How to Study the Bible
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
I would go so far as to say that reading the Bible is the most important part of the Christian life. I didn't say the only part, of course you must be a member of a local church. You must worship God, pray, use your gifts etc. but reading the Scripture is what keeps all things in the Christian life in check. It is what help you to not fall for false doctrine. It is what helps you understand all the fundamentals of the faith, all the deep theological truths of the faith, and all other aspects of Christianity. It guards you, it instructs you, it equips you, it challenges you, it shows you your life in the past, your life in the present, your life as it should be, and your life as it one day will be. It teaches you about Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. It shows you the attributes of God. The list goes on and on. Here are a few things that you should know and understand when it comes to how to study the Bible:
I want to share some basic principles of how you should study the Bible. A more advanced study will be included in D2, but this is good practicable ways for any believer to study the Word of God.
1. Understand that the Bible is without error (inerrant), incapable of error (infallible), and sufficient for Christ life. It is God breathed (2 Timothy 2:16).
2. Pick out a good Bible version. There are many to choose from, but I would recommend a word for word translation. This is my opinion and in order of what I recommend: NASB, LSB, NKJV, HCSB, ESV.
3. Understand that Scripture is all about Jesus Christ and His work for you. Don't confuse that with believing that every verse in the Bible is directly about Christ, I like to say that all passages are either directly about Christ or indirectly pointing to Christ. All passages of Scripture point to Christ, even though they may be about someone or something specific. For instance, we could take the story of David. Many people use David as an example of the Christian life, but that is not so accurate. David is a foreshadow of Christ. David rescued the Israelites from their enemies: Jesus rescues us from our enemy of sin and death. You could use the story of David as an example of Christian life but never without pointing it to Christ who is our ultimate example. I wouldn't recommend using David as an example of Christian life however, because there are lots of passages in Scripture that directly speak to that topic. I would use David as a foreshadow of Christ. Every passage should be read and taught in that way. If you are reading or teaching about Christian life in any passage that is directly about that very thing do not do so absent from pointing those laws and examples to Jesus Christ and His work on our behalf. That is true of any topic, person, story, or parable that you run into across the entire Bible. It is a fine skill to do that, and it takes much practice. When you read a passage stop and consider how it points to Jesus.
4. If you are new to reading the Bible, I recommend this: Start with the gospel of John. It is the simplest to read and understand and will give you a great foundation for the rest of Scripture. I would recommend reading the entire New Testament before you dive into the Old Testament. After reading John I would move on to short books such as 1 John, 2nd John, 3rd John, Philippians, Philemon, Jude, Titus, and Colossians. Then I would move into the other gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. From there I would go with more difficult books: Galatians, Ephesians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, James, Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Romans, Hebrews, and save Revelation for last. When you get done move into the Old Testament, by then you should have the foundation to do step 1, seeing Christ in all of the passages.
5. Begin to think about attributes of God that you run into: God is love, holy, righteous, unchangeable, everywhere present, all powerful, creator of all things, etc.
6. After you have read the Bible go through it again, but this time go slow and study it. I recommend reading short books over and over again for one to two months, making notes, writing down questions that you don't understand, and making summaries about what the book is about. Get a good study Bible to help you with that such as the John MacArthur Study Bible.
7. Focus on what it says and not what you want it to say. We all have certain biases and opinions. We may have been taught something incorrectly at some point, so carefully read and interpret the text. The text is always going to say what it means and twisting its meaning can be very dangerous.
8. Pray that the Holy Spirit will illuminate the text and help you to understand the meaning of what you are studying.
