What is the Bible?
All Scripture is God-breathed or expired by God (2 Tim 3:16). Scripture is not in any way the product of man’s mind or wisdom. God caused the prophets to speak or write the words which he wanted them to by “moving” them using his power, the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:19-21). For this reason words which were written by the inspired writers are described for us as having been said by the Holy Spirit, e.g. David (Acts 1:16), Isaiah (Acts 28:25) and Jeremiah (Heb 3:7). The Holy Spirit is of course God’s power, so this is equivalent to saying that the words of Scripture, although written down by David, Isaiah or Jeremiah were actually spoken by God. God has provided the Bible for us, to reveal himself and his purpose that we may change the way we think and behave.
Why should we study the Bible?
To answer this question it is beneficial for us to continue looking at the passage we have already mentioned in regard to inspiration, 2 Timothy 3.
2 Timothy 3:15-17
"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works"
"Wise unto salvation"
By reading the Bible we can become wise, and as a result of this wisdom we can be saved from eternal death. It is worth emphasising that the Bible can only make us wise unto salvation “through faith which is in Christ Jesus”. We can never save ourselves by just reading the Bible and doing our best to follow what we find within it. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Rom 3:23), so we need grace and forgiveness. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast". If we think that doing Bible study as a purely academic exercise makes us automatically holier or better people and more deserving of salvation then we should banish those ideas immediately.
"Profitable...for doctrine"
Doctrine is the word for teaching or learning, so God has communicated his message to us in order to teach us the things we need to know. We can learn from it in many ways, for example through reading direct commandments or reading about the lives of people that the Bible tells us about.
"Profitable...for reproof"
This word only occurs twice in the NT, so by looking at its other occurrence we can get a better understanding of how it is used and what its meaning is. In Hebrews 11:1 we read, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". So in Hebrews the word elegchos is translated as “evidence”. Although there is a possibility that the word in Timothy could still have an equivalence with the English word “reproof”, it is more likely that we should understand the word “reproof” in Timothy as the word 'evidence' or 'conviction'. So the Bible is also profitable for helping us prove that God exists and that the Bible really is his revelation to us.
"Profitable...for correction"
This is a very valuable aspect of scripture for us to look into. The Greek word is made up of two words, epi and anorthoō and seems to be to do with a re-straightening. So we can use the Bible in order to correct and change the way we live our lives, and in a loving way, we can also correct and change our brethren and sisters to help us all to become more like Jesus and manifest the glory of God.
"Profitable...for instruction in righteousness"
This very simply tells us that the Bible teaches us to become righteous. We know that God is righteous (Rom 10:3), and we also know that Jesus is righteous (2 Pet 1:1). So by reading about God and his glory, his divine character (Exo 34:6), we can see what we need to try and live up to, and through Jesus who was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14) we can see the divine character manifest in the flesh, the ultimate example of righteousness for us to live up to. Of course God also gives us guidance for our lives, telling us what we need to do to try and please him. We can learn from the scriptures that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6), and we can learn that the way to remain undefiled before God is by visiting the fatherless and the widows and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world (Jam 1:27).
"That the man of God may be perfect"
This informs us that the final outcome of studying and reading the Bible is to become spiritually perfect. We know that in this life, as a result of our sinful nature, we cannot become completely perfect. But we know that when Jesus returns, those who are granted entry into his kingdom will be changed, they will become like Christ (1 John 3:2), we read that, "corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor 15:53). God is able to make us perfect, he can change us. So the exhortation for us now is to read God's word and apply it to our lives to try and change our hearts and minds and endeavour to start the process of becoming perfect, a process which will be completed by God’s grace at Christ’s return.
"Throughly furnished unto all good works"
This is the point of Bible study and is very much like the previous point. Jesus tells us there is none good but one - God (Luke 18:19). God wants the knowledge of his glory to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). As we read in Exodus 33 and 34, God's glory is his character, his divine attributes. So by reading God's word, we can understand more about his character, and better manifest him, becoming more like Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16). God wants to see fruit as a result of our Bible study, he wants to see good works, works which show his character.
How should we study the Bible?
Many different methods are used to study the Bible with varying degrees of success. We need to remember why we are studying the Bible. We know that the aim of studying the Bible is that "the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works". Bible study is about change, about developing the mind of the Spirit, and becoming more like Jesus. This change in our mind and our faith has to manifest itself in works. It is no good knowing the theoretical intricacies in the books of the Bible if we do not understand the practical implications. We must be hearers and doers (Matt 7:24-29, Rom 2:13, Jam 1:22). This brings us on to our first suggestion on how to study the Bible:
Practical application
As we have suggested, the aim of Bible study is to change ourselves, to better manifest the character of Yahweh, which was shown to us in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So what we read in Scripture is there to help us to do that. If the end result of all of this is going to be that God's glory fills the earth as the waters cover the sea then we need to understand exactly what God's glory is to try and change our minds to take on that character. Scripture is rich with examples of God being, "merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth", we need to seek these out and look at the way that God behaves, how pure and holy he is, and also how loving and gentle. This is what God wants to fill the earth with. So this is how we need to be!
Context
This is another fundamental cornerstone of Bible study, and one of the reasons why it is sometimes neglected during "study" is perhaps because of the nature of the word "study". We tend to separate the words "reading" and "study" as if they are two alien concepts. As we discussed earlier, God has given us his inspired word in order to help us change, to help us take on the mind of the Spirit, and we know that the Bible is profitable for lots of things. But we should not forget that it is a book, a book containing history, prophecy, poetry, music and letters. So we should read it like a book. That is not to say that we should read the whole thing cover to cover in one sitting, but we should read each passage in its context. We can get into difficulty if we try and isolate particular verses, or purely look at word links. This is of course something that some other denominations may have been guilty of in the past, and it inhibits true understanding as it does not allow us to look at the flow of a particular argument or dialogue.
Concordances
Concordances can be very useful, but should be used with care. Frequently people place far too much reliance on what James Strong or Robert Young say a word means. We should not forget that they were both fallible humans and as a result, we should be wary of completely trusting the definitions contained in their concordances. The correct way to use a concordance is help you look up the other passages in which the word occurs (the way in which God uses the word). If we are interested to understand what God means by a particular word or phrase, we can look at where else it occurs and then, by looking at the context of those other passages, we can begin to get an idea of what God means by that word. A good recommendation is the concordance software E-Sword which is absolutely fantastic and free to download online (www.e-sword.net).
Allusions and Quotations
The word 'allusion' in relation to Bible study, on a basic level, is when one part of the Bible contains language taken from another part of the Bible in order to direct our attention back to the original passage. These may come in the form of similar words, phrases or similar circumstances. Allusions can very often help us understand the particular passage that we are reading, by leading us back to another passage. God seems to use this method to say to us "You will find help with your understanding here". However, we should be careful not to neglect the context of the original passage, as previously discussed. Quotations are also very useful, the New Testament writers very often quote from the Old Testament writers, and the Old Testament writers also quote from previous books in the Old Testament. These can help us to understand the passage that we are studying because God is giving us a signpost, telling us to go and look at this passage.
Questions
1. Think of examples of characters in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, who used their scriptural knowledge to help them in trials and temptations.
2. Follow through the theme of knowledge, understanding and wisdom in the Proverbs.