How to Study your Bible
	People approach Bible study in strange ways. One person just opened his bible & put his finger on a random passage. (“Judas went out and hanged himself” – “Go & do thou likewise” – “What thou doest, do quickly”) Let’s observe some things about Bible study that will be more productive than this!
	Have an open mind. In order to understand what God is saying, we must, as much as humanly possible, free our minds from all prejudice and pre-conceived ideas. If we begin our study with our minds already made up about what our conclusion will be, then we will never learn the truth.
	Determine who is speaking, and to whom. Not everything recorded in the Bible is spoken by God, or even by a faithful man of God. God has seen fit to record what others have said – even things that are not true. For example, in regard to eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Genesis 3:3 says, “You will not surely die.” But those words were spoken by Satan. Unfortunately, Eve believed him and fell into his trap. Genesis 12:1 says, “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” God said those words. Does that mean each of us should leave our home country, and that God will show us where to live? Here we have to ask, “To whom was this spoken?” It was spoken to Abraham, and does not apply to us. Similarly, Genesis 6:14 says, “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.” Maybe you’ve been tempted lately to do that, but in fact the command was given to Noah, not to us.
	Determine in which period of Bible history the words were spoken. Not everything recorded in the Bible applies to us. The three examples just given are from the Patriarchal age, when God communicated directly with family heads (patriarch = father/ruler). That age began at creation and concluded with the giving of the Law of Moses at Mt. Sinai. The Mosaic age began with the giving of the Law and ended at the Cross when Jesus, having fulfilled it perfectly, took it out of the way. The Law served as a guardian to bring the Jews to Christ. Many of the principles of the Patriarchal and Mosaic ages are applicable today, but specific commands are not, unless they are repeated in the New Testament. We live in the Christian age, which began at the cross and will continue until Jesus returns. People often err in thinking the commands of the Patriarchal and Mosaic ages are binding on people living today. Good examples are the seventh-day Sabbath and the dietary laws of the Mosaic age. But the New Testament clearly teaches us that the Old Testament was taken away, and that the New Testament was established, being dedicated by the blood of Christ. We live under a new and better covenant, established on better promises. We certainly acknowledge that the Old Testament is the word of God, and that it was written for our learning. But if we try to establish and maintain our relationship with God by the Old Covenant, we put our own souls in jeopardy of being cut off from Christ (Galatians 5:1-4).
	Always observe verb tenses. As with any writing, verb tenses are meaningful in the Bible because they tell us whether the action is ongoing now, or in the future, or already past. About six months before His crucifixion, Jesus promised, “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). The verb tense (future) shows that the Lord’s church did not yet exist when Jesus spoke those words.
	Carefully observe the use of pronouns (I, we, me, us, you, he/she/they/it). For example, you can tell when reading thru Acts that Luke joins Paul’s group when he writes about “we” and “us,” but leaves the group when he reverts to using “they.”
	Pay attention to signal words (but, for/because, wherefore, therefore, however). Such words signal a contrast, an explanation, or a conclusion
	Always observe the context. Avoid like the plague the common practice of starting with your conclusion, and then picking a verse out of its context because it sounds on the surface like it supports the conclusion you’re already reached. Your conclusion may be a good one, but don’t abuse the word of God to back it up. In Genesis 43:3 says, “You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.” I’ve heard that text used to “prove” that you cannot go to Heaven and see God’s face unless you have brought at least one other person to Christ. Now, the New Testament clearly teaches our duty to evangelize. But Genesis 44:3 had nothing at all to do with that duty, and abusing it that way not only ignores context, but it also causes us to lose credibility with people we might otherwise be able to influence for good.
	I know not who first penned the seed thoughts for these remarks. I have filled in my own examples of the good points the original author listed. I hope these points will help you as you study your Bible on a regular basis.
		--Joe Slater (Justin, TX)