How to Study the Bible
How to study the Bible is a simple matter, really. You don’t. You don’t study it, that is. That is, you shouldn’t. Study is “an effort to learn by thinking or reading,” according to The Thorndike-Barnhart Dictionary. Such activity by Christians is not called for in the Bible. In fact, quite the opposite is the case.
I know that by saying this I am contradicting an idea taught by many esteemed preachers. Since I was saved at age 14, I have listened to a parade of Sunday school teachers, missionaries, clergymen, counselors and Bible teachers stress that we ought to spend a lot of time “digging out the treasures of the Word.” With all due respect, I value all the work they did on my behalf, but they were not correct about this issue. Let me map out the facts for my reader.
There is a great misunderstanding and misuse of this verse:
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
At first reading this verse seems to call us to study in the normal sense of the word. But it really doesn’t. “Study” in Greek, here, means to “show diligence” or to “endeavor”. It does not mean in any way to do anything scholarly. So, then, reading it that way would go something like “Endeavor to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That’s a little different, wouldn’t you say? And it is absolutely true.
This admonition is for Timothy to go to work for God. He needs to demonstrate God’s approval of his ministry in two ways. 1) He is to be diligent in his work, not being lazy, reluctant, fearful or anything else. 2) The “rightly dividing” of the word of truth is also a requirement for God’s approval. If Timothy does not dissect (divide) or expound the word of truth rightly, he will not be showing that he is approved by God for his ministry.
Moreover, he didn’t need to learn to do that. He had received it as a gift, by the laying on of hands and by prophecy. Take a look at 1 Timothy 4:14. Compare this with the explanation of how gifts are given by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 and it is evident that Timothy did not become able to do God’s work by going to seminary. He didn’t learn to preach in a class that he took for that purpose. If he was true to the teachings of Paul, he would have, like Paul, eschewed “excellency of speech”. He would have “counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8) which he obtained not by taking courses in ancient languages, or hermeneutics (how to interpret the Bible) or Old Testament Survey. He would not have obtained it by pouring over the manuscripts and scrolls trying to make sense out of them with his intellectual faculties. How did he obtain that knowledge of Christ Jesus? I will take that matter up in just a moment.
But first, read 1 Corinthians chapter 2. This is plain. The apostle Paul refused to use the wisdom of man or the means of man in finding wisdom. He plainly states that God has revealed to us the things that He has prepared for us in a spiritual way (verses 10, 12 and 13). If we look at what the Lord Jesus Christ said about this we find that in John 14: 26 He promises that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance that He said to us. Again in John 16:13 He tells us that the Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth and show us things to come. Later, Paul disowns the education that he obtained in the traditional way, at the feet of Gamaliel, when he averred in Philippians 3:8 that he counted all things loss and waste for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
Being equipped, Timothy was now to just get out there and do his job in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 13. It needed to be done and Timothy was the person who was approved. Human servants of God are nothing in themselves. They are “earthen vessels.” They are just containers. God uses the emptiest. He sometimes has to work with people until they are as empty as He wants them and then none of their stuff can get in the way. He is the worker. We are the conduit. We should, like Timothy, be diligent and endeavor to be a useful conduit.
Now I will answer how we do receive things from the Bible that edify us and correct us and all the other good things found in 2 Tim. 3:16.
First of all, I am not saying we can get the truth of God in any other way but by reading the Bible. I will repeat that. I do not believe that anyone can get the truth of God in any way except if he or she reads the Bible and reads it prayerfully. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Let no one criticize this paper by saying that I am advocating obtaining truth by “osmosis” or some other way. I am thoroughly convinced that God’s Word the Bible is the only source of truth and doctrine, that exists. Further, I testify that I was taught the truth that I am passing on in this paper through the reading of the Bible and the Bible only.
