REPLAY： Reading the Bible
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
193.23769
Summary
In this episode, I talk about the importance of reading the Bible and why you don't need to be overwhelmed by the task of learning how to read it. I also talk about why it's important to have a solid foundation in the Word of God.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Hey guys, welcome to the podcast. Happy Monday. As you guys know, it is Theology Monday. Now,
00:00:06.260
when I say theology, it sounds like we're talking about these kind of complicated issues every week,
00:00:11.900
but of course we're not. A lot of times we're refuting some kind of pseudo-Christian lie that
00:00:18.120
we've heard in the mainstream and going to God's Word and seeing what it actually says. Sometimes
00:00:22.960
we are talking about more complex subjects. Sometimes we're talking about more practical
00:00:27.980
subjects like biblical suffering, but in everything we always go back to the Word of
00:00:32.360
God as our supreme authority. And that's really what I want to talk about today. Why reading the
00:00:37.760
Bible and knowing our Bible and knowing theology is so important. And that doesn't mean that we
00:00:45.400
have to have every question answered about our eschatology at all points. Of course, all of that
00:00:51.500
is very important, but it's a process. It takes time. And it all starts with knowing how to and
00:00:57.860
even why to read the Bible. This is a question that I get a lot, especially from people who are just
00:01:04.860
becoming Christians. They just don't know where to start. And if that's you, I just want you to know
00:01:09.340
that is the perfect place to be. That's a normal place to be. Anyone who has ever become a Christian,
00:01:14.980
especially people who were not raised in the church, have all asked that question. There is not
00:01:19.040
a single person who has become a Christian and said, oh, totally understand this Bible thing.
00:01:23.760
Totally get it. I've got no questions. It all makes perfect sense. No, we are finite human beings.
00:01:31.000
That means we are limited in our understanding. We only have so much of a capacity to be able to
00:01:37.440
understand complex subjects. But what I'm here to tell you is that you have a much bigger and better
00:01:43.180
capacity to understand the complexities of Scripture than you think. Thankfully, with the power
00:01:48.620
of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God, there's so much that we get to know through the Bible. So
00:01:53.580
if you are intimidated when you are reading the Bible, normal. If you are confused when you are
00:01:58.720
reading the Bible, normal. If you are scared to open the Bible just because you feel like you don't
00:02:04.920
know anything and you don't want to ask stupid questions, normal. Okay? So just take a deep breath.
00:02:09.820
Understand that when you're listening to people who you're like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to know
00:02:14.600
as much as this person that I see on Instagram or my friend or my pastor. You don't need to worry
00:02:20.140
about that. You don't need to worry about that. What you need to worry about is reading the Word of
00:02:26.120
God as much and as well and as accurately as a human being possibly can. And that is what we are.
00:02:33.500
That's what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about some very basic things.
00:02:37.220
We're also going to talk about a little bit more intricate or complicated things depending on how
00:02:43.820
familiar you are with church and with kind of the Christian sphere. But I do think for anyone,
00:02:49.780
no matter where you are in your walk, I think that this will be a very important episode. Even if you
00:02:54.280
have been walking with God a lot longer than I have, you know the Bible a lot better than I do.
00:02:58.780
I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that that is true of. I still think that this will be an
00:03:03.320
edifying episode for everyone, especially if you have friends who are just now learning the Bible
00:03:09.660
for themselves. It's a very exciting time, by the way, if you are becoming a Christian. It's so
00:03:14.120
exciting to really discover God's Word for the first time. So I'm excited for you and you should
00:03:18.960
be excited for yourself too. And you should not feel at all bogged down or weighed down by this task
00:03:25.360
that you have before you of reading the Bible. This summer, we are going to cover a lot of
00:03:31.040
theological subjects that are on the more complex side that maybe you wouldn't tackle until you've
00:03:37.420
been following God for a little bit and you start, okay, you understand the gospel and it's not that
00:03:42.800
you move on from the gospel, but you realize that there's a lot there and there's a lot to uncover
00:03:47.200
and there's a lot to unpack that happens over time. The more that we study, the more we know about
00:03:54.420
God, the more that we know that we don't know. And so the questions just kind of multiply the longer
00:03:59.520
that you've known Him, which is great. That's a really fun and exciting thing, I think, about
00:04:03.260
following God and about reading His Word. So I wanted to kind of lay this foundation
00:04:08.020
before this summer when we get into those complicated issues about, you know, predestination
00:04:14.420
and Tulip and Calvinism, all that good stuff, women in the church, these very controversial topics.
