How to Enjoy Bible Study

There's nothing I enjoy more than studying the Bible. Yet it has not always been that way. My
real passion for studying Scripture began when as a college student, I made a commitment to
explore the Bible in earnest. I found that the more I studied, the more my hunger for Scripture
grew. Here are three simple guidelines that have helped me to make the most of my study time.

Read the Bible

First, I begin with reading the Bible. That seems obvious, but quite frankly, it's where many
people fail. Too many Christians are content with a second-hand knowledge of Scripture. They
read books about the Bible instead of studying the Bible for themselves. Books are good, but
collateral reading can never replace the Bible itself.

There are many good Bible reading plans available, but here is one I've found most helpful. I
read through the Old Testament at least once a year. As I read, I note in the margins any truths I
particularly want to remember, and I write down separately anything I don't immediately
understand. Often I find that as I read, my questions are answered by the text itself. The
questions to which I can't find answers become the starting points for more in-depth study using
commentaries or other reference tools.

I follow a different plan for reading the New Testament. I read one book at a time repetitiously
for a month or more. I began doing this when I was in seminary, because I wanted to retain what
was in the New Testament and not always have to depend on a concordance to find things.

If you want to try this, begin with a short book, such as 1 John, and read it through in one sitting
every day for 30 days. At the end of that time, you will know what's in that book. Write out on
index cards the major theme of each chapter. By referring to the cards as you do your daily
reading, you'll begin to remember the content of each chapter. In fact, you'll develop a visual
perception of the book in your mind.
Divide longer books into short sections and read each section daily for thirty days. For example,
the gospel of Johncontains 21 chapters. Divide it into 3 sections of 7 chapters. At the end of 90
days, you'll finish John. For variety, alternate short and long books and in less than 3 years you
will have finished the entire New Testament — and you'll really know it!

Interpret the Bible

As I read Scripture, I always keep in mind one simple question: "What does this mean?" It's not
enough to read the text and jump directly to the application; we must first determine what it
means, otherwise the application may be incorrect.

Gaps to Bridge
The first step in interpreting the Bible is to recognize the four gaps we have to bridge: language,
culture, geography, and history.
Language
The Bible was originally written in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Often, understanding the
meaning of a word or phrase in the original language can be the key to correctly interpreting a
passage of Scripture. Two books that will help you close the language gap are An Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine, and Nelson's Expository Dictionary of the
Old Testament, by Merrill F. Unger and William White, Jr. You don't need to know Greek or
Hebrew to use those books effectively.
Culture
The culture gap can be tricky. Some people try to use cultural differences to explain away the
more difficult biblical commands. Don't fall into that trap, but realize that we must first view
Scripture in the context of the culture in which it was written. Without an understanding of first-
century Jewish culture, it is difficult to understand the gospels. Acts and the epistles must be read
in light of the Greek and Roman cultures. The following books will help you understand the
cultural background of the Bible: The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred
Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, also by Edersheim, and The New Manners and
Customs of Bible Times, by Ralph Gower.
Geography
A third gap that needs to be closed is the geography gap. Biblical geography makes the Bible
come alive. A good Bible atlas is an invaluable reference tool that can help you comprehend the
geography of the Holy Land. Of course, nothing helps like seeing the land first-hand on a tour.
History
We must also bridge the history gap. Unlike the scriptures of most other world religions, the
Bible contains the records of actual historical persons and events. An understanding of Bible
history will help us place the people and events in it in their proper historical perspective. A good
Bible dictionary or Bible encyclopedia is useful here, as are basic historical studies.
Principles to Understand
Four principles should guide us as we interpret the Bible: literal, historical, grammatical, and
synthesis.
The Literal Principle
Scripture should be understood in its literal, normal, and natural sense. While the Bible does
contain figures of speech and symbols, they were intended to convey literal truth. In general,
however, the Bible speaks in literal terms, and we must allow it to speak for itself.
The Historical Principle
This means that we interpret Scripture in its historical context. We must ask what the text meant
to the people to whom it was first written. In this way we can develop a proper contextual
understanding of the original intent of Scripture.
The Grammatical Principle
This requires that we understand the basic grammatical structure of each sentence in the original
language. To whom do the pronouns refer? What is the tense of the main verb? You'll find that
when you ask some simple questions like those, the meaning of the text immediately becomes
clearer.
The Synthesis Principle
This is what the Reformers called the analogia scriptura. It means that the Bible doesn't
contradict itself. If we arrive at an interpretation of a passage that contradicts a truth taught
elsewhere in the Scriptures, our interpretation cannot be correct. Scripture must be compared
with Scripture to discover its full meaning.

Apply the Bible

Having read and interpreted the Bible, you should have a basic understanding of what the Bible
says, and what it means by what it says. But my Bible study doesn't stop there. I never study
God's Word just to get a sermon. My ultimate goal is to let it speak to me and enable me to grow
spiritually. That requires personal application.

Bible study is not complete until we ask ourselves, "What does it mean for my life and how can I
practically apply it?" We must take the knowledge we've gained from our reading and
interpretation and draw out the practical principles that apply to our personal lives.

If there is a command to be obeyed, we obey it. If there is a promise to be embraced, we claim it.
If there is a warning to be followed, we heed it. This is the ultimate step: we submit to Scripture
and let it transform our lives. If you skip this step, you will never enjoy your Bible study and the
Bible will never change your life.

Bible study is not optional in the Christian life. It is both the obligation and the privilege of all
believers. If you are not involved in regular, systematic Bible study, you are missing one of the
primary means God uses to bring us to maturity (1 Peter 2:2).

Introduction

Truly the Bible is magnificent. Early twentieth-century evangelist Billy Sunday

pictured the Bible like a majestic palace. He wrote,

I entered through the portico of Genesis and walked down through the Old
Testament's art gallery, where I saw the portraits of Joseph, Jacob, Daniel,
Moses, Isaiah, Solomon and David hanging on the wall; I entered the music room
of the Psalms and the Spirit of God struck the keyboard of my nature until it
seemed to me that every reed and pipe in God's great organ of nature responded
to the harp of David, and the charm of King Solomon in his moods.

I walked into the business house of Proverbs.

I walked into the observatory of the prophets and there saw photographs of
various sizes, some pointing to far-off stars or events—all concentrated upon one
great Star which was to rise as an atonement for sin.

Then I went into the audience room of the King of Kings, and got a vision from
four points—from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I went into the
correspondence room, and saw Peter, James, Paul and Jude, penning their
epistles to the world. I went into the Acts of the Apostles and saw the Holy Spirit
forming the Holy Church, and then I walked into the throne room and saw a door
at the foot of a tower and, going up, I saw One standing there, fair as the
morning, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and I found this truest friend that man
ever knew; when all were false I found him true (BillySunday Speaks [New York:
Chelsea House, 1970], p. 23).

The Bible is an awe-inspiring book. However, we don't want merely to admire it;
we need to understand it. In fact, the majority of people who have an opinion
about the Bible—either positive or negative—don't understand what it says. Such
understanding is crucial because the Bible is the Word of God, a fact that
becomes especially apparent as you study it. So we need to know how to study the
Bible. That encompasses four things: reading it, interpreting it, meditating on it,
and teaching it

Reading the Bible

Bible study begins with reading. Yet, quite frankly, a lot of people never get to
that point. At best, they nibble at the text. They may read books about the Bible
or devotional materials loosely based on it, but they don't read the Bible itself.
Good Christian books and magazines that supplement your Bible reading are
fine, but there is no substitute for reading Scripture.

The Old Testament

I believe Christians should try to read through the Old Testament once a year.
There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament, and if you read about twenty
minutes a day, you should be able to finish it in one year.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, a comparatively simple language to

understand. It doesn't have the nuances of Greek, the language of the New
Testament. It isn't a theoretical or philosophical language with a lot of
abstraction. It is very concrete.

The Old Testament is basically a historical narrative interspersed with biblical

laws, poetry, and prophecies. I suggest you read from Genesis straight through to
Malachi, indicating in your margin with a pencil the passages you don't
understand. If you do that, you'll find an interesting thing happening: As time
goes on you will be erasing many of your markings, because as you read and
reread Scripture, you will have a broader perspective that will answer some of the
questions you had. [What you can't answer in your reading, you can study later
with a commentary or other source that will provide the meaning.]

One potential cause for confusion in reading the Old Testament is that it is not
always in chronological order. Something relatively new on the market is The
NarratedBible (Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House Publishers), which rearranges the
entire Bible in chronological order, is a helpful tool. In it you'll read, for instance,
the psalms of David interspersed at the appropriate times in his life and the
words of the prophets as they relate to the kings in power at the time. It is helpful
for those who have never read the Bible before or who want a fresh perspective.

The important thing is to be reading through the Old Testament on a regular

basis. You'll be amazed at what you learn, for as the New Testament says, "For
whatever was written in earlier times [the Old Testament] was written for our
instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures
we might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

The New Testament

I have a different approach for reading the New Testament. And by the way, I
think our major thrust should be reading the New Testament. In Colossians
1:25-26, Paul says, "I was made a minister according to the stewardship from
God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching
of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages
and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints ." That mystery is the
New Testament revelation. In Ephesians 3:3-5, Paul describes himself as an
apostle of that mystery. The New Testament was the major thrust of his ministry.
He used the Old Testament to illustrate, elucidate, and support the New.

The New Testament embodies and engulfs all that was in the Old Testament. It
summarizes the content of the Old Testament, and leads us into the fullness of
God's revelation to mankind. So you must spend more time studying the New
Testament because it explains the Old Testament. Also, it was written in Greek, a
particularly complex language that emphasizes abstract concepts and subtle
shades of meaning. Therefore, studying the New Testament demands greater
diligence.

When I was in seminary, I decided to read 1 John every day for thirty days. That's
a good place for you to start, too. The first day—the beginning of the month—
simply read all five chapters of 1 John. It will take you only twenty to thirty
minutes. Do the same thing the next dayand the next. About the seventh or
eighth day you will say to yourself, "This is getting old. I think I understand 1
John by now." That's the hard part. But if you push through and stick with your
reading for the rest of the month, you'll have a tremendous comprehension of 1
John.

That is the method I use to prepare my messages. I read through the passage I'm
studying over and over again until it fills my mind. I suggest that as you read, you
jot down the major themes of each chapter on a three-by-five card. Every day as
you read the book, look at the card and read through your list. You will soon
know by heart the main points of each chapter.

When you finish reading I John, go on to a large book in the New Testament—the
gospel of John is a good choice since you've already become familiar with the
apostle John's writing style. Divide the twenty-one chapters into three sections,
reading the first seven for thirty days, the second seven for thirty days, and the
third seven for thirty days. At the end of those ninety days you will have mastered
the content of John's gospel. And all the while keep noting the major themes on
three-by-five cards and reading straight through the Old Testament.

After finishing the gospel of John, you might want to go back to reading a short
book, say Philippians, and then go to Matthew, then to Colossians, then to Acts.
By alternating your reading like that for thirty days at a time, you will complete
the entire New Testament in about two and a half years. If you're going to read
the New Testament anyway, you might as well read it so you can remember it.
You won't find yourself forgetting what you read a few days ago, and you won't be
dependent on a concordance because you'll know where to find what you're
looking for. Scripture will stick with you for life if you keep up this practice of
refreshing your mind with the text.
In using this repetition method of reading, I recommend you stay with the same
version and the same Bible. That way you will visualize the precise wording and
location of a passage. However, once in awhile, it's good to read your text from
another version to get a fresh perspective. By habit, I normally read the King
James Version, but I will invariably read the passage I'm studying in the New
American Standard Bible, which is especially faithful to the Greek and Hebrew
texts, and the English Standard Version, which is very well worded and easy to
read.

By reading the Bible repetitiously, you will find that your total comprehension
increases dramatically. That's because the Bible explains the Bible. God didn't
write it to trip us up; He wants us to understand it. Yet invariably you'll hear
people say things like, "Whatever you do, don't read the book of Revelation; it's
so confusing." However, the first chapter of Revelation says, "Blessed is he who
reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy" (v. 3). Obviously, God
intends for us to read it. But you'll never fully understand Revelation unless you
have read through Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. It all begins to come together when
you read the Word of God in its entirety.

Interpreting the Bible

Once you read the Bible and know what it says, the next step is to find out what it
means. Only when you've correctly interpreted a biblical passage can you apply it
to your life and bring glory to God.

Nehemiah 8 shows us the science of interpretation at work: " And all the people
gathered as one man at the square ... and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the
book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest
brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen
with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it
...from early morning until midday" (vv. 1-3). Reading the Bible is where
understanding begins. Verse 3 continues, "And all the people were attentive to
the book of the law...Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was
standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, 'Amen,
Amen,' lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with
their faces to the ground" (vv. 3-6). The people responded to the reading of
Scripture by worshiping the Lord. Verse 8 is the key: "And they [the Levitical
instructors] read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense
so that they understood the reading." That's what's involved in interpreting the
text.

In 1 Timothy 4:13 Paul says to "give attention to the public reading of Scripture,
to exhortation [application] and teaching [interpretation]." That's what "handling
accurately the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15) is all about. Anything else leads
to misinterpretation, and misinterpretation is the mother of all kinds of mania.
For, example, some people are teaching that since the patriarchs practiced
polygamy, so must we. Others say that women should suffer in childbirth as a
divine punishment and not use anesthesia. Such misinterpretations arise when
someone doesn't understand what the Bible is really saying or the specific
situation involved.

