How to Study the Bible

"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.

Seven Points for Bible Study

1. Always consider the historical, geographical, and cultural setting of the passage you are studying, as it sheds light upon the meaning, both for the people of the original author’s day, and for us living in today’s culture. The Bible must be studied from the historical-grammatical view for accuracy.
2. Always consider the context of the unit, chapter, and book when interpreting a text. The meaning of each verse must agree with the theme of the unit, chapter, and book, as well as the overall teaching of the Bible. The Holy Spirit does not give one meaning at one time to one person and then another meaning at another time to another person. He does not contradict Himself. The Scriptures are consistent from Genesis to Revelation.
3. When interpreting a passage or verse, make sure to study each sentence grammatically to get the correct meaning. Pay special attention to the verbs as they deal with actions.
4. Make sure to get the meaning of each text as intended by the Bible writer or inspired speaker before linking one text with another in the Bible, or attempting to make application (don’t just follow words out of context). This is called “tracking God” and is important in understanding God’s intended meaning, and helps in giving Bible studies.
5. Difficult texts must be interpreted in the light of the clear teachings of the whole Bible (historical-grammatical view of interpretation). Therefore, study all that Scripture teaches on a given subject before coming to a conclusion on any single verse. A concordance is very helpful in this aspect of Bible study because it helps us find related verses.
6. The New Testament must be interpreted in the light of the Old Testament and vice versa. The Old Testament is promise of the coming Messiah, and the New Testament is fulfillment of the promise. Both complement each other and together give us the whole picture of the everlasting covenant — God’s promise to save us from sin.
7. For accuracy, use the best Bible translations and, if at all possible, compare with the original text using Hebrew or Greek wordbooks to assist in understanding the language.