Studying our Bibles

We are told in the scripture to " Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ." 2Ti 2:15. First we must "Study." Study shows our desire to know the truth. We must not rely on any perceived wisdom within ourselves to understand the truths of life. Only God is the source of all truth and he has declared that it is only the turth that sets us free. Free from what you might ask? We would be free of the confusion that has imprisoned the minds of mankind since the believing of lies took place in the garden. The heritage of confusion has been passed down as a natural inclination since Eve and the apple.
"Approved unto God" is a phrase very necessary to understand. Many people in their own wisdom decide for themselves what is truth. If it seems right to them, then that is enough for them. They go thru life entertaining the thought that they are secure in what they believe. The very first minute you try to show them wrong, you have a war at hand. There are also those who go to the Bible and determine for themselves what it says. They take the parts they agree with, even though they may not have correctly understood, and base their security on misunderstandings - like building your house on sand that the first storm erodes away.
But those who rightly divide the word have a sure foundation upon which to base their security. God's word has a built in "definer". If you really want to know God's truth, you will let the Holy Spirit reveal to you the very precious Bible truth.
Anyone can pick up a Bible and make it say things they want it to say. By using only one verse and expounding on it until the listener is convinced, is the way that some use. By taking verses hard to understand and explaining them to one's own satisfaction is how others reach for a sense of security that will eventually fail them. And a third way is to take only those verses that uphold one's position to the exclusion of other verses stated very plainly that would contradict their own personal conclusions. If we are going to study the Bible, why not be satisfied with nothing less than the Holy Spirits revealing of it. Nothing else can satisfy the thirsty soul of a sinner.

Can I Trust the Bible?
More than many times has the question been asked, "Can I trust the Bible? How do I know that it is the truth and not just cunningly devised fables?" The Bible has 66 books in it. A wide variety of authors penned its words. It took centuries for it to be a completed work. When correctly studied, the Bible does not contradict itself. That is the result of these 66 books being inspired by the one Holy Spirit. You can go to hundreds of websites and read how the Bible has survived these many centuries of time. You can read about all the different translations and read about their origins and why they were written. That part of believing the Bible will be left to the reader to explore. What we want to deal with here is the truth of the Bible and God's purpose in having it written. The main theme of the Bible is what God is doing to answer the sin problem that began in the Garden. The salvation of men who are lost in their sins is the main thrust of this wonderful collection of reading. Jesus, as the answer to the sinners great needs, is the common thread thru out the Bible. Jesus Himself upheld the authenticity of the Old Testament. He referred to it many times to teach His disciples and the people who thronged Him continuously. As to the New Testament, there have been may historians down through the ages who testified to the events of their day. It was no less true of the time that Jesus walked this earth. The most commonly known of these historians was Josephus. He recounted many times the truths of Jesus and His existence. As to the Bible itself, archaeology has proven countless times that the people, places and the events of the Bible were most definintely true. Now, one more thing to consdier. The prophecies of the Bible have been historcally proven to be correct. Only God, who knows the end from the beginning, could possibly foretell the future with one hundred percent accuracy. There have been many men down thru the ages that have tried to take on the title of prophet or a seer. The problem is that they were far from accurate as they could only at best use current events and the knowledge of man to guess the future trend. Nostradamus was one of those seers. His accuracy rating is less than 30% depending on who is translating his vague references to the future. The point is this, unless God is inspiring the prohecy, it is likely to fail.

We should never study the Bible without first praying. Ps. 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 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 shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
If we try to reason our way thru the Bible without the Holy Spirit of God to give us understanding, we will surely stumble in the results. The inevitable result will be either we will get frustrated and give up or we will make it say what we want it to say. Therefore, the Holy Spirit having inspired the pens of men to write the Bible is the only one in a position to correctly interpret for us what it means. Prayer to begin is a must.

It is a good suggestion to take notes during your study. You can classify your notes under different topics so that referring back to them will be easier.

