How to Study your Bible

1. How to Study your Bible

2. How to Study your Bible II Timothy 2:15 II Timothy 3:16 1 Peter 1:23 (NIV) “For you have been born again… through the living and enduring word of God” 1 Peter 2:2 (NIV) “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation”

3. How to Study your Bible What is the goal of Bible study? 1. Understand the Bible (more than an academic exercise) 2. Enhance our knowledge of God 3. Find the will for our lives based on His truth 4. Make us more like Jesus 5. Equip us better to serve 6. Teach others

4. How to Study your Bible MEANING vs. SIGNIFICANCE “The Bible means different things to different people.” “People can make that book say anything they want.” “What does this passage mean to you?”

5. How to Study your Bible The Problem If any given passage can “mean” anything – if there is no such thing as a “only one meaning” of a text – then the Bible has no authority and no relevancy. If any given passage has many meanings than the “truth” of the text is constantly changing! If any given passage has many meanings than the “meaning” of the text is being determined by the reader of the text and not the author!

6. How to Study your Bible MEANING vs. SIGNIFICANCE A passage can have only have the MEANING (singular) the Author intended. The SIGNIFICANCE of the meaning in the life of the reader may vary (plural). Luke 18:10-14 Meaning – dependence on God’s grace Significance Rebuke! Comfort and hope

7. How to Study your Bible The foundational principle of Bible study is to preserve the integrity of the meaning. A I M

8. How to Study your Bible The foundational principle of Bible study is to preserve the integrity of the meaning. A: Author’s I: Intended M: Meaning HOW?

9. How to Study your Bible If we want to understand the biblical text, we must always ask, “What meaning did the author intend to convey?”

10. How to Study your Bible Three Progressive Objectives Exposition Interpretation Application

11. How to Study your Bible

12. How to Study your Bible Basic Principles of Exposition Five Stages of Investigating a Bible Passage • Survey the Background • Examine the Context • Analyze the Grammar • Define the Words • Consult the Commentaries

13. How to Study your Bible • Survey the Background Reconstruct the historical andcultural background of our text. Book level Passage level

14. How to Study your Bible • Examine the Context “the rest of the text” Immediate context Remote context

15. How to Study your Bible 3. Analyze the Grammar • Define the Words • Consult the Commentaries

16. How to Study your Bible Basic Principles of Exposition Five Stages of Investigating a Bible Passage • Survey the Background • Examine the Context • Analyze the Grammar • Define the Words • Consult the Commentaries

17. How to Study your Bible Choosing a Bible? Study Bibles??? (benefits & risks) Choosing a Passage to Study? • Systematic • Personally Difficult • Theological Significance • Controversial • Personal Situation • “Go Backs”

18. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background Whenever we study the Bible we find ourselves in a foreign land. Thanks to the diligent work of our translators, we have the text in our language. But the times, the places, the people, and the customs are not those of our own daily world. Our first goal is to locate the passage within its original setting – the life situation of the author and his immediate audience.

19. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background Each part of the Bible was written at a particular time, by particular people, in particular places, to particular people, in particular places, and for particular reasons. God by His revelation reveals a timeless message fixed by the limits of time and space. In order words, in order to discover what the Bible means we must discover what the Bible meant.

20. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background In pursuit of our major A.I.M., then, the specific goals of “Surveying the Background” can be summarized as follows: 1. To reconstruct the original life situation of both the author and the target audience. 2. To understand the historical and cultural significance of specific references within the text. 3. To understand the text in the same way as the original audience as possible.

21. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background Who was the author of the text? What else does the Bible tells us about him? What was the place of origin for the text? Why was the author there? What was happening there? Who were the recipients of the text? For whom was it intended? Where did they live? What was happening there?

22. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background What was the date of the text? What was happening in the lives of the sender(s) and receiver(s) at this time? What was the occasion of the text? For what purpose was it written? What problem was it designed to solve? What need was it designed to meet? What questions was it designed to answer? What is the literary form of the text? In what style was it written?

23. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background What people are mentioned in the passage? Are any individual persons named? Are any groups of people named? What places are mentioned in the passage? Where are these places? What significant events occurred there? Why were they significant at the time of writing? Do they possess any religious, political or geographical significance?

24. How to Study your Bible Surveying the Background Does the passage refer to any physical objects which may have had any particular significance? Do any of the customs or practices mentioned in the text seem to have particular historical or cultural significance?

25. How to Study your Bible Bible Dictionary The New International Dictionary of the Bible (Zondervan) The New Bible Dictionary (InterVarsity Press) Bible Encyclopedia The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Eerdmans) The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopdia Bible Atlas The Zondervan NIV Atlas of the Bible The New Bible Atlas (InterVarsity Press)

26. How to Study your Bible Colossians 1:15-20

27. How to Study your Bible Colossians 1:15-20 When did Paul write the letter and what was his situation at the time? 58 – 64 AD; In prison at Rome What was Paul’s relationship with this church? He had never been there. Who help start this church and who was one of its members? Epaphras; Onesimus Why did Paul write this letter? (Describe the problem there?) Because of what Epaphras had told him. Judaistic Christians seeking to overthrow the faith of the Colossians. Native beliefs and superstitions. Maybe, Gnosticism.