00:04:22.220
I wanted to kind of lay this foundation before we get into all of that. So my personal journey
00:04:28.380
with God, if you want to call it that, I'm not even sure if that's theologically accurate
00:04:33.340
terminology, but my relationship with God, I was raised in a Christian home. Both of my parents
00:04:39.260
were Christians. We went to a Southern Baptist church every Sunday, but my relationship with
00:04:45.780
Him, I didn't start taking the Bible seriously and reading the Bible for myself and being interested
00:04:51.120
in the Bible until I was probably a junior in high school. And I would even say the latter half
00:04:56.240
of my junior year. Now, if I go back and I read some of the journals that I had when I was like
00:05:01.240
eight or nine years old, I've always kept journals my entire life. I was, you know, like writing
00:05:05.560
scripture and prayers and things like that. So it was always something I knew about in Sunday
00:05:09.120
school class. I went to a Christian school. It was always something that I was from an academic
00:05:13.200
standpoint, intellectual standpoint, interested in. But it wasn't until the latter half of my junior
00:05:19.660
year. I was in a Bible class in high school that was very different than any Bible class that I had
00:05:26.100
taken. My teacher was extremely vulnerable and extremely real and authentic about sin and struggles
00:05:32.700
and learning God's word. I don't even know where this teacher is now or what he's really like. I don't
00:05:37.720
even really remember much of what we talked about, but he really trusted us to be able to study scripture
00:05:43.580
and to talk about it and to explore complicated subjects that we had never explored before.
00:05:49.120
And that really started piquing my interest. I like, I remember reading Romans all the way through
00:05:53.380
for the first time my junior year. And I was like, wow, there's a lot here that I don't know when I've,
00:05:58.800
you know, been raised in the church. And then we read my senior year of high school. We read this book
00:06:04.460
called Reason for God by Tim Keller. And I started reading C.S. Lewis, Great Divorce, Mere Christianity.
00:06:10.300
And all of a sudden I realized, oh my gosh, there's so much about God, so much about his word, his church
00:06:16.560
that I don't know. And this stuff is fascinating to me, even just from an intellectual perspective.
00:06:21.800
I found it really fascinating. And then, so that just became a passion of mine, studying God's word,
00:06:27.700
probably starting my senior year of high school. A few other things happened that brought me
00:06:31.620
close to God and understanding the gospel for probably the first time. I started listening
00:06:36.600
to teachers. I started going to a church that was, you know, my own church. I was able to drive.
00:06:42.280
And so I didn't go to the same church as my parents anymore. That had a huge, profound impact on me.
00:06:47.880
And then I went to college with that same spirit. And then my friends gave me an ESV study Bible that
00:06:54.380
I still use every day now when I was a sophomore. And that totally, I don't want to say that totally
00:07:00.060
changed my life too, because I was already a Christian, but that awakened an even deeper love,
00:07:05.740
I guess, for studying scripture and realizing there was so much that I didn't know. And then I've
00:07:13.080
talked about before my senior year, I went through this really hard season where I decided that I was
00:07:20.620
going to have fun, as they say. I went through a hard breakup and I reacted to that breakup in a very
00:07:27.220
immature and ungodly way. I decided to fill my life with things that I thought would make me happy.
00:07:33.020
Really what I was seeking during this point in college was wanting to be wanted. I felt rejected.
00:07:39.300
And so a way to feel wanted and to feel whole when I was 21, 22 years old was drinking, was hooking up,
00:07:47.240
was going out, was getting attention from friends, things that a lot of people do all four years of
00:07:53.180
college and even high school. I had a lot of encouragement from people around me that this
00:07:58.120
is what I was supposed to do. And that's not to blame them at all, that it was totally my
00:08:02.440
responsibility, but it was fun. I was getting attention, affirmation. It was awesome, but really
00:08:07.660
I was miserable. I was also struggling with an eating disorder. And I just remember, this all ties
00:08:12.760
back to what we're talking about. I just remember during this time, and mind you, I had been chaplain in
00:08:18.020
my sorority. I had was genuinely passionate about the word of God. And then I just decided after this
00:08:23.400
breakup, no, no, no, no. I want to numb the pain how I want to numb the pain. I'm going to live it
00:08:28.000
up this last semester. And I remember trying to pretend like I was following God at the same time.
00:08:34.900
Like I remember trying to read the Bible. I remember trying to keep up with what, you know,
00:08:41.660
we call in Christianese our quiet times. I remember trying to do that and not being able to.
00:08:47.560
I remember trying to open my Bible, trying to journal, and I just couldn't. It made me feel
00:08:53.280
physically sick because I knew what I was doing was wrong and it was totally incongruent with the
00:08:59.200
life that God had called me to. I felt convicted of my sin. But instead of turning towards that
00:09:05.140
conviction and repenting, I just pushed it down and I closed my Bible and I said, you know what?
