Mentoring Men for the Master

14 SIMPLE STEPS IN STUDYING AND GRASPING THE BIBLE

  1. The Bible is one complete book.  Those who skip the first 39 books will never understand the correct meaning of the rest.  The Bible Jesus used was the 39 books of the Old Testament (Deut. 8:3; Luke 24:44ff) and also Paul and Timothy (2 Timothy 3:17-17).
  2. You must know ALL the Scriptures on one subject to know what the Bible teaches.  Example- Prayer – John 14:14 says you will get your prayers answered; but Isaiah 59:1-3 and James 4:2-3 says there are prayers God does not answer.
  3. The Bible interprets the Bible.  Example – The Book of Revelation is full of symbols, which are explained in Genesis, Daniel, etc, without which Revelation cannot be understood.
  4. Be very careful to interpret every verse of Scripture according to its contextual setting.  Example – Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.”  Many take this verse to mean that all a person has to do to be saved is to get on his knees and ask the Lord to save him.  But the verses following Romans 10:13 goes on to say that a person cannot call on One in whom he does not believe and he cannot believe on Him of whom he ahs not heard and to hear he must have a witness (Romans 10:14-15).
  5. All the Bible is relevant and useful.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful…” (2 Timothy 3:16).  “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Jesus, Matthew 4:4, quoting Deut. 8:3).
  6. Do not expect to grasp the meaning of all the Bible when you first study it.  The great Bible expositor, Campbell Morgan wrote, “Often I do not understand what God is saying in a given Scripture.  When I have this experience I am more convinced than ever that the Bible is God’s Word, and the fact I don’t understand it all confirms my conviction that it is the Word of God, not the Word of Man.  Then I bow my head and worship God.”
  7. The Word of God is inexhaustible in its treasures of truth and will continually reveal deeper truths as we meditate upon it and the Holy Spirit opens its true meaning.  Example – Many times in my life I have carried a text in my heart and meditation for months and years before its full truth sprang forth to capture my heart and mind and give me the most powerful sermons I ever preached.
  8. The Bible is open to the contrite and fearful heart (Psalm 25:14;Isaiah 66:2) and is closed to the prideful and self-sufficient.  “…Jesus answered and said, “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prideful and revealed them to babes.” (Matthew 11:25).  Illus.  Scholars from across the  world assembled on the campus of Duke University to discuss the meaning of grace.  While these intellectuals were wrangling over the subject, and uneducated, simple janitor in the hall was humming, “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound…” A fellow student of mine passed  by and said, “This simple man sweeping the floors knows more about grace than all these PhD’s from around the world.”
  9. Pray without ceasing that God will reveal the truth of the Bible to your heart. (Psalm 25:4-5).
  10. Prove the Bible by obeying it.  God commands that we “prove all things.” (1 Thess. 5:21).  Illus.  A noted scholar asked me this question one day, “Bill, how would you prove the existence of God?”  I immediately replied. “Tithe.”  He laughed at me until I quoted Mal. 3:10 which invites the tither to tithe and he will see for himself how God will keep His promise to bless those who do.
  11. You can prove almost anything from the Bible, but only if you interpret verses out of context.  Example – Recently I heard a widely known TV evangelist teach that God promises His people 120 years, not 70.   In fact he boasted that he would live 120 years himself.  He did so by taking Genesis 6:3 out of context.  In this verse the Lord warned that His Spirit would not strive with man forever, but that there would be a delay of 120 years before the judgment of the flood would occur.
  12. The Bible sheds a lot of light on the commentaries.  Great errors have been passed down through generations because some commentator was believed rather than the Bible.  Example – the famous Scofield Bible divides Christians into two classes:
    1. Spiritual, and
    2. Carnal, but the Apostle Paul makes it crystal clear that the “carnal man is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7) and that Christians are “not in the flesh (not carnal) but in the Spirit…(Romans 8:9).  Yet, vast numbers of evangelicals, following Scofield’s Bible, teach and preach the two kinds of believers, leaving multitudes in my opinions in their sins and lost who believe they are truly saved.
  13. No translation of the Bible is perfect.  I love the language of the original or the New King James version and have memorized from them, but there are deficiencies in them:
    1. Transliterated words:
  1. Baptize which if translated would have read “immersed” and avoided much confusion through the centuries.
  2. Deacon which means servant, not a church boss. Many deacons think the term ‘deacon’ means that they are controllers of the church.  This false impression has resulted in serious troubles in many local churches through the years.
  1. The best translation of the Bible is “The Gospel according to Tom, Dick, and Harry.”  Dr. Barnhouse said the world may never read the Bible in leather or morocco but it will never  fail to read the Bible in shoe leather. What do people see when they read the gospel according to your life?