28. How to Study your Bible Colossians 1:15-20 Why is Colossians called Colossians? How did the city get its name? Collossinus Find Colosse on a map What is an epistle? An official letter

29. How to Study your Bible Colossians 1:15-20 What were the teachings of Gnosticism? Claimed a special knowledge above ordinary Christians by special revelation. Flesh (evil) cannot co-exist with spirit (good) Belief in a Demiurge Christ never became a man. No “Trinity” and no freewill Two extremes “asceticism” or “licentiousness” Mixture of religion and philosophy Old Testament was not inspired

30. How to Study your Bible Colossians 1:15-20 What special privileges did the firstborn in this culture enjoy? How does this apply to Jesus? Succeeded his father as head of the house Double portion Christ is the head of creation and the church Why is Psalm 89:27 a cross reference for our text? It is not about birth but privilege

31. Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV) 15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16  For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

32. How to Study your Bible Basic Principles of Exposition Five Stages of Investigating a Bible Passage • Survey the Background • Examine the Context • Analyze the Grammar • Define the Words • Consult the Commentaries

33. How to Study your Bible Examine the Context “The rest of the text” Reading passages in their context is absolutely essential for understanding the A.I.M. Have you ever been taken “out of context?” Two levels of context – Immediate and Remote Immediate – the boundaries provided by the book. The first boundary consists of the verses which you find directly preceding or following your text of study. Gradually expands – paragraphs, chapters, sections until you grasp how your text fits into the author’s plan of the book.

34. How to Study your Bible Examine the Context Remote context refers to the relationship between the passage being studied and the rest of the “Book.” We have an obligation to understand any particular passage in light of what the entire Bible has to say. We need to test our understanding of every passage in light of other scriptures. It will also enable us to use clear passages to help understand unclear passages.

35. How to Study your Bible Immediate Context • Read the entire book in a single sitting. • Make or read an outline of the book. • Make a theme sentence. • Locate the passage within the plan of the book. • Look for connecting words

36. How to Study your Bible Immediate Context • Read the entire book in a single sitting. • Make or read an outline of the book. • Make a theme sentence.

37. How to Study your Bible Immediate Context 4. Locate the passage within the plan of the book. Find the paragraph. How does the preceding paragraph “prepare” your paragraph? How does your paragraph “prepare” for the next paragraph? Be careful with chapter and verse divisions or section headings (Eph. 5:21-22)

38. How to Study your Bible Immediate Context • Look for connecting words “Therefore” “But”, “Since”, “After”, “So”, “And”

39. How to Study your Bible Remote Context A job that never ends! Anytime we learn something new from God’s word we increase our knowledge of remote context. We should never assume that any single verse or passage exhausts what the Bible says about a subject. (for example Rom. 10:13)

40. How to Study your Bible Remote Context Cross-References and Parallel Passages Eliminate and demand God never contradicts himself Same idea expressed clearer

41. How to Study your Bible Remote Context Cross-References and Parallel Passages Eliminate and demand God never contradicts himself Same idea expressed clearer

42. How to Study your Bible Remote Context Cross-References and Parallel Passages Eliminate and demand God never contradicts himself Same idea expressed clearer Topical Bible Thompson Chain Reference Bible

43. How to Study your Bible Colossians 1:15-20 • Read the entire letter. Key passages which provide clues to the purpose or problem Repeated words or subjects

44. How to Study your Bible Immediate Context • Read the entire book in a single sitting. • Make or read an outline of the book. • Make a theme sentence. • Locate the passage within the plan of the book. • Look for connecting words

45. How to Study your Bible Remote Context Cross-references in your Bible. Nave’s Topical Bible

46. How to Study your Bible Basic Principles of Exposition Five Stages of Investigating a Bible Passage • Survey the Background • Examine the Context • Analyze the Grammar • Define the Words • Consult the Commentaries

47. How to Study your Bible 1 I Corinthians 11:25-29 (KJV) 25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

48. How to Study your Bible 1 I Corinthians 11:25-29 (KJV) 25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

49. How to Study your Bible Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. What doe it mean to eat and drink UNWORTHILY? Is Paul saying… • Whosoever is unworthy should not partake? • It should not be taken in an unworthy way?

50. How to Study your Bible Unworthy: adjective, unworthier, unworthiest. 1. not worthy; lacking worth or excellence. 2. beneath the dignity (usually followed by of): behavior unworthy of a king. 3. of a kind not worthy (often followed by of). 4. not of adequate merit or character. 5. not commendable or creditable. 6. not deserving. Related forms - unworthily, adverb; unworthiness, noun