The pattern in Scripture is that God’s people know and love His Word. This was true in the Old Testament, for example, when God instructed the nation of Israel to treasure His Word and teach it diligently to their children. The same, of course, is true in the New Testament with Jesus, the apostles, and the early church—the Bereans in Acts 17 searched and examined the Scriptures daily. So as Christians, we must be resolved and committed to reading and studying Scripture.
It is important for us as Christians to understand that there are certain goals that we should set for Bible study. It is these goals that will help you prepare a road map as you set out on the journey of faithful Bible study. You see, Christians often look at Bible study as a means to collect certain facts or information about God, Christ, and the gospel. Although that is a worthy and necessary endeavor, much more is involved in studying God’s Word.
Unfortunately, it is common in many evangelical Christian circles to approach studying the Bible with this in mind: What does the Bible mean to me? But that isn’t the question we should be asking. Rather, we need to ask: What does God, through the Holy Spirit and the original human authors, intend for this passage to mean? That’s why studying the Bible correctly is so important—it helps us as believers to discern what God said and what God means by what He said.
Being a faithful student of God’s Word is hard work but is attainable with a commitment to setting aside time each day to read and having a plan or a series of steps to work through while you study. One part of the Bible study process is to pick a book of the Bible that you would like to study—one that is obtainable and manageable as you begin the Bible study process.
For a variety of reasons, not everyone’s favorite subject in school was English. But for us as Christians, we need to dive into the realm of grammar in order to better understand what God has written in His Word. But the reality is that we use and analyze grammar on a daily basis, from reading articles and posts on the internet to reading and responding to emails and text messages. If we deal with and analyze grammar in the little things, how much more should we do so with God and His perfect Word?
The observation step is a critical step in the Bible study process and one that cannot be overlooked. We as Christians must be willing to dig down into the depths of word studies and analyze grammar, knowing that we are trying to understand what the God of the universe is saying in His Word. At the same time, we must always keep in mind the big picture: that all the steps of Bible study that we are considering in this series are meant to drive us to a knowledge of God that compels us to know Him more and to live for His glory while we are here on this earth.
Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” In one of the most well-known passages of the Old Testament, God speaks about the importance of mediation. Meditation is the tool that helps us as Christians move from reading and embracing the knowledge and meaning of Scripture to actually putting it into practice in our own lives.
Sadly, biblical meditation is an often overlooked aspect of Bible study. More often than not, Christians think meditation is only something that eastern religions promote. But the Scripture actually emphasizes meditating on or thinking deeply about biblical passages and truths. In fact, meditation is one of the most important skills in your Christian life and in your Bible study.
Biblical interpretation is a necessary component of the Bible study process and one that cannot be neglected in your pursuit of understanding the Bible. Biblical interpretation is simply the proper use of generally accepted principles to determine the divinely intended meaning of a passage. In other words, biblical interpretation pursues the God-intended meaning of a passage
The New Testament makes clear that those who have been called to preach and teach God’s Word must actually know God’s Word and be able to explain it. But the Bible also makes it clear that all of God’s people are called to read, study, understand, and apply what God has said in His Word. Therefore, no one is exempt from Bible study, even if you haven’t been particularly gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach it.
As the Bible study process that we’ve worked through on this series comes to an end, it is important that we, as Christians, implement the step of evaluation. As we study Scripture, we don’t want to come to the point where our interpretation is one that no one else has ever come up with. In other words, we need to examine several resources to check and make sure our interpretation can be found in the stream of Christianity, especially by those who are more skilled in the area of biblical interpretation.
Every Christian has the responsibility to be like the Bereans in Acts 17. After Paul preached a message to them, they evaluated his content against the Scripture to see whether his teaching was in accordance with God’s Word—they wanted to know if Paul accurately interpreted and explained the Scriptures. As Christians, we must be like the Bereans by making concerted and consistent efforts in reading and studying God’s Word to understand clearly what He has said.
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