HOW TO READ THE BIBLE

How to Read the Bible

While I was serving as an associate pastor I wanted to equip my church with some basic tools in getting to the heart of the scriptures. One easy way to do that, I figured, would be to help our church get a better handle on how to read and study the Bible.

Since the Bible is unlike any other book ever written it is important to approach it properly. There are right ways and wrong ways of reading scripture, and must be taken in order to take from it what God intended. It is not a newspaper, or magazine, which bears just a cursory glance, but neither is it so obtuse, as many seem to fear, that it is unapproachable apart from some kind of academic preparation.

Theologians will tell you about the "perspicuity" of the Bible, a word which means exactly what it isn't, referring to the clarity of God's Word. Anything, however, which smacked of perspicacity, even in the slightest form, would undoubtedly be rejected by those I hoped to reach.

Helpful as they may be, I ruled out suggesting that anyone read an entire book like Leland Ryken's The Word of God in English, or Fee and Stuart's How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Instead, I wanted to hand out some easily accessible principles with which to begin. I knew that in order for my tool to be a useful it had to be accessible without skipping on essentials. As you will see below, I eventually settled on a simple outline aimed at countering the oft cited notion that "one can read anything into the Bible they want."

Not wanting to reinvent the wheel I went online and Googled "How to Read the Bible." I anticipated gleaning some new insights for myself, as well as getting some ideas for organizing the thoughts I already had. The results that were returned, however, led me to quickly realize that I had either overestimated what I would find online, or the church was in need of some sober thinking on this most basic of Christian disciplines. I fully expected there to be any number of poor or even dangerous entries, but to my surprise I found precious few articles of value.

Two exceptions, which happily remain in the current top ten Google returns, were Charles H. Spurgeon's 1879 sermon, appropriately titled "How to Read the Bible," www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1503.htm, and a short list from the father of Methodism, John Wesely, taken from the preface of his Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/bible.stm.  Both are well worth reading today.

As anticipated, poor and unbiblical advice is also prolific. The danger is that much of it comes couched in what are otherwise OK treatments of the subject. One piece of advice was "We should read the Bible as we eat an Oreo cookie, from the center out. Reading Genesis or Revelation last, not first." Suffice it to say, the Nabisco method of Bible study may be dunked.

Another gem was to start with the Gospels, "just don't read them all together, back to back." Huh? One of the best exercises I ever had from seminary was precisely such an assignment. Not only did I read all the Gospels successively, I immediately went back and read them all a second time. This exercise opened the scripture to me in a way few things have ever done since. I heartily recommend it to every serious Christian. 

Apparently, since my first foray online some four or five years ago, others have also been burdened with how to help in this most basic of Christian disciplines. This has resulted in a number of good articles becoming available if you can take the time to cull through them. Some of them are from familiar ministries like Intervarsity's article by Philip E. Friesen entitled, "How to Read the Bible, And How Not To." Despite my personal reservations for the New Living Translation its publishers have a good entry.

The Greek Orthodox Church has an excellent entry by Bishop Kallistos Ware; highly recommendable, with care to note the Orthodox distinctives. Added to these are now scores of entries by lesser known entities, and local churches, many with a heart for God's people to better know him through his Word.

However we approach such a glorious task, let us consider the sage advice from one pastor, David Wayne, who noted "One of the fundamental attributes of Scripture is its clarity, in our efforts to understand it, let's be careful we not obscure it." 

Here are my own suggestions. I don't pretend that all these ideas are mine, or even original in any way. They reflect much good thought from different sources. Where direct thoughts are borrowed I have tried to quote with notation. Where similar ideas merged from my own mind and others sometimes is not so easy to tell. Hopefully, however, there is nothing truly new here, but only that which reflects what has already been laid out in scripture.

The object from the beginning has only been to encourage the reading of God's Word.

1.      Read it like no other book you have ever read.

a.       Begin by praying for God to open your heart to his word, and for his understanding.

                           i.      Ephesians 1:17 "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better," (also Col 1:9).

