How to Study the Bible and Benefit from It

Previously, I have covered a brief introduction to the Word of God, The Bible. I have also provided many reasons why believers should study the Bible. I think it will be unfair if I do not show you how to handle the study. Therefore, the following is the collection of tips that I have gathered from Bible study classes and reading Books like How to Study the Bible by John MacArthur.

This article is not a comprehensive lesson on how to interpret everything in the Bible. But I intend to highlight a few things that you need to keep in mind as you study your Bible. If you can keep these in mind, they will be solid foundation upon which you can build the rest of your approach to Bible Study.

If you have not read the previous articles in this series, I strongly recommend that you do so prior to or after reading this one. Check out: The Word of God (The Bible) and Why You Should Study the Bible.

Bible study is not done (or at least should not be done) for the sole purpose of getting an academic experience. It is not meant to provide you the mental capacity to win an argument or even to teach facts. The purpose of Bible study is the transformation of the one who studies. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we read these words:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

For the Word of God to accomplish this in your life, the following must be true of you:

1. You Are Indwelt by the Holy Spirit

You need the Holy Spirit to understand the truth of Scripture as He is the Spirit of truth and the true Teacher. Without Him in your life, the Scripture will sound like foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23; 2:14). In other words, you cannot understand the scripture without the help of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Prior to the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, Jesus Christ stated part of His roles:

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

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.

However, you do not possess the indwelling Holy Spirit until you are genuinely saved. The Bible clearly teaches that you do not receive the seal of the Spirit until you have believed or trusted in Christ for your salvation (see Ephesian 1:13-14; Galatians 4:4-7).

As part of regeneration, the new birth, the believer received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He is joined into the Body of Christ, indwelt and sealed by the Spirit. So, you need to be saved to get the Holy Spirit. And you need the Holy Spirit indwelling you to understand and obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22).

That’s not to say that an unbeliever or an unsaved person cannot get facts from the Bible. But those facts would be mere head knowledge and will not produce the fruit that only the Holy Spirit can produce in the life of a genuine believer.

2. You are Consistent and Diligent in Your Study

From personal testimony, Bible study is truly awesome, and might even be the best thing you can do with your time. At the same time, it is not easy to make time for it. There are just too many things competing for your time and attention all day long.

But whosoever will grow in the knowledge of God must be willing to pay the time sacrifice required to study consistently and diligently. In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul instructs Timothy thus:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Diligence and hardworking are required to train for anything. The rate of your growth in the Christian life will be directly proportional to the amount of the knowledge of God that you possess. And your knowledge is determined by how much effort you put into studying the Word of God.

Peter speaks of this diligent in his Epistles as well – see 2 Peter 1:10; 3:14, 17-18. So, gather your study materials – Bible (Reference and/or Study Bibles), Commentaries, Dictionaries, Software, etc.), have a study plan and follow through.

My advice for you is to start small, this helps you to be consistent. It is easier to be consistent with reading a Chapter a week than reading a whole Book in week. But however way you choose to begin, just do it diligently and consistently.

3. You are Ready to Learn and Change

This may sound ironic and someone may ask: why would I want to study the Bible if I wasn’t ready to learn? But the point here is about being teachable. I cannot over-emphasize the fact that the Bible is given to us that we might be change by its truth.

Therefore, as you study, prepare to be challenged, rebuked, and corrected by the word of God. I can guarantee you that it will happen. And when it does, you must allow the Word to do its job of transforming you into the image of Christ, the One for whom you are called to live.

This is why there must be in you the genuine love for God and the unwavering desire to please Him and not yourself. Approach the Bible with humility and an open mind. Be willing to let go of your past beliefs whenever they are challenged by the Word of God. And be willing to change your ways whenever they are in conflict with the will of God.

Make the follow passages and many more in the Bible your watchword:

Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Please bear the following in mind as you approach your Bible study. They will greatly help you in the process.

1. The Bible is Not a Mysterious Book

The Bible is written by God; “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). However, the Bible is not a mysterious Book. Some preachers and Church leaders like to speak of some deep and mysterious things in the Bible which only the specially anointed or spiritual few can understand.

Be careful about people who say such things! There is no such things in the Bible as the mysteries that only the few enlightened can comprehend. They make those claims to make you depend on them for God’s words. But God wants you to learn for yourself, and anyone who diligently seeks God through His Word will find Him.

