I want to give you a few options for studying the Bible. You don’t just have to read through the Bible from cover to cover to get something out of it. I’ve given you the tools to help you properly interpret Scripture, but I want to see there are several different ways we can glean from the Bible.
In our next lesson we will look at studying the Bible in a very inductive manner. I’m going to show you next week how to break down a Scripture and study it. This week I want to go over a few methods of studying the Bible.
Scheduling Bible Study
Successful Bible study comes from consistent reading and studying. You cannot be sporadic in Bible study to learn and grow. Creating a habit of reading your Bible and studying your Bible will produce spiritual growth. And let me say, that you will not learn all there is to know about the Bible in one sitting, or one week, or even one year. It is line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little (Isaiah 28:13).
You should schedule your Bible time and prayer time. Some will do this together. The point is to do this consistently. Jesus didn’t heal and minister twenty-four hours a day every day, there were times when He had to get alone with God (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, 22:39-44). Jesus wasn’t so busy that He didn’t make time to be alone with God.
The best time is when you are at your best. Personally, for me, that’s in the early morning. I get much more done in the morning than any other time. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all of His righteousness…” can be applicable here. If we put God first in our day then He will be first the rest of the day. Others are at their best at night. Jesus got alone with God in the mornings and in the evenings. After about 10:00pm I’m about worthless. Don’t try to serve God with what’s left. We are to give Him our FIRST FRUITS, not the LEFT OVERS.
Let your quiet time be like an appointment, or an important meeting or date. Prepare for it. If someone or something wants to try to take that time just remind them you have an appointment. Or reschedule it.
1. Devotional Bible Study
Devotional Bible study is the most basic form of study. This is where we read through certain passages of Scripture, meditate on those scriptures and learn to apply those same scriptures.
Devotional study is your time of reading the Bible and prayer. Set a time and stick to this time of devotions each day. Start with prayer, go through praise, worship, repentance and asking God to meet certain needs. Make sure you ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word that day. Ask God for direction for your life that day. Prepare your heart and mind for reading the Bible that day.
How much time should I devote to reading?
A good average day of Bible reading should be around 15-30 minutes. I would try to read a minimum of three chapters during this time of devotions. This is time devoted to reading, meditating and application.
Get a Bible reading plan. You should read through the Bible once a year, or the minimum of reading through it in two years. There are many plans available for you to decide. Pick a plan that takes you through all the Old Testament and New Testament.
There 150 Psalms and 31 Proverbs; you could read five chapters of Psalms every day and one chapter in Proverbs and read through those two books in a month’s time. Three to five chapters a day could get you through the entire Bible in a year’s time.
In this type of devotional study you will find words, phrases, people that you can use later in your more in depth Bible study.
2. Meditate on the Word
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2).
Meditation has been given a bad rap in our Western culture. We connect meditation with yoga, humanism and the worship of creation. But this is not what the Bible speaks of doing. Popular meditation nowadays is thought of as a way to empty our minds and go to a imaginary place. But, Biblical meditation is a filling up of our minds and hearts with godliness. Our focus is to meditate on the law of God, His Word.
Biblical meditation is where we focus our heart and mind on Jesus (Duet 6:5). Take what you have just read in your devotions, and then think about that verse, or passage. Read that passage over and over again. Write it down and take it with you that day. Memorize that verse. But before you end your time of devotion, meditate on that scripture. Then we must seek to apply it.
How does this text apply to my life? How should I apply what God is saying? What is God trying to reveal in me? How can I relate to this character? Where does my life fit in to this event I read? Write down what you’ve read. Write down the changes you need to make from what you’ve been reading. This how we apply the scriptures in a greater depth. After your time of reading, ask the Lord to speak to you concerning that passage. Ask Him to reveal where you need work in your heart and life. Ask God to give you understanding and wisdom. Knowledge is good, but wisdom is the application to that knowledge.
3. Topical Study
Throughout the Bible there are many topics that can be examined. I believe the Bible cannot be exhausted. Every day that you study you will find something new that will speak to your life. Studying the Bible is one of the most exciting experiences for a Christian.
Topical study is when we choose a certain topic in the Bible and systematically study it. You can choose certain words, particular phrases, biblical promises, and or commandments. Doing a topical study will take longer than devotional reading or a character study. Generally with topical study you will have to search and reference more verses and scriptures.