In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul says “…give attendance to READING….” Timothy knew what Paul taught about acquiring knowledge and understanding of the things of Jesus Christ. He knew that Paul’s line was the 2nd chapter of 1 Corinthians. Look at that chapter again. Just what does it mean to receive the things of God? The Greek word for “receive” here is “dechomai”. It’s a pretty straight-forward word., actually. It means if something is offered you take it. You don’t refuse it, you almost embrace it. Now if I am offered a piece of pastry, it has already been baked. I don’t have to make the pastry myself. I don’t have to exert any effort. Therefore, I cannot take any credit for the goodness of the pastry, either. If I receive it I just get the good of it, the work has already been done for me. 1 Cor. 2 :12 & 14 tells me that the Holy Ghost (Spirit) offers me “things” that I can receive. I just take them. It is a bit like just reading. Isn’t that interesting? It’s just what Paul told Timothy to do. Then, in 1 Cor. 2:10, there is this word “revealed”. This word in Greek means “something which is presented to the senses, sight or hearing….” So the things of God are presented to me and I take them. Simple.
1 Cor. 2 :13 says “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” The words really say, “sharing spiritual things by spiritual means” (or “to spiritual men”, who would be able to receive things spiritually).
So, then, the proper way to approach obtaining the knowledge of Christ Jesus is to read the Bible. Not to study it like a textbook. But to simply read it and allow the Spirit of God to impress us with the particular truth He has for us for the day.
How much can a person read at a sitting? This varies from person to person. Some people have “Attention Deficit Disorder.” If we are to believe the experts in education, more than half the population has some difficulty focusing on what they read. People who have this problem can’t read anything for very long. without being distracted away from it. On the other hand some people, who don’t have this problem, can read for a long time.
I usually recommend reading the Bible for 5 minutes at a time or, if a really interesting thought is found, read until coming to the end of the thought. This way, some reading is accomplished every day. Five minutes is not a challenge to a busy person or someone with a reading problem and if something comes up that is really interesting it doesn’t need to be cut off at the 5 minute mark
Let me say that when the Holy Spirit starts to reveal things in His Word, we remember things that were said in other places in the Bible and want to compare them. The use of a concordance is helpful and even a Bible dictionary helps when we run across a word that seems to need a little explanation. But there is a FINE LINE between using these helps to get us through what the Spirit is putting before us and our taking up the Bible as a textbook.
We cross that line when we abandon the attitude of humility and dependence on the Holy Spirit in our reading and begin to move forward with our own initiative. When we do that it is an easy step to using logic to explain verses that the Holy Spirit has not revealed to us. This leads us to the intellectual attitude of not wanting to leave any loose ends so we insist on coming to some kind of conclusion. If we can’t come to a Spirit-given conclusion fast enough to satisfy us, we may draw our own conclusion or adopt one that we find in a commentary. Once this is done, it is hard to move us off holding that doctrine. We don’t like dangling questions and once we have an answer we like to stick with it. This makes us closed to any further input. We may not even listen to the Spirit of God, if He invites us to look again at the issue in question. This is especially true if we have adopted the “popular” answer to the question. No one likes to swim against the current.
Where am I getting all this “stuff”?! A better question is “Where is the Evangelical church getting all their stuff?” Regarding Bible study, I have looked in vain for any precepts in the Word that encourage me along the lines of Bible school, seminary, correspondence courses, textbooks, commentaries, “key” verses, etc. I know, the references to teachers are a handy place to base these ideas. But remember, teachers are shown in scripture to operate in the sphere of the local church. This is the proper place of their service. When we meet together for edification, our gifted teachers help us as it teaches in Ephesians 4:11 – 13. They are duty-bound to be in the same spirit as we are when we read alone in our closet. (1 Peter 4:11) We should not be hearing any personal treatises, theories or agenda when a teacher gets up to minister to the local church. There is no mention of “preparing a sermon”. I have already covered the question of the qualifications for a minister. There is no requirement or even a recommendation that the person be formally educated. Peter wasn’t. Has there been an educated minister after Peter who has written anything that should be included in the Bible? Where am I getting this stuff? From the Bible as I received it from the Holy Spirit’s teaching (1 John 2:27)
Consider the Bereans, who searched the scriptures to see if some things were so. They were noble. It is always good to look in the Book to see if what someone says is so. Look and see if I am right about what I am saying in this paper. The term that is used of them “searching” is the same term as is in 1 Cor. 2:14, “discerned”. This basically means to investigate. Notice two things that make a difference. The Bereans were noble, yes, but they were also Jews. They would fall into the category of 1 Cor. 2:14; “natural men.” They couldn’t get anything from the Spirit like we can. Then it says that many of them believed. Natural men cannot have things given by the Spirit so the inclination of these Jews would be to approach the investigation in the traditional ways, by digging into it intellectually. The Holy Spirit met them there in order to give them something that they could receive. He quickened them and they became able to receive, spiritually, the gospel and be saved. So, the Berean Jews had only one way to search the scriptures, by the normal means defined today as “studying”. Christians, though, have the indwelling Spirit and can “receive” from Him as they “investigate” spiritually. Christians can investigate spiritually. Do you see it? The unsaved are dependent on fleshly means. The Christian is enabled spiritually.