Diligent Study Makes the Difference

The only difference between a preacher and his followers is the fact that in many cases, the preacher spends more time to study the Bible than an average Church member. Many Pastors dedicate quality time to Bible Study because of their preaching and teaching roles.

If the members can invest more of their times in Bible studies, they too will become less dependent on others for inspirations. All Christians have the same anointing and “an unction from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20) which enable us to know the things of God. That of course does not mean that we no longer need Pastors and Teachers.

Interpretation Sometimes Takes Efforts

While some things in the Bible might be hard to understand, more studies always help. There is nothing so mysterious in the Bible that requires special anointing to understand. If it was a mystery before, and it’s now written for us in the Scripture, then it is now revealed and no longer a mystery.

So, the simple fact that we do not understand a passage in the Bible does not make it a mystery. It just means that we need to study more!

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

The anointing in the above passage is given to all true believers. There are no such things as special anointing which only a few Christians have. Also, There are no such things as “deep deep mysteries” in the Bible for which you require special anointing to comprehend.

“Deep Calleth unto Deep”?

When people run around the Bible and just throw around Bible words or expressions like “deep calleth unto deep“, they have no idea what they are talking about. As a matter of fact, many of those who like to use the expression “deep calleth unto deep” don’t even know what that passage means.

Try this: The next time you hear someone use that expression (that is, to refer to a supposed incomprehensible passage), if you can, interrupt the person and ask him to tell you what it means.

“The Bible is not a Book of hidden truth” – Dr. John MacArthur.

“The language of the Scriptures is of three kinds. Figurative, Symbolical and Literal. The Figurative is explained by the context, the Symbolical either in the context or somewhere else in the Scriptures, and the rest should be taken literally. That is, we are to read the Bible as we would read any other book, letting it say what it wants to say, without allegorizing or spiritualizing its meaning.” Clarence Larkin

2. “All the Bible is Written FOR You, But Not All the Bible is Written TO You”

I got the statement in the above subtitle from my Church. The Brother who said it did not remember who originally coined the statement. While the Bible was written for all people to learn from and to lead them to Christ, everything in the Bible is not addressed to everyone the same way.

The Bible addresses three different groups of people:

1. The Jews,
2. The Gentiles, and
3. The Church.

The Jews are those whose ancestors came from among the 12 Tribes of Israel. If you are not from Israel, then you are a Gentile. The Church comprises of both the Jews and the Gentiles who have trusted in Christ. Not all Jews are part of the Church and not all Gentiles are part of the Church.

There are some things in the Bible that address only the Jews, others are there that only pertain to the Body of Christ, the Church. The majority of the Old Testament is all about the Jews, while majority of the New Testament is for the Church.

This does not mean that the Church does not read the Old Testament, but you, as a Christian, need to know the right way to apply the Old Testament today. This knowledge is very crucial to Bible studies. I have seen many people, ministries and denominations fall into errors as result of their failure to properly interpret and apply what they read in the Bible.

Old Testament Vs. New Testament Books

For instance, let’s compare the Books of Isaiah in the Old Testament with the Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament. Isaiah begins with this statement:

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” Isaiah 1:1.

It is obvious from the very first verse of the Book that it is written “concerning Judah and Jerusalem”, the Jews.

Now compare this with 1 Corinthians 1:2:

“Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”

The Corinthians are Books written exclusively to the Church.

So you say what is the purpose of Isaiah for the Church then? Should we just stop reading it? Absolutely not! The Book of Isaiah gives us a lot about the prophecies concerning Christ and His suffering for our transgressions. When we read those prophecies today, we understand them better than the Jews of those days.

The Book of Isaiah also gives a lot of prophecies that are still future today, especially those concerning Christ’s second advent and the Millennial Reign of Christ. We can also read about Israel in the Old Testament and learn from the mistakes that they made in their relationship with God.

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The Proper Application of Knowledge

Bear this in mind that there is no part of the Scriptures from which we cannot learn one, two or more lessons. All Scripture is profitable for us in many things, we just need to properly apply them to ourselves bearing in mind the intended recipient of the passage in view.

For instance, when we study the 10 Commandments today, they give us a clue (only a shadow) of what God’s holiness looks like. We learn a lot about God from it. But we do not go about killing people today for not keeping the Sabbath.

Many people stumble today when they get to the Epistle of James where they go to preach the gospel of works. If you understand the group of people that James was addressing in his letter (James 1:1), you won’t think that you’re justified today by your works. Refer to Faith and Works for Salvation? Galatians 2 Vs. James 2.

