Effective Bible Study- Correlation

This series has been all about effective bible study, to learn to go beyond reading the bible to studying the bible and looking at some tools to help us along the way.

Why study the bible? (ask the question)

Then we looked at some general guidelines

We defined some terms like Exegesis, hermeneutics, and eisegesis.

We look at why context matters

Then, observation, interpretation, application

Now tonight, correlation, putting everything together and applying it.

Correlation (N): a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things.

Correlation connects a given passage to other passages or the bible as a whole. Taking us from Point A to the entire journey to reach our destination Point H! (Heaven that is)

So, grab your bible, your notes and let’s get into this as we wrap up this series tonight, Lord willing.

Turn to Act1:8 “8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.””

Well that is not really fair is it, picking one verse, in the middle of a sentence in the NASB, so we better back up, but keep (v.8) in mind as our focus

Acts 1:1–2 NASB95

1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

Acts 1:3–4 NASB95

3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;

Acts 1:5–6 NASB95

5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 1:7–8 NASB95

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

So, what questions arise when you look at (v.8) by itself? And can we find the answers to those questions when we look in context?

What questions should we be asking?

Correlation comes in trying to expand and understand more. We see the Holy Spirit here, and maybe your bible has a cross reference or two to, turn to Jn14:16-18 “16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

From there you can go to Jn14:25-26 “25 “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

Oh wait there maybe another cross reference to Jn16:13-14 “13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

What do we learn about the Spirit from these passages?

What is the application of the Spirit from these passages when we correlate them all together, still keeping in mind Act1:8 is our focus?

act1:8 “8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.””

Who is the who in Act1:8, (Jesus) and maybe we better back to Jn14, again, look at

Jn14:1 “1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

What is needed in (v.1)?

So the spirit in (Act1:8) that will enable the apostles to be witnesses of Jesus must be linked with belief in Jesus of who Jesus is.

How did they get the gift? You need to know they had to wait for it (Act1:5; maybe consider Lk24:49 “49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.””

The gift to them was made available to all who believe Act2:38 “38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

There was the promise, and the promise was the Holy Spirit, but there was another promise that should come to mind too, turn to Jer31:31-33 “31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” - the promise of the new covenant

That promise was spoken again Lk3:16 “16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Jesus brought the new covenant and we saw it in Act2, where we see the fulfillment of it.

The fulfillment brought results, turn to Gal5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The results should be application Gal5:24-25

Galatians 5:24–25 NASB95

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

I think you can see how we started with Act1:8, and have grown from there how one passage correlates with another passage and how they work within the bible itself not just in a particular pericope or chapter. Correlation is very important, it helps us to see the big picture on how the text fits with the whole.

So, looks like we have time lets pt into action everything we have looked at in this series. Turn to 1Jn1.

Have someone read it.

1 John 1:1–2 NASB95

1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

1 John 1:3–4 NASB95

3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

1 John 1:5–6 NASB95

5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

1 John 1:7–8 NASB95

7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:9–10 NASB95

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

So, first come observation, what did you see, observe in this passage?

Can you answer the who, what, where, why and how questions?

Can you tell the occasion, the purpose of this section?

Who is the writer, who are the recipients?

What do you see as the major point of this chapter?

Personally I think we need to go two verses more.

1 John 2:1–2 NASB95

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

If time permits, ask what are you taking away from this series?

(Pray) - Close

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