Bible Study - First Principles
13 Mar 2008 - 08:29 — by IFES Europe
- This book is God’s book. It is first and foremost His revelation of Himself to His world. Therefore when we read the Bible, although we want to see how it speaks to us about our lives, we have to first ask how it speaks to us about who God is!
- There are three levels on which to look at any Bible passage – first to ask what does this passage tell me about God; second what does it tell me about God’s people (including the people of the Bible and the people of today); and third what does it tell me about myself. If we get this order wrong then the Bible shifts from the Theology section of our library to the self-help section and we stand a good chance of missing out God completely!
- Because the Bible is first and foremost God’s revelation of Himself to His people (including us) we should approach our Bible study with prayer, with passion and with an expectation of meeting God face to face!
- Also we have to allow time for God’s word to speak to us with His own agenda and not just always as a quick fix book for moral guidance on our own agenda.
- Every verse of scripture is written in a context. If you read a book but only read the first paragraph of every 50th page you could not expect to really understand the book. Well the Bible is the same, so when we read verse 15 of chapter 3 of Peter’s first letter we should not just read it on it’s own – however useful it is – but rather we should think about how God speaks these words through Peter in the context of the whole letter!
- Every book is written within a context – both of time and space and also within the bigger body of scripture. So we should not immediately read the Bible as if it were written in the 21st Century, but should first take a bit of time to find out whatever we can from the Bible itself about the context.
- Try to get your head round the big picture of the Bible. The Bible is not a disjointed set of writings just thrown together, but it is an amazing collection of documents written over several thousand years with miraculous consistency – this is one of the proofs that it is God’s word and not just made up!
- Make sure that what you think the Bible is saying to you in one place checks with what the Bible says somewhere else. No verse is written in isolation from the rest.
- Different books of the Bible are written in different styles – so we find poetry, stories, sometimes letters, lists of law or even prophecy and apocalyptic imagery. Take time to learn more about each of these literary styles before wading in and then finding the text apparently confusing or inaccessible.
- Don’t rush to Bible commentaries for answers! Commentaries are useful, but if you’re not careful all you’ll here is the voice of the commentator rather than the voice of God. So if you have access to Bible commentaries use them after you’ve done your own initial study.
- If possible print out the chapter or book of the Bible you’re studying and then get down to some serious digging into the passage. You can get the whole Bible online in more languages than I can figure out – www.biblegateway.com - now you can get your pen out and start really digging!
- Although it is good to read God’s word to us daily, it is also really useful to take extra time whenever you can to do some real study. Daily reading often ends up bordering on superficial because of tiredness, time pressure and distraction – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying.
- Think about keeping a journal of the things you learn from different passages – about God, about His people and about yourself!
- Don’t ever allow your study to become dry or academic. If it does then stop, go for a walk, pray and then start again!