Ezekiel 44:17 & 18 shows that God does not like us to work, in the normal sense of the word, when we minister. He did not want the priests to wear clothing that produced sweat. Sweat is a sign of human work and God will not have His things mixed with the works of man. This is an important principle. I once heard a talk on Luke 16:3 admonishing us to “dig” for things in the Bible. Well, digging produces sweat. It’s a faulty picture of what Christians should do to receive things from God. God has them all prepared and will give them to us spiritually. God doesn’t want us to use our own abilities, or it would only be the most intelligent among us who would be able to be edified. Think about that.
In the Middle Ages, the only people who could read were the clergy. They were known to be great scholars. The common man was at the mercy of his minister regarding what God required of him or promised him. Were they trustworthy? Again, they were known to be great scholars. Did the church improve under this system? Is there evidence of great strides in what is referred to in Ephesians 4? Certainly they were closer to the Bible times and had access to manuscripts that have doubtless been lost since then. Certainly they were very dedicated with less distractions than scholars have today. Again, what did the church gain under their care?
So, then, what does it mean, practically, to investigate and receive, spiritually?
We already know that we should read. We know too that we should be empty. If we take the attitude of the Laodicean, that we are rich and in need of nothing, we will receive nothing from our reading. We must think of ourselves as ignorant before God. Needy. We open the scripture and read. If we read awhile, we may come upon something we have never seen before. We may pounce upon it and eat it up and make it our own. On the other hand, we may be of the right mind to receive something but nothing seems to be there except the same things we knew from previous readings of the same passage. The Holy Spirit always has a reason for what he does with us. It may be that we need reminding and encouragement in things we already know. Another reason may be that we need to have the input of the present reading and then add to it tomorrow’s reading and the next day’s and so on until it all comes together by the management of the Holy Spirit to show us something we need to see but never have before.
While it is essential that we read alone, too, it is just as Biblical to hear the reading of the Word in a church meeting. There, brothers are in the same state of mind as I cited above in 1 Corinthians 14, humbly waiting on the Holy Spirit to bring something out of the passage that they should mention or that another would mention and they could benefit by.
Our brain and thoughts do play a part in our receiving of things from God. At the end of 1 Corinthians 2, it says that we have the mind of Christ. This means that we, as indwelt by the Holy Spirit, have access to the mind of Christ as is explained in verse 11. When we humble ourselves, the Spirit can impart from Christ’s mind to ours what the Bible is saying.
Rarely will it ever be other than what is plainly written. Only in some passages where there is much symbolism will it be difficult to understand what God wants us to know. Remember, some of us are uneducated. God does not depend on man’s educational systems in order to be able to communicate with his people. All that needs to be done is to look in the Book and see what other places the same subject is covered. (II Peter 1:20) If we read the Bible a lot we will know it so well that we will remember where these places are. So the brain, whatever its capacity, depending on our genes, is necessary for receiving the things of God but only under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Our intellect is fallen. Augustine taught that Adam’s morals and his body was affected by his fall but his intellect was not. This was a grave error. The church at large is still suffering from this bit of bad doctrine. So many church scholars and thinkers have assumed this to be correct and have depended on logic and philosophy to augment what they thought the Bible was saying. I have been told by professing Christians that for some issues which bear on the church, they would rather go to philosophers and psychologists than the pages of scripture. This is how bad it gets! I don’t think many Bible-believers are of that mind, but many of them believe the intellect, in itself, is dependable and hold that we need to use it to “study” the Bible.
