Now that we’ve covered all of the essentials to studying the Bible, we will begin to look at the mechanics of Bible study. There are a few rules when studying the Word, that if they are ignored, you may find yourself going down a rabbit hole.
Let’s start with these “rules” for study:
Three things must be understood before we get into the depth of any passage in scripture.
- Who is talking?
- To Whom are they talking?
- What are they talking about?
This seems simple as pie, doesn’t it? Let’s look at a passage and try to identify these basic concepts.
James 2:14-26, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Whew! We have a problem here, right? After all, if you just began reading through your Bible, you may remember this passage from Romans 4.
Romans 4:1-7, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
James says that faith without works is dead, and can’t save you. Paul says that works only gets you deeper in debt, but if you don’t work but believe you will be justified.
So let’s apply our three rules to the passage in James and see if we can figure it out.
First, who is talking?
James. James was a follower of Christ on the earth. James was one who expected the kingdom to appear after the resurrection. James soul salvation was achieved by believing that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. James was a kingdom saint that never became connected with Paul’s message.
To whom is James writing?
James 1:1, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”
James is not talking to the body of Christ. James is speaking specifically to all of Israel. This is interesting in that throughout the Gospels only three tribes were acceptable to the Jews in Jerusalem. Christ was the only one to preach to the other tribes in the north.
Now James is writing to all twelve tribes. What has happened that the castaway tribes have now been or are being redeemed, so that James is writing to all of them? He answers in the very next verse:
James 1:2-5, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
James is writing to those who have or are about to fall into divers temptations. What temptation will Israel fall into that will test their newfound faith that Jesus Christ is and was truly the Messiah?
Matthew 24:8-21, “All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
James is writing to future Jews who will be about to endure what Christ just described here. The “Lord’s Prayer” is even about this time, and notice what Christ tells His followers they should pray to avoid:
Matthew 6:9-15, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Notice also that Christ tells his followers that their forgiveness is by works – if you forgive, your Father will forgive.
So James, it must be understood, is speaking to a specific group of people (Israel), speaking not only to the “good” tribes, but to all of the tribes who have now been converted. (This is known in the Gospels as “the little flock”- they are the true remnant of believers of all tribes.)
What is James writing about?
James, as we have seen above, is writing to faithful Israel about physically surviving the time of Jacob’s trouble. Faith without works in that time period will cause the deaths of many of God’s little flock. When James writes: “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” he is telling them that their faith without works is dead.
, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Can faith alone save a man from physical death if he does not work? Christ said that when you see the abomination of desolation set up in the holy place, flee for the mountains! If a man would say, no – I have faith, I don’t need to work by going to the mountains. Would that man be saved from death in the great temptation?
One thing to remember about Israel is that they are an Earthly people and their blessing are physical. When James talks of salvation, his meaning is physical salvation from the calamities that befall Israel during that time.
What James is talking about throughout his book is how to conduct oneself throughout this horrible period. James also gives promises to those of that period that simply will not work today:
James 5:15-18, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”
James promises that all the sign gifts of healing and supernatural weather occurrences will be available again to those who receive the Holy Spirit. As it was in the early Acts Kingdom church, so it will be during this time again. Yet today, none of those promises work. Why don’t they?
1 Corinthians 13:9-11, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
The Body of Christ does not have those signs, because that which is perfect has come. The completed, perfect Word of God is able to put away those childish things. Today we are complete in Christ, all sins forgiven, and all of our blessings are not physical, but spiritual blessings in heavenly places. But when the Body of Christ ends in failure, God will bring those signs back for Israel. Why?
1 Corinthians 1:22, “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:”
Ever since the great sign of drying up the Red Sea, the Jews have always required a sign. That is the reason that the sign gifts continued in Gentile churches until the Word of God was complete. God was demonstrating to any open-minded Jew that this thing Paul was preaching was of their God. “See Israel, I’m showing you through Gentile signs that I was truly the Messiah, and you can still be saved through this new gospel!”
Okay, I’ve gotten off on a tangent here, but I hope you can now see the importance of always identifying those three things in your Bible study.
Who Is Talking?
Who are they speaking to?
What are they talking about.
The next rule, or rather strong suggestion, is to study what interests you. Don’t study to try to impress someone, or to try to be the smartest Bible student in the room – be yourself when it comes to Bible study.
I like history, and I like prophecy, so I often study Israel’s history, along with creation history, then often I study end times prophecies. That doesn’t mean I never read Paul’s epistles, nor study them. Contrariwise, studying any subject in the Bible will lead to another subject, and inevitably you will end up in Paul’s epistles for an explanation of how or why things are done differently today.
Also, if you pursue your interests, you will be more likely to continue to study. If you were to begin studying Solomon’s temple without any real interest in it, you would eventually be turned off by your studies. So study what you enjoy.
Secondly, you will find as you study one subject, you will soon be curious about more subjects. That’s just the way the Bible is. It is so interconnected that it will lead you from one subject to another, so that often you seem to not be able to keep up.
The last “rule” I will set down here for Bible study is to read your Bible. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? But this is much different than Bible study, and it will enhance supplement your studies in ways you may never predict.
When I say ‘read your Bible’, I mean exactly that. Not study, not ten verses a day and not by rote. Read your Bible just like you would read any book. You can read it through from front to back, or you can read just the books you want to read (and think you can grasp). But what will happen is this: when you are studying a certain subject, suddenly a verse that you read three weeks ago will pop into you head out of nowhere. Maybe only a few words of that verse – but then you can do a word search, find that verse, and it will add depth to your study. And the more you read, the more you will find this happening.
So yes, study to show yourself approved, but read outside of your studying to enrich your studies and your life.