Three Step Bible Study

This is not the "one ring to rule them all." There are plenty of great ways to study the Bible (and even more really bad ways), so I'm not about to present the one best way that all must follow or be relegated to coach class in heaven. It is one good way. A lot of folks struggle to have a regular Bible study time because they don't have a particular approach they use, so I offer this way as one of many to help us get into a regular habit. When we see success happen, then we no longer have to find motivation - it's already there!

If you've studied Bible study methods, you'll recognize many elements below, perhaps even using different labels and terms.

This approach is simple enough - just three steps. But the order is important. Your rate of success will be orders of magnitude better if you exercise just enough discipline to work on these steps in order. (If a thought jumps at you that is out of order, quickly note it and then come back to the step you were on. You'll come back to that point soon enough and be able to develop it.)

I recommend having your Bible, a notebook, and a pen (or computer) so that you keep all of your notes together. And I do recommend writing (or typing) - there's something about the physical act that helps you ponder your thoughts more thoroughly.

The three steps are Understand, Interpret, and Cultivate. Pick a passage, large or small, read it at least three times, and then begin taking notes.

1. Understand. In this step, you are concerned only with what the text says, not what it means. You're not yet concerned about how it affects you or what to do about it. The only task here is to get a grasp of what the text claims. What do the key words mean? What happened? Who did what? Can I summarize what the passage says in one sentence? What are the main ideas or events? How did people respond? You can't ask all of these questions for every passage, but these are the types of questions to ask. You know you've done a pretty good job if you can succinctly state what the author intended to say (and the author intended to say one thing!).
2. Interpret. Now we talk about meaning (but not how it applies to our lives, yet). For example, what the author said could be "God's right arm" - that's the Understand section. That's what the author said. Now for Interpret, what does this mean? Does it refer to a literal arm? In this case, no - it refers to God's power (which brings victory). Is the author being literal or figurative? Is he being sarcastic? What is the main point? Is he telling us what did happen or is he giving us an example to follow? The parable was about three guys who got some money from their boss and did different stuff with it (Understand), but what is the parable teaching us (Interpret)? You know you've interpreted well when you can succinctly state what the author meant by what he said (and the author meant one thing!).
3. Cultivate. Finally, we talk about how this text affects our lives. How is this text intended to cultivate us into a stronger followers of Jesus? We often talk about application - how the text applies to our lives, but we want to go further than application. How do I learn to obey what this passage says? What does God want me to do or say or think? How does my following Jesus deepen in response to this passage? How can I cultivate this truth into someone else's life? How is this passage like nourishment for growth? You know you've cultivated well when your life actually changes to be more like what the text teaches. I would venture that we don't truly understand a passage until our lives reflect it.

Note that the author's context must be considered to Interpret, and our context must be considered to Cultivate. We should not, for example, take an Old Testament passage about the covenant with Israel and just assume we're supposed to do the exact same thing - like sacrifice a goat!

When I study a passage for my own devotional life, I use this pattern in my notes, whether the passage is large or small. I often try to study a paragraph or a distinct unit, such as a full parable, instead of just a couple of verses or an really long section. It's perfectly OK just to list questions without answers, by the way!

My notes often look something like this brief example:

Passage: John 3:16 (NET)

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Understand

• Who is speaking? Is this a continuation of Jesus' dialog from vv. 10-15, or is this now John giving us his understanding as the author?
• "this is the way" - Some translations have "For God so loved...", but that sounds like quantity, not manner. This phrase is referring to the manner in which God loves us.
• "world" - Who is the "world"? Every person? The rebellious "world" that we're not supposed to love (1 John 2:15)?
• "perish" - What kind of perishing is included here?
• ... and so on ...

Interpret

• Note that God expresses His great love by an act of giving, and that this giving is complete. He did not withhold anything in this gift - He gave us Christ completely, as evidenced by His death on the cross.
• He gave us His Son for a specific outcome - belief that results in eternal life.
• Is this believing a pure act of will or is it the inevitable action for the elect (how Calvinistic is this passage)?
• When does this eternal life begin?
• ... and so on ...

Cultivate

• How can I love as God loves? How can I love by giving Christ to others as the Father gave us Christ?
• How can I demonstrate that love this week?!? (It's best to actually list something specific here!)
• Who do I know that will perish because they do not believe? Who of these people will I see today? This week?
• ... and so on ...

Devotional books and study guides are often very helpful, but I much prefer that we interact with the text directly on a regular basis. (It can be helpful to refer to these other materials after interacting with the text on your own.) A simple tool such as this one can be used by beginners as well as lifelong students.