As I said, there is a fine line between reading at the direction of the Holy Spirit and doing scholarly study. Often we begin reading and stumble onto verses that are controversial. We get interested in finding out the truth about these verses and so we dig in with our concordance and commentaries. That is where we cross the line. We decide to track down all the possible correct interpretations and choose one that sounds right. Just as often, we hit a dead end. This is why the verses are “controversial”; because others have attempted the same pursuit and not been totally successful. Had they been successful there would be agreement between them about the verses. The fact that there is controversy as to the interpretation indicates that many sects have been “studying” with their intellect rather than at the leading of the Spirit. Many scholars insist on having an opinion about every question that arises. Not to have an opinion on an interpretation, they think, makes them look ignorant. It makes them look incompetent as scholars. The Bible is very clear that there ought to be no “schools of opinion.” (Gal. 5:20; New Trans.) These are works of the flesh. We should not fall into the same trap, insisting that we find answers to all the problems. We can live a very good life while keeping an open mind, waiting for the Spirit to teach us or not, whatever the will of God is for us.
When the Holy Spirit is involved in our reading, we find that we are carried along, remembering, just as Christ promised, other things that are said in the Word. We go from verse to verse while the Lord orchestrates our minds to see what it is He is teaching us. When we come to the end of it, there is no more. We have our lesson for the day. How much time we spend is variable. The amount is not important. The content is. The way we receive the content is.
So, to summarize,
Depending on intellectual scholarly study is of the flesh.
The Bible does not tell us to “study” itself.
The correct way to receive things of God is to read and wait on the Lord.
Meditation was David’s habit. He mentioned it often in the Psalms. “Eating” God’s words was something the prophets were told to do.
What has been the result of Biblical scholarship? I mean the kind where more than reading and prayer is practiced. Count the divisions in the church which is “one body”, eh? The number is the same as the number of denominations. Then multiply that by about 3 because there are usually an average of 3 different parties in every local church. We can only be of one mind when we all submit our minds to the Spirit to teach us as He promised in John 14.
I know that by saying this I am contradicting an idea taught by many esteemed preachers. Since I was saved at age 14, I have listened to a parade of Sunday school teachers, missionaries, clergymen, counselors and Bible teachers stress that we ought to spend a lot of time “digging out the treasures of the Word.” With all due respect, I value all the work they did on my behalf, but they were not correct about this issue. Let me map out the facts for my reader.
There is a great misunderstanding and misuse of this verse:
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
At first reading this verse seems to call us to study in the normal sense of the word. But it really doesn’t. “Study” in Greek, here, means to “show diligence” or to “endeavor”. It does not mean in any way to do anything scholarly. So, then, reading it that way would go something like “Endeavor to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That’s a little different, wouldn’t you say? And it is absolutely true.
This admonition is for Timothy to go to work for God. He needs to demonstrate God’s approval of his ministry in two ways. 1) He is to be diligent in his work, not being lazy, reluctant, fearful or anything else. 2) The “rightly dividing” of the word of truth is also a requirement for God’s approval. If Timothy does not dissect (divide) or expound the word of truth rightly, he will not be showing that he is approved by God for his ministry.
Moreover, he didn’t need to learn to do that. He had received it as a gift, by the laying on of hands and by prophecy. Take a look at 1 Timothy 4:14. Compare this with the explanation of how gifts are given by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 and it is evident that Timothy did not become able to do God’s work by going to seminary. He didn’t learn to preach in a class that he took for that purpose. If he was true to the teachings of Paul, he would have, like Paul, eschewed “excellency of speech”. He would have “counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8) which he obtained not by taking courses in ancient languages, or hermeneutics (how to interpret the Bible) or Old Testament Survey. He would not have obtained it by pouring over the manuscripts and scrolls trying to make sense out of them with his intellectual faculties. How did he obtain that knowledge of Christ Jesus? I will take that matter up in just a moment.