Things to Avoid

Don't make a point at the cost of proper interpretation . In other words, don't
make the Bible say what you want it to say. That's like the preacher who
proclaimed that women shouldn't wear their hair on top of their heads. His text
was "Top Knot Come Down," supposedly from Matthew 24:17, which says, "Let
him who is on the housetop not come down" (King James Version). Obviously
that's not what the passage is about! Don't try to find verses to support a
preconceived idea. I know if I try to make a sermon, I end up forcing the Bible to
fit my sermon. But if I try to comprehend a passage, a message will flow out of the
understanding that follows.

In 2 Corinthians 2:17, Paul says, "For we are not like many, peddling the word of
God." The Greek word translated "peddling" is kapeleuo, which referred to selling
something deceitfully in the marketplace—something that wasn't what it claimed
to be. You must not force the Bible to illustrate your preconceived notions. Be
careful not to interpret the Bible at the cost of its true meaning.

Avoid superficial Bible study . Unfortunately, some Bible studies consist of

nothing more than person's saying, "I guess this verse means..." or "What does
this verse mean to you?" Basically that's a pooling of ignorance—a lot of people
sitting around telling what they don't know about the verse. To have a successful
Bible study, someone has to study the passage beforehand to find out what it
really means. Only then can you discuss it intelligently and apply it.
Interpretation requires work. Don't take the easy way out and believe what
everyone tells you the Bible says. Check the facts out yourself. Don't assume there
are many interpretations of a biblical passage. There may be many applications,
but there is only one true interpretation. God's Word is precise. It is not
ambiguous. God has given us the ability to discover its meaning.

Don't spiritualize the text . The first sermon I ever preached was really bad. My
text was, "The angel rolled the stone away" from Matthew 28. I entitled my
sermon, "Rolling Away the Stones in Your Life." I talked about the stone of doubt,
the stone of fear, and the stone of anger. Doubt, fear, and anger are all legitimate
topics, but they have nothing to do with that verse! I call that "Little Bo Peep
Preaching" because you don't need the Bible; you can use anything—even "Little
Bo Peep."

Picture a preacher saying this: "Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep. All over the
world people are lost. And can't tell where to find them. But they'll come home—
ah, they'll come." Then you hear a tear-jerking story about sinners who came
home "wagging their tails behind them!" Ridiculous? Yes, but unfortunately not
too hard to imagine.

Many people tend to do that with the Old Testament. They turn it into a fairy tale
with all kinds of hidden meanings—anything but what the text plainly states.
Don't spiritualize the Bible. It deserves more respect.

Gaps to Bridge

To interpret the Bible properly we have some gaps to bridge:

Language . We speak English, but the Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and
Aramaic (which is similar to Hebrew). Many of the Bible translations available
today are excellent, but no translation can get across everything that the original
language conveys. For example, in 1 Corinthians 4:1 the apostle Paul says, "Let a
man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ." When we think of the
English word minister, we think of a prime minister or a minister of defense. It is
a lofty term. However the Greek word translated "minister" (huperetes) originally
spoke of a third-level galley slave—hardly a lofty concept. Paul wanted it to be
said of him that he was nothing more than a third-level galley slave for Jesus
Christ. You would never get that out of the English term. That's why you need to
bridge the language gap.

There are some excellent tools available. W. E. Vine's An Expository Dictionary

of New Testament Words (Chicago: Moody, 1985) is helpful for someone who
doesn't know Greek. In addition, there are several language helps that are keyed
to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, which has a numerical code to
English definitions of all the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic words in the Bible.
You'll learn to trace how a particular word is used throughout the entire Bible, or
just in the passage you are studying. Bridging the language gap will bring you to a
new level of understanding.

Culture .Parts of the Bible may have been written as long as four thousand years
ago. Times have certainly changed since then! If you don't understand the culture
of the time in which your passage was written, you'll never understand its
meaning.

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God." Why didn't John simply say, "In the beginning was Jesus"?
By studying the culture of the time, we discover that the term "the Word" [Gk., ho
logos] was highly significant to both Greekand Hebrew culture. To the Greeks, it
was a philosophical term representing the sum total ofcosmic energy, or that
which causes everything to exist. To the Hebrews, the Word ofthe Lord was the
personal expression ofGod. John drew in both audiences by describing Jesus as
the personal manifestation ofthe Almighty Creator.

Similarly, if youdon't know anything about the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other
aspects of Jewish culture, you won't understand the book of Matthew. If youdon't
know something about Gnosticism, you won't understand the book of Colossians.
Some books to help bridge the culture gap are The Life and Times of Jesus the
Messiah by Alfred Edersheim (reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974) and
Eerdmans's varying handbooks on Bible culture.

Geography . There are many geographical references in Scripture. For instance,

we read of going down to Jericho and up to Jerusalem. In 1 Thessalonians
1:8 we read, "For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in
Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone
forth." From other portions of Scripture, we learn that Paul was just recently in
Thessalonica. Knowing something about the geography of the area explains how
the word spread so fast. The Ignatian Highway, the main concourse between the
East and West, ran through the middle of Thessalonica. Whatever happened
there was passed down all along the way. Do you see how an understanding of
geography can enrich your comprehension of the text? Consult a good Bible atlas
(Barry J. Beitzel, The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands [Chicago: Moody, 1985]) or
geography text and reap the benefits.

History . Knowing the historical backgroundofthe text also enriches your

understanding. In the gospel ofJohn, the key to understanding the interplay
between Pilate and Jesus is knowing what happened beforehand. When Pilate
was first assigned to Judea, he infuriated the Jewish population by trying to force
pagan culture and emperor worship on them. There were several incidents, and
Rome was displeased with Pilate's inability to keep the peace. Pilate was afraid
ofwhat the Jewish leaders might instigate, and that's why he let Christ be
crucified. He already had a rotten track record and his job was on the line. Bible
dictionaries and The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1976) are good sources for historical background.

Steps to Follow

Be literal . Seek to understand Scripture in its literal, normal, and natural sense.
Although symbolism and figures ofspeech appear in the Bible, they will be
obvious from the context. When you study apocalyptic passages in Zechariah,
Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Revelation, you will read about beasts and images.
Those are symbols, but they convey literal truth. Interpret the Bible in its normal,
natural sense. Otherwise you're taking an unnatural, abnormal, nonsensical
interpretation. For example, some rabbis were zealous advocates of gematria,
assigning numerical values to the Hebrew letters to interpret the text. For
instance, they said if youtake the consonants ofAbraham's name—b, r, h, m—and
add them up with their numerical equivalents, you get 318. Therefore, when you
see the word Abraham it means he had 318servants! No, it means
Abraham,period. Interpret Scripture in its literal sense, as you would any other
piece of literature.

Know the context . The Bible must be studied in its historical context. What did it
mean to whom it was spoken or written? You must also study its literary context.
How does the passage or verse you're studying relate to the surrounding text? It
has been well said that a text apart from context is a pretext.

Analyze the sentence structure . In school, we learn how to diagram a sentence—

identify the verbs, nouns, prepositions, and other parts of speech to find out what
it is saying. Apply that to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20: "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
commanded you." As you first read it, "Go", "make disciples", "baptizing", and
"teaching" all sound like verbs. But when you study the sentence structure, you
find there's only one verb, matheteuo, "make disciples." "Go", "baptizing", and
"teaching" are only participles, which means they modify the main verb. So the
Great Commission is to make disciples, which involves going to them, baptizing
them, and teaching them. You have to examine the grammar carefully to fully
comprehend and appreciate the meaning of the text.

Compare your interpretation with the totality of Scripture . This vital principle
of interpretation is what the Reformers called analogia Scriptura, meaning that
all Scripture fits together. One part of the Bible doesn't teach something that
another part contradicts. So when you read 1 Corinthians 15:29, which speaks of
baptism for the dead, you know it can't mean one can get someone out of hell and
into heaven by being baptized on his behalf. That interpretation contradicts the
clear teaching of salvation by grace through personal faith in Christ alone.

Look for principles to apply . Reread the text and find out what spiritual
principles there are that apply to you and fellow believers in Christ. You can do
that only after you have literally interpreted your passage, analyzed its context
and sentence structure, and compared your interpretation with the totality of
Scripture.

Meditating on the Bible

Don't be in a hurry when you study God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says,
"These words...shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your
sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the
way and when you lie down and when you rise up." In other words, God's Word
ought to occupy your mind all the time. And if you're steadily reading through the
Old Testament, and if you're reading the books of the New Testament thirty
times, that's exactly what will happen!

Meditation is the process that molds the individual parts into a cohesive
comprehension of biblical truth. It's another word for deep thinking and
reflection. Meditation—in the biblical sense of the word—is a contemplative,
intelligent process, where Eastern meditation attempts to disengage the thinking
processes.

Psalm 1:1-2 says, " How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of
the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his
delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. "
Like a cow chewing its cud, something it does over and over, we should
repeatedly meditate and reflect on Scripture.

Teaching the Bible

I have discovered that the best way to retain something is to give it away. That's
because the only way you can effectively explain a subject is if you thoroughly
understand it first. As a teacher, you are forced to master your subject. Find
someone with a desire to learn who knows less than you do, and pass on what you
know in a systematic way. By feeding someone else, you'll feed your own heart. I
believe that the motivation for studying Scripture largely comes from one's
responsibility in this area. If I didn't have someone to teach, I might not produce.

Conclusion

Now that you've learned some practical steps to reading, interpreting, meditating
on, and teaching Scripture, my charge to you is to make each one a lifelong habit.
But should you begin thinking you know it all, remember Deuteronomy 29:29:
"The secret things belong to the Lord our God." We can only scratch the surface
of the infinite mind of God, but even that is a worthy pursuit because He has
given us His Word so we might know Him. Our purpose in learning the Word of
God is not to have knowledge for its own sake. As Paul said, "Knowledge makes
arrogant, but love edifies" (1 Corinthians 8:1). Our purpose is to know God, and
to know God is to learn humility.

Plant Yourself in
God’s Word
Psalm 1:3
  Look at the Book by
John Piper

 Scripture: Psalm 1:3 Topic: The Bible

Our hope for Look at the Book is to help you learn to read the Bible for yourself. We invite you to engage the

passage first, and then to consider the featured study questions below before watching the lab.

In this lab, John Piper shows us that many do not blossom with the beauty of
Christlikeness because they are not rooted in the word of God.

Some questions to ask as you read and study Psalm 1:3:

1. If you were a plant growing out of the soil of God’s word, would you be more like a
piece of grass, which isn’t planted too deeply, or a tree that is rooted?
2. How is the person rooted in God’s word described in Psalm 1:3? Are you
experiencing this life? Why or why not?
3. How can you root yourself more deeply in the Scriptures this week?
 How to Find Gold in
God’s Word
Reading the Bible with Supernatural Help
Bethlehem College & Seminary | Minneapolis

 Resource by
John Piper

 Topic: Bible Reading

John Piper preached this message during an event at Bethlehem College & Seminary, where he also

participated in a panel discussion with Jason DeRouchie and Andy Naselli.

One of the most illuminating facts to shed light on what I mean by reading the Bible
supernaturally is the fact that Jesus did not think the Pharisees could read their Bibles.
That is, they couldn’t read the Old Testament in such a way as to get out of the book
what the inspired authors intended for them to get out of it. And that’s what reading is.
At least, that’s what reading is, if the book you are reading is a God-inspired book.
Reading such a book means handling the words in such a way as to get out of the
book what the authors intend for you to get out of the book.
Reading the God-breathed Bible does not mean looking at biblical words and then
thinking your own thoughts, or feeling your own feelings or doing your own thing.
That’s not reading. At least, Jesus didn’t think it was reading.

Do You Even Read?

 When the Pharisees saw Jesus and his disciples on the Sabbath casually picking grain
to eat as they walked through the fields, they accused them of lawbreaking. Matthew
12:2: “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” Jesus,
in verse 7, counter-accuses and says that the Pharisees have “condemned the
guiltless.” To support this counter-accusation, he tells them that they sound like
they’ve never read the Bible. Matthew 12:3: “Have you not read what David
did?” Matthew 12:5: “Or have you not read in the law?”
This must have been infuriating! Of course they had read those texts! And Jesus knew
it. He is saying, “Well, you act like you haven’t. Functionally, you haven’t read
them.” Then in verse 7, he sums it up by citing Hosea 6:6: “If you had known what
this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the
guiltless” (Matthew 12:7).
Have you not read? Have you not read? Can’t you see what this means? No, they
could not see what Hosea 6:6 means. As far as Jesus is concerned, they are acting like
they haven’t even read it.
 In Matthew 19 the Pharisees asked if it’s lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause.
And again Jesus says, “Have you not read Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24?”
 In Matthew 21:15–16, the Scribes complained that the children are shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” and Jesus says, “Have you never read Psalm 8?”
 Then Jesus tells these Jewish leaders the parable of the tenants who killed the son of
the owner to get the farm for themselves. And again, he asks in Matthew 21:42,
“Have you never read Psalm 118?”
 And then the Sadducees tried to make a mockery out of the resurrection, and Jesus
said, in Matthew 22:31, “Have you never read Exodus 3:6?” “You know neither the
Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).
Something has gone very wrong with the reading of the Bible among these leaders.
They are the “experts” in reading their sacred texts. And yet Jesus treats them as if
they have never read them! What’s wrong?