Creating the Environment

We cannot make God "show up." We can (and should) set aside time every day to be alone with God to read His Word and to pray. Some people call it "Quiet Time," others call it "Devotions," and we've even recently seen it called "an appointment with God." No matter what it's called, it's an intentional effort to be alone with God and His Word. But just regularly having that time won't necessary make God "show up" - where you become particularly aware of His presence and influence. However, if we don't set aside time, we are far less likely to ever have that awareness.

Even if we set aside only 15 minutes a day, having that dedicated time for the Lord remains history's greatest environment to experience the presence of God. Of all the books, seminars, studies, and DVDs we have, nothing does more for personal spiritual formation than being in the Word and in prayer. There's not even a close second place finisher - setting aside daily time is the all-time champ, with virtually no challengers. Put another way, wanting to experience His presence without setting aside that time is like wanting to see a ball game but never going to the ball park.

Even when we do set aside time, we can also fall into a habit of squandering that time, getting distracted, or wandering aimlessly because we don't have a plan. One of the most effective ways to spend fruitful time with the Lord is to develop rich habits. Not only a regular time and place with no distractions, but also a habit of how to read the Word.

First, you need to have an idea of what you will read in Scripture. It could be passages on a particular topic that you get from a book or it can be going through a book of the Bible. Both are valuable, but I strongly recommend that you: 1) Read at least a full paragraph, rather than isolated verses, 2) Read your passage more than once, and 3) Keep in the habit of going through entire books of the Bible at least 50% of a calendar year.

Second, it helps to ask a consistent set of questions of every passage. There are many suggestions out there for questions to ask, and most lists are fairly similar. I recommend the following for every passage:

What does it say? Without interpreting the passage, just summarize (in writing!) what it says. Before you interact with the text, you need to know what it is (and is not) saying. You might even look up a few key words in a Bible dictionary, concordance, or commentary just to get at what the author intended to say.

What does it mean? Now, you interpret, but only after having a good idea of what the author intended to say. This is not "What does it mean to me?", but "What does it mean?" Getting back to the author's intent, what did he mean by this? The Bible does not mean different things to different people - it means one thing. Every passage means one thing, no matter how hard different people try to make it say something different.

How does it relate? After understanding the meaning, now you can ask how that unchanging meaning affects you in daily life. What aspects of my life, my thinking, my reactions, and my priorities are affected by this truth?

Where do I need to be convinced? We can understand what a passage means and how it affects us, but still not be moved to change. What needs to happen in my life for me to be "sold" on the truth, to adopt it into my life, to confess, to change, or to respond?

Pray. Take what you've seen in Scripture, how it affects you, and how you still need to be moved to adopt it into your life, and pray about it. Be honest with God, ask questions, confess, rejoice, and interact with God, particularly in reference to the passage. Also, I like to pray for those on my prayer list based on the passage - that's a great way to keep me focused and fresh as I pray for loved ones and friends.

This set of habits can take 15 minutes or an hour. It just depends on how deep you want to go. Each question has a list of related questions that could go along with them - or these questions can be taken as is if there just isn't enough time for depth. Also, the framework is flexible enough to work well with any passage, regardless of length or genre.

The main thing is to be in a habit, whether it's this one or another. Try this one, try another one, stick to one that works well for you. You'll find yourself being more consistent, getting more out of the text, and perhaps becoming more keenly aware of God's presence.

Lately, I have been blogging my Quiet Time journal on http://colbiwiki.blogspot.com, using a slightly different framework, but the same elements are there. My hope is that these can provide examples of how a framework can be used.

Marking Up Your Bible

In my men's Bible study, we talked about ways of studying the Bible, including marking up your Bible with notes along the way. The idea is to have one copy of the Bible that is set aside for this particular purpose so that you can make notes in and around the text as you make observations. When you come back to that same text later, you have your own notes to help you remember what you've noticed before. Plus, just the act of writing notes helps you to think your way through a passage.

It's best to have just one Bible for this, so that you don't have notes strung around in many different places. Choose a Bible that has good space in the margins for personal notes. I recommend a translation that is more literal, such as the NASB, ESV, or NKJV. Other kinds of translations, such as the NET or NIV, are good to have for other purposes, but since individual words will make a difference (as you will see), your "mark up Bible" should be one of the more literal translations.

You can certainly choose your own method of mark up, but stay consistent! Think a long time before starting to mark up to make sure you have a system you want to use. You don't want to mark up one way, and then later change your mind and mark up another way, and then end up with a Bible with different kinds of mark up. You might even make some photocopies of some pages to "practice" on to see which mark ups you want to use.