But first, read 1 Corinthians chapter 2. This is plain. The apostle Paul refused to use the wisdom of man or the means of man in finding wisdom. He plainly states that God has revealed to us the things that He has prepared for us in a spiritual way (verses 10, 12 and 13). If we look at what the Lord Jesus Christ said about this we find that in John 14: 26 He promises that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance that He said to us. Again in John 16:13 He tells us that the Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth and show us things to come. Later, Paul disowns the education that he obtained in the traditional way, at the feet of Gamaliel, when he averred in Philippians 3:8 that he counted all things loss and waste for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
Being equipped, Timothy was now to just get out there and do his job in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 13. It needed to be done and Timothy was the person who was approved. Human servants of God are nothing in themselves. They are “earthen vessels.” They are just containers. God uses the emptiest. He sometimes has to work with people until they are as empty as He wants them and then none of their stuff can get in the way. He is the worker. We are the conduit. We should, like Timothy, be diligent and endeavor to be a useful conduit.
Now I will answer how we do receive things from the Bible that edify us and correct us and all the other good things found in 2 Tim. 3:16.
First of all, I am not saying we can get the truth of God in any other way but by reading the Bible. I will repeat that. I do not believe that anyone can get the truth of God in any way except if he or she reads the Bible and reads it prayerfully. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Let no one criticize this paper by saying that I am advocating obtaining truth by “osmosis” or some other way. I am thoroughly convinced that God’s Word the Bible is the only source of truth and doctrine, that exists. Further, I testify that I was taught the truth that I am passing on in this paper through the reading of the Bible and the Bible only.
In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul says “…give attendance to READING….” Timothy knew what Paul taught about acquiring knowledge and understanding of the things of Jesus Christ. He knew that Paul’s line was the 2nd chapter of 1 Corinthians. Look at that chapter again. Just what does it mean to receive the things of God? The Greek word for “receive” here is “dechomai”. It’s a pretty straight-forward word., actually. It means if something is offered you take it. You don’t refuse it, you almost embrace it. Now if I am offered a piece of pastry, it has already been baked. I don’t have to make the pastry myself. I don’t have to exert any effort. Therefore, I cannot take any credit for the goodness of the pastry, either. If I receive it I just get the good of it, the work has already been done for me. 1 Cor. 2 :12 & 14 tells me that the Holy Ghost (Spirit) offers me “things” that I can receive. I just take them. It is a bit like just reading. Isn’t that interesting? It’s just what Paul told Timothy to do. Then, in 1 Cor. 2:10, there is this word “revealed”. This word in Greek means “something which is presented to the senses, sight or hearing….” So the things of God are presented to me and I take them. Simple.
1 Cor. 2 :13 says “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” The words really say, “sharing spiritual things by spiritual means” (or “to spiritual men”, who would be able to receive things spiritually).
So, then, the proper way to approach obtaining the knowledge of Christ Jesus is to read the Bible. Not to study it like a textbook. But to simply read it and allow the Spirit of God to impress us with the particular truth He has for us for the day.
How much can a person read at a sitting? This varies from person to person. Some people have “Attention Deficit Disorder.” If we are to believe the experts in education, more than half the population has some difficulty focusing on what they read. People who have this problem can’t read anything for very long. without being distracted away from it. On the other hand some people, who don’t have this problem, can read for a long time.
I usually recommend reading the Bible for 5 minutes at a time or, if a really interesting thought is found, read until coming to the end of the thought. This way, some reading is accomplished every day. Five minutes is not a challenge to a busy person or someone with a reading problem and if something comes up that is really interesting it doesn’t need to be cut off at the 5 minute mark
Let me say that when the Holy Spirit starts to reveal things in His Word, we remember things that were said in other places in the Bible and want to compare them. The use of a concordance is helpful and even a Bible dictionary helps when we run across a word that seems to need a little explanation. But there is a FINE LINE between using these helps to get us through what the Spirit is putting before us and our taking up the Bible as a textbook.