                         ii.      James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him, ".

b.      The Bible is not to be read just for information; it is to be read in order so that we may be changed. Christ is the way, the truth and the life. When we follow him "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day," Prov. 4:18.

c.       Again, pray as you read. The scriptures are the Sword of the Spirit, and we can not handle this sword in the flesh. Therefore, do not try to do in the flesh that which can only be accomplished in the spirit.

2.      Read it with understanding. Note - This can only be fully accomplished by true believers.

a.       This may sound strange and perhaps even obvious; nevertheless, it is a necessary exhortation.   Matt 22:31 "have you not read what was spoken to you by God?" (also cf. 12:3, 5, and  19:4). Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees who had surely read their Bibles. But they did not understand the meaning (Matt.12:7), and therefore Jesus rebuked them, and ultimately rejected many of them.

b.      James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

c.       Reading with understanding MUST include meditation (thinking) on the word.

                           i.      Josh 1:8  "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

                         ii.      Psalm 119:27  "Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders."

                        iii.      "You will not get comfort to your soul out of what you do not understand… Pray to the Lord to strengthen your eyes before you dare to look into the eternal light of scripture." C. H. Spurgeon

d.      Pray for understanding and to be changed.

3.      Read it often.

a.       Josh 1:8 and Psalm 1:1-2,  "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked… But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

b.      Psalm 119:97, "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long."

c.       Pray for understanding and to be changed.

4.      Study and search while you read.

a.       Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' How shall we call, if not from the scriptures themselves? We all know from experience, and Peter confirms, that there are "things that are hard to understand," 2 Pet 3:16.

                           i.      2 Timothy 2:3 - 4   "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer."

                         ii.      Use other resources like dictionaries, and commentaries. God has given us many whom he has given greater gifts. As a body, he therefore expects us to depend on those who have greater gifting in areas where we are weak.

b.      Jesus tells us we must have greater righteousness then the Pharisees who also searched the Old Testament scriptures, John 4:39. They understood they could lead the way to eternal life, but refused to believe that they testified about Christ. Should we not search all the more knowing that all the prophets and the law point to Christ?

c.       Take notes.

d.      Memorize it. "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you," Psalm 119:11

e.       Pray for understanding and to be changed.

5.      Read it "with an eye peeled for the Gospel." C. J. Mahaney.

a.       All the law and the prophets speak of Christ.

                           i.      Luke 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

                         ii.      Rom 3:21 "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify."

b.      All scripture "predicts, prepares for, reflects, or results from the work of Christ." C. J. Mahaney.

c.       Pray for understanding, especially in the OT which is so rich in preparing the Church to understand Christ. He can be gloriously found in passages which may otherwise be obscure when not seen in the light of Christ.

6.      Read it like every other book you read.

a.       Start at the beginning and read it through. Do not start in the middle of some passage and expect to be fully enlightened. 2 Pet 1:20, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation."

                           i.      When we read without context we are more likely to incorrectly use scripture than when we are familiar with whole passages and books.

                         ii.      While it is not necessary to read in order from Genesis to Revelation, every Christian should make the effort to do so.

                        iii.      Nor does this mean we can only read whole books at a time, we should for the complete context, but it does mean reading entire sections of scripture which belong together.

b.      2 Tim 3:16 – 17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. "

c.       Mat. 4:4 "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

d.      Pray for understanding and to be changed.

7.      Apply the word.

a.       James 1:22-23 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

b.      "The eye glances but the mind never rests. The soul does not light upon the truth and stay there. It flits over the landscape as a bird might do, but it builds no nest there, and finds no rest for the sole of its foot." C. H. Spurgeon

c.       2 Timothy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth"

d.      Pray for understanding and to be changed. 