Deaf, Dumb, and Blind to Jesus

Jesus connects their inability to see what’s in the Bible with their inability to see
what’s in him.

The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have
never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in
you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. (John 5:37–38)
They are very good at using their mental faculties to make weather reports but not for
spiritual purposes. “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you
cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3). Why? They are “an evil and
adulterous generation.” Evil, adulterous people are shrewd in managing the world for
their safety. But they are blind to the spiritual reality that tampers with their adulteries.

“Recognizing Jesus for who he really is and reading

the Bible for what it really reveals are both
supernatural events.”

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These leaders are spiritually and morally adulterous. They talk like God is their all-in-
all, but they have lovers on the side.
Luke 16:14 says, “The Pharisees were lovers of money.” So Jesus says, “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate,
but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25). For all their
outward religiosity, the hearts of the Pharisees were in love with this world. And one
of their adulterous lovers was money. Another one of their lovers was the recognition
and praise of other people.
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad
and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in
the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
(Matthew 23:5–7)

A Case of Mistaken Glory

What happens to your spiritual capacities to see the truth and beauty of Scripture
when your real lovers are money and the praise of man? Jesus answers the question
in John 5:44: “How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do
not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44). In other words, you
can’t.
Why can’t a person love the praise of man and still come to Jesus as the light of life
and trust him? Jesus explains in John 3:19–20:
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the
darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does
wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should
be exposed.
The problem with the Pharisees was not that they didn’t have enough light, but that
they loved the darkness. They couldn’t see what was in Scripture for the same reason
that they couldn’t see what was in Jesus, even though he stood right there in front of
them. The apostle John could say, “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son
from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And he was looking at the same
Jesus the Pharisees were.
But the Pharisees could not see the glory. They could not see Jesus as glorious and
true and supremely valuable because they loved money, and they loved power, and
they love the praise of man. The glory of Christ is contrary to all of that. Therefore, it
did not seem to them as glorious.

And so it was with the Scriptures because Jesus is the embodiment and the fulfillment
of what the Old Testament was all about. The things that blind us to the glory of
Christ, blind us to the glories revealed in Scripture. A money-loving, power-loving,
reputation-currying person cannot get out of the Bible what the authors intend to
communicate. If you love the darkness, you walk away from light, not toward it. Or if
you make your living handling containers of the light, you find a way make them
serve darkness.

Decipher with Divine Help

The implication of this is that recognizing Jesus for who he really is, and reading
the Bible for what it really reveals, are both supernatural events. That is, they
won’t happen without the gracious, supernatural intervention of God. When Peter
confessed Jesus to be who he really was — the Christ the Son of God — Jesus said,
“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). It was a miracle. He looked at
Jesus with the same kind of eyes the Pharisees had, but with the eyes of his heart, he
saw more. God opened those eyes.
The same must happen with the Scriptures. After the resurrection, when the disciples
proved too foolish and slow (Luke 24:25) to penetrate Scripture, Luke says, “Then he
opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). It was a miracle.
Seeing the divine glories that are really there in Scripture is always a miracle. Always
supernatural.
We cannot know Jesus for who he really is, and we cannot know Scripture for what it
really reveals, without the gracious, supernatural intervention of God.

Read to Think, Feel, and Do

I used to say that the meaning of a biblical text is the intention of the author
communicated through his words. And the aim of reading then was to think the
author’s thoughts after him. I was tremendously energized by this simple and
obvious way of seeing things. It’s not false it’s just too limited.
It’s like saying that the aim of marriage is mutual understanding, and, therefore, the
goal of getting married is to be an understanding spouse. But the goal of marriage is
also mutual affection. And sexual intimacy. And the procreation of children. And the
replication of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. And the
mutual strengthening of each other in ministry. And much more.

What I say now is that the meaning of a biblical text is what the author intends to
communicate by his words. And the aim of reading is to handle those words in
such a way as to conform to what he intends. If he intends by his words for me
to think a certain way, my goal in reading is to think that way. If he intends by his
words for me to feel a certain way my goal in reading is to feel those feelings. If his
goal by his words is for me to do a certain thing my goal in reading is to do it.
 “Seeing the divine glories that are really there in
Scripture is always a miracle — always supernatural.”

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And I don’t think that stretches the meaning of the word meaning too far, because I
think the biblical authors would often say: I mean for you to think this way;
I meanfor you to experience these emotions; I mean for you to act that way. That is
my meaning when I write this; it’s what I intend to communicate by my words. So, if
reading pursues what an author intends to communicate by his words, this will
include pursuing thoughts and affectionsand actions that the author intends for me to
experience.
And the reason such reading must be a supernatural event is that all the thinking, all
the feeling, and all the acting that biblical authors intend for us to experience cannot
be experienced apart from the gracious, supernatural work of God in and through the
word.
Whatever you think, whatever you feel, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God
(1 Corinthians 10:31). Nobody thinks and feels and acts for the glory of God apart
from a work of God in their heart. Therefore, nobody can think any thought, or feel
any feeling, or do any act in a way that conforms to the intention of biblical
authors without the gracious, supernatural intervention of God.
Everything that God requires of us and that pleases him is rooted in new, spiritual,
supernatural life. And growing from that new, supernatural, spiritual life come new
ways of seeing and believing and tasting the reality of God. And all of this newness
— this life and sight and faith and taste — all this newness is awakened in us by the
word of God. We experience by reading or hearing the Scriptures.

A Miracle of the Word

The biblical authors intend — they mean — that through their words we experience
the miracle of new spiritual life.

You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the
living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the
flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord
remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Peter
1:23–25)
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18)
The new birth, the beginning of the entire Christian life, is a miracle of the word.
The writers intend that by means of their words, God the Spirit would create new life.
It’s not surprising, then, that, if the lifelong drama of the Christian life began by the
word with the miracle of new life, everything else that pleases God and counts for
eternity would also come by the word through a supernatural work of God. Everything
is either part of this new miraculous life, or it’s part of death. And whatever springs
from or is a part of this miraculous new life is itself miraculous, supernatural —
beyond what a natural person can do.
The fruit of this new life, which came supernaturally by the word, also comes
supernaturally by the word — fruit like new seeing and new believing and new
tasting. Let’s just glance at the supernatural nature of those three and how they come
by the word.
1. Supernatural Seeing
The biblical authors intend for us to see the glory of Christ through what they write.
In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul describes the supernatural process of sanctification like
this:
We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the
Lord who is the Spirit.
The key to being changed into the image of Christ is to behold — to see — his glory.
This is not a merely natural process. “This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
But what’s the connection with the word? Paul clarifies three verses later by showing
where we see the glory of the Lord.

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from
seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2
Corinthians 4:4)
The glory of Christ that the biblical writers want us to see does not hang in the air. It
is not mediated by dreams and visions. It is spoken or read in the gospel. What we
must see as part of our new life is, “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” And
that gospel is a verbal narrative of who Christ is and what he has done for our
salvation.

“Faith is a receiving of Christ for the all-satisfying

person that he really is.”

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The seeing of this glory is not possible apart from the gracious, supernatural
intervention of God described in verse 6:

God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Such seeing is not a seeing with the eyes of the head, but with the “eyes of the heart.”
It is a spiritual seeing. A supernatural seeing. That’s why Paul prays in Ephesians
1:18–19 that
the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know [with a supernatural kind of
knowing of the heart] what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches
of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his
power toward us who believe. This is what reading is for. And this is supernatural.

2. Supernatural Believing
The biblical authors intend for us to experience the miracle of faith through what they
write.

Since new birth is a miracle of God through the word of God, faith is as well, because
John says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (1
John 5:1). Faith is the effect and confirmation that you have been born again. This
means faith is supernatural. It comes with the miracle of the new birth. But it also
comes through hearing and reading the word of God.
Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. (John 20:31)
Faith is not what the demons do, simply believing orthodox facts about Christ in his
life. Faith is a receiving of Christ for the all-satisfying person that he really is
Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never
thirst. (John 6:35)
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. (Hebrews 11:1)
I take this to mean: faith is a real, substantial foretaste of the banquet of God’s
promises. As Hebrews 11:26 shows:
By faith . . . Moses considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures
of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews 11:26; see 10:34)
Faith looks to the promised reward in such a way that God gives to faith a foretaste —
a portion of the substance — of the reward. Faith is no mere natural act. It is a
glorious, supernatural experience mediated from Christ through the promises of his
word. This what reading is for. And it is supernatural. Let me underline this tasting
dimension of saving faith by giving spiritual taste a subheading of its own.

3. Supernatural Tasting
The biblical authors intend for us to experience the miracle of tasting the goodness of
God through what they write.

Immediately following his description of the new birth by the living and abiding word
(1 Peter 1:23–25), Peter tells the believers to desire the word the way babies desire
milk.
Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into
salvation.
So, just as we have been given our new life supernaturally by the power of God
through his word, we are to go on growing through the same supernatural means by
the word. But then Peter adds a stunning and utterly important clause:
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:3)
Why would he add this?

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into
salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2–3)
Come, all you newborn children of God. Come, listen, drink, grow “if you have tasted
that the Lord is good.” Why add this if? Because, if you haven’t tasted the Lord — if
you haven’t tasted, by the tongue of your soul, the supreme sweetness of the goodness
of the Lord, then you are not alive. You are not born of God. Because that is what
happens in the new birth. New spiritual tastes are given. Here is the way Jonathan
Edwards put it:
Something is perceived by a true saint . . . in spiritual and divine things, as entirely
[different] from anything . . . perceived . . . by natural men, as the sweet taste of honey
is diverse from the ideas men get of honey by only looking on it, and feeling of it.
This taste of the soul for the goodness of the Lord comes by the word and makes the
word sweet:

The ordinances of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:9–10)
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
This is not an experience of the natural man. It is supernatural. And it is through the
word. This is what reading is for. And it is supernatural.
 “Reading the Bible supernaturally is absolutely
essential in the Christian life, church, and mission.”

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Why the Supernatural Is Essential

The Pharisees could not read their Bible, and they could not see Jesus Christ for who
he was. The reason in both cases was not because they didn’t have enough light but
because they loved darkness. Their hearts were adulterous. While professing
allegiance to God, they had lovers on the side whom they enjoyed more than God.
They were lovers of money and lovers of the praise of men and positions of power.
With that frame of mind, they could not know Jesus for who he really was, or know
Scripture for what it really revealed.

Nor can we in our sin. We are dead to the glory of God in his Son and in his word. If
we are to read the Bible for what the authors intend, something supernatural must
happen. It begins with the new birth — new life — which comes through the word of
God — the gospel. And with that new life comes a new capacity for seeing with the
eyes of the heart, and new capacities for believing, that is, possessing in advance
some of the substance of things hoped, and thus a new capacity for tasting the
goodness of the Lord.
From this supernatural, word-mediated new life and new seeing and new faith and
new spiritual taste flow all the new thinking, new affections, and new behaviors of
the Christian life. This means that reading the Bible supernaturally is absolutely
essential in the Christian life, in church and mission.

What Does Supernatural Reading Look Like?

I close with just a brief picture of what it might look like for you (I’m picturing you as
married like me) to read this way. Pretend that we are in your quiet place at home. It’s
early in the morning before anyone else is stirring. You are reading your Bible. You
are reading about God and about his ways.

And then, quietly, perhaps unexpectedly, God (supernaturally) shifts your mindset and
you are no longer merely reading about him. You are quietly aware that he is there.
The living, risen Christ is with you in that room. And he is speaking to you through
that page. Your soul shifts from thinking about him to speaking to him. You’re now
telling him that he is what this word says he is.

And then (supernaturally) your mindset shifts again, and you find yourself saying
from the heart, “I love you, Jesus. I love your patience. I love your mercy. I love your
power. I love your wisdom. I love the way you shut the mouth of proud people and
look tenderly on the broken. I am sorry for my sins last night. Please forgive me.”

And as you read on, the word awakens and informs your ongoing communion with
the living Lord. And in that communion, you see his glory, and you taste his
goodness, and you trust his promise.

Then you get up, with the promises of God giving you a (supernatural) peace that
passes understanding, and go find your wife (or husband) and take those cheeks
between your two hands and look into those eyes and say, “You are a precious gift of
God to me.” And then you go knock on your teenager’s door, even if it’s early, and
say, “I’m sorry about the harsh words last night. They were wrong, and I need your
forgiveness before I go to work.”

And then after breakfast, you go to the garage and get a shovel and put it in the trunk,
because one of your colleagues at work complained yesterday that he was going to
plant a large tree this evening and was going to make a deep hole. And you go help
him after work. And perhaps by grace, he asks the reason for the hope that is in you
(supernaturally from your reading), and you tell him what you saw that morning in
God’s word. And perhaps his eyes might be opened (supernaturally) by the word, to
the glory of God.

This is what it means to read the Bible supernaturally.

Bible study is not the same thing as Bible reading. If Bible reading is like
raking for leaves, Bible study is like digging for diamonds. The Christian life
calls for both.
When we study the Bible, we are on a quest for meaning — and not just any
meaning, but God’s meaning through the Bible’s human authors. Discovering
God’s meaning may require hard work (digging for diamonds always does),
but the journey will leave us with deeper knowledge, more Christlikeness, and
a stronger sense of God’s beauty in his book.
How to Read the Bible
for Yourself
Article by

John Piper

Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

1. Read for the author’s meaning, not your own.

When we read, we want to know what an author intended us to see and experience in
his writing. He had an intention when he wrote. Nothing will ever change that. It is
there as a past, objective event in history.