The topical method traces a biblical subject throughout the Old or New Testament and perhaps even both. Studying the Bible systematically this way helps you get familiar with every part of your Bible. You can’t leave one stone turned over. This will take some time and effort.
Choosing a Topic
You can choose whatever topic you may feel led to study. For instance, you could study the topic of baptism, or repentance. These are two very important subjects worthy of study. Also, you could begin a study on all the prayers of the New Testament. Another interesting study could be great questions of the Bible.
I enjoy studying phrases that happen to be used more than once. Several times in St. John references the “I Am” statements of Jesus. This is a great study that you can link from John’s Gospel and other references to “I Am” in the scriptures. Another phrase used several times is “in Christ” or “in Jesus.”
4. Character Study
One of the most enjoyable ways to study the Bible is through the study of it’s characters. A major goal of Christian living is to develop godly character. What better way to gain better character than to study the lives of the people of the Bible?
Through the lives of the great characters of the Bible we are able to see the successes and failures of men and women. God did not leave out the flaws, he gave us the ability to look into each life without leaving out any thing. And through this type of study we are able to reflect in our own lives where we must grow and change.
Biographies are exciting to read because they give us a look into reality. Unlike fiction, biographies give us a glimpse into people’s lives. When you go into a bookstore there is a whole section given to biographies. Go through the checkout line at the grocery and see magazines given to tell the stories of people. People intrigue us, we want to know their story. Just at the end of last year the best selling book was a biography of Steve Jobs. Why? People want to know how they became successful, so we can somehow imitate that success.
Bible Characters
The Character Study involves finding out what the Bible says about a particular characteristic of a person, with a heavy emphasis on personal application. People’s lives are complex. You can’t sum up one person’s history in one study. Each event in that life can give more details of a person’s make up. This makes character studies interesting in the Bible. Because, one event may show one side of their personality and another event may show a completely other side.
In our study of a character we learn from their mistakes and their victories. Then we learn to apply those qualities for our lives.
You cannot learn to avoid a bad characteristic or attain a good characteristic unless you study the lives of others. The greatest teacher is history; we must learn what it teaches us. If we fail to study history we are certain to make the same mistakes.
Steps for Character Studies
You will need:
1. Study Bible. I like the ESV Study Bible, the Zondervan NIV Study Bible edited by DA Carson. The Life Application Study Bible is really good for studying Bible characters.
2. Bible concordance. Young’s Concordance or Strong’s Concordance are good places to start. These are available online for free, and on Bible apps.
3. Bible dictionary. There are a myriad of Bible dictionaries available, especially online and on Bible apps. Olive Tree Bible App, YouVersion Bible App, WORDSearch App, and Logos Bible Software are all excellent resources for Bible study.
These will help you gather all the scriptures about your character. There can be other references about this person other than one book of the Bible. Paul is introduced in the book of Acts, yet his life is described more in detail by his own words in the epistles he wrote. David is mentioned in 1 Samuel-2Chronicles, but is also found in the Psalms and New Testament.
Only work on one character at a time. Take your time on a person but don’t try to exhaust your study. You will find a person’s life is complex, and as you grow in Christ that character you study will help you grow even more. How you view someone in your study can change over the years, so don’t try to exhaust your study.
1. Pick a character (David, Paul, Moses, Ruth, Jesus).
2. Do a background sketch. Where are they from? Parents? Brothers and sisters?
3. What’s their name mean? -There’s much to be written on the meaning of a name. For instance Judah means praise, Nathan means gift from God, Jacob means trickster. This is a very cool study!
4. Write down interesting facts as you study.
5. Look for qualities that can be positive. Look for negatives that you must avoid.
6. Memorize a Bible verse about them- This will help you remember a certain characteristic about that person. (Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him.)
Application
Remember, studying the Bible is about applying it to our life. After this study you must apply what you have learned and apply it to your life.
How did the person please God?
How did the person fail God?
What were the positive characteristics to that person’s life?
What were the negatives?
What can I learn from his or her’s life?
How can I become more like them?
How can I become less like them?