We cross that line when we abandon the attitude of humility and dependence on the Holy Spirit in our reading and begin to move forward with our own initiative. When we do that it is an easy step to using logic to explain verses that the Holy Spirit has not revealed to us. This leads us to the intellectual attitude of not wanting to leave any loose ends so we insist on coming to some kind of conclusion. If we can’t come to a Spirit-given conclusion fast enough to satisfy us, we may draw our own conclusion or adopt one that we find in a commentary. Once this is done, it is hard to move us off holding that doctrine. We don’t like dangling questions and once we have an answer we like to stick with it. This makes us closed to any further input. We may not even listen to the Spirit of God, if He invites us to look again at the issue in question. This is especially true if we have adopted the “popular” answer to the question. No one likes to swim against the current.
Where am I getting all this “stuff”?! A better question is “Where is the Evangelical church getting all their stuff?” Regarding Bible study, I have looked in vain for any precepts in the Word that encourage me along the lines of Bible school, seminary, correspondence courses, textbooks, commentaries, “key” verses, etc. I know, the references to teachers are a handy place to base these ideas. But remember, teachers are shown in scripture to operate in the sphere of the local church. This is the proper place of their service. When we meet together for edification, our gifted teachers help us as it teaches in Ephesians 4:11 – 13. They are duty-bound to be in the same spirit as we are when we read alone in our closet. (1 Peter 4:11) We should not be hearing any personal treatises, theories or agenda when a teacher gets up to minister to the local church. There is no mention of “preparing a sermon”. I have already covered the question of the qualifications for a minister. There is no requirement or even a recommendation that the person be formally educated. Peter wasn’t. Has there been an educated minister after Peter who has written anything that should be included in the Bible? Where am I getting this stuff? From the Bible as I received it from the Holy Spirit’s teaching (1 John 2:27)
Consider the Bereans, who searched the scriptures to see if some things were so. They were noble. It is always good to look in the Book to see if what someone says is so. Look and see if I am right about what I am saying in this paper. The term that is used of them “searching” is the same term as is in 1 Cor. 2:14, “discerned”. This basically means to investigate. Notice two things that make a difference. The Bereans were noble, yes, but they were also Jews. They would fall into the category of 1 Cor. 2:14; “natural men.” They couldn’t get anything from the Spirit like we can. Then it says that many of them believed. Natural men cannot have things given by the Spirit so the inclination of these Jews would be to approach the investigation in the traditional ways, by digging into it intellectually. The Holy Spirit met them there in order to give them something that they could receive. He quickened them and they became able to receive, spiritually, the gospel and be saved. So, the Berean Jews had only one way to search the scriptures, by the normal means defined today as “studying”. Christians, though, have the indwelling Spirit and can “receive” from Him as they “investigate” spiritually. Christians can investigate spiritually. Do you see it? The unsaved are dependent on fleshly means. The Christian is enabled spiritually.
Ezekiel 44:17 & 18 shows that God does not like us to work, in the normal sense of the word, when we minister. He did not want the priests to wear clothing that produced sweat. Sweat is a sign of human work and God will not have His things mixed with the works of man. This is an important principle. I once heard a talk on Luke 16:3 admonishing us to “dig” for things in the Bible. Well, digging produces sweat. It’s a faulty picture of what Christians should do to receive things from God. God has them all prepared and will give them to us spiritually. God doesn’t want us to use our own abilities, or it would only be the most intelligent among us who would be able to be edified. Think about that.
In the Middle Ages, the only people who could read were the clergy. They were known to be great scholars. The common man was at the mercy of his minister regarding what God required of him or promised him. Were they trustworthy? Again, they were known to be great scholars. Did the church improve under this system? Is there evidence of great strides in what is referred to in Ephesians 4? Certainly they were closer to the Bible times and had access to manuscripts that have doubtless been lost since then. Certainly they were very dedicated with less distractions than scholars have today. Again, what did the church gain under their care?
So, then, what does it mean, practically, to investigate and receive, spiritually?