Deliverance, or More Bondage?

Another example of error in this area are some so-called deliverance ministries today whose ministries were established based upon wrong interpretation of Scriptures. One of them would reference Obadiah 17 as the basis for their deliverance ministry.

Obadiah 17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

The problem with that claim is that, first, this verse has nothing to do with the Body of Christ. It is a prophecy for the nation of Israel as the context clearly shows. Secondly, the prophecy is still future today.

The truth is that the true believers have been delivered based upon Christ’s accomplishment and do not need any deliverance rituals. These people are yet to come to terms with that truth, the truth of the gospel.

“ALL Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, (2 Timothy 3:16), and what happened to Israel was written for our ENSAMPLE and ADMONITION, (1 Corinthians 10:11), but we must not apply to the Church what does not belong to it. To do so is to misapply Scripture and lead to confusion.” Clarence Larkin.

3. The Knowledge of Dispensation is Important

Dispensation is how God deals with different people in a different way. There is one God and He does not change. But He sometimes deals with people differently from time to time. Continue reading for more on this.

It is important to be aware of the truth about dispensation. Unfortunately, there many Christians and Churches today who do not believe in the concept. I have spent over a decade in a Church where the word ‘dispensation’ was never spoken by anybody not to talk of preaching about it.

But if you pay attention to this, and especially if you would spend some extra time to research it, you will overcome a lot of confusions that many people have today regarding the Bible. Think of the following  confusions among many Christian denominations.

1. Confusions Concerning Salvation and Righteousness

Some things worked differently under the Law dispensation from the way they work under the Grace dispensation. One clear and obvious example is how we attain the righteousness of God.

Prior to the Cross of Christ, there was no mention in the Bible of trusting in the shed blood of Christ for salvation (compare Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:6-7; Colossians 1:12-14). The people of Noah’s time had to enter an ark. Under the Law, the people related with God on the basis of their obedience to the Law of Moses and the animal sacrifices.

Deuteronomy 6:24-25 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

But today in the Church Age, the focus is on the sacrifice of Christ. And righteousness is gifted (not earned) in the gospel.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 4:4-5 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Later in the Book of Romans, the Bible says that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 10:4. Things have changed since the Cross, yet it is still the same God (Hebrews 13:8).

As you can see, trying to earn righteousness by the works of the Law is no longer needed today. That ended when Christ shed His blood on the cross about 2000 years. Today we are justified  by “the righteousness which is of God by faith” and not by our “own righteousness, which is of the law”. Philippians 3:9.

I have to to say at this point that this does not mean that Christian should no longer be passionate about good works. But make no mistake of thinking that you could earn righteousness before God by your good works.

Good works are good for the believers, it is the way we worship God with our lives. But without genuine salvation, you’re still an enemy of God (Colossians 1:21) despite all your efforts (Isaiah 64:6). This understanding will help you clearly differentiate between the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible, especially with regards to salvation.

2. Confusions Concerning Holy Ghost Baptism

Another are of confusion for many people is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Should we pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit or did we get it when we believed? That depends on whether or not you can tell the difference between the Old and the New Testaments.

There are those who are still stuck in the Old Testament where it sounds like Jesus was telling the people to pray for the Holy Spirit (see Luke 11:13).

If you’re surprised that I said Old Testament and referenced Luke 11, I know where you’re coming from. Though Luke 11 appears in the New Testament part of the Bible, the event recorded there was still Old Testament. Contact me or leave a comment below if you need more details on that.

When you get past the Gospel of Luke, you will see something difference as you get closer to the New Testament. The same Jesus later says that the Holy Spirit will be received by those who believe on Him. But this won’t be the case until after Christ has been glorified.

The Holy Spirit in the Believer

John 7:38-39 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Epistle later makes it quite clear that every believer received the Holy Spirit at the moment of belief (refer to: Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Corinthians 12:13; and many more). But what you see in some denominations today are the leaders making others do certain things to receive the Holy Spirit.

Someone once told me that I had to earnestly pray for and desire the baptism before I can receive it. Others won’t believe you have it until you speak in tongues. Very ridiculous! Every genuine believer already possesses the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have Him in you, then you’re not saved. That’s not my opinion, listen to the Bible:

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

It is important for you to know where you belong in the Bible and how to properly apply the Scripture in both Old and New Testaments.

