Understanding the Bible: Guidelines

Guidelines to aid in understanding the Bible, and gaining a closer walk with Jesus through the whole Word of God:

Seven Basic Tools of Bible Study

1. Context, Context, Context (who, what, why) – knowing who wrote, to whom, and why, makes it understandable and applicable to our times.

• what is the point of the passage?
• what are the insights of the passage?

2. Rightly Divide the Word of Truth

• Which Covenant? (How does this apply to our times, under the new covenant)
• Neither add to nor take away. (We must always be careful not to modify the meaning by adding or subtracting)

3. Expositional Constancy: “Law of 1st mention” drives the greater insight to the meaning. (When reading “Rock” look back to when Rock was 1st mentioned in the Bible to gain insight).
4. Not every use of a word is meant the same way, refer to #1.
5. Resolve apparent contradictions, vs true contradictions (There are no true contradictions)

• by understanding #1
• by carefully reading the differences in the text (ie Matthew 24 and Luke 21 appear contradictory, but Jesus is speaking on 2 different occasions, in 2 different places, answering different questions)

6. Where is Jesus in this? Always ask what does this tell us about His character, His coming & His consistency? (“the volume of the book is written of me”)
7. Renewing your mind: the entire point is to build our faith and fellowship with God.

• Pray first, pray during and pray at the end that God opens the eyes of your understanding.
• Ask Jesus to help you to understand how to apply those truths to your life so that your walk is more fruitful.

*Note: Never let any cult or false teacher discourage you from your confidence. Seek the Lord in all matters through His word this way and the Holy Spirit will guide you in truth and expose the error.*