How to Study the Bible

A Study Guide

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

To study the Bible, to understand it, you have to have faith in God and his word. This would be a necessary starting point. From there, obey the rules of reading comprehension.

Context: maintain the context of the book, chapter, paragraph, and sentence.
Nothing less than a whole sentence has definite meaning—study sentence by sentence, then verse by verse.
A sentence is a trinity; it must have a subject, a predicate (verb), and a complete thought.
The complete thought within a sentence is made up of all the individual thoughts within that sentence. They may be set off by colons, semi-colons, commas, or parentheses.

(Take special note: the smallest unit of grammar that has a definite meaning is the sentence. Anything less than a sentence can be made to mean anything.)

At this point, we have only covered the rudimentary rules of basic reading comprehension. Now we will get into the nitty gritty, rules specific to the study of the Scriptures. First, if you do not know what the Bible says, you cannot know what it means. Reading it over and over is the surest way of increasing its understanding.

The word of God will stand a thousand readings; and he who has gone over it most frequently is the surest of finding new wonders there.

James Hamilton (1814-1867) English Clergy

One of the first general rules of Bible study concerns contradictions. If your interpretation causes the Bible to contradict itself, you have something wrong; the Bible does not contradict. You could be wrongly dividing the word of truth.

Verses divide the Bible into individual thoughts. The complete thought within a sentence comprises all the individual thoughts, each verse in a sentence, to make the complete thought.

The Bible is a jigsaw puzzle and has to be put together piece by piece. If unfamiliar with the whole Bible pieces are missing. The Scriptures are also written in layers of complexity. The first layer’s meaning is easily understood: thou shalt or shalt not for example. The two great commandments is another example.

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

If God is loved, nothing will be done that will bring disdain upon his name. If others are loved, nothing will be done to them unwanted for oneself. These two commandments fulfill all the law and the prophets.

One caveat or factor that determines how much additional light is provided is based on what is done with what God has shown in the easier layers. If what He has shown is not acted upon, why would He show more?

I have found in my studies seven precepts if understood and adhered to will bring order and discernment to aid in correctly interpreting the precepts, teachings, and doctrines of Scripture. They act as a guide to meditation and, more importantly, limits to the imagination in studying the Scriptures.

From: Seven Precepts to Understanding the Bible

Study diligently
Believe all that is written
Do not add nor diminish from the words, meaning, or sense of the Scripture
The Bible is God’s revelation to man: we are not looking for what God could have, should have, or ought to have, we are looking for what God says He has done and how He says it was done.
God uses similitudes, word pictures describing things that may be designated differently at differing times in history.
Study that you might rightly divide the word of truth
Doctrines are built of precepts and precepts are formed here a little, there a little, line upon line.

I had six honest serving men,
They taught me all I knew,
Their names were Where and What
and When And Why
and How and Who.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
English short-story writer, poet, and novelist

After 45 years of walking with the Lord and studying his word I have come to certain conclusions on what is needed to properly interpret the Scriptures. They are as follows:

Eternal salvation at any time in the history of man has always been by God’s grace, through faith toward God, without works.
You must understand the two part nature of salvation: Christ died for the sins of the world opening the door of salvation to all men, but each individual must come to God by faith for forgiveness of individaul sins.
Open Theology: history is running in real time. All is not predetermined nor is God looking down from eternity on the past, present, and future. He is guiding and controlling the flow of history according to his plan and judgments upon men.
Once Saved, Always Saved is our liberty in Christ

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Unless you understand and approach the study of the Bible with the above as your frame of reference you will wrest the Scriptures, forcing false interpretations upon and pervert them.

(This seems like a good place to mention what I think are beneficial aids to Bible study, especially in preparing a sermon or study. The following is a list of what I have on my computer for this purpose.

I find these apps helpful in preparing my studies.)

Grammar

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