How to properly study the Bible

By THOMAS HUKAHU

IN the past few weeks, I have shared about the lives of some famous Bible characters.
Today, I want to help people with studying the Bible.
That is, how to properly study the Bible.
What I will share here is very basic, but enough to get you started in the right direction.

Do we all need to study?
It is very likely that some of you may be asking: Do we really have to study the Bible? Is that not supposed to be a pastor or priest’s job to study it and share with us?
Well, that thought is not right.
The Bible was not written for just the pastor or priest to study, it is for all to study.
In short, studying the Bible (or Word of God) enables a believer to know the truth, and the fundamental principles or doctrines taught by the Bible.
Knowing these doctrines (or teachings) will help a Christian grow to become stronger and mature in the faith and not follow teachings that are wrong.
Knowing the Bible will enable an unsaved person to know the truth and obtain salvation when s/he calls upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10.17).
We must all be aware that strange and foreign doctrines can be adopted by people, including certain church leaders. This has happened many times before and continues to be a concern for those who want to know the truth – and follow it.
In the book of Acts, in chapter 17 and verse 11, it is stated that the Jews at Berea were a better group than those at Thessalonica because: These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
In other words, the habit of searching the scriptures to check if what Apostle Paul was teaching them was true or not was commended.

Remember Jim Jones?
Most of the things I am sharing here come from my years as a member of an independent Bible-believing church denomination.
(It is independent because there are no headquarters somewhere in a foreign land dictating as to how the congregation has to be run. The church members with the leadership of the pastor, elders and deacons take care of the running of the church and execute all necessary duties as spelled out by the Bible.)
We had good Bible teachers who taught us how to properly study the Bible to get the best from it, and from its author, God himself.
(They taught that good communication with God is vital. In prayer, we talk to God. In studying the Word, we hear God speaking to us.)
We must be aware that wrong teachings can turn a whole congregation down the wrong path.
People who read and study the Bible properly can avoid associating themselves with denominations or sects that may be promoting the wrong kind of doctrines, or incorrectly interpreting the doctrines as taught by the Word.
Last weekend, as I was dwelling on the topic of this article, the name of Jim Jones came to mind.
When I was a kid back in the 1980s, my parents took me to the drive-in theatre in Port Moresby where we saw the movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980). That told the story of Jim Jones and his followers.

From biography.com, we are told: Jones was best known as the cult leader of the Peoples Temple who led more than 900 followers in a mass suicide via cyanide-laced punch known as the Jonestown Massacre.
Born on May 13, 1931, in Crete (near Lynn), Indiana, Jim Jones was a notorious cult leader. As the self-proclaimed messiah of the Peoples Temple religious cult, Jones promised his followers utopia if they followed him.
On November 18, 1978, in what became known as the Jonestown Massacre, Jones led more than 900 men, women and children to their deaths in a mass suicide via cyanide-laced punch.
It is sad that the hundreds of followers of Jones never for once questioned how he governed their church.
We can ask: Did they know the truth?
Maybe if they did, they could have escaped such a sad fate.
That tragedy of Jones and his followers is an extreme.
However, even today, we all must know the truth to avoid following people who are not teaching the truth. Sometimes, they can be very subtle and teach half-truths and, within years, their followers could be accepting wrong doctrines.
Remember, truth builds. What is not truth will destroy over time. It always does.
It will destroy you, it will destroy your family and community.
We must also bear in mind that religion is not truth. The Bible, which is the Word of God, is truth.
From a Bible-believing Christian’s perspective, the truth is defined by the Bible and nothing else.

In other words, the Bible and Bible alone is the sole authority on everything. Any teaching from another book or prophet will not be accepted by a Bible believer. (That is my view too. Some people may disagree with that.)

What the Word does to a person
Here are some quick verses that show us how important the Bible is to any person.
It is the tool that God will use to start the work of salvation in a person’s life (Romans 10.17).
After salvation, the Bible shows the right path for the believer. It is like a lamp (Psalms 119.105).
It helps nurtures a babe believer (1 Peter 2.2).
It helps a believer mature (Hebrews 5.12).
And like the Berean believers in Acts 17, it will help them check if a preacher is teaching the truth or promoting some false doctrine.
There are many other references about the importance of the Word, but I will not go on with more verses.

