Bible Study Tools
“Because the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the uniquely inspired revelation of God and the standard of truth in all matters of faith and practice, a portion of each day should be set aside to read, study and meditate on God’s Word. The Bible is to the spirit what food is to the body.”
From Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden
From Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden
I don’t know about you but learning how to dive into my Bible can be daunting and the deeper meanings hard to understand or decode. Dan addressed this and more a couple weeks ago in his sermon titled, “Life Changing – Grounded” (click HERE to listen). There is also a four part sermon series titled, “The Source” focused on the reliability of the Bible. Find it online through these links: Week #1: Is the Bible Trustworthy?, Week #2: In Defense of Canonicity, Week #3: Is the Bible Useful?, and Week #4: How To Read the Bible.
Reading the Bible gives peace and perspective we cannot gain from anything or anyone else. The Bible does have a language that over time becomes easier and easier to understand as we become more familiar with it and as we allow the Holy Spirit to work more freely in us. Studying the Bible is a spiritual discipline that takes practice and diligence to make it part of our daily life.
When reading scripture it is so important to read it within the context of when it was written in time and gain some perspective on the cultural times as well to help really grasp the overall meaning. There are a variety of study tools available in print and online to help get a better understanding of the scriptures so in today’s post we are going to take a look at a few examples of them.
First and foremost before reading the Bible, pray to the Holy Spirit inviting and asking him to guard your time as you read the Bible, calm and quiet your heart, and make your ears and eyes attentive to the truth you will hear. Be sure to have a journal with you as well to write down questions, common themes, and specific scripture references that jump out to you. Over time you may start seeing a repetitive pattern emerging and that could be God nudging you to take notice and press in on certain topics.
We all connect with God in different ways so not all of these tools will be preferred by everyone. Try a few and figure out what works best for you.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training righteousness, so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ~2 Tim 3:16-17
SOAP
This is a simple devotional method called S.O.A.P. which stands for "Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer". Here’s how it works:
This is a simple devotional method called S.O.A.P. which stands for "Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer". Here’s how it works:
1) Read the Scripture passage for the day.
2) S – Write down the verse or phrase that jumps out to you.
3) O – Write in your own words the truth God is communicating.
4) A – Write what your life would look like if you lived this truth.
5) P – Write out a prayer asking God to help you live this truth.
3) O – Write in your own words the truth God is communicating.
4) A – Write what your life would look like if you lived this truth.
5) P – Write out a prayer asking God to help you live this truth.
Here is a link to an example SOAP entry and more details - http://www.heartlandchurch.org/wp-content/themes/heartland/d/SOAP.pdf
INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY
Source: Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden – see pages 42-43 for more details
Source: Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden – see pages 42-43 for more details
This is a more extensive study option that uses the scientific method of investigation like a good reporter might use when gathering information to write a story – Who? What? Where? When? How? And Why? This involves starting with the data in the biblical text and from that drawing conclusions about the meaning and application to our lives. Click HERE for an outline.
DIFFERENT BIBLES AND TRANSLATIONS
Reading scripture from different Biblical translations is often helpful in providing additional meaning to certain words and the overall scriptural themes. Here are some common Bibles and translations referenced around Heartland (not an exhaustive list).
Reading scripture from different Biblical translations is often helpful in providing additional meaning to certain words and the overall scriptural themes. Here are some common Bibles and translations referenced around Heartland (not an exhaustive list).
- Life Application Study Bibles – Provides footnotes, character profiles, timelines, history of the times, charts, tables, and maps
- NKJ – New King James
- MSG – The Message
- NIV – New International Version
- NLT – New Living Translation
- NAS – New American Standard
- Online Sources for different Bible Translations -
Example using Blue Letter Bible online resource:
- Enter scripture passage reference (e.g. John 3:16) into first “Search” field
- Select the Bible translation you desire from drop down and click “Search”
CONCORDANCES
“A Bible concordance is an alphabetical listings of words and phrases found in the Holy Bible and shows where the terms occur throughout all books of Scripture. With cross-references for verses, concordances make it easy to understand the meaning of terms and the context in which those words are used. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is the most widely known and popular and includes Greek and Hebrew dictionaries for a better understanding of the original meaning. “ (Source: Bible Study Tools Online - http://www.biblestudytools.com/concordances/)
Let’s go through an example and do some deeper research using the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Online. The scripture verse we will be researching is Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The key words we will be looking up are: grieve, sealed and redemption. Our goal is to research all 3 key words of this verse to give the verse a fuller and more accurate meaning.
Here is the process:
- Go to http://www.biblestudytools.com/concordances/strongs-exhaustive-concordance/
- Enter Ephesians 4:30 in the box that says “Search the bible with Strongs”
- Click the New American Standard Version and hit the Search button
- Near the top of the next page click box next to “Strongs Numbers”. This will highlight key words in the verse.
- Click on the word “grieve”. You will see the Greek word for grieve is LUPEO. You will see all the books in the Bible where the word LUPEO is used. You will also see the definition for LUPEO: to make sorrowful, affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into sorrow, to grieve, offend, to make one uneasy.
COMMENTARIES
“Written by well-known and popular theologians, Bible commentaries aid in the study of Scripture by providing explanation and interpretation of Biblical text. Whether you are just beginning to read Scripture or have been studying the Bible daily, commentaries offer greater understanding with background information on authorship, history, setting, and theme of the Gospel. Verse by verse exposition of the New and Old Testament can be found in commentary written by some of the greatest Christian church leaders including John Calvin, Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, and C.I. Scofield.” (Source: Bible Study Tools online - http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/)
The key to reading these is to make sure you are referencing a reputable commentary whose interpretations are Biblically sound.
Online resources:
- http://www.studylight.org/ - Contains online written commentaries from various theologians that can be accessed by looking up specific scripture passages.
- http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/ - Contains written commentaries from various theologians that can be accessed by looking up specific scripture passages.
- http://www.blueletterbible.org/ - Has both text and audio commentaries, dictionaries, etc. Matthew Henry’s Commentary is a common one referenced.
- Enter scripture passage reference (e.g. John 17:1-5) into first “Search” field
- Select the Bible translation from drop down and click “Search”
- Scripture will appear with various blue squares next to each
- To view commentaries available, click the blue square with an “L” on it to bring up a drop down list of available commentaries. Scroll down to the “Text Commentaries” and select Matthew Henry’s Commentary
- . . . For Everyone Series by NT Wright - Commentaries on various books in the Bible such as “John for Everyone” or “Matthew for Everyone” . . . available in the Heartland Bookstore (click HERE to access their online store)
Happy studying!!
~Tara G.