00:09:09.740
I'm not going to, I'm not going to do this anymore. This hurts too much. It hurts too much to pray. It
00:09:14.080
hurts too much to read the Bible. I'm just going to do what I want to do. I'm going to numb my pain
00:09:18.360
with alcohol, with guys, with over-exercise, with not eating enough. And I'm going to keep up this
00:09:23.040
image that I think is going to make me happy and whole. That didn't work. Long story short, I ended
00:09:28.800
up in the counselor's office a few months after I graduated from college, her telling me, if you keep up
00:09:34.700
your eating disorder, which at this point had turned into binging and purging, you're going to die.
00:09:39.000
And I just, I didn't know how to, I think that probably was the thing that woke me up. And then
00:09:48.260
I started reading God's word again. And I started reading the Bible again and allowing my heart to
00:09:55.120
be pricked and softened. I, you know, after a while of sinning, you grow callous and you convince
00:10:02.880
yourself that it's fine. And you harden your heart as a way to not feel conviction. And that's
00:10:08.960
what I had done. And so I had to painfully go through this process of repentance, of allowing
00:10:13.740
God's word to seep into my heart and seep into my life and remind me just how needy I am, just how
00:10:19.300
sinful I am, just how much I desperately need God, that I'm not self-sufficient, that I can't do this on
00:10:27.740
my own, that the avenues that I pursued to find happiness actually were going to end in destruction
00:10:33.600
and devastation. And that's always what sin does. That's, that is the game that Satan has been
00:10:39.960
playing since the very beginning in the garden. When he said to Eve, did God really say, did God
00:10:46.680
really say? And he showed her the fruit and the fruit looked good. And instead of telling her the
00:10:51.940
consequences of this, he said, no, no, no, don't worry about it. God's just worried that you're going
00:10:57.020
to be more like him and you'll know the difference between good and evil. And that's what you want.
00:11:01.520
Well, that sounded enticing to Eve. And just like Satan does in all of our temptations today,
00:11:07.160
he doesn't talk about consequences. He talks about how good it's going to feel in the moment.
00:11:12.040
And Eve gave into that. I gave into that. And the consequences are always so much worse than the
00:11:20.800
fleeting pleasure that you get from sin. And I learned that the hard way. I racked up a lot of regrets
00:11:26.580
in that probably eight month period of rebellion that I have that I wish that I could take back
00:11:32.460
all because I decided to, uh, walk away from the word of God. And because I wouldn't, I wouldn't allow
00:11:42.280
conviction. I pushed it down and I became callous and I followed my own way. So if there is one reason,
00:11:49.720
and we'll get to all the reasons, but if there is one reason to stay in God's word, it is to remain,
00:11:57.260
uh, it is to remain convicted of your sin, to remain in obedience to God and to avoid the pain
00:12:05.600
and devastation that inevitably comes along with following your sin and your flesh and your desires.
00:12:12.260
I can tell you from experience, it is not worth it. So listen to me when I say that you might not know
00:12:18.960
that about me and people who have been listening to this podcast from the very beginning have heard
00:12:22.720
me give the story before. Um, I have not always in every stage of my life been this on fire for
00:12:30.800
Christ reading the Bible every day girl. No, I went through a period where I rebelled and I am thankful
00:12:36.600
for the grace of God and the wisdom that he gives us in his words. So that is why this subject is so
00:12:43.260
important to me because I want something different for you. And if you've already been there, like I have,
00:12:48.620
know that there's grace for you and know that there is forgiveness for you and there is wisdom for you
00:12:53.640
and there is goodness for you found in the word of God. So, uh, let's talk about, let's talk about the
00:13:00.320
reasons why, uh, the reasons why we need to study scripture in addition to the reasons that I just gave
00:13:06.560
you. Um, so Psalm 119 is an amazing passage. We see how passionate, uh, David is about God's law and
00:13:15.100
about his promises, how eager David is, uh, to follow them and to hold onto them. Uh, here are
00:13:21.280
verses, uh, nine through 16 in this particular chapter. How can a young man keep his way pure
00:13:27.260
by guarding and according to your word with my whole heart, I seek you. Let me not wander from
00:13:32.040
your commandments. I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
00:13:36.840
Uh, blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes with my lips. I declare all the rules of your mouth
00:13:42.060
in the way of your testimonies. I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts
00:13:48.380
and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget your word. Um,
00:13:54.820
there are a lot of reasons to study the Bible and to rejoice in the intimacy that we gain, uh, with God
00:14:01.860
through studying the Bible. And the first and the foremost reason is to know God is to know God and
00:14:07.740
his ways. The Bible is filled, uh, with passages about God revealing himself to his people, showing
00:14:13.260
him his strength, his faithfulness, his goodness, uh, revealing his will in his word. And in God's
00:14:19.700
sovereignty, he has chosen to reveal himself to us through his written word in the Bible. A Psalm 25,
00:14:26.260
four says, make me to know your ways. Oh Lord, teach me your paths. Psalm 199, 25 says, I am your servant.