We are not reading simply for subjective experiences. We are reading to discover
more about objective reality. I’m not content with what comes to my mind when I
read it. The meaning of a sentence, or a word, or a letter is what the author
intended for us to understand by it. Therefore, meaning is the first aim of all good
reading.

2. Ask questions to unlock the riches of the

Bible.
When we read, we generally do not really think until we are faced with a problem to
be solved, a mystery to be unraveled, or a puzzle to be deciphered. Until our minds
are challenged, and shift from passive reading to activereading, we drift right over
lots of insights.
Asking ourselves questions is a way of creating a problem or a mystery to be solved.
That means the habit of asking ourselves questions awakens and sustains our thinking.
It stimulates our mind while we read, and drives us down deep to the real meaning of
a passage.

2.1 Ask about words.

Ask about definitions. What does this word mean in this specific sentence? And
remember, we’re asking what the author intended by the word, not what we think it
means. This assumes words will have different meanings in different sentences.
2.2 Ask about phrases.

“I never assume the Bible is inconsistent. I assume

I’m not seeing all I need to see.”

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A phrase is a group of words without a verb that describe some action or person or
thing. For instance, “Put sin to death by the Spirit.” “By the Spirit” describes the
activity. It tells us how we kill sin in our lives. Look closely at phrases like these and
ask what specifically they’re explaining.
2.3. Ask about relationships between propositions.
A proposition is a group of words with a subject and a verb. How propositions relate
to each other is one of the most important questions we can ask. Often, there will be a
small connecting word that holds the answer (e.g., but, if, and, therefore, in order
that, because). Sometimes the major differences between whole theologies hang on
these connections.
2.4 Ask how the context helps define the meaning of words and phrases.
You can’t know accurately what a proposition means until you know the meaning of
the words, and you can’t know the meaning of words until you know the meaning of
the proposition. It is a circle, but it’s not a hopeless circle. Words have a limited range
of shared meanings.

Wrong guesses about a word’s meaning are often set right by the end of the sentence
or paragraph. Even though words, in and of themselves, can have several meanings,
the content and relationships of the propositions around them usually clarify the
specific meaning the author intended them to have.

2.5 Ask about connections with other parts in the Bible.

We have to ask how the meaning we’re seeing in a passage fits together with other
passages. Are there confirmations elsewhere in the Bible? Are there passages that
seem contradictory or inconsistent?

When I feel tension between two verses or passages, I never assume the Bible is
inconsistent. I assume I’m not seeing all I need to see. If I have not seen enough to
explain the apparent inconsistency, asking more questions will likely help me see
more. Few things make us deeper and richer in our knowledge of God and his ways
than this habit of asking how texts cohere in reality when at first they don’t look like
they do.

2.6 Ask about application.

“God gave us the Bible not just to inform our minds,

but also to transform our hearts.”

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The aim of biblical writers is not only that we know, but that we be and do. So, we
need to form the habit of asking questions concerning application. To us. To our
church and our relationships. To the world. The task of application is never done.
There are millions of ways a text can be applied, and millions of situations and
relationships for them to be applied. Our job is not to know every application, but to
grow in applying the meaning of Scripture to our lives.
2.7 Ask about affections — appropriate responses of the heart.
The aim of our Bible reading is not just the response of the mind, but of the heart. The
whole range of human emotions are possible responses to the meaning of the Bible.
God gave us the Bible not just to inform our minds, but also to transform our hearts —
our affections. God’s word is honored not just by being understood rightly, but also by
being felt rightly.

3. At every page, pray and ask for God’s help.

O Lord, incline our hearts to your word. Give us a desire for it. Open our eyes
to see wonders there. Subdue our wills and give us an obedient spirit. Satisfy
our hearts with a vision of yourself and your way for our lives.
For a longer, more in-depth version of this article, see John Piper’s “Un
We love to get questions on basic Bible interpretation, so please keep sending
them in to us. Today’s question is from Deborah from Kalamazoo, Michigan:
“Hello, Pastor John, I’ve heard you talk about arcing. Can you explain to me
the very basics of what arcing does, and what we can learn from the practice?
This is my introduction to it, so the simpler the better. And if you have one
simple example to explain it all, that would be great.”
I would love to. Let me try to be simple because, at root, it is simple. Arcing is
a way of taking a paragraph of Scripture, a unit of Scripture, let’s just say a
paragraph, breaking it down into individual statements, and seeing how each
of those statements relate to each other logically.

Is one the cause of the other? Is one the result of the other? Does one explain
the other? Seeing the relationships, and then putting all those statements
together, according to those relationships, so that we can see the one main
thing that the paragraph is saying, and how each of those individual parts of
the paragraph, those statements, work to support it and explain it.

Seeing the Text

Then, arcing provides a way of preserving what we’ve seen with a kind of
drawing of the text, each statement having an arc and each relationship having
a symbol. When you’re done, you can file it away and remember everything
you’ve seen next time you want to study the passage.

“Arcing is simply seeing how each of the Bible’s

statements relate to each other logically to find the
main point.”
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There’s nothing really mysterious about it. We talk this way all the time,
especially when we’re trying to be clear and trying to explain something to
somebody. We try to make a point, then we say other things about the point to
explain it or support it. We do this instinctively. We manage to communicate
pretty well from day to day.

What arcing does is force us to think about what we’re doing, and what the
biblical writers are doing, just as a way of making sure that we don’t miss
anything that they’re trying to show us. The great value of arcing is, mainly, it
forces us to just look and look and look at the text and think and think about
it.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:7, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you
understanding.” In order to get the fullest meaning out of a passage, we have
to look at it carefully and in detail and think about it. Then, we need to
reconstruct the argument in our heads, or on paper and write it down lest we
forget it.

How it Works
Here’s the example so you get the idea. Romans 1:15–17. Here’s what it says: “I
am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of
God is revealed from faith for faith.”
There are four statements here. Paul clues us in to how they’re related by the
connecting words that he uses. In this case, it happens to be “for.” Each of
those statements gets an arc. You get four arcs. We’re trying to decide what’s
the main point, not necessarily the most important reality, but the main point
that is the conclusion, what everything else is supporting here.

“Go deep with God in his word. You will know him as
you’ve never known him before.”
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Let’s walk through these four propositions and see if we can reconstruct the
argument. “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
That’s statement number one.

Here’s statement number two: “For” — or because: here comes the support or
the ground — “because I am not ashamed of the gospel.” One of the reasons he
wants to preach the gospel in Rome is that he’s not ashamed of the gospel at
all.
Then, comes the third statement, which is given as a support or an argument
or a basis for why he’s not ashamed of the gospel. “I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
That’s the third statement. Now we have three statements.

The last two are the arguments for the first one. If we say it in reverse order,
we can hear it even more clearly. When you go in reverse order, a “because”
becomes a “therefore.” “The gospel is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes. Therefore, I am not ashamed of it at all. Therefore, I
am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.”

Then there’s one last important statement, one more piece in the argument
in Romans 1:17. He gives the reason or the basis, the argument for why the
gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. He says.
“For [or because] in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for
faith.”
Paul is giving a three-step argument rooted in the very nature of the gospel for
why he is so eager to preach the gospel in Rome. I’ll read it in reverse order so
that you can hear how the argument works.

“When you slowly meditate on Scripture, your

confidence in seeing God’s truth will dramatically
increase.”
 Tweet

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In the gospel, God’s righteousness is revealed as a saving righteousness that is
counted to us through faith. That’s the first statement. Therefore, this gospel is
the power of God for the worst of sinners, Jew or Greek, through faith,
whoever believes. Here’s the third statement: Therefore, I’m not ashamed of
the gospel. Last statement: Therefore, I’m eager to preach the gospel to you
who are in Rome.

Seeing Beauty
That’s basically what we do in arcing. We take a unit of Scripture and we
identify individual statements. Then we identify the relationships between
those statements, and then we rebuild the arguments so that we can see what
the main point is, what’s the one thing he’s trying to support with all the other
statements.

I promise you — this a promise — I promise you that if you begin to think
about passages of Scripture this way, you will not only see vastly more of
what’s really there that you might’ve missed, but your confidence level that
you have seen God’s truth will dramatically increase. If God is willing, and I
think he is willing, you will go very deep with him, and you will know him as
you’ve never known him before. God's word is a gold mine full of riches for us
to uncover as we turn its pages and trace its logic.

John Piper’s Advice for Reading

the Bible
MARCH 25, 2015 BY PETER KROL
I don’t hesitate to assert that OIA (observe, interpret, apply) is the best method you can
use to study the Bible. But in asserting this, I must make clear that it is not
the terminology that matters but the substance. Many Bible teachers do excellent OIA
Bible study without calling it “OIA Bible study.”

Case in point: John Piper. In this article entitled “How to Read the Bible for Yourself,” he
explains his methodology for reading the Bible. And he never uses the words “observe”
or “interpret.” He uses “apply” one time.

But he speaks of reading, understanding, noticing, and asking questions. He pushes for
life change. And he packages his ideas in a few simple points:

1. Read for the author’s meaning, not your own

2. Ask questions to unlock the riches of the Bible
3. At every page, pray and ask for God’s help

5 Basic Bible Study

Techniques You Should Never
Ignore
Tyler Smith | Thu, March 2, 2017 | Articles, Products


“Measure twice, cut once.”

It’s a memorable adage, and good advice with application beyond carpentry. But after measuring
and cutting for years, you may be tempted to cut the measuring frequency in half. After all, you’re an
expert.

But even experts make careless mistakes.

The same goes for Bible study. Whether you’ve been studying Scripture in-depth for decades or are
just getting started, there are a few basic bible study techniques that are worth developing—or
redeveloping. And if your Bible study has gone dry or you find yourself struggling to know what to do
next, it may mean that it’s time to get back to basics.

Here are five basic Bible study techniques that will help you cut to the heart of any Bible passage.

Observe, observe, observe,

observe, observe (then observe
some more)
In Grasping God’s Word, authors Duvall and Hays tell the story of nineteenth-century scientist and
professor Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz.
A new student comes to Agassiz to begin his scientific education. Agassiz plops a fish in front of the
student, tells him to note his observations, and leaves. A half hour passes, then an hour, then three.
For the rest of the day, Agassiz leaves the student alone with the fish until boredom gives way to
actual work. When the student at last reports his findings, Agassiz is underwhelmed. For three long
days, he insists the student analyze the fish until all possible observations have been exhausted—
from the symmetry of its organs and the number of its scales to the sharpness of its teeth.

At first, such tedious observation was maddening, but eventually it

became thrilling. Imagine sitting for hours, believing you’ve discovered all there is to say about a
given subject—only to uncover something new. By pushing through and continuing to make
observations even when he thought there was nothing left to observe, the student discovered
important features he wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Duvall and Hays explain how this applies to Bible study:

Read the Bible carefully. . . Observe! Look for some more! Observe some more. Look again. Ask
questions of the text. Look again. See more. Dig! Make notes. Mark the observations you see.
Reread the passage. Look for other details. There is more! Keep digging! You get the idea.

To make sure you’re being thorough with your observations, it’s a good idea to save all the notes
you’ve taken on a passage and keep them handy for the next time you give it a look. That way you
can build on all the work you’ve already done, rather than starting the process over. Logos 7 Basic,
the free version of Logos Bible Software, automatically ties your study notes to the text you’re
studying, so the next time you open the passage, all the observations you made are ready and
waiting.

We study the Bible because we believe God’s Word has transformational power. We long to apply
the principles God has laid out in those pages to our day-to-day life. But if we skip over the
observation stage, or cut it short, we risk missing the very principles we’ve come to the text to
uncover.

Ask the obvious

When you’re furiously making those observations, don’t forget to ask the obvious. In fact, it’s smart
to begin with six little questions you first heard about in elementary school: Who? What? When?
Why? Where? How?
This advice is old, but good. Consider the words of Anglican Reformer Myles Coverdale (1499–
1569), who wrote in the prologue to his English Bible translation (a precursor of the King James
Version):

Again, it shall greatly help thee to understand scripture, if thou mark not only what is spoken or
written, but of whom, and unto whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what
circumstance, considering what goeth before, and what followeth after.

And once you’ve made all of your observations, Peter Krol encourages asking questions about the
observations themselves:

Take your observations and ask questions of them. Lots of questions. Tackle those observations
from every direction.

Be as inquisitive as possible. Get better at asking questions, and you’ll get better at interpreting the
Bible.

Note that your questions should be about your observations of the text. Don’t ask just any old
questions. Don’t feel the need to be particularly clever. Your job is not to innovate, but to uncover.

For instance, let’s say you’re studying Romans 12:1–2. In this passage, Paul commands his readers:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind.

In the observation stage of your study, you may note that the first part of the command, “Do not
conform,” is active—Paul’s readers are the subject of the verb “conform.” But in the second half of
this injunction, “but be transformed,” Paul’s readers are objects of the verb “transform.” Passive.

After making such an observation, ask the question: why? Why are Paul’s readers the subject of the
first verb but the object of the second? If they are receiving the action in the second half of this
command, who is performing the action? How is this transformation accomplished? Simply by asking
questions about the observations you’ve already made, you’re well on your way to uncovering the
key idea Paul is getting at in the passage.

