Seven Guidelines For Bible Study

1. Acknowledge and Treat the Bible as the Accurate Word of God

Many people will say they believe the Bible is the Word of God, but we have to ask ourselves, “Do I really believe that? Do I tremble before the Bible or do I just read it like any other book? Do I trust that every single word in the original manuscripts comes directly from the mouth of God or do I think that perhaps God has allowed some errors to occur so it's no longer 100% accurate?”

The Bible was not written by man. True, man physically put the words on paper but every single word came from God:

“...holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:21)

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)

The fact that all Scripture is inspired by God is not to be understood the way we understand it when a fiction author says he or she was inspired by such-and-such. When God says all Scripture is inspired by Him He means that the scribes wrote down word-for-word what God wanted to be written:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14)

“Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.” (Jeremiah 30:2)

“Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.” (Jeremiah 36:2)

“For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God.” (1 Kings 8:53)

Moses is the one who physically put the words of the first five chapters of Genesis on parchment. He was not around to witness any of those events; yet we have such detailed accounts of what took place. Likewise, in Luke chapter 22 we have a prayer of Jesus’ recorded. The only people around were the disciples, but Jesus had walked away from them to pray while they were sleeping. Yet, we have Jesus’ exact words recorded. This is because God wrote the Bible, not man. Therefore, it is entirely accurate. Every single word in the original Hebrew and Greek was carefully selected by God.

There are those who argue that the original manuscripts were accurate, but then they suggest that the copies we have today are not as reliable because a scribe may have made an error while writing a copy. However, God preserves His Word and would have ensured that even the copies were made with 100% accuracy. We have examples of this in the Bible itself. When the original copy of the ten commandments was destroyed God ensured a copy was made exactly like the first:
“And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.” (Deuteronomy 10:4)

When Jehooiakim burned the roll containing God’s Word God ensured that a copy was made exactly like the first:
“Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.” (Jeremiah 36:27-28)

In fact, Jesus read from a copy of the Bible in Luke chapter 4, and His reading is recorded which indicates that what He read was the accurate Word of God.

2. Approach the Bible with an Open Heart

If we really are interested in finding truth in the Bible, then we must be willing to accept that what we currently believe or what we’ve been taught may be wrong. This is difficult to do because we trust our teachers and family. In the busy lives we all lead it’s admittedly easier to simply assume that what we’re being taught is accurate, but we should be spending time studying the Bible to ensure we are being presented with faithful doctrines.

Our teachers and family don’t intentionally teach us falsehoods. Pastors teach what they were taught in seminary, and seminaries teach what their founding fathers believed to be accurate. These teachings all appear to make sense to the student because the student is listening to the supporting Scripture under the assumption that the teaching itself is accurate. Then they read the Bible and interpret it in light of the doctrines they assumed were accurate. This is why it is so important that we approach the Bible without any assumptions of what it teaches.

We have to set our feelings and logic aside when we study the Bible. We have to be careful not to interpret God’s Word in light of what we feel is right or logical. There are many truths in the Bible that are scary or difficult to comprehend. If we try to make Scripture fit within the box of human logic, then we are likely to lose grip of some spiritual truth. If we find ourselves thinking, “I just don’t think God would do that so I must be reading this wrong,” then we need to take a step back and reassess our approach. This kind of statement indicates that we are reading the Bible in light of what we feel is right, rather than letting God’s Word alone guide us.

We have to be careful that we aren't accidentally trying to be wiser than God:
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)
“Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:21)

3. Approach the Bible with Patience

The Bible is complicated and difficult to understand, not because it’s old but because God purposely wrote it that way. He could have written the Bible so that any child could understand it, but it was God’s intent that truths in the Bible be hidden and only revealed to believers:
“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” (Matthew 13:10-13)

We also find this fact taught in the Old Testament:
“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

It’s not by chance that the Bible can easily be used to support numerous contradicting doctrines. Diligent and careful study is required in order to discover truth within it. Unfortunately, a common study method is to assume that if we can understand the surface teaching of a passage, then we shouldn’t look for a deeper spiritual teaching. This approach causes us to dismiss the richness of the Bible’s content. Remember Who wrote the Bible.

There are doctors who spend half of their lives learning about the human body and even then they only have a pretty good understanding of it. To really be an expert they have to narrow their focus to just one organ or one physiological process and specialize in it. The same is true of scientists. They typically have to narrow their focus and specialize in a specific area of their field because a lifetime is not enough time to become an expert in a broad focus. This sheds light on the complexity of God’s creation. The same God that created this intricate world also wrote the Bible. It should come as no surprise that a passage can reveal facts about a historical event, present a moral lesson, and provide us with a hidden spiritual teaching all at the same time.