00:14:33.600
Give me understanding that I may know your testimonies. Jesus prays to the father in John 17,
00:14:39.220
17, uh, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. So those who are in Christ gain intimacy with
00:14:47.320
the God of the universe, uh, by understanding him that, uh, the truth that he gives us in scripture,
00:14:53.180
it is a privilege for us to get to know the God of the universe through his word and, uh, the word
00:15:00.040
that he purposely left for us. There are a lot of other reasons that all kind of fall under that
00:15:06.320
umbrella to read God's word. Uh, and that is always going to be the main one to know God in his ways.
00:15:11.860
And in knowing God in his ways, uh, we gain a lot of other benefits. We gain wisdom and discernment for
00:15:18.820
how to live, how to navigate the rough waters of life. We're given direction. We are offered perspective
00:15:24.920
for how to see what's happening in the world, what's going to happen, uh, in the future. We're
00:15:29.860
given a framework for righteousness that applies to our own lives, but also applies to the public
00:15:35.980
sphere, like the government. We are able to better understand how to love and to serve other people.
00:15:42.160
We are shown our sin, our neediness of God. We are convicted of our wrongdoing. We are called to
00:15:48.520
repentance. Uh, we are comforted by the reminders of God's faithfulness. We are also
00:15:54.000
able to distinguish through God's word between what is true and what is false, false teaching
00:15:59.300
and the true word of God. Uh, reading the Bible as it draws us closer to God and gives us wisdom
00:16:04.920
also sanctifies us as that passage says that we read in John 17, meaning that as we conform to God's
00:16:11.720
will, we become more like Christ, more like who God has called us to be. Uh, as second Timothy 3,
00:16:18.080
16 through 17 says all scriptures is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
00:16:24.960
for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete equipped for
00:16:31.620
every good work. So it's useful for teaching for reproof and for correction to train us to become
00:16:38.580
righteous, that we in God might be complete, that we might be ready, prepared, equipped for every good
00:16:45.720
work that he has prepared for us. As Ephesians two says, there are many people, unfortunately,
00:16:52.940
who will tell you that reading God's word is secondary or even tertiary, uh, in your relationship
00:16:58.940
with him, that knowing scripture, isn't really all that important compared to what these people would
00:17:04.160
call your personal relationship with him. They kind of separate these two things, uh, where they say
00:17:09.300
that God may say that he doesn't say, or God may say things to you that he doesn't say in his word.
00:17:14.620
He might reveal things to you that are just specific for you. He might give you feelings that you can't
00:17:20.900
actually find in the Bible. That's what these people will say. Uh, it's hogwash. It's total,
00:17:26.840
total deception. Uh, this is not to say that God won't convict you as you are praying or God won't
00:17:32.900
press something into your mind or heart, but every conviction, every connection, every direction he gives
00:17:39.200
will be in perfect alignment with what he says in scripture, because he does not change. Uh, he will
00:17:46.140
not give you something that contradicts scripture or goes outside the bounds of scripture or is contrary
00:17:51.600
to his character. It's very sad to me, uh, when people say, when I hear people say that God's word
00:17:59.760
is limiting, that we need to go beyond it because what it tells me is that they have not spent very much
00:18:07.200
time studying it. Uh, anyone who says that God's word restricts their relationship with God or puts
00:18:13.340
limitations on their relationship with God has not read the word of God. I guarantee you, they don't
00:18:18.740
know much about the word of God. Uh, chances are they read something at one point that they don't like
00:18:23.680
or didn't understand. And they decided, okay, I don't, I don't really need this. This is too confusing
00:18:28.220
for me. Uh, this person tends to view scripture as a static collection of ancient writings that serve
00:18:34.780
as a very small supplement to your faith, but really shouldn't be used as the foundation for your
00:18:40.120
faith. Uh, but that is not a correct way to look at scripture as, uh, that verse in second Timothy that
00:18:45.980
we read says that God's word is breathed out by him. And God, as we've said, does not change.
