Bible Study Techniques

Bible Study Techniques Application

Overview • Overview of Application • Rules of Application • Foundational Principals • Principles on Personal Responsibility • Principles on our Perception of God’s Word • Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Principles on the Life of Application • Principles on People in the Process of Application

Overview of Application • A critical part of Bible study is deciding how it will affect our lives • Application is a critical step and is often done wrong • There are 3 levels of application • Generalization: e.g. Christians should witness to unbelievers • Internalization: e.g. I should witness to unbelievers, so I will do so at the next opportunity • Actualization: e.g. I should witness to unbelievers, so I will witness to my neighbor tomorrow after work • There are 27 rules that can guide us in application

Overview • This lesson relies very heavily on the book Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible by Walter Henrichsenand Gayle Jackson https://www.amazon.com/Studying-Interpreting-Applying-Walter-Henrichsen/dp/0310377811/

Foundational Principals • Rule 1: Application must be focused on pleasing God rather than pleasing others • A person who applies the Bible to please those around them will only pursue it until they are acceptable to those around them • A Christian should apply the Bible to please God by becoming more Christ like • Christians should not be afraid to express their beliefs just because the world may not like it, as long as they do so in love and wisdom

Foundational Principals • Rule 2: Every issue a person has should be viewed through a scriptural lens • Human nature is broken • We must look at what the Bible tells us to do instead of what our nature tells us to do

Foundational Principals • Rule 3: Attitude is as important as action in obeying God’s commandments • Following God’s Word in action is not enough • King Saul was cursed by God because of his actions in 1 Sam. 13 and 15 • David did much worse during his reign but was called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) • The difference is that David had a proper attitude

Foundational Principals • Rule 4: Surrender is the cornerstone of all application. Refusal to surrender blurs our ability to discover and do God’s will • Eph. 4 discusses this very point • Our responsibility is to follow God’s will even if we don’t know the outcome

Foundational Principals • Rule 5: Application is a process, not a single event • The Christian life is about growth

Principles on Personal Responsibility • Rule 6: In those areas of life not directly addressed by Scriptures, we must develop personal convictions to govern our behavior • The Bible’s list of don’ts is very short • In areas the Bible does not cover, we will need to develop our personal convictions • We do not need to have an opinion on everything • Our personal convictions are our own, we cannot force them on others

Principles on Personal Responsibility • Rule 7: When applying the Scriptures, we must make a distinction between the positive and negative commandments • A negative commandment is something we should not do (e.g. do not lie) • It is easy to measure our success is applying a negative command • A positive commandment is something we should do (e.g. be humble) • It is very difficult to measure our success in apply a positive command • Trying to decide if we are fully applying a positive commandment can lead to legalistic application or guilt for not being “good enough”

Principles on Personal Responsibility • Rule 8: Each person is individually responsible for applying the Scriptures to his or her own life • Christians are commanded to participate in the Christian community and encourage each other • However, we are the ones ultimately responsible for apply God’s word to our lives

Principles on Personal Responsibility • Rule 9: In all things we must be teachable. We must be willing to admit that we are wrong, change direction and appear inconsistent • One of the worst things about pride is that it makes a person unteachable • Christians need to be humble enough to learn, grow, and change

Principles on Personal Responsibility • Rule 10: The acknowledgment of wrong must be followed by restitution when it is within our power • If a Christian sins and harms someone else in the process, s/he should make amends if possible • Zacchaeus did this in Luke 19

Principles on our Perception of God’s Word • Rule 11: We must consider God’s command rather than His chastisement as the motive for application • God does not want us to be motivated by fear • God wants us to be motivated by love and a desire to please him

Principles on our Perception of God’s Word • Rule 12: Knowledge carries with it both privilege and responsibility • James 1:22 says that those who hear but do not apply the Bible are deceiving themselves • Knowing what the Bible command carriers the responsibility of applying it

Principles on our Perception of God’s Word • Rule 13: There is no such thing as nonessential command • Often, Christians claim a commandment is not culturally sensible or that the command is wholly unreasonable • However, God knew what our situation would be like and still expects us to follow his commands

Principles on our Perception of God’s Word • Rule 14: We must not insist that we will obey only after a seeming contradiction in commandments is resolved • Luke 14:26 and 1 Tim. 5:8 appear to contradict • When we find these kinds of passages, we should accept and apply both until we are able to resolve them

Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Rule 15: Although there is no distinction between sins, there is a difference in consequences • All sin has the same eternal consequence • However, different sins do have different immediate consequences

Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Rule 16: Disobedience adds to confusion when adverse circumstances come • There are several reasons life can be difficult • The world is broken and is bound to cause pain • God uses trials to strengthen and correct us • The natural consequences of sin • When we are living in sin, it is difficult to tell if God is correcting us, we are suffering the consequences of our sin, or we are being strengthened

Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Rule 17: God’s permissive will is entered only through a failure to apply the Scriptures • A Christian exists in God’s permissive will when they are living in sin and God chooses not to correct the behavior

Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Rule 18: We must refuse to yield to what we know is wrong. Satisfying the drive will only momentarily alleviate the hunger and will stimulate a desire for more • Giving into sin will only make it more difficult to resist in the future

Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Rule 19: “Culture” cannot serve as an excuse for not obeying God’s commands • It is important to realize 2 ways that culture can affect our understanding of the Bible • Not all cultural prohibitions are biblically based • We cannot ignore biblical commands because of culture

Principles on the Product of Disobedience • Rule 20: Trial is meant to be endured while temptation is meant to be overcome • God brings trials into our lives to help us grow • God will allow us to be tempted with the expectation that we are to overcome the temptation

Principles on the Life of Application • Rule 21: Circumstances do not indicate God’s approval or disapproval • Violating this rule leads to the belief that those that are materially blessed are right with God and those who are not are under God’s wrath

Principles on the Life of Application • Rule 22: The validity of personal application is not dependent on another’s acceptance or approval

Principles on the Life of Application • Rule 23: We must resist the temptation to judge others as less spiritual when they do what the Lord has forbidden us to do • Personal convictions should not be forced on anyone else

Principles on the Life of Application • Rule 24: The path to intellectual excellence is curiosity, investigation, and experimentation, but the path to moral excellence is obedience • Christians should not experiment with evil so they can see how evil it is

Principles on the Life of Application • Rule 25: Our conduct, good or bad, will affect the generations to follow • Sin and poor decision making can have consequences that last generations • Right living and good decisions work the same way

Principles on People in the Process of Application • Rule 26: We must maintain an accountability relationship with a group of people who will exhort us to faith and good works • Christians are commanded to encourage each other in faith • However, correcting or rebuking someone, must be done in love

Principles on People in the Process of Application • Rule 27: Godly counsel is helpful in the quest for obedience, but it should never be used to avoid personal responsibility • Christians are called to walk by faith, which can be risky because they are also flawed • Christian counsel can be helpful to better understand God’s will • However, we are ultimately responsible for following His commands

Materials and Resources Links to materials and resources mentioned, as well as the handouts, PowerPoint slides, and lecture notes, can be found at http://www.nbsbaptistchurch.org/resources/bible-study-techniques/

Bible Study Techniques