GETTING TO KNOW GOD:
DIGGING DEEPER IN THE WORD, Part 2
TEXT: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous
things out of thy law." - Psalm 119:18
Last
week, we looked at important tools to use while studying the Scriptures. This week, we are going to look at important
steps to take while studying the Word.
If
you are serious about knowing God better, studying the Bible is an important
part of the process. Here are some
practical tips for studying the Bible:
1. STUDY
PRAYERFULLY
The
Psalmist prayed, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things
out of thy law." Obviously, the
Author can give you the best insight into the Book He has written. Seek God's guidance & help as you study
the Word.
2. STUDY IN CONTEXT
It
is disappointing, even alarming, to hear people (even preachers) take a
Bible verse out of context. When you
look at a specific verse, it is vital to read the surrounding verses to
understand what the verse really means.
You can only begin to understand a verse once you read it in context.
3. USE A PEN AND PAPER
Keeping
Bible study notes is important. Adrian
Rogers once said that the weakest ink is better than the strongest memory. Sometimes it is refreshing to pull out old
Bible study notes and relive lessons from the past.
4. USE A GOOD METHOD
When
it comes to personal Bible study, there are several methods available. You can study a book of the Bible, verse
by verse. You can study
topically (choosing a topic and finding verses about that subject). You can study types. For instance, a
person may study how Joseph in the Old Testament was a type of Christ. You can study biographically. We can learn much from men and women of the
Bible. If you're just starting to study
the Bible, begin with something small or simple, so you won't feel overwhelmed
and get discouraged.
5. GET INSIGHT FROM TRUSTED AUTHORS
Several
great Bible teachers have written books to help Christians study the
Bible. "Living By The Book,"
by Howard Hendricks is a great resource.
An older resource is, "How To Study The Bible," by R. A.
Torrey. There are many other wonderful
books out there. Here's a word of
caution: reading books about Bible
study is not a substitute for studying the Bible yourself.
6. A FINAL RECOMMENDATION
Let
me give you a simple, three-step method in study the Bible:
a. Observation. First of all, read the Scripture in
context. Make note of all that the
passage teaches. If you feel
comfortable doing so, mark your Bible and highlight important verses.
b. Interpretation. Based upon your observation, prayerfully
discover the interpretation of the passage.
Here's something that bothers me about Biblical interpretation by
Christians these days. I sometimes hear
statements like, "This is what the verse means to me..." or
"This is what I feel the verse means..." Even worse, someone may say, "That's what you think the
verse means, but my interpretation is..."
May I be rather blunt? There is
only one interpretation to a verse (or passage) of Scripture. God didn't have it written to mean one thing
to one person, a second thing to a second person and so on. He said what He meant and meant what He
said. We need to study the verse (or
passage) to understand what He meant.
Also, don't study the Bible with a preconceived bias. For instance, there are preachers who search
the Scriptures to find a verse that seems to support what they already
believe. This is absurd. Find out what the Bible really means and
believe it!
c. Application. Finally, there must be application of the
Word. While there is only one
interpretation of a verse (or passage), there may be many forms of
application. Sometimes people become
Bible students, but never act upon what they learn. They can fill up notebooks with Bible study notes, but never
apply what they've studied. They become
spiritually obese. Be a doer of the
Word!
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