How to Study The Bible

1. Inductive Versus Deductive Study • To study the Bible inductively means to use information in the passage to reach a conclusion about what the passage is saying. This might sound obvious, and we probably assume this is what we’re doing when we read the Bible. But, whether aware of it or not, we all come to passages of Scripture with conclusions already made. • By nature, we are prone to deduction: making a conclusion about a piece of something based on general knowledge of the whole. • For example, if you have concluded that a certain brand of clothing is high-quality and fashionable, then you may assume each item of that brand is high-quality and fashionable, without looking closely at each item yourself. • When we study a Bible passage inductively, we try very hard to make our conclusions about what the text is saying from evidence within the text, rather than from information or opinions outside of the text.

2. Paying Attention • Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1). • It’s a mistake to read the Bible casually, guessing at its meaning and relying on our own experiences to determine what God is saying to us. This inductive method is helpful because it forces us to pay closer attention to what God’s Word says for itself. Here are 10 steps that may help you begin an inductive Bible study:

3. Prayerfully choose a book to study. • As students of God’s Word, we aim to humbly receive the whole counsel of God. So, ask the Lord to guide you to a book that will broaden your grasp of Scripture, as well as deepen your love for and knowledge of the Lord (Ephesians 1:17-19). • Choose prayerfully, but remember that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

4. Understand the background of the book. • Research the general background of the book. Who wrote it? Where and when was it written? Who was the original audience? In what genre is it written? • You’re looking for perspective: to place the book in its correct place in time and history. A study Bible can be helpful, but resist the temptation to read every note at this point. The study Bible likely contains themes and conclusions that you want to discover for yourself in the text.

5. Make a manuscript of the book, and read it twice. • Create a manuscript by printing out the book double-spaced with section headings and paragraph formatting removed. You can use a website like Biblegateway.com to locate a digital copy of the book. Read the book from beginning to end. Try to approach it as if you had never read it before. Then read it again from beginning to end, looking for the aim of the letter and overarching themes.

6. Select a portion of the text to study within the context of the whole. • Narrow down a section for closer study. Depending on the time allowed, it might be half a page, or several. Choose a section to work with that contains a cohesive thought. • In other words master the Bible one chapter at a time. Do an intense study on ONE book, or one character, or do an intense topical study.

7. Mark what you see in the text. • Take a set of colored pencils. Look for key words or ideas to mark: repeated words, similar ideas, and words that connect units of thought (like “now”, “therefore”, “so that”, “but”, etc). Connection words between sections of thought indicate how the author is building on what has already been said, whether continuing their argument, making a conclusion, or introducing a new thought.

8. Ask questions of the text • Try to think of questions that naturally arise from what has been said. Ask questions like: What does this say? What does this word mean? How does this section relate to the rest of the book? • Write down as many questions as you can.

9. Answer questions from the text first, then look to resources. • Often many of our questions can be answered in the text and its surrounding context. When you get stuck, read the passage in another trusted translation, and look up definitions in an English dictionary or a Bible dictionary like Vines [1]. Use cross-references too. • For example, when I’m studying James—which is believed to be the earliest book in the New Testament canon—I try to find answers to my questions in the Old Testament first, since that’s the resource James’ recipients had.

10. Determine your appropriate response. • A life-changing encounter with the Living God is the ultimate goal of any Bible study (James 1:22-25). Invariably, there is a promise to believe in, a command to obey, or a warning to heed when we read God’s Word.

11. Prayerfully ask God to change you. Avoid the tragic pitfall of concluding your time in God’s word determined to obey, but without any real power to do so. While we are no longer slaves to sin because of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on our behalf (Romans 6:17), we remain wholly dependent on His Spirit to change us. Prayerful fellowship with our Lord and Savior—relying on Him by asking daily for grace to obey—is the only means of lasting fruit-bearing. Hear his promise for those in Christ: And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

12. CONTEXT and The Bible • Taking phrases and verses out of context always leads to misunderstanding. For instance, taking the phrase "God is love" (1 John 4:7-16) out of its context, we might come away thinking that our God loves everything and everyone at all times with a gushing, romantic love

13. Context is The Key… • Context is crucial to biblical exegesis in that it is one of its most important fundamentals. After we account for the literal, historical, and grammatical nature of a passage, we must then focus on the outline and structure of the book, then the chapter, then the paragraph. All of these things refer to "context." To illustrate, it is like looking at Google Maps and zooming in on one house.

14. A Correct Understanding • The main reason it is important to study the Bible in context is in order to obtain a correct understanding of the passage. Misunderstanding a portion of the Bible can lead to misapplying it in our lives as well as teaching something wrong to others. These are quite the opposite of God's desire for our lives, which includes knowing His Word accurately, applying it in our own lives, and teaching it to others, following the example of Ezra, "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel" (Ezra 7:10).

15. His Will Be Done • Another concern with taking the Bible out of context is the temptation to make the Bible say what we want rather than what it originally meant. Those who have taken this misguided approach have used Scripture to "prove" a wide variety of practices as "biblical." However, a practice is only biblical if it is based on an accurate understanding of Scripture that includes studying the context surrounding a passage.

16. Improper Context is Deadly • For example, some have taught that slavery was biblical since this practice can be found in the Bible. However, while it is true slavery is found in the Bible, the New Testament did not teach Christians to enslave one another. On the contrary, in Paul's most personal letter regarding this issue, he wrote to Philemon with the intention that Philemon should free his runaway slave Onesimus (Philemon 1).

17. Improper Context is Evil • Genesis 1:27 speaks of men and women being created in God's image. Christians are called to love neighbor as self (Mark 12:31), a practice that would certainly contradict the practice of modern slavery. Further, a close examination of slavery and servanthood in first century times shows that it often differed widely in application from modern slavery. A doulos (Greek word for servant) could have a servant of his or her own and held much responsibility. While there were certainly masters who treated their servants poorly in that time, slavery then was not practiced exactly as slavery has been in modern times.

18. Handle the Word Carefully • Scripture encourages readers to study the full counsel of God. In Acts 20:27, the apostle Paul told the elders in his presence, "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." Our lives are to follow this same practice of studying all of God's Word to accurately understand its teachings and apply them to our lives. Second Timothy 2:15 is clear, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."