We already know that we should read. We know too that we should be empty. If we take the attitude of the Laodicean, that we are rich and in need of nothing, we will receive nothing from our reading. We must think of ourselves as ignorant before God. Needy. We open the scripture and read. If we read awhile, we may come upon something we have never seen before. We may pounce upon it and eat it up and make it our own. On the other hand, we may be of the right mind to receive something but nothing seems to be there except the same things we knew from previous readings of the same passage. The Holy Spirit always has a reason for what he does with us. It may be that we need reminding and encouragement in things we already know. Another reason may be that we need to have the input of the present reading and then add to it tomorrow’s reading and the next day’s and so on until it all comes together by the management of the Holy Spirit to show us something we need to see but never have before.
While it is essential that we read alone, too, it is just as Biblical to hear the reading of the Word in a church meeting. There, brothers are in the same state of mind as I cited above in 1 Corinthians 14, humbly waiting on the Holy Spirit to bring something out of the passage that they should mention or that another would mention and they could benefit by.
Our brain and thoughts do play a part in our receiving of things from God. At the end of 1 Corinthians 2, it says that we have the mind of Christ. This means that we, as indwelt by the Holy Spirit, have access to the mind of Christ as is explained in verse 11. When we humble ourselves, the Spirit can impart from Christ’s mind to ours what the Bible is saying.
Rarely will it ever be other than what is plainly written. Only in some passages where there is much symbolism will it be difficult to understand what God wants us to know. Remember, some of us are uneducated. God does not depend on man’s educational systems in order to be able to communicate with his people. All that needs to be done is to look in the Book and see what other places the same subject is covered. (II Peter 1:20) If we read the Bible a lot we will know it so well that we will remember where these places are. So the brain, whatever its capacity, depending on our genes, is necessary for receiving the things of God but only under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Our intellect is fallen. Augustine taught that Adam’s morals and his body was affected by his fall but his intellect was not. This was a grave error. The church at large is still suffering from this bit of bad doctrine. So many church scholars and thinkers have assumed this to be correct and have depended on logic and philosophy to augment what they thought the Bible was saying. I have been told by professing Christians that for some issues which bear on the church, they would rather go to philosophers and psychologists than the pages of scripture. This is how bad it gets! I don’t think many Bible-believers are of that mind, but many of them believe the intellect, in itself, is dependable and hold that we need to use it to “study” the Bible.
As I said, there is a fine line between reading at the direction of the Holy Spirit and doing scholarly study. Often we begin reading and stumble onto verses that are controversial. We get interested in finding out the truth about these verses and so we dig in with our concordance and commentaries. That is where we cross the line. We decide to track down all the possible correct interpretations and choose one that sounds right. Just as often, we hit a dead end. This is why the verses are “controversial”; because others have attempted the same pursuit and not been totally successful. Had they been successful there would be agreement between them about the verses. The fact that there is controversy as to the interpretation indicates that many sects have been “studying” with their intellect rather than at the leading of the Spirit. Many scholars insist on having an opinion about every question that arises. Not to have an opinion on an interpretation, they think, makes them look ignorant. It makes them look incompetent as scholars. The Bible is very clear that there ought to be no “schools of opinion.” (Gal. 5:20; New Trans.) These are works of the flesh. We should not fall into the same trap, insisting that we find answers to all the problems. We can live a very good life while keeping an open mind, waiting for the Spirit to teach us or not, whatever the will of God is for us.
When the Holy Spirit is involved in our reading, we find that we are carried along, remembering, just as Christ promised, other things that are said in the Word. We go from verse to verse while the Lord orchestrates our minds to see what it is He is teaching us. When we come to the end of it, there is no more. We have our lesson for the day. How much time we spend is variable. The amount is not important. The content is. The way we receive the content is.
So, to summarize,
Depending on intellectual scholarly study is of the flesh.
The Bible does not tell us to “study” itself.
The correct way to receive things of God is to read and wait on the Lord.
Meditation was David’s habit. He mentioned it often in the Psalms. “Eating” God’s words was something the prophets were told to do.
What has been the result of Biblical scholarship? I mean the kind where more than reading and prayer is practiced. Count the divisions in the church which is “one body”, eh? The number is the same as the number of denominations. Then multiply that by about 3 because there are usually an average of 3 different parties in every local church. We can only be of one mind when we all submit our minds to the Spirit to teach us as He promised in John 14.
posted by Biblical Christianity at 1:10 AM
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