The Bible is more than just verses and chapters. It’s stories, it’s people, it’s relationships, it’s history and it’s doctrine. All Scripture is profitable! There are many ways we can read and study the Bible. These three are just a few examples among many. There is no way that the Bible is boring, it’s our approach and our attitude.
5. Inductive Bible Study
There have been several books written on Inductive Bible Study. Kay Arthur’s Discover the Bible for Yourself, and How to Study the Bible. Howard Hendricks’ Living by the Book. Grasping God’s Word by Scott Duvall and Daniel Hayes. Robert Traina’s Inductive Bible Study is more advanced but very helpful.
Professor Louis Agassiz and His Amazing Fish
Louis Agassiz, the renowned nineteenth-century naturalist and zoologist and professor at Harvard, was once asked, “What was your greatest contribution, scientifically?” His answer: “I have taught men and women to observe.”
Professor Agassiz used a fascinating process to do that. He would place a fish on a dissecting tray, stick it beneath the nose of a freshman, and command, “Observe this specimen and write down everything you see.”
The student would start out enthusiastically, writing down twenty or thirty things. Meanshile, the professor would disappear until the next day, when upon returning he would ask, “How are you doing?”
“Oh I saw thirty-seven things,” the student would boast.
“Wonderful!” the master would cry. “Continue to observe.”
The student would think, Man, I’ve seen everything there is to see on that fish! But since the professor told him to keep at it, he’d go back and look some more.
This process would continue for two weeks! Nothing but looking at that fish. You see, the genius of the professor, was his awareness that the basis of scientific inquiry is the process of observing.
Observations
Observation in Bible study means reading the text over and over again. Repeated readings will benefit your time in study. Don’t rush through this part of studying. If you can’t understand it, read it again.
G. Campbell Morgan who pastored the Westminster Chapel in London would read through a Bible book more than fifty times before preaching through it. He wanted to see as much as he possibly could before he would attempt to preach it.
Observe people, names, places, phrases. Phrases such as born again, kingdom of God, born of water, born of spirit appear in John 3:3-5 would be great place to start.
Ask questions such as: who, what, where, when, why, how. These are great questions to begin with. Often times we want to jump right into the hard stuff. However, if you take your time by answering the easier questions you can answer the tougher questions. And we can get correct context by answering the easier questions.
Now begin to make an interpretation and application. Studying John chapter three is a great place to do this type of inductive study. Asking questions about being born again, and about entering the kingdom of heaven is important information that need to get right. Interpreting and applying what you’ve studied is of paramount importance.
6. Bible Book Study
One of the most fruitful studies for me is studying a book of the Bible for an extended amount of time. Here are a few steps that I take to study a book of the Bible.
1. Overview
Read the Bible book several times. For example a book like Colossians is only four chapters. It’s a rather short book, one that you can read several times in a short amount of time. I begin to underline and highlight key verses that I believe are important. Then I make note of any important themes, whether they are theological or issues brought up by the writer.
2. Outline
Next, I outline the book. Where are the major headings in the book? This is where a good Bible, and or study Bible is helpful. Most modern Bibles have headings placed within the text. This will allow you to see the flow of the book and where a change of ideas or thoughts are made. For instance in Colossians Paul has a greeting, and an extended prayer. These are important distinctions to make. This also helps me remember where things are in the book as well.
3. Themes
Next, I begin to study themes within the Bible book. You may not notice a theme at first reading. You may notice several themes or issues within one book as well. Write them out, and mark where they are. A book like Colossians deals with the deity of Christ, his headship over the church, redemption, and the Christian walk. But why is Paul dealing with these things? You will notice that an error is arising in the local church that is attacking some of the doctrinal themes that Paul addresses.
4. Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse
Next, I start to study each chapter and verse. I’ve studied the forest, now I want to study the trees. This makes it much clearer to see and understand the Bible book, and interpretation and application becomes much more accessible. It also allows me to see the context within the larger scope of the letter.
As you can see, the Bible can be studied in a variety of ways. The key is to open it and begin. But don’t be discouraged. You aren’t going to learn everything that there is to know about the Bible is one sitting. It’s line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. But the more that you study it, the better acquainted you will be with it. And the more you are acquainted with it, the more it will transform your life.
Lesson One: The Purpose of Study
Lesson Two: The Principles of Study