How to study the Bible

Intro

Before we begin talking about how to study the Bible it’s important to note that the Bible is true and every word in it is true.

The reason why this is important is because there are false teachers that would tell you that certain parts of the bible are true and certain parts are not.

In fact there is a false teacher today that has said that we as a church need to “unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament” meaning that we do not need to teach what is in the Old Testament and the reason why he has said this is because he desires to skip past part of the Old Testament that do not fit into his worldview.

Worldview

The first step in studying the Bible is understanding that you have a set of cultural lenses that effect your the way you read the Bible.

If you were born in America you will have a certain worldview, meaning simply that you will see events read the Bible from the perspective of an American

Or if you grew up as a Christian then you will view the world through the lens of what you have been taught by mom and dad or what you have learned in Sunday School.

If you grew up in China your whole life you will view the world and often times approach the Bible with a different worldview.

Or if you grew up catholic and have a catholic family there may be a different way that you view the world.

Even down to how you grew up.

For the first 15 years of my life my dad and mom were fairly well off financially so I viewed a lot of issues in this world from the lens of a financially well off American

When my family became missionaries I spent the next 6 years of my life very poor and eating costco chickens and rice every week.

This changed how I viewed the world and how I filtered everything that happened in my life.

You may be able to change your worldview but you will always have a worldview that you will filter everything through.

This brings us to scripture.

Knowing that we have a worldview and knowing that we filter everything we see, hear, and do through a worldview we also have to be aware that our worldview is also trying to filter the Bible through the lenses that we have as Americans.

You cannot get rid of your worldview, and in many cases your worldview is a good thing.

If you grew up in a Christian home your worldview might tell you to have compassion on those who are less fortunate than you.

This is a good thing

But when it comes to scripture there may be passages that you read that do not fit your view of compassion.

For instance when God sends the 10th plague to the nation of Egypt where all the first born will die if they have not put lambs blood on their door posts

If you are approaching the Bible with a certain worldview that sees compassion as being kind to everyone you meet, when you read about God killing people it doesn’t always fit into our worldview.

And that’s a good thing because God is not contained to one specific group of people, He is the God of creation.

So to BEGIN to understand the God of Creation we must understand how to read the book that He has given us.

How do we read the Bible with a Biblical lens or a Biblical worldview.

Observation

Now that we understand that each one of us has a set of lenses or a worldview that we read the Bible with we have to understand how we can learn to read the Bible with a Biblical lens so that we do not allow our worldview to misinterpret what the point of the passage actually is.

The first place to start here is observing what is happening in the text.

OBSERVE

When we observe the passage we read the passage and we must answer the simply questions like

Who is the passage talking about or talking to?

What is this passage talking about?

When was this passage written?

Where in the world was this passage written?

Why was this passage written?

We just talked about the idea that we have a worldview that can affect how we read and view scripture so it’s important when reading scripture to understand the cultural context of who it was written to.

Because the books of the bible were not written to you.

This does not mean they are not for you or that you can’t learn from them

Let me be very clear.

The Bible is living and active and it can teach you and correct you and encourage just like it has for billions of people across thousands and thousands of years

But the danger that people run into is when they approach the Bible with their cultural lens and they think that the way they live their life should interpret the Bible instead of letting the Bible interpret how they should live their life.

Observing what is in the text is simply to gain an understanding of what we are reading.

Have you ever read something in a text book and realized halfway through reading that you didn’t understand anything that you just read?

Or have you ever been reading your bible and realized that you have no idea who it is talking about.

As we observe the text we have an opportunity to explore the Bible and discover how it all connects together.

Do you know how many cross references there are in the Bible?

Meaning verses that reference other verses in the Bible.

Out of the 31,000 verses in the bible there are over 63,000 cross references

Meaning that often times when you are reading something in the bible if you were to observe and did in you will probably find a verse that is referencing another part of the bible that you can go to and explore further to illuminate what is happening is scripture further.

The Bible isn’t just a Holy Book, it is a book that was written, edited, and approved by a being that is endless in His wonders and He desires that you explore the depths of who He is.

A couple of other good tips for observation of the Bible.

Pick out any patterns or repeated words.

Make note of any names or periods of times and places mentioned

Know what the main theme of the book is that you are reading.

For instance what is a main theme in Mark, or what is the main theme of Romans.

Interpret

We observe the Bible to explore the depths of knowledge that is contained within it.

We interpret the Bible in order to explain what is held within it.

Ligonier Ministries says it best

“The best way to interpret the Bible is on its own terms. This means that we interpret it according to the intent of its authors and according to its literary style.

The authors of Scripture wrote to communicate something specific, and our goal should be to discern what they intended to communicate. That way, we guard against making Scripture mean whatever we want it to mean. Every passage of Scripture has an objective, discernible meaning. It cannot mean different contradictory things. Every passage also has at least one practical application and often many applications depending on our circumstances. This is an amazing thing about God’s Word. It communicates truth that is bigger than each and every one of us, yet it can be applied to all of our unique circumstances.”

It is so important for you to understand that your American view of history or of the world is not the ultimate judge of right and wrong, good and evil.

It is so easy to think that we are right all the time but if you were to leave Texas, leave America and go to Uganda you would realize that there is a whole group of people who think and act completely differently than you.

It is so frustrating to me when I see a bunch of Tiktok theologians that read one passage in the bible from their 21st century American lens view of the bible and they insert what they think about God and they interpret something that is wildly incorrect.

Why? because they have a white savior complex that makes them think they are right because they were born in a certain culture and they are willing to disregard any and every culture that has ever existed in the history of the world.

The Bible wasn’t written to students in Round Rock Texas in 2023.

The Bible was written to people and cultures that lived thousands of years ago and it is important for us to understand why and who it was written to.

This is how you begin to understand what is happening here within these pages.

Don’t go online to interpret the bible.

Not yet at least.

Definitely do not go to tiktok for your interpretation of the Bible.

There are more fools on Tiktok misinterpreting the Bible than there are people that live in Texas.

One of the most powerful resources we have when understanding the Bible is a study bible

Get a bible that will help you to understand the context of what is happening in the Bible.

The ESV study Bible has been one of the greatest gifts I have ever recieved.

Guess what Bible we literally bought specifically to give away to students here in our ministry.

ESV Student Study Bible.

There is way more to talk about when we talk about interpretation we could talk for another 2 hours today about it.

Just know that when we interpret the Bible it is so important to understand who this passage is written to and what is was written to address.

Another good point to make about interpreting the Bible is that you are not the hero of the Bible.

David defeating Goliath is not a story about how you too can defeat your giants.

It’s a story about the future King of Israel who placed His faith in God and God would one day use David to bring about the true hero of the Bible.

JESUS CHRIST

The Bible is one story written in multiple languages to multiple generations across thousands of years to tell us how we as humanity have fallen short of the glory of God, and how God saved us from the grip of Hell by sending His one and only Son who would sacrifice himself on the cross to rescue humanity and make a way for us to live in relationship with God the Father

Application

AFTER and ONLY AFTER we have Observed what is in the text and Interpreted it correctly can we begin to Apply the scripture to our lives.

You might be asking yourself how we can apply a book written so long ago to our lives today.

Because the Bible is living and breathing, sharper than any two edge sword and it is profitable for encouragement and reproof.

What we learn from the Bible will ultimately lead us to the feet of the one who the Bible was written about

Jesus Christ.

As you read with eyes to see and ears to hear God will meet you and speak to you in ways that will change you.

The unending depths of God will consistently take you deeper with God.

The bible is not some boring book.

It has changed the lives of billions of people and it will change your life too if you let it.