Saturday, September 30, 2006

How to Study the Bible -1

The purpose of this study:



  • To draw us closer to the Lord Jesus Christ: John 5:39 - You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Every part of the scripture is about Jesus Christ and points to him! So, we should look for the underlying purpose of knowing Him whenever we read the Word.

  • To learn how to get the most out of reading and studying God's Word.

  • To get you to study the Word ON YOUR OWN!

  • To get you to not just depend on a Bible study group or an individual or a church for learning the Bible.

  • Colossians 1:9-11 - So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.
    We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy


What are the qualifications to studying the Bible?:


  1. You must be saved. The Bible is a spiritual book, and it must be spiritually discerned.1 Corinthians 2:14: But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means.

  2. You must love God:


    • Deuteronomy 6:5 - And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.


  3. You must have the will to do God's will:


    • John 14:21 - Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of them."


  4. You must be careful not to build your understanding of the Word on what others say, but objectively test what they teach:


    • Acts 17:10-11 - That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the synagogue. And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul's message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth.

    • Isaiah 29:13 - And so the Lord says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote.


  5. You must pray to the Lord:


    • Psalms 119:18 - Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your law.

    • Proverbs 2:3 - Cry out for insight and understanding.




Why is studying the Bible important to Christians?



  • 2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is inspired by God (literally "God breathed") and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.

  • Colossians 3:16 - Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other...

  • 2 Timothy 2:15 - Work hard so God can approve you. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. (NLT version) - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (King James version)

  • Romans 15:4 - Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:11 - All these events happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us, who live at the time when this age is drawing to a close.

  • John 5:39 - You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!

  • Luke 21:33 - Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever.

  • Psalm 138:2 - ...For you have exalted above all things your name and your word (King James version)

  • Psalm 119:89 - Forever, O LORD, your word stands firm in heaven.

  • Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.

  • Matthew 5:18 - I assure you, until heaven and earth disappear, even the smallest detail of God's law will remain until its purpose is achieved.

  • 1 Peter 2:2 - You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation.

  • Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes--Jews first and also Gentiles.

  • 1 John 5:13 - I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

  • Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.

  • 1 Peter 1:23 - For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

  • Mark 4:14-20 - The farmer I talked about is the one who brings God's message to others. The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then Satan comes at once and takes it away from them. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for nice things, so no crop is produced. But the good soil represents those who hear and accept God's message and produce a huge harvest--thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted."

  • Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp for my feet
    and a light for my path.

  • Ephesians 6:17 - Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

  • Romans 10:17 - Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news--the Good News about Christ.

  • John 20:31 - But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life.

  • Matthew 4:4 - But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say,
    `People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God."



Purpose of studying the Bible:



  • Study to learn what the Lord wants us to know

  • Study to enable you to win others to Christ

  • Study to be able to teach and help others

  • Study to help us grow and mature spiritually

  • Study to solve personal problems in our lives and change our lives

  • Study to know how to obey God

  • Study to know God's purpose for our lives

  • Study to overcome sin in our lives

  • Study to be able to "walk with God", especially in these evil days as the age draws to a close before the rapture and the Tribulation.

  • Study that we might receive His "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" and win the crowns He wants to give us: Philippians 3:12-14: ... I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

  • Study so you can grow in His service

  • Study so you can avoid error and false teaching

  • The Bible teaches us wisdom

  • The Bible teaches us how to worship Him

  • The Bible teaches us about true love

  • The Bible teaches us about faith


Helpful Tools for Study:





  • "A Concordance of the Septuagint" by George Morriah -Samuel Bagster and Sons Publishers

  • "A Critical Lexicon and Concordance" by E. W. Bullinger - Samuel Bagster and Sons Publishers

  • "Cruden's Complete Concordance" - Zondervan Publishing House

  • "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry Halley - Zondervan Publishers

  • "Life Application Study Bible - New Living Translation" - Tyndale House Publishers

  • "Prophecy Study Bible" by Tim LaHaye - AMG Publishers

  • "Quickverse" - Bible Study software by FindEx.com, Inc

  • "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" by James Strong - Abingdon Press

  • "Symbols of Judaism" by Marc-Alan Ouaknin - Barnes & Noble Books

  • "The Companion Bible" by E W Bullinger - Zondervan Bible Publishers. Excellent Bible source in the King James version with extensive notes including a lot on the Greek and Hebrew words and an extremely comprehensive appendix. However, some of his conclusions are controversial.