By Russ Young Email: RussYoung@q.com Click here for bio and archived articles

Re: How to Read the Bible Posted On: 06/11/07 09:26:03 AM Age 34, GA Thank you very much for the insightful article. It confirmed tto me what I already believed to be true, but needed a reminder of! Thanks again, Mary Re: Re: Re: How to Read the Bible Posted On: 06/07/07 08:57:09 AM Age 63, OH Hi Glen, hows your shoulder. Lou Re: “true believer” Posted On: 06/07/07 08:54:34 AM Age 63, OH Amen brother,Lou TRADITION AND PROPHECY Posted On: 06/07/07 08:49:34 AM Age 63, OH Dear Brother I have to respectfully disagree with you on some points. The cannon is NOT, I hope based on tradition but on the inspiration of The Holy Spirit Of The Lord Jesus Christ. The men that God chose to do this job were chosen by Him and inspired by Him as to what scriptures to include and to not include. You say that the scriptures are prophecy. God recorded what the Devil himself said in the Bible, would you call this prophecy. God records the words of many men in the Bible and many are NOT speaking prophecy. The words of God are recorded in the Bible and that is why we read it. Prophecy is God speaking. The prophets were being mouths for God, and God spoke threw them. They did NOT JUST speak what God wanted them to speak, but the Holy Spirit actually did the speaking. If this was not the case then when the prophets said, THUS SAYS THE LORD, would have not been entirely true. The Bible is not prophecy even when it records the words of God, for prophecy is God speaking, but becomes prophecy IF a man seeks THE WORD or The Lord Jesus Christ and He actually speaks the words of the Bible to this man. The logos is the Living Word. The Bible has no life of itself but only when the Living God speaks to a man who seeks Him through The Book. This is why sometimes when we read the Book it is dry and uninspired. It is never the fault of God that this happens but our fault in not seeking the Author of the Book with all our heart and soul. When we seek The Lord of Mercy and Grace then the Book seems to come to life. The Book is not coming to life , but the Author of all Life is speaking to us while we read the most Holy of all writings. May the Lord keep you and bless you and cause His light to shine upon you. Lou “true believer” Posted On: 06/06/07 08:46:19 PM Age 59, OR I enjoyed the article & feedback very much as it was noticed that there could have been more emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. I would like to comment on point # 2, that the term “true believer” should have been Biblically defined or NOT used as members of “Christian” cults and other religions consider themselves to be, and in fact are, “true believers” in the erroneous and unbiblical doctrines that are taught them by their religions. “Born-again Christian” significantly narrows the field but even that has been diluted in this end-time of New-Age “experiences”. The Biblical “test” is a Spirit-led, heart and mouth confession of the Divinity, Lordship, and Resurrection of Jesus as Messiah, the prophesied Savior, as given in Romans 10:9-10: 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession. 1 Corinthians 12:3: Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. And 1 John 4:1-4: 1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. At this same point in the essay it would also have been proper to strongly emphasize the how & why that this understanding is NOT possible for the ‘natural man’ as it is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the Christian that guides our minds “into all truth” John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit, which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual [words]. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Re: WHO IS JESUS Posted On: 06/05/07 03:50:23 PM Age 34, MI Lou, you are proving that the Bible alone is not enough. We must have authoritative tradition that can lead us in our understanding. The doctrine of the Trinity is a perfect example. The Jahovah's Witness' could claim that they are persecuted because they believe the scriptures clearly teach Jesus to be the Archangel Michael, but tradition tells us they are wrong. Jesus says we are blessed for being persecuted only when we are persecuted for righteousness sake (Mt 5:10). Preaching a false Jesus and false God is not righteous. Thus, we must be careful to interpret scripture in light of 2000 years of history. St. Peter said in 2 Peter 1:20 that no prophecy (which scripture is) is a matter of private interpretation. Further, in 1 Tim 3:15 Paul points to the CHURCH as the pillar and foundation of the truth. Finally, just to read the Bible with any measure of certainty we must trust in authoritative tradtion for selecting which books to call scripture, i.e the Cannon or Table of Contents. The Bible does not tell us which books are inspired. Our cannon is based on Tradition. WHO IS JESUS Posted On: 06/05/07 12:30:48 PM Age 63, OH Dear Brother; I humbly disagree with your response. I am NOT saved by any message or group of words That are written or spoken. I am saved by a person who is the Lord Jesus Christ who is The Creator of the universe. Jesus is the First and the Last. