Aug 01, 2016 · The first thing I have learned from bible study is that people will not judge you for not knowing the Bible cover to cover. This is something I struggled with; I was so worried people would judge me for not knowing what chapter or verse they were talking about. Personally, if I do not know anything about a subject I will not comment on it in ...
Apr 08, 2017 · Things I Learned in Bible Study. Over the years, I’ve read the Bible many times and studied through classes as well as on my own. I am not a scholar, but I know without doubt God meets us where we are and His Word is living and applicable to our everyday life. Even if I read through the Scriptures every year for the rest of my life, there ...
Apr 18, 2006 · The study of Scripture can deliver us from the bondage of a temporal perspective and provide us with an eternal value system. By frequently renewing our minds with the Word ( Rom. 12:2 ), our thinking and behavior come more into conformity with God's view of significance, purpose, identity, and success.
Jan 21, 2013 · A study of the failures and successes of Bible personalities is an excellent way to uncover spiritual principles and discover insights into the way God works in people’s lives. If the person you want to study is a major figure in Scripture, you may want to confine your study to a particular book or a portion of his life.
We need a plan for Bible study, and we need the discipline to follow through with that plan so that it will become a habitual part of our lives. But these will do us little good if they are not pursued with a conscious sense of dependence upon the teaching and illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit ( John 16:13-15 ). We must combine discipline (human responsibility) with dependence (divine sovereignty) as we approach the Scriptures. We cannot properly comprehend or respond to biblical truths in our own power; this requires the grace of God.
"The end result of all Bible study should be the application to life. Remember, the Word of God is 'seed' to be planted in your heart, to take root and bear fruit" (Lloyd M. Perry). Because biblical truth touches upon all areas and relationships of life, it is important that we maximize its impact by being very specific in the way we apply it. In this fourth stage, the SPECS you have accumulated throughout your study should now be prayerfully applied to these eight vital relationships:
The Bible is unique in its production, preservation, proclamations, and product. In its production, it is a harmonious and unified message of redemption that has emerged out of diversity of authors, circumstances, and literary forms.
Scripture tells us that there are really two realms: that which is seen and that which is unseen . The first is the realm of apparent reality, the world we know through our minds and our five senses. If it were not for divine revelation, we would be locked into this level without any way of breaking through to the second realm, the world of ultimate reality. Bound to the level of the finite, the relative, and the temporal, we would be unable to find the meaning and purpose we long for that can only come from the level of the infinite, the absolute, and the eternal. There would be no hope of finding answers to the basic questions of life: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
By pursuing the precepts and principles of the Bible, we gain the most important skill of all: the ability to live each area of life under the dominion of the King. The Bible does not tell us to live and learn; it exhorts us to learn and live.
The Bible was not merely written for our information, but for our transformation. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" ( 2 Tim. 3:16-17 ).
Knowledge of God. The Bible is a progressive revelation of the person, plan, character, mind, love, and will of our Creator. We cannot hope to know Him and His ways apart from time spent in His revealed Word.
We need a plan for Bible study, and we need the discipline to follow through with that plan so that it will become a habitual part of our lives. But these will do us little good if they are not pursued with a conscious sense of dependence upon the teaching and illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit ( John 16:13-15 ). We must combine discipline (human responsibility) with dependence (divine sovereignty) as we approach the Scriptures. We cannot properly comprehend or respond to biblical truths in our own power; this requires the grace of God.
The analytical method of Bible study focuses on the details and particulars of a passage and engages the student in an in-depth analysis of the Word. In contrast to the bird’s eye view provided by the synthetic method, the analytical method offers an ant’s eye view by getting us immersed in the soil of Scripture.
There are two basic reasons for this problem: lack of a proper motivation and lack of a proper method.
To own a Bible is a tremendous responsibility--to whom much has been given, much is required ( Luke 12:48 ). The Scriptures must not merely be owned, but known; not merely known, but believed; and not merely believed, but obeyed. To encourage this, we will look at the prerequisites, process, and practice of Bible study.
The Prerequisite of a Plan. Even if we realize the tremendous significance of a working knowledge of the Word in our lives, the prospect of Bible study may still seem unexciting and unrewarding because of the inadequate procedures we have used in the past.
There are five basic categories of Scripture: Old Testament historical books, poetical books, and prophetical books; New Testament historical books (gospels and Acts), and epistles. If we limit ourselves to any one of these categories (e.g., the gospels or the epistles) and avoid the others, we will suffer from an imbalanced diet and our perspective will be distorted.
This discipline of consistency is essential to a growing theoretical and practical knowledge of the Word of God. Listen to this statement by D. L. Moody:
Bible Study Together’s Bible reading plan interweaves the New Testament and Old Testament together in a single tapestry so that Old Testament stories, psalms, and prophecies connect as much as possible to New Testament teaching without losing their original context. So when you are reading in James about Abraham offering Isaac on the altar, you are also reading this account in Genesis. Likewise, when you are reading about the Day of Atonement in Leviticus, you are also reading in Hebrews about Jesus being the fulfillment of this sacrifice.
Bible Study Together’s reading plan can help everyone understand what the psalms and prophets are communicating by placing their writings in the context of the biblical narrative. In other words, the Old Testament has been sorted and organized into a single story, so that the whole Old Testament history fits together and makes sense. Even the gospels have been connected together so they can be easily compared in the daily readings. However, unlike other chronological Bible studies, ours does not follow a strict chronological pattern. Since our goal is to help people understand Bible history and show them how the New Testament connects to the Old Testament our study is a balance of maintaining context, laying out the timeline, and cross-referencing passages together.