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I
Was Just Wondering...
...How Do I Better Study the Bible?
April 28, 2003
1. The Nature of Scripture.
A. God has spoken to man.
He has revealed himself by WORDS! Idols are dumb, but OUR GOD SPEAKS! And his words are his self-revelation.
The LORD declares: "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2
NIV)
--Therefore, how we respond to his words are an EXACT INDEX of how we respond to GOD!
Jesus declares: "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38
NIV)
The words of God have a PURPOSE - they have an INTENTION!
What
do you think the following passage is intending to do?
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:14-17)
B. God has preserved his words in writing.
Scripture is God's word in written form
- for preservation, for future generations.
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
(Rom 15:4)
THEREFORE:
Scripture is the primary means by which God continues to speak today!
J.I. Packer wrote, “Scripture is God preaching!”
2. The Author of Scripture.
A. There is the human author
In our Bible study, we must try to
--discover who the human author is, and
--discover his purpose in writing
B. There is the Divine Author
This is our PRIMARY CONCERN!
God is the author of the Bible, THROUGH the humans who wrote it.
Our method of interpretation must recognize and honor the divine authorship.
(1) Recognize the coherence and unity of Scripture as the product of one mind!
--Therefore, if you do not understand a particular passage, you can go to other passages of that ONE MIND to determine meaning.
(2) Recognize that the authority and efficacy of Scripture is derived from the fact that it is written by God Himself!
We must go beyond the human author’s situation; we must arrive at the Divine Author’s intention for the passage!
3. The Audience of Scripture.
Remember, the biblical writers had specific readers in mind.
(a) Try to discover the kinds of persons to whom the author was writing.
-- What seemed to be their problems and characteristics (explicitly or implicitly stated)?
(b) Try to identify with these persons who originally received this revelation from God.
-- How would you feel as you read or heard someone read this for the first time?
-- What do I need to do to find out about the historical and cultural background of their times?
A. When God spoke, He did not simply speak to the first audience, but to later readers ( you and me!)
"This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.”
(Acts 7:38 NAS)
“Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Cor 10:11 NAS)
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom 15:4 NAS)
B. When God spoke, He had specific
intentions for His words.
God seeks a response from the hearers!
The Bible is not static. The Bible is not merely information. The Bible intentionally operates in the life of the reader.
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
How do we get to the divine intention?
>> By determining the intention that the Divine Author had for the original readers!
So, the primary task of Bible Study is…
…to determine what God’s specific intention is for the passage you are studying.
. ..and then to apply that specific intention of God’s Word to my life.
...Not to do so saps the power from those words in the Bible!
4. The Structure of Scripture.
God's intention also determined the structure of the book-- the way in which the human author arranged the material.
Try to study the Bible’s books as they were written! The arrangement of the material gives you clues as to the intention of that material! It was composed in this way for a purpose.
IMPLICATIONS
1. The power of God to transform our lives is based upon hearing God’s intention in each passage and applying that to our lives.
Since the Bible is God's Word written, the substance of the Bible should be the substance of the principles we apply to our lives.
a. The Bible itself is God's proclamation, and our task is to hear this proclamation, not one we force upon the text.
" If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God." (1 Pet 4:11)
b. The task is this: To repeat in our own terms for our own time what is already there in the text.
"And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe."
(1 Thes 2:13)
2. Remember that overall intention of Scripture is to reveal to us who God is, so that we might respond to Him.
a. So we ask these questions in this order:
(1) What did this passage tell them about God?
(2) What did this passage tell them about themselves in relation to God?
b. In other words, in light of God's intention of revelation, we should ask,
"What is this text's reason for existing?
or
"Why is this passage in my Bible?"
or
"What is God trying to accomplish with this portion of Scripture?"
We should be able to finish this sentence:
"The purpose of this passage being in my Bible is...
.”
3. God's self-revelation is inseparable from His words.
Therefore, God’s power to change lives is there in those words.
God is present in His Word.
a. This gives you great confidence and faith that insofar as you seek to determine God's message in these words, you seek Him.
b. But insofar as our Bible study does NOT seek to be faithful to the one message of God found in this passage, we have NO SUCH CONFIDENCE!
c. Since God is present in these words, this is where God's power to change lives presides. Only when our words are God's words can we be confident that what we have spoken has the power of God in them.
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