4. There Are No Contradictions in the Bible

Many people in the world today believe that the Bible is not reliable. They claim that it contradicts itself too much. I had a professor in college who said she couldn’t read the Bible for that reason.

But the truth is that there are no contradictions in the Bible. If you find anything in the Bible that seems to contradict another part of the Bible, then you need to study further. Nothing is contradictory in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 14:33  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Galatians Versus James

I mentioned the Epistle of James earlier. If you do not have the understanding of the purpose of James’ Epistle versus that of Paul to the Galatians, you will think Galatians 2 contradicts James 2. Compare these follow passages from both Epistles:

Galatians 2:16,21  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

James 2:20-24 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

What do you think? Contradictory?

On the surface, they look and sound contradictory, but they are not. Paul and James are addressing difference groups of people. One group thinks they have to do the works of the Law to be justified. The other believes in salvation by grace alone but they have poor testimonies with regards to their lifestyles.

Also, the application of the word ‘faith’ is different in the two passages. For more on this point, please refer my other study: Faith and Works for Salvation? Galatians 2 Vs. James 2.

The point is that a good understanding of the purpose of a Book in the Bible, to whom it is written, as well as both the historical and cultural backgrounds, are needed to address these seeming contradictions.  As you should have realized already, all these take time. So, you must make time for the serious study of the Word of God.

I strongly recommend that you begin all your study sessions with prayer. You’re not studying the Bible just to gain mere head knowledge, you are studying to hear what God has to say to you through His Words. Therefore, you need your heart prepared to receive the message.

The following are three crucial steps to Bible Study and must be carried out in the following order:

1. Read the Bible

Bible study begins by reading the Bible.

“Reading the Bible answers the question: What does the Bible say?” John MacArthur.

The good news for our generation is that reading the Bible is now easier than ever before. We have a lot of tools at our disposal to do this. For instance, you can read the Bible today and also listen to the audio. I find myself doing this more often now.

When I choose a Book of the Bible to study, usually for 30 or 15 days (I will tell you shortly where I learned that), I will pick a time of the day to read the Book while I also listen to the audio version of the Book at other times during the day. By so doing, I can listen to a Book like Galatians up to 10 times a day if I so choose.

You know what happens to you after you’ve listened to a music album repeatedly, you will begin to memorize and sing the whole album by heart. Who says you cannot do that with the Bible? It works for me. So try it.

(As a bonus, I have an audio Bible app on my phone called YouBible narrated by Alexander Scourby, the app is capable playing and repeating a playlist of verses or a single Book of the Bible).

Old and New Testaments

According to John MacArthur in his book, How to Study the Bible, for reading the Old Testament, read straight from Genesis to Malachi, do this at least once a year.

But for the New Testament, he recommends spending more time with it for obvious reasons – the doctrines for the Church are found in the New Testament. As a result of that, MacArthur recommends reading a Book repeatedly for a number of days, like 30 days for short Books like Galatians, Ephesians, or 1 John.

He added that as you read, take notes. Right down questions, observations, and other clues you find in the Bible. You will be erasing some of these hand writing as you read repeatedly. This is because some of areas that were initially unclear would later become clear. So, it is recommended that you use a pencil or something that can be erased.

 2. Properly Interpret the Text

Do not approach Bible study with any preconceived notion. If you do so, you will only hear from yourself and not from God.

After reading the Bible, the next required step is to do all you can to correctly interpret the text. This is what the Bible refers to as “rightly diving the Word of truth” in 2 Timothy 2:15.

Interpreting the Bible answers the question: What does the Bible mean by what it says?” – John MacArthur.

Unfortunately many people usually forget to do this step or they just do it poorly. That is why someone can apply Obadiah 17 to the Church today. If you don’t pay attention to this stage, you will read your own meanings to the text.

This is exactly why many fall into errors and all kinds of false doctrines which they supposedly found in the Bible.

Doing the following observations along the way will help you as you study the Bible:

• Pay attention to what you see. We should endeavor to find out what the Bible is saying, rather than inferring point out of context. Apply to your study the wisdom of Psalm 119:18  “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” i.e the Word. This is because it is possible for you to see something and not observe it.
• Identify and define the terms you come across – This is where Bible dictionaries and Study Bibles are important. But be careful with Study Bibles because many of them contain the bias of the author(s).
• Identify the sentence structure – understand tenses, etc. There is a good reason why some things are written in past tense and other are written in the present or future tense. This is extremely important for correct interpretation.
• Identify the Atmosphere – When Jesus prayed in the garden “and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44), He was about to face the most painful experience of His life. This is not a precedence for us to mimic because as a matter fact, Christ went through all that so we don’t have to go through them. God does not require anybody to pray in that manner today.
• Do not make up your own interpretation. Although a passage in the Bible may have multiple applications, no passage has multiple interpretations. So be careful about saying “this is what this verse means to me”.

