2 Why study and effective Bible study

2a. Why Study the Bible?

The Bible is God's word and He wishes to communicate with you through it.   He wants to tell you His Ways and His Will that will bring you peace, happiness and the abundant life.  He wants to unfold for you His plan of salvation, His truth and His one true doctrine.  He wants you to imitate the Way He lives, in every facet of your life.

God sent Jesus Christ to be your living example of how this is to be done.  Jesus said His Ways are easy and pleasant (Matt. 11:30).  The Bible contains accurate accounts of how Jesus lived and what He taught so that we can learn to imitate Him and do God's Will.

When you don't or won't study your Bible, you are telling God something.  You are telling Him you will not force yourself to study His word and resist your evil nature, which constantly tries to talk you out of studying.  When you convince yourself that you are too busy or too tired to study God's word, you are giving in to the pulls of the flesh instead of disciplining yourself for the purpose of imitating God (Eph. 5:1; 1 Tim. 4:7).

You are to have both of your spiritual feet in the gospel and study to show yourself approved by God (Eph. 6:15; 2 Tim. 2:15).  How can you gird yourself with truth unless you know God's word, which is the truth, and then put it into action in your daily life (Eph. 6:14)?

You have the breastplate of righteousness on when you continually and enthusiastically practice righteousness for God.  If you ignore God daily, He will continue to ignore you and you will continue to live under His wrath (John 3:36).  Believe means obey, put your trust in God, take action and live by His words.  Then you will be a living word of God because the Word will live in you and through you.  Remember, the Word is Christ Jesus, and He abides in you only when you live for Him and prove to be His disciple by being obedient to Him (John 15:8).
Back to Top

2b. How to study your Bible!

Many people read the Bible and consider that study.  But when you study the Bible, you should look for answers to questions.  What does the Bible say, for example, about salvation and overcoming? What is God's Will?  How do you clothe yourself in Jesus Christ, abide in Jesus Christ or walk like Jesus Christ?  How do you pray?  How do you repent?  How do you live to please God?

There is a kind of study in which you keep learning but never come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7).  Don’t fall into that life-long trap (2 Tim. 3:7).   The Bible has answers to all of life’s problems. You should have a Bible translation that is easy to understand.  If you make the Bible your friend and constant companion, it will save your life..

Always have a notebook, pen and color code verses when you study your Bible.  Learn to use a Bible concordance to find all the Scriptures pertaining to a given subject.  Study the subjects and it won’t be long before you will be well-informed on what the Bible really says.

Bible study, prayer and committing all your ways to the Lord are important in your walk with the Lord. God wants a new creature or person (Gal. 6:15).  So let’s put God first every day, so He can change us and bless us (1 Cor. 3:7; Luke 6:38).

Next How to start your day in a Spiritual Way or Back to Bible Study click here

Back to Home Page click here or back to top

__________________________________________________________________________

Principles of Biblical Interpretation

The Importance and Value of Proper Bible Study

1. Get absolutely right with God yourself by the absolute surrender of your will to Him.

2. Be determined to find out just what God intended to teach and not what you wish Him to teach.

3. Get the most accurate text.

4. Find the most exact and literal meaning of the text.

5. Note the exact force of each word used.

6. Interpret the words used in any verse according to Bible usage.

7. Interpret the words of each author in the Bible with a regard to the particular usage of that author.

8. Interpret individual verses with a regard to the context.

9. Interpret individual passages in the light of parallel or related passages.

10. Interpret obscure passages in the light of passages that are perfectly plain.

11. Interpret any passage in the Bible as those who were addressed would have understood it.

12. Interpret what belongs to the Christian as belonging to the Christian; what belongs to the Jew, as belonging to the Jew, and what belongs to the Gentiles, as belonging to the Gentiles.

13. Interpret each writer with a view to the opinions the writer opposed.

14. Interpret poetry as poetry and interpret prose as prose.

15. The Holy Spirit is the best interpreter of the Bible.

Welcome to www.biblesnet.com. We have over 100 Christian Topics which will help you to Know God better, Love Jesus Christ more, and Glorify Him in practical ways. It is my prayer that, as you read the articles, ebooks & sermons your heart will be stirred and challenged by our 1000's of Christian resources on this Free site. Yours in Christ, Brian - Read / Apply / Pray / Do