How To Study The Bible Like A Pro - Class #3 - How To Organize Your Study Of The Bible Series

III. HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR STUDY OF THE BIBLE

A. Use a Notebook.

The advantages of writing things down cannot be over-emphasized. When the pen is moving, the brain is working.

1. It helps you ORGANIZE your thoughts.

Make insightful observations, ask questions, make comments, observe patterns, outline, write definitions, make charts, etc.

2. It helps you REMEMBER what you learned.

3. It gives you SOMETHING TO LOOK BACK TO for review.

B. Inductive Versus Deductive Bible Study

Inductive Bible study seeks to gather knowledge from the Bible and lets the Bible lead the student. Deductive Bible study attempts to use the Bible to support a previously made conclusion and has the student leading the Bible.

One of the most common errors is for the Bible student to replace inductive Bible study (exegesis: where meaning is pulled from the Bible) with deductive Bible study (eisegesis: where meaning is pushed into the Bible).

Example:

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." (Rev 4:1 ESV)

This passage is interpreted by many to symbolize the Rapture of the Church prior to an event known as “The Great Tribulation” at the time of the second coming of Jesus. In order for this interpretation to be valid several facts must be established:

1. John must be defined as a type of the Christian Church in order for his call into Heaven to be symbolic of the Rapture

2. The trumpet must be defined as the last trump of which the Apostle Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 15:52

3. Jesus must be seen as returning to gather up His followers and must occur at the time of the Rapture

4. Adequate explanation must be made for why the identical statement in the passage below does not refer to the Rapture

“And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.” (Rev 11:12 ESV)

C. Experiential Revelation

It is true that a normal Christian life is filled with miraculous and supernatural experiences. God does speak today personally and directly just as He spoke to His people in the past, by using His own words of the Scriptures. That is easily affirmed by anyone who has heard His call to church ministry. However, He will NEVER contradict, or add to, what He has already said in the Bible. The authority and sufficiency of Scripture cannot be separated.

Christianity, without the supernatural, has no legitimate power, yet those who actively believe in the miraculous are often held with contempt and their beliefs ridiculed and even condemned. You will most often find more skeptics in the church than outside of it.

It is my belief that ALL Christians are called to live supernatural lives every day that have the touch and power of God upon them to affect change in those they come in contact with. Living a supernatural life is the most powerful yet practical way for a Christian to live.

1. The biblical truth is that the supernatural is the natural environment of God.

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit lives in, and empowers, every Christian (1 Cor 6:19). It would be logical to posit that the natural environment of God exists within them as well. Taking that thought a little farther, it would also seem logical to surmise that God wants every Christian living naturally in the supernatural, with the miraculous accompanying them as they live normal lives. That is purely an ambitious objective because it is a lived reality for only a very minute number of Christians who are often scoffed at for their so-called experiences.

There are those who believe that the 66 books of the Bible are not enough, so they constantly look for private prophetic words, dreams or visions for a more meaningful personal experiential revelation from God. If a private “revelation” given to (or by) someone does not agree or align with Scripture, it is false, and if it does, then it is not needed.

2. The voice of God is the Bible.

God’s written Word must be used as the primary source to confirm a person has heard the voice of Jesus. God speaks with absolute authority from the Bible alone.

3. He alone is truth and Christians must learn to hear His voice. Jesus said in an allegory; “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 NIV). When Jesus was tempted by the devil, it was not His opinions or experience that defeated him. He was defeated with ‘It is written!” (Matt 4:4-10). Jesus referred to the Scriptures as the authority with the words “It is written” numerous times.