Compare Bible translations

It’s unfortunate that for many Christians, the subject of Bible translation has become a battleground.
We needn’t fear (and should not ignore!) translations used by other pockets of evangelicalism. When
used properly, they’re one of our best allies in Bible study.

Dr. Mark Ward has championed the use of multiple English translations on this blog numerous times.
Why is comparing multiple Bible translations so powerful? Because Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic
aren’t secret code, they’re languages. (The ESV translation committee do not have Greek and
Hebrew decoder rings.) Even if you don’t know Greek or Hebrew, by comparing multiple translations
you can begin to uncover a sense of the original languages—nuances you’d otherwise miss. Mark
explains:

If you’re willing to step out of your comfort zone and pick up a Bible translation you formerly avoided,
something wonderful might happen: You might learn something! As soon as you see the interpretive
rendering in the NIV or NLT, something may click for you: you might see meaning you never knew
was there. Or as soon as you see the way a more literal translation of 1 Corinthians 7, you may
realize that the interpretation of “virgin he is engaged to” (NIV) you’ve assumed all your life is really a
more complicated issue than you realized. That might force you to dig deeper in your study. And
what is the harm in this?

Logos 7 Basic makes comparing any translation much simpler. You can set it up in seconds, then
identify differences between translations in just a glance.
Write out the passage and
rephrase it in your own words
Studies have shown that writing something out by hand engages multiple regions of your brain.
Perhaps that’s why John Piper finds writing a passage out in longhand so effective:

I do this with almost every sermon I preach. I don’t fully understand it, but there are ‘eyes’ in my pen.
I see things when I slowly write the text. I see things that I see no other way.

I’m faster at typing than I am at writing by hand, and so I’ve found writing out a passage in longhand
forces me to slow down and soak in its meaning. And after reading a passage multiple times, writing
it out solidifies its words in my memory. I carry the passage with me throughout the day; my
subconscious works it over and I discover more opportunities for meditation.

After you’re done writing out the passage, consider this recommendation from The Navigators:

Starting with the first chapter, write out each verse or section of verses in your own words. This will
help you understand each verse in wording that makes more sense to you.

Here is an example using 1 Timothy 1:1

Original Verse:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope . .
. ” (1 Timothy 1:1 NIV).

Personal Paraphrase:

Paul, a proclaimer of Jesus Christ, obeying the instructions of God who is the One who saves us,
and of Jesus Christ who is our hope . . .

Mark up your Bible

A few years ago, Ray Ortlund offered a complete lesson on how to study the Bible by means of a
single picture:
Whether you use a physical Bible or free Bible software like Logos 7 Basic, don’t hesitate to mark up
the text. Circle, underline, highlight, bracket, scribble. In the post cited earlier, John Piper says this is
exactly what he does:

Another advantage of writing it out is that I can circle words that are repeated. I can underline
phrases and draw lines between them. This helps me see connections in the passage. And
connections are the key to meaning.

Consider developing your own system for highlighting and markup. Logos 7 Basic gives you lots of
options to vary your notations—including Kay Arthur’s inductive Bible study system and John Piper’s
Look at the Book method. And if you really want to level up your Bible nerd cred, let Mark Ward
teach you his own system for highlighting.
 Get back to basics with free Bible
software

For 25 years, pastors and ministry leaders have relied on Logos to provide transformational insight
in their study. Now with Logos 7 Basic, biblical insights are within reach of anybody with a hunger for
God’s Word. Build a bible study habit with digital tools and books you can use anywhere, and master
your Bible study technique with built-in training.

Already own an earlier version of Logos Bible Software? The books and features included with
Logos 7 Basic will be added to the resources you already enjoy. At no extra cost, you’ll be able to
use your current library and features as well as a selection of Logos 7 features and books.

Simple Steps to Solid Study

 Articles

 John 13:17; Acts 8:30; 1 John 2:27

 A258

A + A - RESET
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From the moment I sensed the call of God into full-time ministry, the driving
passion of my life has been simply to understand God's Word and then make it
understandable to others. I have never aspired to be known as either an
academic theologian or a distinguished clergyman. I simply want to know what
the Word of God means and to make it known to others. All my pastoral
energies—my preaching, shepherding, teaching, writing, and even visitation—are
focused on that one goal.

It is my conviction that the Bible is not difficult for the believing heart to
understand. And the more I understand, the more unshakable is my conviction
that the Bible is the living, authoritative, inerrant Word of God. It has this
remarkable effect on me: the more I study it, the more I hunger to know. So
God's Word not only satisfies my appetite, but also arouses an even deeper
hunger for more.

I want you to experience that hunger too. I want you to live in the joy of a genuine
relationship with Jesus Christ that comes only through knowing the meaning of
Scripture. Here's a simple process to get you started.

Step 1 - Reading
Begin by developing a plan on how you will approach reading through the Bible.
Just by reading the Bible you become familiar with its themes, history, and
contexts. There is simply no replacement for Bible reading.

Unlike most books, you will probably not read it straight through from cover to
cover. There are many good Bible reading plans available (like The MacArthur
Daily Bible). Here is what I recommend:
Read through the Old Testament at least once a year. As you read, note in the
margins any truths you particularly want to remember, and write down separately
anything you do not immediately understand. Often as you read you will find that
many questions are answered by the text itself. The questions to which you
cannot find answers become the starting points for more in-depth study using
commentaries or other reference tools.

Follow a different plan for reading the New Testament. Read one book at a time
repetitiously for a month or more. That will help you retain the New Testament so
you will not always have to depend on a concordance to find things.

If you want to try that, begin with a short book, such as 1 John, and read it
through in one sitting every day for thirty days. At the end of that time, you will
know the book. Write on index cards the major theme of each chapter. By
referring to the cards as you do your daily reading, you will begin to remember
the content of each chapter. In fact, you will develop a perception of the book
with your mind's eye.

When you come to longer books, divide them into short sections and read each
section daily for thirty days. For example, the gospel of John contains twenty-one
chapters. Divide it into three sections of seven chapters. At the end of ninety
days, you will finish John. For variety, alternate short and long books, and in less
than three years you will have finished the entire New Testament—and you will
really know it!

Step 2 - Interpreting
In Acts 8:30, Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch, "Do you understand what you
are reading?" Or put another way, "What does the Bible mean by what it says?" It
is not enough to read the text and jump directly to the application—you must first
determine what it means, otherwise the application may be incorrect.

As you read Scripture, always keep one simple question in mind: "What does this
mean?" To answer that question requires the use of the most basic principle of
interpretation called the analogy of faith—interpret the Bible with the Bible.

Letting the Holy Spirit be your teacher (1 John 2:27), search the Scripture He
has authored, using cross references, comparative passages, concordances,
indexes, and other helps. For passages that remain unclear, consult your pastor
or godly men who have written on the issues involved.

Step 3 - Evaluating
You have been reading and asking the question, "What does the Bible say?"
Then you have been interpreting, asking the question, "What does the Bible
mean?" Now it's time to consult others to ensure that you have the proper
interpretation. Remember, the Bible will never contradict itself.

Read Bible introductions, commentaries, and background books that will enrich
your thinking. As you evaluate, be a true seeker. Be one who accepts the truth of
God's Word even though it may cause you to change what you have always
believed, or alter your life pattern.

Step 4 - Applying
Jesus made this promise to those who carry their personal Bible study through to
this point: "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John
13:17).

Having read and interpreted the Bible, you should have a basic understanding of
what the Bible says, and what it means by what it says. But studying the Bible
does not stop there. The ultimate goal should be to let it speak to you and enable
you to grow spiritually. That requires personal application.

You must let God's truth penetrate and change your life. Studying Scripture
without allowing it to penetrate to the depths of your soul would be like preparing
a banquet without eating it. The bottom-line question to ask is, "How do the
divine truths and principles contained in any passage apply to me in terms of my
attitude and actions?"

If there is a command to be obeyed, obey it. If there is a promise to be

embraced, claim it. If there is a warning to be followed, heed it. This is the
ultimate step: submit to Scripture and let it transform your life.

Step 5 - Correlating
This last stage connects the doctrine you have learned in a particular passage or
book with divine truths and principles taught elsewhere in the Bible to form the
big picture. Always keep in mind that the Bible is one book in sixty-six parts, so
its truths and principles are taught over and over again in a variety of ways and
circumstances. By correlating and cross-referencing, you will begin to build a
sound doctrinal foundation on which to live.

Now, get to work! As you dig in to God's Word using those five simple steps,
you'll be amazed at the rich treasure your study yields. My prayer is that the Lord
will use this plan to revitalize your Bible study, increase your appetite for knowing
and understanding His Word, and further conform you to the image of His
beloved Son.

Adapted from "How to Study the Bible" in The MacArthur Study Bible. Copyright
1997, Grace to You. All rights reserved.
Today we’re going to do something kind of special, I think. Some of the fellows
on the staff and the elders suggested that we needed to do just one Sunday on the
subject of how to study the Bible. Because we have so many new people coming
to Grace Church and so many folks who really are kind of hungry for the Word
and maybe don’t know how to get into it. And apparently there was offered in the
last couple of weeks a new class on how to study the Bible and it filled up so very
fast that everybody got shut out of it, and it indicated a great need, and so it was
suggested that maybe me could do that today.

And interestingly enough, I didn’t know that this is what they were thinking and I
proposed that I would like to do that, and everybody just kind of blinked, and so I
want to share with you this morning and then tonight how to study the Bible.

I just have two points: Who and how. And this morning I want to talk about
who, and tonight I want to talk about how. This morning I want to talk about
who can study the Bible and tonight how to study it. Because if you’re not the
right who the how won’t matter, basically. You may have all the methodology for
studying the Bible. You may know all of the techniques, and you may have all of
the insights, but if your life isn’t right you’re not going to perceive what God
wants you to see. And so we have to begin with the who and then the how, and
that’s what we want to do today.

And I’m excited about tonight because it’s probably going to be the most practical
evening we’ve ever spent here n how to study the Bible. And as a church that’s
committed t studying the Bible I think you’ll want to be a part of what we’re going
to say tonight, and I think God will really use it. Everywhere we’ve shared these
truths God has blessed them in the lives of the people who make
application. And they’ll be some very practical things. How do you open up a
text? How do you understand the verses? How do you make sense out of a
difficult passage? What are the good resources? And so forth. And we’ll be
getting into that tonight.

But for this morning we want to kind of introduce the thing and talk a little bit
about the who of Bible study, who can understand the Bible. It always amazes me
that they use the Bible in school as a literature book and people study it to find
out its literary insights and qualities. And then there are the cults, who take the
Bible and try to systematize it into grandiose religious concoctions, and
invariably whether you’re using it as a piece of literature or whether you’re using
it as an agency to develop a false religious system, you come up with
error. Because there are some factors that are not there, some ingredients that
are absolutely necessary. And that’s basically what we want to speak of this
morning.

Some of you may have read of a certain Danish religious philosopher who lived in
the 19th century by the name of Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard has said many
things in terms of Christianity and religion that we would not necessarily accept
but on the other hand, every once in a while he says some pretty profound
things, too. And one of them, I thought, was this statement that I’d like to read to
you. Listen to it.

“Too often in their church life people adopt an attitude of the theater. Imagining
the preacher is an actor and they his critics, praising and blaming the
performances. Actually, the people are the actors on the stage of life, the
preacher is merely the prompter reminding the people of their lost lines.”
I think he perceives a real problem. It’s very easy for you or for anyone to come
to church and treat it like a theater and sit and watch it happen, and then to
either praise or criticize what went on. But he’s right. The fact is you are really
the actors living on the stage of life and I’m here to prompt you about what you
ought to do. If all that happens is you come and evaluate the sermon, then you’ve
missed the point. But if you come and learn from what I do what you should do
in approaching the Word of God, then you’ve gotten it.

A lady said to me at one of the conferences, she came up to me and she said, “Do
you know what your preaching does to me?” And I said, “I have no idea.” She
said, “It makes me want to study the Bible.” She said it very matter-of-
factly. And I said, “Well, I think that’s the best compliment I ever got. It makes
you want to study the Bible.”

I really feel that that’s the whole point. I’m not here to entertain you. I’m not
here to put on a show which is to be evaluated. I’m here to stimulate you to do
something on your own, and that is to learn the Word of God and learn to live
it. And if you don’t get that message, you’ve missed the whole point. Mine has
become an exercise in futility.

The ministry in the pulpit is to stimulate the people in the pew. And the reason I
study and teach is to stimulate you to study and teach. And the sad part of it is
there are so many Christians who don’t really do that, they just don’t get into it
and they don’t teach it to somebody else.

And there’s always distractions, you know. I think about Paul writing to Timothy
and he said to him,“Timothy, the things you have heard from me among many
witnesses, the same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others
also.” In other words, “Timothy, what I told you I told you to tell somebody
else.” Because you see, Timothy at Second Timothy in his life, at that juncture in
his life when Paul wrote that book, is beginning to falter. He’s even having
anxiety, you know. And Paul had written to him earlier about taking some wine
for his stomach’s sake and he was beginning to be fearful about his youth. People
were kind of hassling him about it, and so Paul says, “Don’t let anybody despise
your youth.” And he says, “Flee youthful lusts.”