00:18:52.120
Therefore his word does not change. It is applicable today right now. It is static in the sense that it
00:18:58.980
doesn't change depending on our mood or on our culture or a trend, but it's also dynamic in the
00:19:05.020
sense that it is not stuck in the past, but is ever applicable to the right now. Uh, now you may say,
00:19:11.180
well, Allie, what about, what about all the people who can't read the Bible or who maybe don't have a
00:19:17.940
Bible with them, but they are Christians. Can they not have a relationship with God? And to that,
00:19:23.460
I would say, of course they can. God in his sovereignty can, he has the power to accommodate
00:19:28.300
himself to anyone and draw, uh, someone's heart to himself through whatever means necessary. But,
00:19:34.220
but again, this means, uh, or these means that he, uh, uses in this revelation of who he is in his
00:19:41.280
gospel will not and cannot be incongruent to what he word or with what his word says. Uh, Jesus says
00:19:50.120
his word is truth. God's word is truth. Second Timothy says his word is useful, is profitable
00:19:56.840
for everything. And it is breathed out by God. Psalm 119 speaks to how vital God's word is in our lives.
00:20:04.420
Uh, there is a branch of Christianity, uh, that really wants to wed Eastern mysticism with Christianity
00:20:12.660
and, uh, reject the importance of knowing the Bible. So they seek to have, you know, certain kinds
00:20:18.480
of energies or feelings to have special revelations that they claim are from God, uh, that are not
00:20:25.060
actually found in the Bible. You'll hear them using all of this kind of like new age terminology that God
00:20:31.100
wants to give you some kind of special gift just for you in the moment. What? Like, can you tell me
00:20:37.820
where you find that in scripture? Uh, beware of this be wary. Uh, this doesn't negate the power of
00:20:45.680
the Holy spirit. I'm not negating the power of the Holy spirit. On the contrary, uh, the Holy spirit
00:20:50.120
works in our hearts through the truth revealed in God's word to empower us, to encourage us, to convict us,
00:20:56.980
to draw us, uh, to God himself through Christ. Uh, Ephesians calls the Holy spirit, the guarantee
00:21:03.320
of our inheritance. Uh, that word for guarantee can also be translated as a down payment. So it is a
00:21:10.040
guarantee of our salvation. The Holy spirit is very important, but again, this is not some ethereal
00:21:15.800
feeling by which we can justify contradicting the word of God. Um, here's what happens when we try to
00:21:23.480
separate the Holy spirit from God's word, we end up mistaking our feelings for the Holy spirit.
00:21:30.180
So let me repeat that. When we try to separate the Holy spirit from God's word, we end up mistaking
00:21:35.820
our feelings for the Holy spirit. Uh, so we begin following our personal convictions and we say that
00:21:42.940
we are following God. I remember a conversation that I had with a friend in college, and this was
00:21:48.580
before my own rebellious period where I basically did the same thing, but I remember her telling me
00:21:54.680
that she didn't feel bad for dating this guy who wasn't a Christian because she didn't feel convicted
00:21:59.540
about it. So that must mean, of course, she thought that the Holy spirit is telling her that this is
00:22:05.980
okay. I, like I said, I've done this too. Uh, that's what happens when we think that the Holy spirit
00:22:11.440
is separate from or different than who God has revealed himself to be in his word. And that the Holy
00:22:17.200
spirit must just have different desires than what God has outlined in his word. And that my friends
00:22:23.040
leads us to sin. Uh, we follow our hearts, which the Bible tells us are desperately wicked. They are
00:22:31.540
not worth following. Uh, that's, that's what happens. So that's what happens when we try to say that the
00:22:39.960
spirit or our feelings, um, are more important or lead us rather than what scripture says. So the word
00:22:47.180
of God is crucial. I've said it before, and I will say it again. It is impossible to know God
00:22:53.360
intimately without knowing God accurately. It is impossible to know God intimately without knowing
00:23:00.700
God accurately. Now, this does not mean that we know everything about him at all times. That's
00:23:05.980
impossible for us. Uh, this doesn't mean that we can't have any confusion or have any misunderstandings.
00:23:11.500
We do because we're finite, but if we follow a God whose character is reflective of our own imagination,
00:23:17.800
rather than reflective of who he says he is in scripture, then we do not follow God at all.
00:23:23.680
Uh, we follow ourselves and we justify this self-worship with a form of pseudo Christianity that
00:23:31.040
does not equal salvation. So reading, studying, and knowing our Bibles so that we can know God and who he
00:23:41.220
truly is, is vital. Now there are many right ways to read the Bible, and there are many wrong ways to
00:23:50.900
read the Bible. Uh, and within the right ways to read it, there are different approaches that are
00:23:55.700
taken based on preference. So not everyone has to read the Bible the exact same way for it to be
00:24:01.720
correct. As long as how you are reading the Bible falls under the umbrella of the correct approach,
00:24:06.400
and there is a correct approach. So some of you might say, no, Ali, you're being legalistic. There
00:24:12.680
is no wrong way to read the Bible. Who are you to tell me how to read the Bible? Well, if you want to
00:24:18.740
know how bad theology happens, how people become completely lost and confused with their own brand
00:24:24.060
of Christianity that doesn't even reflect the gospel revealed to us in scripture, it is this,
00:24:29.160
a poor reading of the text, a poor reading of the Bible. So here are just a few of the ways
00:24:35.300
that people read the Bible incorrectly. Uh, number one, this is probably the biggest one.