God reminds us that we cannot quickly know everything the Bible teaches in a short period of time. It takes a lot of careful study, time, and patience:
“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. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:9-10)
God here is saying we are like little children being raised and slowly learning. Young children are not capable of writing the next great fiction novel by the time they are 3 years old. In order to write a story they must first learn the rules of grammar, and before that they must learn to read and write, and before that they must learn the alphabet. This is also how we learn from the Bible. We don’t read through it once and understand every teaching it has to offer. Instead, we must learn little by little, building one truth upon another. Therefore, the Bible must be approached with great patience and care.

4. Remember What Comprises God’s Word

We must keep in mind that the entire Bible is God’s Word, not just the New Testament or Jesus’ red-lettered words. We must also remember that only the entire Bible is God’s Word. We shouldn't be looking to any other source for spiritual truth. This is a relatively simple fact that most professing Christians acknowledge, but it’s inadvertently ignored when we allow our experiences to help mold our understanding of what’s spiritually true. If we allow a dream, for example, to play a role in our foundation of spiritual truth, then we have effectively expanded what we hold to be God’s Word. Then to us the Bible is no longer our sole source; it is the Bible plus something else.

5. Remember the Applicability of All Scripture

Second Timothy 3:16 says it best:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Passages in the Bible do not expire as the world’s culture changes. It is true that certain laws in the Bible no longer apply to us today, but it is not because our world’s culture makes them no longer relevant. Rather, it is because somewhere else in the Bible there is additional information instructing us that God has modified His law. We have to be careful that we don’t assume that parts of the Bible can become obsolete.

6. Let Scripture Interpret Scripture

The Bible is its own interpreter:
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spritual things with spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13)

God doesn’t always use words the same way we do in everyday speech. When we need clarification on a word or passage in the Bible we shouldn’t turn to a dictionary or reference book. We should check where else in the Bible God has used that word or phrase to help us gain an understanding of what God means when He uses it. The Bible is its own dictionary.

When we do these word studies it is important to keep in mind that we often need to go back to the original languages. A particular Greek word may have been used ten times in the original manuscripts, but when translated to English those ten occurrences may not have all been translated into the same English word. Likewise, just because we find the same English word in two different verses doesn’t mean they both were translated from the same Greek word. When it comes to word studies we should look up all occurrences of the original Greek or Hebrew word regardless of the English words into which they were translated.

7. Don't Confuse Popularity with Accuracy

Just because a doctrine is widely accepted doesn’t mean it is Biblically accurate. We might be tempted to think, “Surely not all of these theologians and pastors can be wrong about this,” but we need to be careful not to base our beliefs on what others believe. We may also catch ourselves thinking, “God wouldn’t let so many people believe something that’s wrong,” but the Bible contains many statements warning that the world is filled with false doctrines:
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

First Kings 18 tell us about the time Elijah was on Mount Carmel with 450 other prophets. The 450 prophets were those that the people of Israel trusted in and those prophets all agreed theologically, but Elijah disagreed. Yet Elijah had the truth. Consensus is never a basis for truth.

It’s human nature for us to believe that which sounds pleasant to us. We don’t want to hear bad news and we certainly don’t want to be presented with teachings that contradict what we’d like to believe.

Think about the story of Micaiah in First Kings chapter 22. The king of Judah came to seek Israel’s assistance in battle. The king of Israel sent for 400 prophets to determine if this was a wise move and all of them agreed that the king would be victorious. However, the king of Judah didn’t trust these prophets and asked for another prophet. The king of Israel said, “There is yet one man, Micaiah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” A messenger was sent to bring Micaiah and that messenger told him that all 400 prophets prophesied favorably for the king and that Micaiah should do the same, but Micaiah said, “As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.” He didn’t care what the popular prophesy was; he was going to stay faithful to God’s Word and so he told the king that they would be defeated. The king’s reaction was, “Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?” Later discover that Micaiah had the truth and the other 400 prophets that spoke favorable words did not.

We must always remember that the popularity of a doctrine doesn’t validate its accuracy. Sometimes God’s Word presents us with very unattractive truths and often these are ignored, side-stepped, or refuted by churches that don’t want to teach doctrines they don’t like. Please understand that this statement is not meant to offend anyone. The plethora of conflicting doctrines across the church community indicates that a lot of wrong doctrines are being taught. So where is truth? Though they conflict, all the doctrines can sound biblically accurate when presented by their teachers. If nothing else, this should at least make us want to double-check our approach to the Bible. Do we really approach it with an open heart or have we locked ourselves into the doctrines with which we’re comfortable?

I’m not pointing the finger at any particular denomination. We all need to set our pride aside, take an honest look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, “Who is really my teacher? Is it God? Or is it my pastor? Or perhaps it’s my family or friends?” Every one of us has been guilty of trusting what some other person has taught us without seriously examining that teaching in the Bible ourselves.