And Timothy was fighting his youth, he was fighting his physical problem. He
was basically a timid person and so Paul says, “God has not given us a spirit of
timidity.” He was being persecuted. He was also being attacked by some high-
powered religious errorists who had invaded the Ephesian church and were
propagating some genealogies and some sort of high-powered philosophy that he
really couldn’t handle. And so he was beginning to falter, and fold up, and quit,
and bail out. And Paul says to him, “Look, fella, you can’t stop. Too much is
invested in you. Everything I committed to you I committed to you to give to
somebody else.” That’s the whole point.

Last Sunday you had opportunity to hear my father, who made a great
commitment in my life, gave me many things to pass on. His father gave him
things to pass on, and what I have I have to pass on,and when I pass it on to
you, you have to take it and develop it, and learn it, and pass it on to somebody
else. You see, this is a relay race. We’re all involved.

Now, in recent weeks, we finished our study of Ephesians, and we talked about
the sword of the Spirit and how important it is that we know the Word of God to
fight the enemy. We must study it for ourselves and study it to pass it on to
others so they, too, can know the victory that the Word of God brings.

And you remember in that message on the sword of the Spirit that I said the Bible
is a source of truth, joy, power, guidance, growth, comfort, perfection, and
victory, a tremendous reservoir of truth. And at that time, I really wanted to go
into the material on how to study the Bible but we didn’t have time, so I’m going
to do it now. Because I don’t want to just exhort you without instructing you. I
don’t want to just say, “Study the Bible,” and not tell you how or what the
conditions are. I want you to be able to get into it and really be productive.

A young man wrote me this week and he’s attending a large, very charismatic
school in America. And he wrote me a most interesting letter. He said, “I
transferred here out of a liberal college. I went to a college where they didn’t
believe in the Bible and they denied the great doctrines.” And he said, “I noticed
there was tremendous carnality, and they worshiped their intellect.” And then he
said, “Let me be very honest with you. Where I am now there is the same
carnality and they worship their emotions.” He said, “Where can I go where they
worship God through His Word?” What a great thought.

There’s nothing wrong with the intellect as long as it’s subjected to the Word of
God. There’s nothing wrong with emotion as long as is brought into authority of
the Word of God. But the center of everything is the Bible, God’s Word. And as
believers, this is where we have to be. And if we are going to be committed as a
church to the Word of God, then it’s got to be true in your life also. That
commitment has to be there.

Now to begin with, if we’re going to study the Bible, we’ve got to be committed to
the fact that it needs to be studied, right? I mean, that seems to me to be
basic. Look with me for a minute, and let me just kind of set that for you in your
thinking. Look at Hosea chapter 4. Hosea is facing a reality in Israel. And the
reality is this. God’s people have abandoned God. And consequently, they have
fallen into all kinds of sin. They have become a harlot wife, an adulterous
nation, violating the vow to God. And what is the basic problem? How did this
happen? And why did it happen?

Indicated in 4:1 and following, listen to what he writes. “Hear the Word of the
Lord, ye children of Israel.” We can stop right there. Hosea 4:1. “Hear the
Word of the Lord.” He puts his finger right on the problem. When a nation
ceases to hear the Word of the Lord, confusion and chaos takes place. “For the
Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no
truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.”

In other words, they had removed the foundation. And when the foundation was
gone, what was left is in verse 2. “Swearing, lying, killing, stealing, adultery, and
blood touching blood.” Blood flowing everywhere. In other words, you get the
national chaos of verse 2 when you give up the foundation of the Word of God in
verse 1. I’ll tell you something, people. In America people are
concerned. They’re concerned about our country. They’re concerned about a
rising crime problem. They’re concerned about a disintegration of the
family. They’re concerned about chaos in government. They’re concerned about
economic stress and chaos there. All of these concerns people have in their
hearts.

And I’ll tell you the truth about it. There is no resolution to any of these
problems. You can change the cabinet every week if you want. You can do that
all the time. You can just shovel people in and out of there all week long, and
month long, and year long, and you’re never going to eliminate the moral
problems in a nation like ours unless there is a reaffirmation of the standard of
the absolute qualification of the Word of God to set the pace for this country.

Same thing in Israel. Destroy a biblical base and all you’re going to get is
chaos. And because they wouldn’t hear the Word of the Lord, everything bad
began to happen. And “the land mourned - ” in verse 3 “ - and everyone that
dwelleth in the land languisheth, with the beast of the field, the fowls of the
heaven, yea, the fish of the sea shall also be taken away.” Everything goes
wrong, everything. And it all comes down to verse 6. “My people are destroyed
- ” why? “ - for lack of knowledge, because they reject knowledge.”
Now when a people reject the law of God, the knowledge of God, they open the
floodgates to chaos. Now as it’s true in a nation in the case of Israel, it’s true in
the life of an individual. If you do not have as the base of your life, as the
orientation of your behavior, as the solid foundation upon which you live, the
Word of God, there is no base. There is none. In Proverbs chapter 1 the writer
says wisdom cries in the streets. “How long, you simple ones, will you continue
in your simplicity?” How long will you go on being naive and foolish? How long
will you reject the Word of God? And it says they turn a deaf ear, and they will
not hear. Wisdom is available, people.

And so just as a general thing, I’m trying to get you to see how important it is to
study the Word of God. This is the foundation of everything. Here is a judge who
writes me and says, “What does the Bible say about what is right in a law
court?” A doctor, “What does the Bible say about what is right in terms of how
we discipline our children?” I’ve received letters from doctors, “What does the
Bible say about abortion? What does the Bible say about euthanasia? What does
the Bible say about how certain people are to be treated in certain psychological
and psychiatric situations?”

And so, beloved, what I’m saying to you is, you see, you can’t live your life the way
it ought to be lived unless you have the knowledge of God’s Word. And so it’s
imperative that we be students of His Word.

In the New Testament this becomes literally a replete issue. In Romans 12:2 it
says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed.” Now how do
you get above the system that engulfs you? How do you rise above the corruption
we live in? How do you ascend beyond the mentality of the day? It says, “Be ye
transformed - ” but how? “ - by the renewing of your - ” what? “ - your mind, that
you may know what is that
In other words, it is first of all to know and then it is to live. If you rush off
headlong trying to live life without the knowledge of God’s truth you’re going to
find you’re going to hit right into the system full blast. In order to rise above it
you must know the Word of God.

In Ephesians 4:23, the Apostle Paul says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your
mind.” In Philippians 1:9he says, “That you may abound more and more in
knowledge and discernment.” In Philippians 4:8 he names a lot of things and
then he says, “If there’s any virtue, any praise, think on these things.” In
Colossians chapter 1, “Increasing by the knowledge of God,” he says.

In 2 Peter 3:18, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.” Second Timothy 3:16. “The Word of God is given to perfect you
that You may know what God’s will and God’s choice is for your living.”

Knowledge. In Proverbs 24:13 there’s a beautiful statement about

knowledge. “My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the
honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of
wisdom be unto thy soul.” And all through Proverbs, 31 chapters, is the
injunction to learn God’s truth and to live it, to know, seek wisdom, seek wisdom,
seek wisdom, again and again. And by the way,every Hebrew boy as he grew up
was taught the book of Proverbs that he might know God’s standards for
life. And so we must know.

May I add something? The knowledge of which Scripture speaks is not separated
from obedience. It knows nothing of the theory. It knows nothing of the
concept. It knows nothing of simply the intellectualism of the Greek sophia. The
Hebrew thought of wisdom was always behavior. In fact, to the Hebrew, if you
didn’t live it you didn’t really know it. To the Greek wisdom, sophos, was
intellectualizing, was theory, was conceptual. But to the Hebrew, wisdom was
life. It was living. It was behaving in a manner in accord with the law of God.
Wisdom wasn’t just conceiving. Wisdom was walking. And so where the Bible
draws us to knowledge,and where it draws us to knowing, and where it draws us
to wisdom, and to understanding, and to enlightenment, and to perception, it is
always with a view to behavior. You never really know until you live it.

“Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it,” Jesus said. “If you love
Me, keep My commandments.” “For this is the love of God that we keep His
commandments.” And in Deuteronomy 5:29 the Bible says, “O that there was
such an heart in them, that they would fear Me,and keep all My commandments
always, that it might be well with them, and their children forever!”

The Lord told Joshua that he was required to study and reflect on the Word of
God. And so in Joshua 1:8 it says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of
thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” In other words, Joshua,
you must be committed to the law of God. You know the chaos that existed in
Israel when the law was lost, and finally when it was found and they stood up to
read it what a revival broke out as they found again the standard for life.

And you remember the words of Isaiah. “For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may
give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall My word be that goes
forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” God says,
as the rain and the snow comes down and waters the earth, so My word will come
down and give growth to your life.
I love the Psalms, the hymnbook of the Old Testament. And David, of course,
was a man with a worshiping heart. And in Psalm 138:2, worshiped God with
these words. “I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for
Thy loving kindness and for Thy truth.” Why for Thy truth? “For Thou hast
magnified Thy word above all Thy name.” In other words, David says, “God, I
will worship You on the basis of Your truth.”

We’ve talked about that in the past. You can’t even worship God, no matter how
meaningful that might be in your own mind, you can’t truly worship God unless
you worship Him according to truth. Here were the people up on Mount Gerizim
trying to worship God in John 4, and Jesus says, “You must worship the Lord in
spirit, yes, but in truth.” You can’t devise your own means.

Like Saul, you can’t offer the Lord a whole lot of animals that you stole against
His commandment and then say, “Well, I’m serving the Lord.” And the prophet
said to him, “You may be thinking you’re serving God. He said no to those
animals. You will never put a son on the throne.” And cursed his line. God
doesn’t want self-styled worship. He wants it according to His Word.

In Psalm 119, one of the most majestic poems in all of holy writ, nearly everyone
of the 176 verses teaches us the necessity of obedience to the Word of God. In
verses 1 and 2 the whole Psalm begins,“Blessed are the undefiled, who walk in
the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, and seek Him
with their whole heart.” And you know what it says in verse 11. “Thy word have I
hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.”

And so we find the Scripture calls us to obey the Word. Now, beloved, the
standard is up there, you see. I’ve just given you scripture, after scripture, after
scripture. The importance of the Word. Can I ask you to make a covenant in
your heart? I don’t want to impose it on you, I just want you to do it because it’s
right. You say, “Well, you know, this Bible study is hard work.” Yes, but these
things are written unto you that your joy may be - what? - full. You want full joy
in your life? That’s why God wrote this. Would you make a covenant? And I’ll
give you a covenant so you don’t have to think up your own. This is a covenant
made by Josiah the king, and God really blessed him for it.

In 2 Chronicles 34:31. “And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant
before the Lord.” Bless his heart. This young man Josiah is like a beam of
light in the midst of the darkness of the ancient past of Israel, a godly man. He
made a covenant before the Lord. Now listen to it. “To walk after the Lord, to
keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his
heart, and with all his soul, and to perform the words of the covenant which are
written in this book.” Josiah said, “God, as long as I live, this day I vow to learn
and to live Your Word.” That’s why he made a difference. That’s why he was
different than everybody before him and after him. Are you willing to make that
covenant? This is God’s Word. Study it as God has commanded you.

Now, specifically who - for this morning - can study the Bible? I’ve just given a
general injunction. I’ve just said everybody study the Bible. Now who can study it
and get something out of it? You say, “Well, you’ve got to go to seminary.” Do
you? What are the requirements? Well, you’ve got to have a lot of books to do
it. Well, I’m too new. I don’t know. Well, I’ve tried to figure it out, but, boy, all
those words are so tough. I don’t understand it. Well, my wife’s good at it, but
I’m lousy.

Who can understand it? Lots of people purport to understand it. They come and
knock on your door and tell you they’ll explain it to you. Who can understand the
Bible? What are the requirements? What are the bottom line basic
requirements? All right, here we go, I’m going to give you five and then a final
sixth.
Number one. Who is able to understand the Bible? Only believers. Only
believers. First of all, you have to be a Christian, a true Christian, a believer, born
again, regenerated. You say, “Well, you mean if you’re not a Christian you can’t
understand the Bible?” That’s right. Let me show you that.

First Corinthians 2:14. I want to work up to it a little bit, so let me start in verse
10. This is a tremendous, tremendous insight. “But God - ” now watch this “ -
hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” Now “them” refers to God’s
truths, God’s principles, or God’s revelation, or God’s Word. Who receives
it? “God hath revealed it unto us by His Spirit.” Now I want you to notice the
little phrase “unto us,” those two words in verse 10.

Now, that might not seem too important in the English, but in the Greek it
is, because in the Greek it comes at the beginning of the sentence “unto us,” and it
is in an emphatic form. And what Paul is saying is this, that the revelation of
God's truth is unto us and the “us” refers to believers. Watch. In contrast to the
ones he has been referring to. Because all the way from 1:18 clear down 2:9 he is
talking about how ignorant the philosophers of the world are regarding the truth
of God.

They cannot know it. Why? Because of verse 9. “Eye hath not seen - ” in other
words, they can’t see it empirically. They can’t find it out by discovery. Secondly,
“Neither has it entered into their heart.” They can’t find it by their own feeling, or
their own emotion, or their own musings, or their own spiritual experience. It is
not available externally. It is not available internally, no matter how erudite the
philosopher may be. Why? Because God has revealed it unto us, not to
them. That’s the implication. It isn’t available.

