Bible Study Doesn't Have to Be Difficult

I know that a lot of my talk about Bible study involves a whole lot of stuff about the original languages, concordances, commentaries, etc. But in all honesty, Bible study doesn't have to be complicated at all.

I think the first step to a good Bible study is prayer. I'll confess right here and now that I often forget this step. But perhaps actually posting it here will drive me to include it in my personal study.

What do we pray about? Well, we should start with earnestly confessing and repenting of sin. We need to feel our need for God, need to know that without God, we can't do anything good on our own. We also need to know that without Him, we have no hope of truly understanding the Word we are about to read. We need to pray for the strength to understand. Ephesians 3:18 says we need "strength to comprehend" the things of God and "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge" so we "may be filled with all the fullness of God." And by "understanding," I mean more than just knowing what it means. I mean actually knowing it, knowing it to be true, applying that truth to your life. Real understanding of the Bible means actually believing it and living by it.

So what comes next? Honestly, I'd saying just reading. Find a passage, a chapter, a book, or maybe even a verse, and just read it. Be sure to read around to find the true context, because Biblical context is absolutely necessary for any kind of understanding, and to keep us from error.

While you read, jot down a few notes. You can use a computer, a notebook, the margins on your Bible's pages...anything, really. The point is to help you retain information.

I read all of Colossians this morning. I've started a reading plan I found on Grace To You that involves repetition. It starts with reading a small book of the New Testament once a day for thirty days while jotting down key themes of the book, or a passage, etc. Anything. When I did that this morning, I realized that one of the overarching themes is the complete fallacy of human logic apart from the things of God. Paul actually says that he wrote this letter to the Colossians " in order that no one may delude [them] with plausible arguments" (ch. 2:4). It goes on to condemn humanistic and paganistic things like mysticism and works salvation. I didn't realize that this was a theme of the whole book until I wrote it down at one point and saw it come up again in a way later on. Colossians 3 talks about putting off the old self (our human, sinful natures) and putting on the new self (the Christian, Godly nature) (vv. 9-10). There's this constant comparison between the things of God and the things of man! It's amazing. And this was only my second day. I can't wait to see what I learn for the next 28!

Of course, despite my first paragraph, I also think that the teachings and writings of genuine, God-fearing, Bible-believing, Christ-loving men is indispensable to us. That may be another post I write later, but I will say this: don't cling to everything a pastor says. We are to measure our leaders and their teaching by the standards that the Bible gives. I'm no teacher, but as a guy talking about what the Bible says, I certainly hope those who read this measure it by the standards of the Bible. However, when you have a teacher who is totally committed to the things of God, His saving work in the world, a man who knows he is a sinner and needs God to do anything good, someone who loves Christ more than anything, you can generally rely on him to teach well and teach Biblically.