Tools to help you study
All good study in any field requires tools.
In Bible study, some tools are vital. Here are a few basic ones:
1. Bible concordance: This lists Bible verse references on various topics e.g. Paul, Samaria, Pharaoh or prophets. Some are very brief while others are exhaustive and list every verse relating to a topic that you may want to study.
2. Bible atlas: This shows you maps of the times where different characters lived, as in the time of Jesus or Joseph.
3. Bible dictionary: This lists and explains terms or words e.g. prophecy, baptism, Sabbath and circumcision.
4. Bible translations: It is good to often compare one Bible translation with another. I read the Bible in King James Version but can often refer to the New King James Version and New International Version (NIV) to get another view of the same verse.
5. Study Bible: This type of Bible is prepared by scholar who is more knowledgeable in the Bible and provides you references to other verses in the Bible on a topic you may be interested in. The scholar may provide some useful thoughts or insights on verses in the margin of that Bible to help you understand better.

The basics in studying
Before you do anything, pray to God to help you understand what was written in this special book.
Then follow the steps below.
Firstly, you must read.
Many people like to argue about the Bible but most of them have never read the Bible for themselves.
They have never read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and yet want to debate on biblical topics. They are like the person who goes into a courtroom and tries to argue legal matters with a magistrate without actually studying books on law to see if he is arguing in the right way or not.
(In one local church I was with years ago, the pastor encouraged members to read the Bible all the way through once a year. The members were urged to read three chapters on each weekday and five chapters each on Saturday and Sunday. They could read from Genesis during weekdays and Matthew on weekends so they work their way through both the Old Testament and New Testament at the same time. It is hard work but if the Bible is indeed God’s word, believers must study it.)
Secondly, you must interpret correctly.
To correctly interpret the Word, you must use the tools given in the previous section.
You must interpret the verses you are reading with other verses in the Bible.
Bible teachers teach that the Bible does not contradict itself.
If you have come up with two parts that seem to contradict each other, it is likely that you are not interpreting the Bible correctly.
When reading the Bible, refer to the Bible atlas for maps to see where Babylon is, where Jerusalem is and how far it is from Egypt and so on.
In the story of the child Jesus in Luke 2.42-52, where the twelve-year-old boy disappeared from his parents when they came down from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, you will understand the journey from their local town to Jerusalem better if you measure the actual distance on a map from a Bible atlas.
You would then understand how far they travelled and how stressful it was for the parents to turn back to Jerusalem after a day’s journey when they learned that their child was not with their travelling cohort.
Thirdly, you must apply appropriately.
Find principles in the Bible which could be applied to yourself and other believers.
This is important in the study process.
Failure to apply appropriately can mean you will not grow in your faith.
In the story about the child Jesus, a good application would be: At times we have to prioritise our life. Should we go to God’s house to meet with other believers or go to the sports field for a game where we are key players?
If we fail to turn up for a game, our teammates will not be happy. But then, what is important? A sports game or learning more from being with believers?
Remember that the child Jesus seemed to have disobeyed his parents. However, a correct interpretation and application would show that in life, often, it is “better to obey God rather than men”.
One more point on application: Always ask yourself if something can be applied to you or to other groups of people?
Some prophecies are for the Jews, others for gentiles and yet others for everyone. You cannot apply everything to everyone.
Some activities in the Bible are not for us to replicate. We can learn from them but it is not for us to copy what was done.
We do not have to bring poisonous snakes into church and cause them to bite us and expect someone to perform a miracle to neutralise the poison. That is an example of incorrectly applying the Word of God. Peter and Paul did not urge believers to do that.

Last words
You can use a concordance and do a topic study – as on the doctrine of salvation, baptism or church meetings or councils, or even on divorce and marriage.
You can also do a character study on Joseph, Peter or Paul, as I have done in past weeks. A concordance will help you do that.
The importance of properly studying the Bible cannot be emphasised enough.
Many churches are changing their styles of doing things and also promoting activities that seem strange.
Are they keeping to the Bible and its doctrines, or are they doing their own thing?
Are they like Jim Jones?
You can get an answer to that question if you have studied the Bible and know the basic doctrines in it.
I give you a Bible verse to end this article, from an advice that Paul gave to the young pastor Timothy: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2.15).
To know the truth and handle it appropriately, you have to study the Bible. You have to divide it correctly.
Next week: The education of Barnabas.

• Thomas Hukahu is a freelance writer.