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”
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

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?”

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!

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

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

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

If we want to understand the
biblical text, we must always
ask, “What meaning did the
author intend to convey?”

Three Progressive Objectives
Exposition
Interpretation
Application

Objective Understanding Benefit Means
“Exposition” Original Meaning Historical or
Doctrinal
Understanding
Five Stages of
Analysis
“Interpretation” Contemporary
Significance
Relevance for
Present Times
Timeless Principles
or Parallel Life
Situations
“Application” Personal Life
Relevance
God-Pleasing Life
and Faithful Service
Meditation and
Reflection
(Conviction of the
Holy Spirit)

Basic Principles of Exposition
Five Stages of Investigating a Bible Passage
1.Survey the Background
2.Examine the Context
3.Analyze the Grammar
4.Define the Words
5.Consult the Commentaries

1. Survey the Background
Reconstruct the historical and
cultural background of our text.
Book level
Passage level

2. Examine the Context
“the rest of the text”
Immediate context
Remote context

3. Analyze the Grammar
4. Define the Words
5. Consult the Commentaries

Choosing a Bible?
Study Bibles??? (benefits & risks)
Choosing a Passage to Study?
1.Systematic
2.Personally Difficult
3.Theological Significance
4.Controversial
5.Personal Situation
6.“Go Backs”

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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?

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)

Colossians 1:15-20

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Immediate Context
1. Read the entire book in a single sitting.
2. Make or read an outline of the book.
3. Make a theme sentence.
4. Locate the passage within the plan of the
book.
5. Look for connecting words

Immediate Context
1. Read the entire book in a single sitting.
2. Make or read an outline of the book.
3. Make a theme sentence.

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)

Immediate Context
5. Look for connecting words
“Therefore”
“But”, “Since”, “After”, “So”, “And”

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)

Remote Context
Cross-References and Parallel Passages
Eliminate and demand
God never contradicts himself
Same idea expressed clearer

Remote Context
Cross-References and Parallel Passages
Eliminate and demand
God never contradicts himself
Same idea expressed clearer
Topical Bible
Thompson Chain Reference Bible

Colossians 1:15-20
1. Read the entire letter.
Key passages which provide clues to the
purpose or problem
Repeated words or subjects

Remote Context
Cross-references in your Bible.
Nave’s Topical 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.

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…
1. Whosoever is unworthy should not partake?
2. It should not be taken in an unworthy way?

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

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.
“Unworthily”… is it an adverb or Adjective?

John 21:11-15 (KJV)
11
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes,
an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet
was not the net broken.
12
Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples
durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
13
Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish
likewise.
14
This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his
disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
15
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea,
Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my
lambs.

“These” is a demonstrative pronoun.
It is the plural form of “this.”
Webster defines as “the person, thing, or idea that is present or near in
place, time, or thought or that has just been mentioned.”

Analyzing the Grammar
1. Start with words or sections of scripture that are unclear
to you.
2. Compare different versions of the Bible.
3. Look up words in a dictionary
4. Remember even the little words are important.

Define the Words
-Precise-
-Exciting-
-Tools-

Define the Words
Two very important Principles
1.Any word has the potential to have
several meanings.
2.The meaning of a word is determined by
its context.

Coat
Trunk

Define the Words
Goals
1.Determine possible definitions
2.Decide which definitions best fit the
context (immediate and remote)

Define the Words
Which words?
Repeated words
Difficult words
“Theological” words
Variant words

Define the Words
How to do a word study
1.Compare different versions
2.Identify the Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic
3.Survey how the word is used throughout
the Bible
4.Consult an “Expository” dictionary

John 21:15-17 (KJV)
15
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
Simon, son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these? He
saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16
He saith to him
again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I
love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17
He saith
unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the
third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord,
thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

John 21:15-17 (KJV)
15
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
Simon, son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these?
He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love
thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16
He saith to him
again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I
love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17
He saith
unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the
third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord,
thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

How to study your bible

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