There are those in the world who speak human wisdom, “the princes of this
age,” he says in verse 6,but none of the princes know the truth, verse 8
says. None of them know it. It’s not available to them. Why? Because in their
humanness they can’t know it. Verse 11. “For what man knows the things of a
man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

If a man does not have the indwelling Spirit, he can’t know anything about
God. Now he may think he knows some things, may try to figure some things
out, but he can’t really truly know, not in the sense of knowing and living out that
truth in life. But verse 12 says, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world.” The spirit of the world is just the idea that human reason - it’s a
paraphrase for human reason. We don’t depend on human reason, but the Spirit
of God. And because of Him we “know the things that are freely given to us by
God.” And then verse 14 sums it up. “The natural man - ” now mark this,
understandeth not or “ - receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he - ” what? “ - know them, for they are
spiritually discerned.”

If you’re not a believer, you cannot really perceive with understanding and result
the truth of the Word of God. It is the same in the analogy of verse 11. A man
cannot know anything about himself unless he knows it in his spirit. In other
words, his body can’t know. Illustration. A dead body doesn’t know anything
because it has no spirit. A man without the Spirit of God is like a physically dead
body. He can’t know anything, either. That’s what spiritual death is, the absence
of the knowledge of God because of the absence of the Spirit of God.

And so, without knowing Christ you can’t know the Bible. And that’s what’s so
sad about the cults and all, they come along and figure out these elaborate
concoctions of supposed theology, and because they don’t even know God to
begin with because they deny Jesus Christ, they are hopelessly muddled and the
confusion just is added upon confusion. The truth is only available to those who
know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Martin Luther said, “Man is like a pillar of salt. He’s like Lot’s wife. He’s like a
log or a stone. He’s like a lifeless statue which uses neither eyes nor
mouth, neither sense nor heart, until that man is converted and regenerated by
the Holy Spirit. And until that happens, man will never know God’s truth.” And
so I just encourage you that the bottom line on knowing the Bible is that you
know God, through Jesus Christ.

Now you say, “I thought you were going to tell us how to study the Bible. This is
just preaching.” Listen. I’m going to tell you that tonight, but I want you to know
what I said earlier, if you don’t, if you don’t understand the requirements, the
method doesn’t mean anything. This is basic. The believing heart will
understand.

You know, this is brought home by the words of our Lord as profoundly as
anywhere in the Bible. In John 8:44, He says to the Pharisees, He says, “You are
of your father the devil.” And then He makes an incredible statement to
them. He says, “The devil speaks lies.” And then He says in verse 45 - this is
something - “Because I tell you the truth, you believe Me not." Amazing.

In other words, the reason you don’t believe Me is because I’m telling you the
truth and that is something you can’t perceive. Now that is the state of an
unregenerate man. That is the condition of an unbeliever. You tell them the
truth, and they don’t receive it because it is the truth and they can’t perceive it.

There’s a second principle. In order to study the Bible you must be diligent - not
only born again but diligent, diligent. And this is a great thought, to be
diligent. You can’t study the Scripture in a haphazard way. There’s got to be a
commitment to it.

Let me show you what I mean. In Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17, you remember
the apostle Paul was moving around in his ministry to the Gentiles. He had been
in Thessalonica, proceeding from there south to Berea. It says in Acts 17:10,
"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto
Berea: who coming there went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all
readiness of mind.” Now this is great. Boy, here are some open minds. This is a
group that’s in that little gap in the middle. They want to know. And their minds
are open. And they’re ready to receive it. “And they searched the Scriptures
daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed.”

They were more noble than the rest because they were diligent in their study. I
believe they were true Old Testament saints. I believe they knew God under the
terms of the Old Testament, and now their hearts were cracked wide open
when the gospel came in their openness to receive, and they searched
diligently. By the way, the term for “search” is a judicial term meaning an
“investigation.” They really got into it and investigated to see it it was
true. Beloved, you can’t study the Bible in a haphazard manner.

In 2 Timothy 2:15 it says, “Be diligent,” and it uses a tremendously strong

word. “Be diligent to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Listen. You need to be
diligent in your Bible study. Why? So that you can rightly divide it. Because if
you don’t, you’ll have something to be ashamed about and you will not be
approved.

Oh, that word “approved” is a great word, dokimos, dokimos, proven, tested,
shown to be of high quality, a high-quality Christian, an approved Christian, who
has no flaws for which he will be ashamed, as one who is diligent to study the
Word of God, to cut it straight.

The word “rightly dividing” is to literally “cut it straight,” and Paul was making
tents, and that was the word he used because he used to make tents out of
goatskin and he’d cut the hides to fit together. He didn’t make one tent out of one
goat. There was no super goat. So you had to cut little goats and fit them
together, see? And he fit all those pieces together and the diligent part of what
Paul is saying is you have to cut straight every portion of the Scripture or the
whole doesn’t come together. You can’t make a dress, ladies, when you sew,
unless every part is right.

And in theological terms, we would say you can’t be a theologian unless you’re an
exegete. You can’t make sense out of the whole unless you know what to do with
the parts. And so you must deal with the Word of God, cutting every portion
straight, and then fitting the whole together. And that takes work. As I told you
before, G. Campbell Morgan said, “Ninety- five percent of inspiration is
perspiration.” It’s work.

In I Timothy chapter 5 the Bible indicates this as it writes about elders. It says,
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they
who work hard in the Word.” And it uses kopia, which is a Greek verb meaning
“to work to the point of sweat and exhaustion.” Oh, he says, “Honor those elders
who work hard in the Scripture.” It’s labor. There’s got to be a commitment
todiligence, hard work, searching the Scriptures.

And so, to begin with, if you’re going to be a Bible student, if you’re going to learn
the Scriptures and make it in your own life a personal commitment, first you have
to be born again and to know Jesus Christ so you have the resident Spirit to teach
you. Secondly, you must be diligent.

Thirdly, and maybe this should even be the apex of our thoughts, you must have a
great desire. Desire. It isn’t going to happen by accident. In fact, nothing ever
happens by accident. Certainly not becoming a good Bible student. You’ve got to
want it. First Peter 2:2. “As babes desire the pure mild of the word that you
may grow thereby.” A baby desires one thing: Milk. That’s all. That’s the only
thing a baby desires. It doesn’t care about anything else. It doesn’t care what
color the curtains are,the carpet. It doesn’t care whether you’re in what room or
another. It doesn’t care what color the booties are or the nightgown, couldn’t
care less about anything. You can do anything you want around the house. That
baby doesn’t care what kind of car you buy. The baby doesn’t care anything about
what you eat. The baby wants milk. That’s it. Give him the milk. Deal with the
consequences. That’s the whole deal. A baby has single-mindedness and that’s
what Peter is saying. He’s saying like a baby desires milk and only milk and is
consumed by milk, so should your hunger be for the Word.

And, you know, people sometimes, you know, ask me why we study the
Bible. And I don’t know where I got this, but somewhere along the line God has
given me a hunger to know His Word. Very often a pastor will say, you know,
your church has grown from Bible teaching. I’d like to do that and build a
church. But what they really want to do is use Bible teaching as a way to build a
church rather than as a fulfillment of their own hunger. And it doesn’t work as a
gimmick. You’ve got to have the hunger for the Word.

I love what it says in Proverbs 2. Proverbs 2:4 it says, “Seek for her as for
silver.” Can you imagine how hard people work to find silver? Find gold? That’s
the way you ought to seek for the knowledge of God’s Word.

I think Job has the most marvelous speech on this in Job 28. He gives this
tremendous speech on mining, and then he applies it to the
Word. Listen. “Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for
gold where they refine it.” Now Job’s going to talk about how men work for gold
and silver. Now, “Iron is taken out of the earth, and bronze is smeltedout of the
stone.” And he says, “Boy, men will go to all length to do mining.” “They’ll set an
end to darkness, search out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow
of death.”
He says, “They’ll burrow into the earth like a bunch of moles, into pitch-black
darkness. They’ll get themselves surrounded by very dangerous
situations. They’ll do anything to find the stuff.”

“The flood breaks out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten by the foot:
they are dried up,they are gone away from men.” The idea here is of changing the
configuration of the earth and mining and digging it all out.

They literally, verse 9, “overturn the mountains by the roots.” They dig so
deeply, they change the configuration of the earth. They go places, verse 7,
“where no bird has ever been,” where no animals have ever gone. “Lion’s whelps
have never tread there - ” in verse 8 “ - and the fierce lion never passed it
by. They cut rivers among the rocks;” and they dam up other places in verse
11. They dig and find precious metal.

Just think about that in our society. We dig and hunt and go to tremendous
extremes to buy gold and silver to hang on our fingers, and our arms, and our
necks, and our ears, all kinds of stuff like that,and the tremendous expense
involved. And we mine, dig for other precious metals, and all the different things
and we go to those lengths. And yet with all of the advancement, all the
technology, all the luxury, all the gold, silver, metal, everything we’ve got the one
thing we don’t have is any wisdom. And that’s exactly where Job is going, and he
brings it up very clearly in verse 12. “But where shall wisdom be found?”

Man is so good at digging everything else up, where’s he going to find

wisdom? “And where is the place of understanding?” Where can you mine
understanding? “And the depth says, It is not in me: and the sea says, It is not in
me. And you can’t buy it for gold, and you can’t get it for silver. And it can’t be
valued with the gold of Ophir, or the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold
and the crystal can’t equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine
gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or pearls: for the price is higher than
even rubies.” And he goes on and on. It just isn’t available.

In other words, what he is saying is in man’s earth, and in man’s concourse, and
in man’s economy wisdom is not found. But the implication of what is being said
in Proverbs, that man is a fool who spends such energy to find metal and spends
none to find truth. God help us to seek for wisdom in His Word as men seek for
precious metal.

Do you have a desire for His Word? Do you have an overwhelming passion for
His Word? Job 23:12 – I love this verse - he said, “I have treasured the words of
His mouth more than my necessary food.” If it came down to working for my
food or studying His Word, it would be His Word. If it came down to eating or
feeding on the Word, it would be His Word. For I treasure that above anything
else.

That’s the kind of hunger the psalmist must have been referring to when he
said, “O how I love Thy law.” He said in Psalm 19, “Sweeter to me than honey in
the honeycomb is the truth.” So there must be a great desire, people.

You say, “Well, I don’t have that desire. How do you get that desire?” Well, I
think all of these things that I’m going to mention to you come together. And you
don’t really have them in a vacuum. If you’re just born again, that’s only the first
requirement. If you’re born again and diligent, that’s just the first two. If you’re
born again, diligent, and you have a desire, that’s just three, and there are even
more. I think they all come together and where you’re weak in one, it will be
strengthened by another.

So, let’s go to the fourth. And we’ll just go through these last two very, very
briefly. Fourth is holiness. I feel in order to study the Word of God there must be
holiness. You say, “Well, where do you get that?” Well, let me show you two
verses, and that’s all, just very briefly. I want you to get it. First Peter 2:1, and I
mentioned verse 2, but I want to mention 1 in connection with it. “Wherefore - ”
listen now “ - laying aside all malice.” Now the word “malice” is kakia in the
Greek, it means “evil,” general evil. Put away “all evil, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all
envy, and all evil speaking.” In other words, clean up your act. Holiness,
righteousness. Get your life pure and then, “desire the milk of the Word that you
may grow.”

If the desire isn’t there, you better back up to verse 1. You see why I say you have
to take them all? You’re not going to get a desire in a vacuum. If you’re born
again, and if you’re holy, and righteous - that is, you’re dealing with sin in your
life, confessing it and living a pure life before God - out of that born again
reality, out of the holiness of your life will grow the diligent desire to study. But
you can’t have one and another in a vacuum.

Now I want you to look at James 1:21, because it says the same thing. Listen to
this, it says at the end of verse 21, “Receive with meekness the engrafted
word.” Receive with humility the Word. That’s a great thought. Receive with
meekness the Word. But you can’t do that unless you go to the first part of the
verse. “Wherefore put away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, and
then receive with meekness the engrafted word.” The Word, you see, cannot do
its work in a sinful life. For it is not a conceptual thing. It is a living reality. It
isn’t just thought, it’s life.

And so what is the Word of God saying to us? Who can study the
Bible? Someone who is born again. Someone who is willing to be diligent and
search the Scripture. Someone who has a strong and hungering desire for it, a
desire that is born out of holiness, righteousness. And fifth, in order to study the
Word of God effectively, you must be Spirit controlled, Spirit controlled.
I’ve been reading a book for the last three weeks written by a secular writer about
a well-known religious personality. And as I’ve been wading through the book
and he’s been talking, and evaluating, and criticizing, and making tremendous
statements about this man and other parts of his ministry, it’s been interesting to
me as I’ve gone through the book, I’ve had more of an urge, I think, in this book
than any other in a long time to want to talk to the author.

If I could just sit down with him and say, “Now what do you mean by this?” Or,
“How do you know this is true?” Or, “How do you support this?” Or, “Where is
the basis of this statement?” I’ve just wanted so much to talk with him and I, in
thinking about that, I’ve thought of how wonderful it is to study the Scripture and
know that I not only have the page in my hand, but I have the author in my
heart. Because the Spirit of God is the teacher.

Look at 1 John 2:20. First John 2:20 says, “But you have an unction from the
Holy One, and you know all things.” Now just stated itself, that verse doesn’t
maybe make a lot of sense, but what’s going on here is John’s talking about false
teachers, antichrists. They thought they knew everything and they said, “We
know because we have an anointing.” That was their little phrase. “We know
because we have an anointing. We have a special anointing that elevates us above
everybody else.”

