ja. 1:22-25). We learn to practice it in our life, not merely to boast in knowledge (1 Cor. 8:1).
– Frank Walton