00:24:39.700
They decontextualize the verses, uh, taking a verse out of context in order to apply it to a
00:24:45.460
situation or an idea in a way that suits what you want this verse to mean. Uh, so a few great
00:24:50.880
examples of this that most of us have probably heard. If we grew up in the church, you've heard
00:24:54.140
Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Psalm 37, 4, uh, delight
00:24:59.580
yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Jeremiah 29, 11, for I know the
00:25:04.480
plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give
00:25:07.920
you hope in a future. Matthew 7, 1 judge, not lest you be judged. These are all awesome verses.
00:25:12.700
I'm not, I'm not at all hating on these verses. They're awesome verses, but so often they're taken
00:25:17.800
out of context to mean something that they don't mean. And the list really goes on and on of verses
00:25:22.380
that people will extract from the surrounding verses and say, this verse means what I want it to
00:25:28.000
mean in this situation. And typically the reason people do this, and we've all done this at some
00:25:32.880
point in our lives. But the reason people decontextualize verses is to make them feel
00:25:37.520
better, to stroke their own ego, to justify a decision they've made or to win an argument,
00:25:42.920
uh, rather than asking the question, what does this mean? So many people find themselves asking,
00:25:49.540
what does this verse mean to me? Well, that's not how the word of God works. Scripture means
00:25:54.520
something, not something to you or to me. It means something, uh, now how we apply and take comfort
00:26:02.840
in what a Bible verse means might vary depending on our circumstances, but we do not change the
00:26:08.200
meaning of the text to fit into what we want. And we will get into how to discern the meaning of the
00:26:13.600
text, uh, in just a minute. So another way that people read the Bible incorrectly goes along with the
00:26:20.240
first, and that is to insert themselves into the text, uh, where they do not belong. This again,
00:26:25.300
goes back to the question that people erroneously often ask themselves when they're reading the Bible.
00:26:29.900
And that is, that is, what does this passage mean to me? They ask, how can I insert myself into this
00:26:35.760
story? And again, this is typically about ego, about getting something from God that they want,
00:26:40.800
about justifying an idea or a decision that they've made. So you'd see this a lot in a story
00:26:45.960
like David and Goliath that I'm going to smite this giant before me, just like David did. Well,
00:26:51.900
no, you're not necessarily because you're not David in this story. Uh, it might not work out like
00:26:59.100
that. The better way to look at this passage is to ask ourselves, what does this mean? And what does
00:27:04.440
this say about the Holy God of the universe? Uh, if you constantly insert yourself into the Bible and
00:27:10.600
into the stories of biblical characters as a way of determining how your life is going to work out,
00:27:15.880
you are going to end up severely disappointed and you are going to find yourself questioning the
00:27:20.740
faithfulness of God. Well, the problem is not with God. It is with you. Similar to the prosperity
00:27:28.540
gospel. When things don't work out, uh, when things don't, when God doesn't provide for us, how we think
00:27:34.060
that we deserved, once we pray more and do more and earn more, and God still doesn't deliver in the
00:27:39.280
way that we want him to, we end up very disappointed in our faith falters. Well, that's because that's not
00:27:44.160
what the word of God says. It's the same thing when you try to insert yourself into a story where you
00:27:48.680
do not exist. Uh, another way that people read the Bible incorrectly goes along with the first as
00:27:54.620
well. And that is opening the Bible to a random passage and assuming that whatever verse you landed
00:27:59.640
on is a sign from God. No, I remember in middle school, the first time that I heard a pastor say
00:28:04.940
that this was wrong. And I was like, Oh shoot. Like my 12 year old self probably thought that it was
00:28:09.240
like, that's exactly what I was supposed to do to read the Bible. But I remember him saying this and
00:28:13.540
it's still true today. That is called mysticism. Uh, that is called putting the Lord, your God to
00:28:18.720
the test, which we are not called to do or which we are actually specifically told not to do. Now you
00:28:24.480
can of course pray for wisdom as you read the Bible. And we'll talk about that. We should be praying
00:28:28.400
for wisdom, uh, but opening up to a random verse, putting your finger on it and assuming that that is
00:28:32.760
God's special word for you for today is not a correct way to read the Bible. Um, so here is how
00:28:38.660
we read the Bible. This is the systematic way to read the Bible. The most important thing. And like I
00:28:45.000
said, there are preferences within this that are, um, that are personal, but they fall under a proper
00:28:53.660
reading of the text. Uh, context, context is key. You want to know the context of what you're reading.