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord Of all Lords. He is the King of Righteousness and the Prince of Peace. The Father said in the OT many places that we would have no Savior except for Himself. Isaiah knew who Jesus was when he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write 9:6 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, [b] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. You can see From this scripture that the child Jesus IS the Wonderful Counselor or the Holy Spirit, Jesus is also the Mighty God, Jesus is also The Everlasting Father. Unless you do not believe the scriptures this is true for God does not lie or try to confuse His children. Jesus when asked what was the most important commandment said, "Hear O ' Israel The Lord your God is One". Jesus is the Creator Of everything that exists so I am sure He could have come up with the word Trinity if He would have meant trinity . But Jesus said ONE. I am a simple man and know that 1 does not = 3. Jesus said One so why do we not follow His example. I follow His example and am persecuted for it. So I can see why others do not follow the example of Jesus. Jesus said one and I choose to believe Him and not men. But to believe that Jesus is a Book is idolatry. The Pharisees looked to the Book and Jesus corrected them when He told them, John 5:39 "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me," The Pharisees thought that the scriptures were the light that they should follow but Jesus told them that they should follow Him. We are to worship the Creator Not the creation. The Bible is part of the creation. Lou Re: Re: How to Read the Bible Posted On: 06/03/07 01:37:04 PM Age 63, TX Brother Lou, Does this portion of the article meet your sugestion? 5.Read it “with an eye peeled for the Gospel.” C. J. Mahaney. a.All the law and the prophets speak of Christ. i.Luke 24:44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” old glen Re: How to Read the Bible Posted On: 06/02/07 10:59:54 PM Age 36, TX If I may humbly suggest an additional point to add to your list: (8) Learn more about the culture and history of the people in the Bible. We should recognize that we are thousands of years and thousands of miles removed from the culture and history into which the Bible was originally delivered. We should recognize that the Bible was written by Jews to Jews. The culture and mindset of the men who wrote the words of the Bible is so vastly different from 21st century America that we cannot hope to clearly understand it without first understanding the mindset of those who recorded it. When Moses, Jeremiah, Luke, or Paul chose a specific word we should at least have a basic understanding of how that word (as expressed in our English Bibles today) fit into the expression of God's Word in their culture and mindset. Yes, many of the proverbs and other bits of wisdom might make sense to us but a vast majority of the Bible can be skewed or misunderstood if we try to apply our 21st century American perspective. In James 2:3 it says "And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool". We in 21st century America might see "gay clothing" and think it is speaking of clothing made by a homosexual designer or perhaps think of it as a derogatory term and that the clothes of that person are unflattering. It actually means "fine clothing" as a wealthy person might wear. If we apply our mindset to the Bible we will likely misunderstand it. In 1 Timothy 2:9 when Paul writes to Timothy to exhort the women at Ephesus to "adorn themselves in modest apparel" that does not mean shorts above the knee and a tight fitting t-shirt (which passes as modest in our society). It means modest by Paul's society's standards. If we apply our standards to the lessons of the Bible we will fall far short of fully understanding it. There is hope! The Bible tells us that we should “study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If we study we can learn and rightly divide the wonderful Word which God has delivered unto us. :) Peace and blessings! Re: Re: Re: How to Read the Bible Posted On: 06/02/07 10:28:20 PM Age 36, TX Brother Lou... If I may humbly point out an error in your assertion that "it is Only Jesus who can show anyone the Truth and not the Book. The Author of the Book is our savior and NOT the Bible." John 1:1 describes Jesus in this way: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." It was the spoken Word ("and God said..." all throughout Genesis chapter 1). John 1:14 tells us that the very same spoken Word of God that was in the beginning became flesh... the flesh of Jesus. That very same spoken Word of God that was in the beginning has also been written out in "the Word made print" in our Bibles today. I do, however, agree with your sentiment that the written word (e.g. written on tablets of stone) is not as important as it being written upon our hearts (2 Cor 3:3 and Jer 31:33) but unless someone receives "the Word"/Jesus written, spoken, signed (sign language) or somehow communicated they will not be saved (Rom 10:14-15). Peace unto you.