And John is saying to the Christian, “Hey, you’re the one with the unction. You’re
the one with the anointing. You have an anointing, not some fantasy, mystical
anointing. You have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all
things.” Over in verse 27 he elucidates on the same thought. “But the anointing
which you have received of Him abides in you.” Whatever this anointing is it
lives in us, and who is it? It’s the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God living in us, so
that we don’t need human teachers, because He teaches us.
And what it’s saying there is that we don’t need teachers teaching human
wisdom. Why? We have an anointing, the Spirit of God. And so, beloved, it’s
obvious, then, that we need to be born again,diligent, have a strong desire, live a
holy life, and be Spirit filled, Spirit controlled, because the Spirit is the One who
teaches and applies the Word of God.

There’s one other thing, and I close. All of this has to come together in an
atmosphere of prayer. If you want to put down a sixth, that’s it. And yet it isn’t a
sixth. You could draw a circle around the five and it encompasses all, prayer. I
believe that our Bible study must be born out of prayer. So many times I pray the
simple prayer, “Lord, as I approach Your Word show me Your truth. Teach me
what I must know.”

I would never approach the Scripture without seeking God in prayer. And so,
says Ephesians 1, Paul says, “I pray for you.” What do you pray, Paul? “That the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding
be enlightened; that you may know.”

Listen. Paul says, “I’m praying for you.” What are you praying for, Paul? That
you’ll know, that your eyes will be open, that you’ll understand, that you’ll see the
truth. If Paul prayed for us to understand God’s Word, then we are well
instructed to pray, as well.

Who can study the Bible? Listen. You’ve got to be the right who or the how won’t
matter. Are you born again? Do you have a strong desire in your heart? Are you
diligent? Holy? Spirit controlled? Prayerful? If you are, you can open the
pages of this book and God will open His truths to your heart. When your life is
right, then the method we’re going to share with you tonight, and the how-tos will
become productive, and possible, and really life changing as you study His
Word. Let’s pray together.
We honor you, Father, for Your Word. We cherish it. We love it because it
speaks to us of You. We do not worship the book, but we exalt the book because
it allows us to worship You. May we know that You are revealed here. Apart
from this book, all is mystery. So may we love it as the psalmist did. May we find
its taste sweet as honey. I pray this morning, Father, for those who might be with
us who want so much to know what the standard for life is, who want to know a
bottom line for living, who want an absolute authority, and maybe even believe
it’s the Bible but because they’ve never come to Jesus Christ they cannot
understand it.

I pray today that You would save them, Father, that You would reach out Your
arms of love and redeem them. That You’d draw them into the family, plant the
Spirit of God in their lives so that He may teach them Your truth.

For Christians who are with us, I pray that You might kindle in their hearts a
great desire born out of holiness that leads to diligence as the Spirit of God
controls their life. And all bathed in prayer,Father, may they become the
students of the Word that You want the to be. God, may we know that this is a
book written for every man. We hold in our hands not a symbol of something but
the reality itself, Your very words. May our hearts be unsatisfied until they have
feasted daily upon Your truth.

Bring us together tonight, Lord, as we consider how we are to study in the

practical areas, that we might fill up our understanding and that this day might
be a day of real changing in our lives. We give You praise in Christ’s
name. Amen.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 | NIV | strength thoughts

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 | NIV | life equipment serving

Your word is a lamp for my feet,

a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105 | NIV

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22 | NIV | obedience listening

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

By living according to your word.
Psalm 119:9 | NIV | holiness equipment

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures forever.
Isaiah 40:8 | NIV | reliability God beauty

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 11:28 | NIV | life listening

As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 18:30 | NIV | blameless protection

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is
like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matthew 7:24 | NIV | wisdom listening mind

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Matthew 24:35 | NIV | reliability heaven

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and
pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you
will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.
Philippians 2:14-16a | NIV | holiness life blameless
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:130 | NIV | understanding

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4 | NIV | food listening

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 | NIV | God

For the word of the Lord is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does.
Psalm 33:4 | NIV | reliability truth

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from
within them.
John 7:38 | NIV | faith life

In God, whose word I praise—

in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:4 | NIV | trust fear

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your
salvation.
1 Peter 2:2 | NIV | salvation food rebirth

For the Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Proverbs 2:6 | NIV | wisdom

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32 | NIV | truth following addiction

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly
accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
James 1:21 | NIV | salvation evil conversion

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which
neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on
bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:3 | NIV | suffering life food
You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
Psalm 18:35-36 | NIV | salvation protection

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 | NIV | truth Jesus

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrews 1:3 | NIV | sin purification

You are my refuge and my shield;

I have put my hope in your word.
Psalm 119:114 | NIV | hope protection

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you.
John 15:7 | NIV | reward Jesus

So is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 | NIV | speaking reliability

Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Proverbs 30:5 | NIV | truth protection

All your words are true;

all your righteous laws are eternal.
Psalm 119:160 | NIV | reliability law

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.
Psalm 130:5 | NIV | hope soul

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11 | NIV | heart sin
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to
God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16 | NIV | learning worship gratitude

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 10:11 | NIV | faith reliability

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through
the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:23 | NIV | rebirth

As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
2 Samuel 22:31 | NIV | blameless protection

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 | NIV | calling reliability

My son, pay attention to what I say;

turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart.
Proverbs 4:20-21 | NIV | listening heart obedience

The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
Psalm 19:7 | NIV | law soul wisdom

Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or
drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten
Commandments.
Exodus 34:28 | NIV | fasting nearness law

Get wisdom, get understanding;

do not forget my words or turn away from them.
Proverbs 4:5 | NIV | wisdom understanding obedience

I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
Job 23:12 | NIV | law speaking obedience
Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will
be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’
Ezekiel 12:28 | NIV | reliability obedience

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
we will also live with him.
2 Timothy 2:11 | NIV | death eternal life reliability

Listen, my son, accept what I say,

and the years of your life will be many.
Proverbs 4:10 | NIV | obedience law life

The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the
worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it
unfruitful.
Matthew 13:22 | NIV | worrying money temptation

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
John 15:3 | NIV | purification speaking evil

Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.”
John 7:16 | NIV | Jesus learning

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were
added to their number that day.
Acts 2:41 | NIV | faith baptism

9 Tips for Studying the Bible

Posted on May 21, 2013 31 Comments
The Bible can be pretty intimidating. It’s filled with big words, parables, and
measurements that can be hard to understand. And sometimes all those
things keep us from really digging into Scripture. Many of us have participated
in Bible studies but have never taken the step of learning how to read and
study the Bible.

This year, I’ve been reading through the Bible chronologically, and it’s been
one of the richest seasons in Bible study I’ve ever had. As I read, I’m watching
everything unfold as one huge story, which all points to Jesus. It’s simply
beautiful.

Here are nine things to consider as you study the Bible:

1. Know what you’re getting into. People will often study Scripture asking
the question, “What does this passage mean to me?” when the better
question would be, “What does this passage mean?” The interpretation of the
Bible isn’t up to us and our best guess as to what it might mean or could
mean; God inspired it with a specific interpretation, and our goal should be
discerning what that is.
2. Pray before you study. This may seem obvious or redundant, but it’s
critical. When we approach Scripture, it should be with humility and an attitude
to receive and learn. Ask God to reveal himself to you through his Word. We
are given the Holy Spirit as a guide (Acts 2) as we interpret the Word.
3. Choose a plan. For those of you who like some structure, there are a ton
of resources available! Here are some great places to start: One Year
Bible, SheReadsTruth, YouVersion(smartphone app), Read the Bible for Life,
and Reading God’s Story. These plans will walk you through the Bible and
can be a great way to start or enhance your journey of studying Scripture.
4. Read the passage in context. It can be easy to just pick out a verse that
sounds good to you, but to really understand it, you should read the context
(the surrounding chapter/verses). Take the time to find out who the author is,
who the book was written to, and why it was written, and it can clear up a lot
of questions. A study Bible or commentary can be a great resource.
5. Interpret Scripture by Scripture. Hang with me on this one. In his
book, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, R.C. Sproul writes, “We must not
set one passage of Scripture against another passage. Each text must be
understood not only in light of its immediate context, but also in light of the
context of the whole of Scripture.” When you can look at Scripture as one big
story, all inspired by God, you will start to see it more clearly.
6. Approach the Bible with a teachable spirit. If I’ve learned anything over
the last few years, it’s how much I don’t know. There are a lot of things about
the Bible that we have to wrestle over. We’re grappling with concepts and
truths about theology and doctrine, and it’s hard. Sometimes, we’re just trying
to understand a basic truth. It’s important to dig and ask questions, but
knowing that we can’t (with our finite minds) completely understand it all.
Continue to ask hard questions, and don’t give up!
7. Allow God to speak. So often, we approach the Bible with a “what’s in it
for me?” attitude, and there are times that we just need to read to understand.
Don’t just read to check it off a list, but read to understand and learn. The
Word begins to come alive as you start to soak it in! As you spend time in the
Word daily, it allows God to speak to you through His Word.
8. Take it slow and ask questions. You’re not going to understand it all in
one day! If you’re a verse-by-verse person, study it that way. Don’t be afraid to
ask questions – it’s a huge part of the learning process! The more you read
and study, the more the Bible will come alive in your life.
9. Be a student of the Word. Be in the Bible daily. Make sure you have
people in your life who are at least a little bit ahead of you in their spiritual
journey. Ask someone to disciple you and to challenge you as you study the
Bible.
As you dig deep into the Word, you will undoubtedly fall more in love with
Jesus. My prayer for you is that you develop a love for God’s Word that’s
unquenchable. He truly does satisfy our souls (Psalm 107:9)!
These are just a few ways to get started, and this definitely isn’t a
comprehensive list. What one thing would you add to this list that has helped
you as you’ve studied the Bible?

A Prayer before You Begin

Father, help me to approach your Word not most ultimately as a textbook
or instruction manual. Enable me to approach it for what it is—your unique
revelation of your own joy-inspiring glory. May what I come to understand
intellectually move me quickly to worship, obedience, and sharing with
others. So please open my eyes now, that I may see wonderful things in
your Word.

1. Get the right writing materials.

It's important to choose the right kind of pen or pencil when it comes to
writing in your Bible, even if you're writing in a Bible with thicker paper
(like the ESV Journaling Bible). Download our quick-reference Bible
Writing Utensil Guide for more helpful information.
2. Gather some helpful study resources.
Before entering upon the study of the text itself, consider compiling
resources to have on hand to aid your study of the Bible. Check out
this Bible Study Resource Guide as you think about what study aids would
be most beneficial for your use.
3. Make a list of questions about the text.
When beginning to study a passage of Scripture, it is often helpful to begin
with questions. After reading through the passage a time or two, what are
the first questions that come to your mind? Write these down. They could
range from simple questions about why a passage is here in the first place,
to more complex questions about the nuance of word meaning or logical
connections in the passage.
4. Take note of background information.
It can be immensely helpful as you seek to enter the world of the biblical
text to understand important historical and cultural realities of the day. As
you come to understand background information that supplements biblical
passages (through Bible reading or reading books about the Bible), it can
aid your study to write out a few key notes that help you put yourself in the
world of the biblical authors and narratives.
5. Add word study notes.
When you come across words that appear to be key for understanding the
text, jot down some notes about those keywords. These words might be
important for the following reasons.

First, they might be theologically weighty words. Words such as

“adoption,” “sanctification,” “justification,” and “the Son of God” carry
much theological freight, and call for added rumination and explanation.
ESV Study Bible
The ESV Study Bible—created by a diverse team of 95 leading Bible
scholars and teachers—features 20,000+ study notes, 80,000 cross–
references, 200+ charts, 50+ articles, 240 full–color maps and
illustrations, and more.

Second, they might be words that have debated meaning. Words can often
mean different things depending on context; it is these words that we may
need to set aside to really articulate their meaning.

Third, they might be transitional or logical connecting words. Words like

“but,” “and,” “therefore,” and “so that” are words that we can focus our
attention on as we seek to understand an author’s argument or flow of
thought.
6. Write your own cross-references.
As you take time to prayerfully read through the biblical text, the Lord may
bring other related passages to mind.

They may be biblical-theological cross-references. For example, if you are

studying Hebrews 4 and learning about God’s promise of land, you may
harken back to passages such as Genesis 1–2 or Genesis 12:1–3.

They may be systematic-theological cross-references. For example, you

may be studying Matthew 28:18–20, thinking about the doctrine of the
Trinity, and be reminded of John 1:1–18 or Romans 9:5.
They may be word-focused cross-references. If you come across a word like
“propitiation” in Romans 3:24–25, you may be reminded of the same word
showing up in Leviticus 16–17.

Go ahead and write down those related passages as you study the biblical
text along with some relevant notes. This will help you meditate more
richly on God’s Word as it interprets itself.

7. Pay attention to biblical themes that arise in the text.

Don’t miss the forest for the trees! As you examine one part of Scripture,
write about the contribution it makes to the whole, and how the whole
informs this particular part. Articulate how, where, when, and why this
particular passage fits into the grand story of redemption.
8. Incorporate short quotes from commentaries.
As you look through commentaries and other extrabiblical resources, jot
down the most helpful, informative, and encouraging quotes you come
across. What quotes from other authors help you—and potentially others—
understand and apply the meaning of the text? It will serve your study well
to put these to paper.