00:29:01.220
If you have never read the Bible, I always advise starting out with the book of John. Uh, it is one
00:29:08.240
of the gospels. Uh, it's one of the gospels and in it are extremely clear passages about who Jesus is
00:29:14.460
and his work on the cross. And then I would read the epistles. And again, in all of this, you're
00:29:19.440
looking, well, I'll get to the context thing later. I shouldn't have said that first. I'll get to the
00:29:23.140
context thing later, but so start with John. That's what I would start with. Then I would read through
00:29:27.240
the epistles. I would read through Romans, uh, the Corinthians, you know, all of the epistles,
00:29:31.820
you can just go in order. Uh, these will tell you what it looks like to live a godly life.
00:29:37.900
According to God's own word. If you go to the old Testament, you start in Genesis. Genesis is one of
00:29:45.220
my favorite books of the Bible. It's just genuinely interesting. When you read through Genesis, you will
00:29:50.400
find things that you just didn't know were there. It's just a good story that is true by the way. Um,
00:29:56.640
so I recommend going slowly, especially in the new Testament. This is not a race. This is not about
00:30:02.420
quantity of study always, but about quality. Uh, it is about understanding. So first, before you read,
00:30:09.820
you pray to God for wisdom. You pray for understanding. You pray that you would be able
00:30:13.860
to grasp the text and that you would comprehend what is being said. Then you read, uh, it's okay.
00:30:20.620
If there are things as you read that you don't understand, you mark them, no question that you have,
00:30:25.020
especially when you're starting out, um, is stupid. Ask the question. There's no one judging
00:30:29.960
you. You're not getting graded on this personally. If you're starting in John, for example, I would
00:30:35.800
read a whole chapter, just read the whole chapter through. You don't have to worry about if there
00:30:40.640
are things that trip you up, read the whole chapter, then go back and take one to three
00:30:44.780
verses and really study them. That's what I do because I like studying in small chunks better
00:30:50.460
than in large chunks because I just get distracted. It gets too overwhelming. And then you just get
00:30:54.820
frustrated. So take a really small trunk, even if it's just one verse, but you can take, you know,
00:30:59.660
three verses, however much you can handle and really study what they mean. So of those few verses,
00:31:05.840
the questions to ask yourself. And of course, if you're staying in one book for a long period of
00:31:09.940
time, you don't have to ask these particular questions every time, but here are questions to ask
00:31:15.000
yourself as you're starting out, who is writing this? When is it being written? To whom is it being
00:31:20.580
written? And why is it being written? So it's also important to ask, like, is a literary device
00:31:26.720
being used? Is this a metaphor? Is this a particular reference that I don't understand because it's a
00:31:32.580
cultural reference? If you have a study Bible, I personally recommend the ESV study Bible. I find it to
00:31:39.040
be extremely reliable and thorough and good. I like the ESV version of the Bible as well. So I would
00:31:46.640
purchase, if you don't have an ESV study Bible, I would highly recommend it. It is going to contain
00:31:51.440
these answers for you of who is writing this? Why are they writing this? What's the context,
00:31:55.880
the historical context, the cultural context at the beginning of every book, it's going to answer
00:32:00.120
those historical questions for you. So you don't have to go to the library and figure that out or even
00:32:04.420
Google it. It's going to give you that context, which is really important. And then you're going
00:32:09.520
to ask, okay, what does this verse say? Something that I like to do, and this is where the preference
00:32:14.860
comes in. I like to write out the verse and then, or write out the verses and pick out the words that
00:32:21.280
are most significant or words that I'm not really sure what they mean. And then I, so I pick however
00:32:26.500
many words, like five of the main words that are in this. And then next to them, I write synonyms that I
00:32:32.640
know are synonyms to this word. Now, this is not me saying, this is my inerrant interpretation of
00:32:37.500
the Bible. But for me, a finite individual who is trying to understand scripture, it helps me if I
00:32:43.520
can say, okay, this also means this. Okay. Now this is starting to make sense to me. I see what he is
00:32:49.580
saying. It also helps if you have like an original Greek and Hebrew Bible. I do. It has references in the
00:32:56.840
back of the Bible that'll tell you the original Greek for particular words. And so you can really see
00:33:01.980
what the original word was and what the definition of that word is and what the original translation
00:33:07.580
is. If you want to do that, obviously that's not always, some people would say that that's necessary
00:33:13.260
every time. I'm not sure that it's necessary every time, as long as you are not just using your
00:33:18.500
subjective interpretation. So you'll ask, what does it say? And then you'll ask, what does this mean?