  • "The Amplified Bible" - Zondervan Publishing House

  • "The Defender's Study Bible" -World Bible Publishers

  • "Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary" by Vine, Unger and White - Thomas Nelson Publishers

  • "Word Studies from the Greek New Testament" by Kenneth S. Wuest - Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.



Helpful On-Line Sources for Bible Study:




Steps to take when we start studying a book in the Bible:



  • Pray - for forgiveness and cleansing, for insight, for guidance, for Him to apply our study to our personal lives, for the Word to strongly impact us. We want to "walk with God" like Enoch.

  • Choose a book of the Bible and master it. Some people study the Bible by topic or by a word. But, if you're young in the Lord and just starting to study the Word on your own (rather than in a Bible study group or at church), it's best to start with a book in the Bible and go on from there. Most start at the Gospel of John then move on to Romans and Ephesians. We're going to start with Philemon - a very short "epistle" in the New Testament so we can show more easily how to study the Word of God. we'll then choose some Psalms and Proverbs.

  • Study with an Open Mind and a Love for Truth

  • Simply read the book without paying any attention to any notes in the margin or trying to analyze the book. This is to give you an overall "the big picture" of the book.

  • Now read the same book again in a different version. Good to study it in the King James version since it is the "standard" version that everyone quotes from and is usually used in evangelical church services, the NLT (New Living Translation) for an easier to read and understand version, the NIV (New International Version) and the Amplified Version. Of course, an interlinear Greek/English New Testament and an interlinear Hebrew/English Old Testament are helpful if you want to really dig into it. It's really helpful to read the book not only in the version you're used to and maybe read many times before but in a version you've never read before. When we read the same thing over and over in the same version, it's not fresh and we may miss some important points.

  • Now, read the book again with a notepad and pen in hand. Where you don't understand something, put a question mark there with your pencil - so that you can erase it when you do understand it. In the notepad, answer these questions: WHO (who wrote it and to whom was it written), WHAT (a 1-sentence or 1-paragraph summary of the main point(s) of the book as you understood them), WHEN (when was it written - in relation to other books in the Bible and what was going on at the time it was written), WHERE (from where was it written and to where was it written) and WHY (why was it written). Check for the "address on the envelope" - ignoring this rule leads to all kinds of error and misinterpretation. You can always save your notes on your PC for future reference and to use when you start teaching a Bible study class yourself.

  • Now, read the book again writing in the margin your thoughts.

  • Now look for key words - are there certain words or phrases frequently repeated which might suggest the main point?

  • Only now should you read the notes in the margins to see what the editors thought.

  • You'll notice that your margin notes refer to other related verses - look them up and see how they are related.

  • Now check sources such as those I've listed for any thoughts and exposition of the book you're studying.

  • If you've found a particular word or concept you're not sure about, study about it. For example, don't just assume that the word "baptism" refers to being sprinkled by or dunked in water - after all, we're told by the Bible that Israel was baptized unto Moses, but it was the Egyptians that got wet and Jesus referred to a baptism He was yet to be baptized with and He mentioned a baptism by fire!

  • Now, ask God to show you what He wants to show you in this part of His Word. What will I do about it?



How often to study the Bible?



  • Joshua 1:8 - Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed





The above chart is found at www.biblicalresearch.info/page169.html





The above chart is found at www.biblicalresearch.info/page196.html

posted by Oakview Bible Fellowship at 6:49 PM