Studying The Word | Christian Disciplines #4

Series: Christian Disciplines

First few lessons are on our interaction with God’s Word

Last week was about reading God’s Word. Today is about studying it.

Introduction: Read Luke 24:13-27

The difference between Bible study and Bible reading has been compared to going out on the lake in two different boats. Bible reading is like jumping on a speedboat: you get to coast across the whole lake and take in all the views in one quick experience. Bible study, on the other hand, is like getting onto a much slower boat with a crystal clear glass floor, camera in hand. You won’t get to see the whole lake in one outing, but you will be able to gaze into the water itself and see the details the speedboats will miss. “Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth.”

Christians need both. Bible reading and study are not enemies but friends. In fact, they improve one another. The more you read the whole story of the Bible, the better equipped you will be to dive into Bible study. The more often you do Bible study, the more you will appreciate the whole story of the Bible.

The text we began with says Jesus expounded the Scriptures on the Emmaus road. The root of the Greek word translated “expounded” is hermenouo, which means interpretation. What Jesus is doing here is just that: interpretation, hermeneutics. He is carefully taking large chunks of the Old Testament and saying “Here is what this means.” Interpretation or hermeneutics answers that question: “What does this text mean?”

Cleopas and his companion were no doubt familiar with the texts Jesus referenced. But they had never studied them: they had never carefully interpreted them. They missed the truth about the Messiah because even though they had read the Scriptures, they hadn’t studied them.

To study the Bible is to take one unit of Scripture and carefully interpret its meaning. This week, we will look at why every Christian is called to be a Bible student. Next week, Lord willing, we will try to walk through a step-by-step process for studying the Bible. 

I. We Should Study Scripture Because of Biblical Examples

Not all Christians feel like they need to study the Bible. The classic response is common: “You don’t have to interpret the Bible; just read it and do what it says.” 

As good as the motives are behind such an answer, they reveal an arrogant assumption: that my surface-level understanding of the Bible will be perfectly accurate. Another way to word the assumption is this: “I do not need to think about a biblical text to understand and apply its message.”

The Bible itself never encourages laziness masquerading as spirituality. In fact, Biblical examples advocate careful study of Scripture. 

A. Ezra 7:6-10. The commentary on Ezra’s heart showed his journey to help the people of God. Ezra did three things to help God’s people. He

(1) prepared his heart to study the law

(2) he applied the law to himself

(3) he was ready to teach the law to others

Everything Ezra did in the revival of the nation of Israel began with his careful study of the law.

The believers in Berea.

Someone may object “sure, Ezra studied, but he was a scribe. That was his job. That kind of thing is for preachers, not all Christians.” It is true that ministers ought to be gifted in the study of delivery of God’s Word. Paul’s writings to Timothy illustrate that. But believers are also supposed to study the Word. Turn to Acts 17:10-12.

Luke records that after listening, the people that had gathered in the synagogue searched the Scriptures. The word means to “examine; [to] judge; question.”

This was not simply looking up statements Paul had made to back up proof-texting: they reasoned through the Scriptures to make sure what they were hearing about the fulfillment of the Messianic promises was biblical. 

The Berean Christians are not the only example of believers being expected to study and know God’s Word. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians showcases his frustration, not just with the pastors of the churches in Galatia, but with the churches themselves (Galatians 1:1-6). 

II. We Should Study The Bible Because of Biblical Authority

A second reason we ought to study Scripture is the authority of the Scripture.

Because of what the Bible is, it is of the greatest importance that we understand it so we can obey it.

If we read the Word without ever studying it carefully, we are bound to confuse “the voice of God with the voice of man.”

A superficial knowledge of the Bible may just lead us to following assumptions about Scripture and not Scripture itself.

We believe God’s Word is authoritative. If God has spoken, we his creatures, are obligated to listen. Our statement of faith says “The Scriptures are…the final authority for faith and life.”

ILLUSTRATION: Driving. If the speed limit sign must be obeyed, what does that imply? That it has an objective meaning. When you see a speed limit sign, it is not enough to say "This is what the legal sign on the highway means to me.” Things designed to be obeyed only have one meaning.

If we truly believe God’s Word is meant to be obeyed, then we must confess it only has one correct interpretation.

We cannot pull a sense of meaning from a biblical text. Saying “This verse spoke to me” can be a dangerous way of approaching Scripture. That does not mean that verse did you any good. In fact it could actually be damaging. If we take one of the ideas floating through our brains and slap a chapter and verse on it, we are quoting God regarding something he never said. Do you see why it is important to study the Bible? When we take a unit of Scripture and carefully interpret it, we are looking for the one meaning. 

III. We Should Study Scripture Because of Its Dual Nature

Here then, is the question: how do we arrive at that one correct interpretation? How can we approach the Bible with confidence that we are getting at what it truly means.

Here’s the answer: we have to approach it with its dual nature in mind.

There are two sides to the revelation of the Bible: the divine side and the human side. God is the author of Romans. And just as much, Paul is the author of Romans. Paul didn’t simply write it, he authored it. And ultimately so did God. Scripture is both divine in its origin and human in its origin. The authors were not lifeless instruments, but thinking human beings writing to real people in real space and time during real history.

Read 2 Peter 1:21 - Scripture exists because the Holy Spirit moved. But Scripture exists because men spoke.

This same tension shows up in Hebrews 1:1 - God spoke - but He did so in diverse times and different manners through the prophets. 

We do this by remembering that God’s Word was God’s word to someone else before it was God’s Word to us.

If we don’t understand God’s Word to them, we cannot understand God’s Word to us. Because Scripture is divine and human, we must see what it meant to see what it means. Exegesis precedes application.

Exegesis is hearing the word they heard.

What did the exiles returning from Babylon think about Ezra’s history of the Kings?

How did the Philippians feel when the letter from Paul was read out loud in their assembly?

If we don’t do the work of knowing what God’s Word meant to them, we will never understand what God’s word means to us. We must understand God’s Word to the original audience before we understand God’s Word to us.

Application is hearing the Word in the here and now. When we do proper exegesis, we are left with proper application. Hopefully we see why it is so important to do exegesis before application. “God’s word can never mean what it never meant.”

Conclusion

One objection to all this talk about study may suggest that Christians can evade the hard work by appealing to the Holy Spirit. Don’t all believers have the Holy Spirit? Yes. And does the Holy Spirit illuminate the Word of God? Yes. And doesn’t the promise of illumination mean God will tell us personally the meaning of every passage of the Bible? NO.

For Timothy, preaching would involve being a “workman.” 

It requires effort and diligence.

It also requires a mind to dig in and work until you discover the meaning.

For the apostles in Acts 6, prayer and the study of the Word involved so much time that they needed deacons to assist them in service ministry to the widows.

If God told all of us personally the meaning of every passage in the Bible, Christians would never disagree about interpretation! Illumination is not the escape route from engaging Scripture: rather, it is what the Spirit does in our minds as we engage Scripture.

“The Spirit convinces God’s people of the truth of the biblical message, and then convicts and enables them to live consistently with that truth. The Spirit does not inform us of Scripture’s meaning.”

Application:

Do you regularly study Scripture?

Do you tend to skip the study of passages you don’t understand?

Refuse to use excuses not to study (it’s not my personality, I don’t have time, I’m not a preacher, etc.).

All of us are called to study, to take one unit of Scripture and carefully interpret its meaning. Next week we will sketch out a practical model for how this can be done.