Let me share my method, not because it's any better than other methods, but just as an example. My method is pretty simple:

• Circle: I circle words or phrases that are repeated in a passage. For example, in Isaiah 45, the idea there being "no other" God is repeated (vv. 5, 6, 14, 18, 21, 22, 24), even though different words are used. So I circled each occurrence. Now, every time I go back to Isaiah 45, I see some circles and quickly realize that the exclusive nature of God is an important theme in this chapter.
• Underline: I underline commands, especially ones that apply to us. Later, when I see an underline, I know there's a command for me to obey in that passage. I don't usually underline commands given to people in the narrative if the command doesn't apply to us (like telling Moses to go to Egypt - it's a command, but not to us, so I don't underline it).
• Exclamation point: In the margin, I put an exclamation point next to thoughts that are particularly important. Maybe it's the key point of the passage. Maybe it just strikes me as I'm reading as being particularly important. The exclamation point is like saying, "Look here!"
• Check mark: I put a check mark in the margin next to promises, especially promises that apply to us. Maybe they are promises that have already been fulfilled, maybe not, but the check mark alerts me that there's a promise from God to us here.
• Highlight: I don't highlight much, but if there's a phrase that is a core truth to the Christian life, I'll highlight it. I also highlight cross-references in the margins that I've looked up and have found to be particularly helpful.
• Square underline: I will underline some words or phrases with tips on each end to make the words look like they are sitting in a shallow box if the word or phrase is defined by the passage. For example, John 17:3 says "This is life, that..." The phrase that follows defines what "life" is. So I put a square underline under that word to alert me later that this verse defines what "life" is.
• Margin notes: Sometimes, you've just got to write a thought in the margin - no other mark up will do. These include inspired thoughts, cross references not already list, helpful interpretations, etc.

Be careful not to mark up too much! If you mark up everything, it's as good as marking up nothing, and then your Bible is harder to read. Be smart. As an extreme example, most sentences in Mark start with "And..." Don't bother circling every "and" - yes, it's repeated, and yes, it means something, but you don't want all that ink spilled on your pages.

Also remember that whatever you mark up and write will be there for the rest of the life of that Bible. I've written down things and then years later read it again, wondering, "What was I thinking?!? That's the stupidest thing I ever saw!" Try to mark up the things you think will also be relevant tomorrow and next month and next year.

For those who have a problem writing in their Bibles, I have one piece of advice for you: Don't do it. If you don't want to, then don't. It helps to have a Bible dedicated just for this purpose which you can treat like a pre-filled notebook of Biblical texts for notetaking, but if you'd rather not, don't do it and don't worry about it. This is not the test of a true Christian.

Find your own method. Some of you probably have mark up habits that I would like to use myself.

A Journey

I'm on a journey that leads to destinations unknown. The ride has been good - a bit rough at times, but interesting. Sometimes I feel like I can see over the horizon and get a glimpse of the destination, but then it slips away, and I'm not sure I saw anything at all. But I know I will get to a good destination - I just can't tell you what that place looks like. I'm taking this journey at the pace of one step each morning.

For my daily Quiet Time, I'm spending time in the Word on the topic of God's Spirit. I made a list of every occurrence of the word "spirit" in Scripture, and am identifying which ones refer to the Holy Spirit in some fashion. Plus, there are some references that don't use the word "spirit" at all, such as "Comforter," "Helper," and "Counselor." I take one reference in context each day, study it, journal about it, and then pray through the passage for my own life. And then I pray that passage for those who are on my prayer list for that day - whoever is on the list, I'm praying from that passage for them.

There are 628 occurrences of the word "spirit" in the New American Standard translation, and a large portion of those refer to the Holy Spirit in particular. So - this journey will take a while. I'm in no hurry. I've already made it as far as Matthew. Most of my journaling is asking questions rather than answering them - and that's OK.

After I finish going through all the passages, I plan to then retrace my steps and collect my observations and questions into categories. I want to be able to see the variety of lessons there are for us about the Holy Spirit. I'm learning new things about the Spirit already, and I expect to find out more new things when I make this second pass.

I'm not sure where the journey is going, but I know it's good, and I'm excited to find out where it will lead me. Maybe it will become the stuff of a future sermon series on the Spirit, but even if it does not, I pray that I will know the Spirit more deeply as a result. Not just know more about Him, but to know Him better.

For your own Quiet Time, consider taking a topic and discovering all that you can from the Bible about it. There are plenty of tools and helps available to make this easier - I'm happy to help you with that part. Remember always to study a passage in context - most passages are understood rightly only by knowing the context (historical, cultural, and literary). At minimum, study a paragraph at a time.