How to Study the Bible Effectively is a post motivated by the fact that God inspired the writing of the books of the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:10-13) so that He could communicate to us about Himself and His Kingdom. That is, God inspired the writing of the Bible to reveal the truth about Himself and His Kingdom. He did not want us to be ignorant about Him and His Kingdom.
God also wanted to be heard, understood (Psalm 19:7 and Isaiah 45:19), and obeyed (James 1:22-25). No wonder, the Bible speaks for itself. All you have to do is to carefully study it and mine the truths that are therein. This is because these truths are hidden in the texts of the Bible, yet revealed in the same.
Therefore, your careful study of Scripture will be based on the fact that any biblical text speaks for itself. This implies that when you carefully study your Bible, you will be able to mine the truths that are hidden in Scripture.
”Any text of the Bible speaks for itself
How to Study the Bible
Bible Study
Bible Study is neither an easy nor difficult task. It just requires you to purposefully study your Bible.
Matthew 7:7-8 states that when you seek from God, you will end up finding what you are seeking from Him. And Bible Study is how we mine truths from Scripture. Remember, the aim of carefully studying the Bible is for you to discover the truths (universal principles) contained in the text under examination.
Moreover, believers who give themselves to the study (analysis) of texts of the Bible need the Spirit of God to illuminate their minds (1 John 2:26-27, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Corinthians 2:14, and John 16:13). Otherwise, they will miss the truth, or create a corrupted truth.
Consequently, a careful examination (analysis) of a particular text of Scripture, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, will enable you to find out all the information it contains regarding its subject matter. You will be able to know more about God and His Kingdom.
How to Study the Bible
Over the past centuries, believers have developed and practiced several methods of studying the Bible. I too have tried and tested some of them.
Consequently, I want to share with you two (approaches) to effectively studying your Bible. These two methods both involve a five (5) steps process that aims at finding the meaning of a particular text. And the second method has been a great asset in my studies of the Bible, even when preparing to share the principles contained in a text with others (preaching or teaching).
Step 1: Prayer
All careful examination of Scripture begins with prayer. Prayer is what will enable you to seek divine assistance (illumination). Remember, God is the author of the Bible. Therefore, only He can lead to the truth in a particular text.
Step 2: Text
The second step requires that you select the text that you want to examine carefully. This could be a book or a passage in a book of the Bible.
A passage in the Book of the Bible is technically known as a pericope. This is simply a portion of Scripture, and it strictly carries one idea. That is, a pericope tells you the one and main idea the passage you are studying is about.
Step 3: Observation
The observations you make are critical. This is because your conclusions will and should originate from your observations, not your preconceptions. They should be able to tell you what the text says – they should answer: “What does the text say?”
Familiarisation
Therefore, you must read the text repeatedly to achieve this. Familiarisation with the text as a result of several readings will enable you to take note of the details in your study text. These details include but are not limited to: characters, significant words, verbs, repetition, figures of speech, the author’s thought flow, and historical and cultural references.
You could, therefore, start with your preferred translation. Try to do your first reading aloud in one sitting (Read: Choosing a Bible Translation). Look for the main idea, plot, or imagery. Also, look for the purpose and atmosphere of the text. The idea is to get the overview or big picture of your text.
Details
Your subsequent readings should be focused on taking note of details. And, thereafter, you could compare your study text with other translations. This will broaden your understanding (comprehension) of the study text.
Step 4: Interpretation
The harsh reality is that any biblical text has one meaning (though you could end up with more than one). This one meaning will be dependent on the method employed.
Therefore, a serious study of the biblical text should result in coming up with the meaning of the text, or the intent or idea of the author in writing the same. These are the two (2) results of Bible study.
Asking questions about your observations helps a great deal. For example, asking the question, “What is the context of my text?”
Consulting commentaries will broaden your understanding of your study text. However, commentaries should not be the first resources you consult.
Step 5: Application
Finally, the truths mined from the Bible have to be put into practice in your life. So the big question to be answered is: “How does this truth apply today?”
SUMMARY
Based on the 5 steps above, I propose either of the following two (2) methods for your studies: the Discovery Bible Study Method or the Exegetical Bible Study Method (Click on the links to find out more about each approach). This is because the Discovery method will lead you to “discover” how to love God and fellow men, while the Exegetical method will lead you to identify the author’s purpose for writing the study text to his target audience.
The two (2) methods are largely similar in the steps of Bible study. That is prayer, text selection, and familiarisation with the text under observation. They differ in the details to focus on and the interpretations to make. That is, they differ in the way they approach observation and interpretation, with the Exegetical Method going deeper in its quest to find the meaning of a text.