There are several ways to approach your reading of the Bible. You may decide on one to start or perhaps mix it up. You can read one verse and ponder it for a specified amount of time. You can read a paragraph and ponder it. You can read a chapter or even a whole book. Whichever approach you take, it is a good idea to keep several questions in your mind and seek the answer out of your reading. Listed below are some questions to keep in mind as you study that are proven to help the earnest seeker.

What is the main subject of your verse, paragraph, chapter, or book? Look for the main idea or thrust of what you are reading. Does it focus on a person, an idea, or a situation?

Does the verse, paragraph, chapter or book have a voice? If you have a red letter Bible, then the words of Jesus in the New Testament will be in red. Other than this, try to decide who the characters might be and which ones might be a figure of Jesus Christ. Also pick out the ones that might be a portrayal of us sinners.

Who are the persons depicted? Try to understand what they are saying and how it might resemble your own life. If we will look deeply into each character, we can sometimes find our own experiences played out. Also, note if what it shows as the spiritual answer to the experience.

Is there a key verse? Usually, when reading any part of the Bible, we will find one verse that jumps out at us and it sets the tone for the study of that portion of scripture. To miss the key verse might be to miss the point of the paragraph, chapter or book.

Can I see Jesus in what I'm studying? The purpose of the Bible is to teach us about Jesus and what His answer is to the problems of our lives. He wants to restore our souls to a sin free condition and we can therefore expect to find revelations of Jesus throughout His word the Bible.

Does what I'm reading bring me to a conviction about a certain truth? This truth may be something that gives an answer to a long held question. It may be a revelation of Jesus that we might not have known before. And certainly not to be forgotten, it may be a truth about a deep need to confess a certain sin. It is the Holy Spirits job to convict this world (and us) of our sins. When this conviction comes, we should willingly want to confess, forsake, and desire freedom from it. This is, after all, the reason why Jesus came to save us.

In reading the verse, paragraph, chapter, or book, do I find a statement written in the form of a promise? There are approximately 3,635 promises in the Bible. It is an amazing thought that God should even have to make a promise, but He does in order to rebuild our faith in Him. He also wants us to understand that He is trust worthy and only seeks our well being.

In reading the verse, paragraph, chapter or book, do I see any verse written as a command or instruction? The God who gave His all for us, would not lead us on a path that will hurt us. He will not ask us to give up anything that is for our good. Therefore, if we read a commandment, He is merely trying to steer us on a right path. That is a path to freedom from sin.

When we find a verse(s) that is very meaningful to us, we should commit it to memory? We should especially memorize verses that are promises. At the time of need, the Holy Spirit will remind us of the promise that has been made to us that we may claim it in faith fully expecting its fulfillment in our behalf. Keep in mind that answering the promise made may take Him anywhere between seconds, hours, months or years to complete depending on His wisdom of our needs.

When reading the Bible, try to have other available resources at hand. The serious Bible student will want a very good dictionary, a concordance, Vines Expository Dictionary. Also, there are many good Bible Commentaries but you should examine each as to its origin and whether or not it has a particular bias. Another good suggestion is to have several versions of the Bible and to be familiar with its background. Many of the Bible translated for today have a history. Study that history and be satisfied with its origin. Yes, even Bibles need to be scrutinized. For serious study, it is encouraged to stay away from those written as a paraphrase. This is where one person has translated the Bible from their own understanding.

Understand the setting and time of each Bible book. Many of today's Bible printings have produced what are called study Bibles. They aid the student with included study tools such as time diagrams and synopsis of the writer and the culture of that period. These are very good to help understand what the writer was experiencing and for what is being described. Many of them go into great detail to help us understand.

Study in context. This is very important. Always study a verse in context with the verses just ahead of it and those following it. To study a verse by itself without getting the context may lead you to a wrong conclusion. Once a wrong conclusion is planted in your mind, it can be difficult for many to accept a correction. Now with this in mind, you also want to study a paragraph in context of the chapter. You want to study the chapter in the context of the book. And you need to study all of these in the context of God's character is it is revealed to you. To forget this very important study rule is to invite a wrong conclusion. Remember - it is the truth that sets us free therefore we must conclude our thoughts to a truth as the Holy Spirit leads.