00:33:24.520
Or what does this reveal about the character of God? And then there is an application part of this.
00:33:30.240
Does this say something about sin? Does this say something about something I need to be doing?
00:33:35.780
Do I have something to repent from? Do I have something to start doing, to change, to stop doing?
00:33:40.980
How do I use this to be more obedient to God? So how do I understand God more? How do I apply this to my
00:33:48.520
life so I am more obedient to God? And what does this say about God? And also, what does this say about
00:33:56.940
God in reference to me? And that is not placing yourself in the center of the text, but that is
00:34:00.920
applying the truth of God's word to your life and to your heart. I also write out the questions that
00:34:07.080
I have. I will have a lot of questions when I'm reading the Bible, even passages that I've read a
00:34:11.400
million times. I have questions about them. So if it seems to me like a passage that I'm reading
00:34:15.780
contradicts something else that I've read, I look at the footnotes and I say, okay, am I getting this
00:34:20.860
wrong? What does this person say? Footnotes are not inerrant, by the way. They're not inerrant. They are not
00:34:24.900
themselves the word of God, but they can be good direction from people who have been studying this
00:34:28.880
longer than we have. So I look at the footnotes. I go to the verse that seems to contradict it.
00:34:34.120
So for example, if you are in Romans and you're reading that we are justified by faith and not by
00:34:39.240
works, but you remember that you read in James that we're justified by works and not by faith alone,
00:34:44.160
then you might have a question about the contradiction there. So I'd go to James as well,
00:34:49.720
and I would read the footnotes there. And then I would say, okay, how do I reconcile these things?
00:34:54.880
I can't throw one verse out in favor of the other. That's not good theology. I look to scripture. I
00:35:01.980
look to God's word to reconcile what I feel like is a contradiction. And I always fall back on my own
00:35:09.440
misunderstanding and my finite nature rather than on an untrustworthiness of God's word. And so truth
00:35:17.120
can be reconciled with more truth, not with your feelings, not by throwing one thing out in favor
00:35:22.160
of the other, not saying that you are sovereign and God must have just made some kind of confusing
00:35:26.540
error. No, I go back on, okay, I must not understand this. I need to pray for wisdom. I need to go
00:35:32.720
more deeply into God's word to understand how to reconcile these two things, to realize that they're
00:35:37.940
both true and they cannot contradict each other. Then you pray again, you pray for wisdom,
00:35:43.320
for obedience, to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. You thank God for his word. You ask for
00:35:48.720
God's will to be done. You ask for provision. You ask for strength to resist sin. Do this for 20 to
00:35:55.900
30 minutes every day of the week that you can. Also, there is a resource that I use, Systematic
00:36:01.680
Theology by Wayne Grudem. It's a really good book too. And again, commentaries are not inerrant.
00:36:07.100
They are not themselves the word of God, but these people have taken a lot of time to study God's word
00:36:11.620
and to tell you what God's word says about certain subjects that you might be confused about.
00:36:15.600
So when I have questions about eschatology, when I have questions about predestination,
00:36:20.140
when I have questions about prayer, whatever it is, Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem is a really
00:36:24.500
good resource for that. That'll say, okay, well, here's what God's word says about this.
00:36:29.360
It's also a really good way, not systematic theology, but just the word of God. It's a really good idea.
00:36:37.620
In fact, I would say it's necessary when you're listening to teachers of God's word or when
00:36:41.580
you're listening to pastors that you like to ask yourself, okay, does this align with what God's
00:36:48.680
word says? And it's also good to ask yourself, does what this pastor or teacher is telling me,
00:36:53.460
does it give me glory or man glory, or does it give God glory? Does it rely on God's sovereignty,
00:37:00.440
his provision, or does this seem to glorify me and to rely on me? And if that's the case,
00:37:06.600
go to the word of God and see what the word of God says, because like I've said many times,
00:37:12.000
one way to, I think, ask yourself about your own theology is, am I believing things that glorify
00:37:19.380
myself rather than glorify God? Am I becoming less and God becoming more, or is it the opposite?
00:37:25.900
So that's it. I hope that's a good primer for you guys for understanding the word of God. Of course,
00:37:30.620
as always, there are so many more things that we could talk about. If you've got any questions
00:37:34.100
about that or pointers or corrections, of course, feel free to email me. If you love this podcast,
00:37:40.780
I would love for you to give me a five-star review on iTunes. It means a lot to me. I read those
00:37:45.640
reviews and be sure to subscribe to the Allie Beth Stuckey channel on YouTube if you haven't already,