How To-13: "How to Gain Understanding of the Bible"

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God loves you, treasures you and seeks to support you in your life. You can gain insight into how God works with humanity through reading the Bible.

Steps

1. Understand first of all that God’s Spirit moved over the minds of the writers of the various biblical books but that God did not make them into recording machines so that the Biblical account will have things in it which reflect human beliefs as well as those which are from God. Talk with others about what you are reading, look at good biblical commentaries and pray often.
2. The translation that you are reading may have flaws because it was penned by human beings but also remember that God’s Spirit can get around any discrepancy and reveal the rich truths that God wants you to know. For this reason most any translation is OK to start with.
3. Understand that Jesus is God’s Living Word and that the Bible is a record of truths / beliefs written down by humans; always compare Christ’s example with what you are reading.
4. Understand that the Bible is a historical book and that while some of its messages may be applicable today not all may seem to.
5. Know the central theme of God’s personal message to you is Jesus, both in the Old and New Testaments
6. Look for Jesus in each book. All scripture either points to the cross or refers back to it.
7. Approach it expectantly. Expect God to reveal Himself, answer your questions, and change your life for the better.
8. Understand that the hardest part of Bible study is in getting started. So be patient with yourself and work toward consistency. Five minutes per day is much better than an hour once a month. A simple decision followed by daily determination is necessary.
9. Set a daily study time. Routine is so important. Treat it like an appointment that you cannot miss. Scheduling your study time first thing and then everything else around it is always best.
10. Soon you will notice that a desire to attend your study has developed and you will find it getting very enjoyable and much easier. Surprise!
11. Suddenly you may realize that you have missed your appointment for several days in a row and you may feel terrible about yourself. Disappointment may follow. Don’t worry. Just pick up where you left off and stay in the flow. Regularity will develop over time.

Tips

• Get a Bible that you can write in and highlight scripture that has special meaning. You might like to consider one with wide-margins or a ring-bound one so you can add notes.
• Start in The New Testament in the letters written to the Churches by Paul. These are the earliest Christian documents, then look at Mark, the first of the Gospels.
• Do not start in the Old Testament with the books of Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Begin with the prophets like Amos and Hosea. Not only are the books shorter – they are a good introduction to what God expects of all human beings.

Warnings

• Don’t become a lone ranger. Find a good church with a good Pastor who is apt to teach you. Seek and you will find. Joining a church is like joining a gym. You get in shape much sooner with like minded people. A Bowflex {Bible} in your bedroom will soon become a clothing rack.

Related wikiHows

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• How to Look up a Bible Verse
• How to Teach a Bible Memory Verse to Children
• How to Become a Christian According to the Bible
• How to Study the Bible Correctly

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Jesus – a Bible in Modern English by Charles Templeton

This book is a blending and paraphrase of the 4 Gospels, Everything Jesus said and did by Charles Templeton. His son, Brad Templeton, has written a foreword to the online edition of this book.

The world-renowned Rev.Billy Graham has endorsed this book:

“The idea of someone synthesizing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John into a single biography of the life of Christ and entitling it Jesus is an excellent one. It helps to accommodate both the outsider to Christianity looking in and the devout believer in Christ in their respective attempts to get the total picture of the life of Jesus as a whole.

I would also like to commend Charles Templeton, who claims to be an agnostic, for overall honesty in not letting interpretive biases creep into this presentation. Rather he has let the Gospel record speak for itself. Of course there are arbitrary decisions which had to be made with regard to the chronology of events in the life of our Lord and the actual sequence of His teaching, a few of which I would have perhaps placed in slightly different order, but none of these affect the cardinal doctrines of historic Christianity.

All in all it is my hope that this publication will have a deep and abiding impact on its readers equally in the areas of evangelism, edification and education.”

Other commentaries on the book:

An excellent book that should be read by every evangelical Christian. It is thoroughly evangelical, conservative and fundamental. Every basic doctrine of the Christian church is to be heard loud and clear. I think it is a great piece of work. — Dr. Paul Smith, The People’s Church, Toronto

I like to think that the conversations reworded in the text are what we might have heard if we had walked the streets of Jerusalem two thousand years ago. — Winnipeg Tribune

Here at last is a harmony of the Gospels that makes the old, old story live. I was prepared for a work that would soar, and it does! Wherever I have dipped into this anagram of the Gospels I have struck sound scholarship and forceful prose. The story of Jesus is rendered in a linguistic style that is neither breezy nor pedantic but freshly up to date.” – Dr. Ernest T. Campbell, The Riverside Church, New York. For those who want to know more, further info is available at: http://www.templetons.com/charles/jesus/

Jesus – a Bible in Modern English by Charles Templeton

This book is a blending and paraphrase of the 4 Gospels, Everything Jesus said and did by Charles Templeton. His son, Brad Templeton, has written a foreword to the online edition of this book.

The world-renowned Rev.Billy Graham has endorsed this book:

“The idea of someone synthesizing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John into a single biography of the life of Christ and entitling it Jesus is an excellent one. It helps to accommodate both the outsider to Christianity looking in and the devout believer in Christ in their respective attempts to get the total picture of the life of Jesus as a whole.

I would also like to commend Charles Templeton, who claims to be an agnostic, for overall honesty in not letting interpretive biases creep into this presentation. Rather he has let the Gospel record speak for itself. Of course there are arbitrary decisions which had to be made with regard to the chronology of events in the life of our Lord and the actual sequence of His teaching, a few of which I would have perhaps placed in slightly different order, but none of these affect the cardinal doctrines of historic Christianity.

All in all it is my hope that this publication will have a deep and abiding impact on its readers equally in the areas of evangelism, edification and education.”

Other commentaries on the book:

An excellent book that should be read by every evangelical Christian. It is thoroughly evangelical, conservative and fundamental. Every basic doctrine of the Christian church is to be heard loud and clear. I think it is a great piece of work. — Dr. Paul Smith, The People’s Church, Toronto

I like to think that the conversations reworded in the text are what we might have heard if we had walked the streets of Jerusalem two thousand years ago. — Winnipeg Tribune

Here at last is a harmony of the Gospels that makes the old, old story live. I was prepared for a work that would soar, and it does! Wherever I have dipped into this anagram of the Gospels I have struck sound scholarship and forceful prose. The story of Jesus is rendered in a linguistic style that is neither breezy nor pedantic but freshly up to date.” – Dr. Ernest T. Campbell, The Riverside Church, New York. For those who want to know more, further info is available at: http://www.templetons.com/charles/jesus/