CONTEXT! CONTEXT!! CONTEXT!!!

One of the important keys to interpretation is context. Isolating a verse or a statement from the rest of the passage will lead you to error. My friend in our Study Group would often quote his Pastor this way: “Don’t take one word in the verse and run with it”.

The way to read a verse in context is to ready the 3-5 verses before and after the verse. The process my Pastor refers to as taking a few steps backwards and a few steps forward. This will enable you to understand, in context, the point of the verse.

After trying the above approach, if you still have issues, then read the entire Chapter. If still not satisfied, read the entire Book. One verse in the Bible will never contradict any other part of the Bible. There is harmony in the Scripture.

“Misinterpretation is the mother of all kinds of mania” John MacArthur

Some Recommended Study Aids

You will need some tools for your study, and the following items will greatly help you:

• A Study Bible – as mention earlier, please use Study Bible notes with caution
• A Reference Bible – the best of this is Westminster Reference Bible, it has no match!
• Other Bible Cross References – check out Treasure of Scripture Knowledge for this
• A Concordance – this help you to look up other references to a Bible word or expression
• The Chapter Headings of some Bibles help to see the point of the passage that follows. Just like Study Bibles, some headings may be based on the bias of the author(s)
• Historical Maps – this will help you visualize the locations of some events you read about in the Bible
• Fellow Believers in your local Church, because you will have questions –  this has been a tremendous blessing to me
• Join a Bible Study group or attend a weekly Bible Studies if your Church has one.
• A Bible Software will help, either on your phone or on your computer. If you want to go deeper, you can even do some Greek and Hebrew word studies with some applications.
• Your Notebook is very important. There is nothing more frustrating than learning something and then forgetting it. But writing down your findings will help you avoid this problem. Plus, you want to be able to share what you’re learning with others. Bible study with note taking is part of what led me to what I do on Grace Tidings Missions.

Memorize the Scripture

At this point where you now understand the meaning of some verses or passages, I will recommend trying to memorize the Scripture verses. By doing this, you will be piling up the sword of the Spirit in your heart and mind.

This will becomes handy at certain times when you’re facing temptations or hard times. Plus, you can be an encouragement to others with the Word of God. It is the Word of God that you have in your heart that will help you in times of need.

“You can have a Bible Warehouse and not have the sword of the Spirit” John MacArthur.

If you pay attention to my articles, you will notice that I reference many scripture verses. Many times I will write out the full text of the verses. I do this on purpose and for good reasons. You can begin your scripture memorization by picking from some of these references.

Psalm 119:11  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

3. Apply What You’ve Learned

The purpose of studying the scriptures and receiving the word of God is so that we can do something about it, in the sense of applying it to our lives.

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

According to Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the words used in the above passage can be understood as follows:

• For doctrine. is for teaching or communicating instruction.
• For reproof. is for convincing a man of his sins and errors (Proverb 12:1)
• For correction. is setting to rights, reparation, restoration…the leading to a correction or amendment of life–a reformation.
• For instruction in righteousness. Instruction in regard to the principles of justice, or what is right. Man needs not only to be made acquainted with truth, to be convinced of his error, and to be reformed; but he needs to be taught what is right, or what is required of him, in order that he may lead a holy life.

The above is the purpose for which the Word of God, the Bible is written and given to us. When we diligently study it, that is what it should do in us. The Word of God is life (John 6:63), and it is capable of changing the lives of those who study and obey it.

Therefore, it is an exercise in futility to study the Bible without a keen desire to obey what it says or apply its truth to your life.

James 1:21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness [i.e. overflowing of wickedness], and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

The ultimate goal of the Christian life is maturity – that is what 2 Timothy 3:17 refers to as ‘perfect’ in the King James Bible. That is why we were given the Holy Spirit when we believed. It is also why the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given. That in the end, we might be like Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

But this can only be a reality in your life if you submit to the authority of the scripture and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I hope and pray that you would do that as you study the Scripture.

Thank you for reading!