John 5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Greetings dear friends and family. The first question you must ask yourself is “Why are you wanting to study the Bible?”
This is really important because if you are not studying for the right reason then you will receive absolutely zero spiritual benefit from it and ultimately that is the only benefit that really counts. You may have heard of the word “theology”, this means “A study of the nature of God and religious beliefs”. There are many, many “Theologians” in the world who have a head overflowing with facts and Bible knowledge but do not show any fruit of the Spirit of God working in their lives. There are also many preachers and teachers who also are full of Bible facts and knowledge but have no fruit of the Spirit.
Some people start studying with good intentions but along the way somehow falter and forget the real reason for studying The Scriptures. In Christ’s day we have the Pharisees who were raised up knowing the scriptures by heart but failed at understanding. Notice what Christ said to them.
Matthew 22:29
But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Before we continue each one has to search their own heart as to why they want to study the Bible. Why they want to get familiar with The Word of God. Why they want to “search the scriptures”.
Paul wrote in Romans 15:4…
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.
There are several different ways to approach Bible study.
One way is you can study it by chapter or verse…meaning you can pick a chapter or a verse, read it, and then dig into it until you understand it. We will get to part of “how to dig” in a little bit.
Another way to study is you can pick a certain character or person and study and explore their life.
Another way is you can pick a subject or topic and explore what the whole Bible has to say about it as well.
No matter what way you choose, always keep these three important questions in mind.
#1. How do you see Christ in what you are studying?
#2. How can you apply what you are studying to your life?
#3. How can you share what you learn with others?
I imagine the greatest bible study that ever took place happened shortly after Jesus’s resurrection…two very distraught followers were walking on the way to Emmaus feeling sorry for themselves when Jesus appeared and walked with them. They didn’t realize it was Him and told Him all that had happened in the last week how the person they thought was their messiah was crucified and died..notice what Jesus said to them.
Luke 24:25-27
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: [26] Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? [27] And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Can you imagine the awesomeness of that conversation as Christ went through the Scriptures (Old Testament at that time) and pointed out all the the things pointing to Him???
Before we get any farther let’s talk about the different things we need for Bible study. Here’s the first one.
#1. TIME
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Time could easily be the most valuable thing we have. What we choose to do with it is completely up to us. Ask yourself, “How serious am I about wanting to get to know Christ better?” If you are serious then you are going to have to make some sacrifices. Sit down and in your notebook jot down your general daily schedule. We have 24 hours each day. Where can you fit in spending time with just you and God? Church doesn’t count. I’m talking about personal time just between you and God. Each needs to answer and figure that out for themselves. For me personally the best time is early morning while the whole house is sleeping, the mind is fresh, and there’s no distractions. Getting up early requires making the decision to go to bed on time. I know for mothers this might not be as easy to do nor am I saying you HAVE to. I’m sharing what works best for me and quite frankly the days I miss this time with God it seems like the whole day is shot. Each needs to pray and figure out where to put “Bible study” in their schedule.
Moving on to the next two “must haves” for studying the Bible. Number two is pretty obvious.
#2. A BIBLE
We could spend a lot of time on this subject but will try to keep it simple. Choosing the right Bible or Bibles is very important because depending on what you choose will greatly impact the “extra” tools available to you for deeper studying. One must go forward in prayer. First question to answer. What language are you more comfortable reading with? German or English? If it’s German then stick to a German Bible. If English then you might want to consider getting an English one.
When it comes to English Bibles, the options can become overwhelming. For the longest time the only one available was the KJV and to this day it’s the only version that isn’t copywrited..meaning nobody owns it And it can be freely printed, shared, and publically used without permission from a publisher.
Simply put, if you’re serious about “digging in” and studying then you want a version that is as close to the original text as possible. One that was translated into English from the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic language. From my own research and humble opinion some of the ones that best fit this are the KJV and NKJV. The NKJV is much easier to read and understand for most people because it takes out the “thou’s” and “thine’s” and other 16th century words that don’t get used anymore. One main reason that I love and use the KJV is because it’s what I’m used to. It’s what I started with and most of the “extra” tools I use work best with a KJV Bible.
There are other really good versions as well like the NIV, NASB, and ESV but there’s portions of scripture missing from some of these but that is a completely different topic. I do know and study with many people who use NKJV, NASB and NIV.
Now having said all that, I want to be clear. I am not telling you what Bible you should or shouldn’t get. I was simply sharing my thoughts on the subject. Before we are done with this subject I’ll show you how to look up and compare texts in the original language whenever confusion arises.
If you’re unsure of what you want, then pray about it, don’t overthink it. If you are sincere about studying, The Holy Spirit will help you understand and . Speaking of the Holy Spirit, that brings us to our next part.
#3. PRAYING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT.
No matter what kind of study you are doing or what language and version your Bible is, this step is a must! Each and every time you open those pages pray..just invite the Spirit into your mind to help guide and lead you. Don’t focus on if you “feel” anything happening just pray and by faith believe. Read these next passages slowly and carefully.
1 Corinthians 2:11-14
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Without the help of the Holy Spirit we will gain zero spiritual benefit for studying scripture. Just simple head knowledge. One more text on this..
John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will TEACH YOU all things, and BRING TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE all that I said to you.
As you study you might forget many things day by day that you covered and went over before but don’t fret..claim the promise above. Keep doing it day by day and in a year or two you will look back and be like “Wow!”. He will guide and lead you to understand as you’re ready. Take your time. It’s not a race.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
There’s a couple of extra tools I’d like to introduce to you if you are not aware of them already. We could do an entire lesson on each of these but will keep it simple. If you would like more detail feel free to reach out and I will help if I can. I will do my best to include pictures and examples of these tools as well.
The first one is a Concordance. A concordance is an alphabetical list of words, names, and places in the Bible and shows you references where they are at in the text. I know there are German ones available for the German bible but they are not nearly as extensive as the “Strong’s Complete Concordance” for the English KJV Bible. It literally lists every single word in the KJV Bible and references every text it can be found in. Not only that but it will point you to the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic word used for those words so you can then look up the literal meaning for them. This book isn’t one you carry with you everywhere it’s a big book.
In the back of most Bibles there is usually a concordance but once again, not an extensive one.
Now, there are concordance apps available as well and once you get the hang of using them are much faster and a lot easier to carry around.
One of the ways the concordance app is helpful to me is in instances where I can think of a text but not the book and chapter where its listed. So if I remember one or two key words from that text I’ll type it into my concordance app and boom…every verse in bible with those key words pop up. Here’s the drawback. You have to make sure it’s spelled right or phrased right or you won’t find anything.
Isaiah 28:9-10
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. [10] For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little
There’s only a couple more tools I want to share with you. This next one many of you are probably already familiar with.
The entire Bible is connected and interwoven with other scripture. When I first started to study I noticed this as a thread that seemed to be woven throughout the Bible. That thread eventually started to look like a rope, then a steel cable, now an I-beam. It’s amazing the treasures and “clicks” you will find.
The next tool I’d like to talk about is a Reference Bible. A Reference Bible is a Bible that includes references along with the text. Those references lead you to other texts that are similar or connected. I’ll show you some examples of a couple that I have and one I use daily.
Not all Reference Bibles are the same. Some have more references then others.
If a certain text puzzles you references are helpful in that they can direct you to a text that will help you better understand, or as some say “Connect the dots”.
Isaiah 28:9
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
This last tool I’d like to point out to you is something that you may not be enthused about right away. The wisdom and knowledge in the Word of God is endless. Any elderly person will tell you a lifetime of study will never be enough to see all the wonders in it. This next “tool” I want to show is something I’ve just recently started doing and am very excited about. It is taking “studying” to the next level. Kind of like the verse up top brought out, “being weaned from the breast and moving on to deeper things” Paul referred to it as moving on from having “milk to having meat” (1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12) What I’d like to show you is how to look up words and texts in their original language and why it’s important. Let’s take for instance the first verse in the Bible.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Now people read that and think, ok, God created the heavens and the earth..but in John chapter 1 we read…
John 1:1-3,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] The same was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. [14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Now clearly this is talking about Jesus Christ..no doubts about that. So how does that fit together with Genesis 1:1? Well friends when you look up the verse in the original Hebrew language word for word you learn something amazing. The original Hebrew word for “God” in Genesis 1:1 is “Elohim”. If you look up what that means, it literally is “plural for God” meaning more than one. The singular word for “God” in Hebrew is “Eloah”. Two different words, but when translated into German and English both words are used as one word, “God” or “Gott”
“Once we understand that it is easy to understand how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit all three were part of Creation.
There are many, many such examples. Another one is the word “hell”. The original Greek and Hebrew uses four different words with completely different meanings but when put into English the KJV uses the same word, “hell”, for all of them. That’s why there is so much confusion when doing a study on the subject of hellfire and when it is to be.
Ok, so how do we look up words in their original language. Well the same concordance I mentioned above, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, will help you with that. There are also apps for it. One of my favorites is called Bible Hub.
I hope this was a blessing to you and a help to your walk with Christ. May God guide and lead you in your walk and study of His Word.