How to Study Your Bible: Introduction

There are many different ways of Bible study. Over the next four weeks we will examine four distinct ways:

1. Deductive,
2. Survey
3. Inductive
4. Topical.

1. Deductive:
A deductive Bible study is reading through a portion of Scripture and answering questions about that portion of Scripture.

2. Survey:
A survey study is simply reading through a portion of Scripture, and asking certain questions about that Scripture.

3. Inductive:
An inductive study is reading a portion of Scripture and trying to get it into an outline which adequately presents the flow of the author.

4. Topical:
A topical study is a study of verses throughout the Bible which give teaching on a particular topic. For instance, if we wanted to study the doctrine of sin, we would find the related verses of Scripture and after studying these verses, develop an understanding of what the entire Bible teaches on sin. Throughout this four week study, it will be expected that you will adapt your normal devotional study time with the Lord to fit into the different types of study. The theme we will study over the 4 weeks using the different types of Bible study is evangelism. We hope that the study will have a direct effect on your UNDERSTANDING as well as your PRACTICE of evangelism. During the entire course of training, each monthly part will incorporate one of these types of Bible study. For the next several months, you will be given devotional guides which will enable you to grasp what will be taught each week.These devotional guides are designed to help you dig into God's Word and get something out which will have an affect on your life. Remember, the purpose of devotions is to change your life, not merely to learn more about the Bible. The following diagram illustrates the goals of a regular devotional life:

B		
I         M        L
B  ===>   I  ===>  I
L         N        F
E         D        E

Deductive Study: Introduction

A deductive study is the easiest to do and, therefore, is excellent for new believers. In this type of study, the person studies a portion of Scripture and then asks questions posed to him. This is good practice for survey study which follows. For a new believer, an excellent way to begin is a thirty-day deductive study. Such a study is available on the book of Philippians in a pamphlet form. For your week, you will do a study on evangelism. Read each section of scripture for the day and answer the question. Remember to think over the answer. The more you put into the study the more you will get out of it. Please write out all of the answers and bring them to the meeting next week.

Deductive Study: Evangelism: Week 1

Evangelism is bringing people to a knowledgeable confrontation with Jesus Christ in such a way that they either accept His sovereign rights over them as Savior and Lord, or reject Him.

Day 1: Read Luke 24:44-48.
What are the three elements which make up a witness for Christ? (44,46,47)

Day 2: Obviously the Person of Christ is very important in evangelism since it is He who we present. We will be spending the next amount of time on studying WHO is this Jesus. Read John 8:23-24. How important is it that we know WHO Jesus is? Also read John 8:28,58. Who is He?

Day 3: Read Matthew 16:13-28.
What do we learn here about the PERSON of Christ? See also Matt. 26:63,64.

Day 4: Read Luke 9:18-26.
What do we learn about the person
of Christ here? What are the consequences of believing in this
Christ?

Day 5: Read John 1:1-18.
Make a list of things you learn about Jesus from this passage.

Day 6: Read John 11:25-46.
What do we learn about the person of Christ here?

Day 7: Look back over this weeks studies on the person of Christ and think about this question: If we truly present WHO Christ is in our witnessing, how would this eliminate the mistake of people thinking they can trust Jesus as Savior and not as Lord?

The Survey Bible Study: Week 2

The survey Bible study is perhaps the most basic of Bible studies. This is the one which new believers are encouraged to use. In a survey Bible study, you pick a book of the Bible with a view toward reading through that book, from beginning to end. You desire to understand what this book has to say, what are the primary themes, and what application it might have to your life today. If you read through a book looking for one particular theme, this would be a Topical Survey study (e.g. Reading through the Gospels to study the compassion of Christ).Anyone who has not read through the Bible should be encouraged to use a survey approach in order to study all of the books of the Bible. One helpful adjustment to this is that it may be best if, rather than picking one book, a person were to pick four or five books from the Bible and read one chapter out of each per day. Normally, this would take about 25 to 35 minutes. Reading five chapters a day from different portions of scripture would be less boring than reading five chapters from one portion and a person would read through the Bible in less than a year with the technique. If this technique is chosen, I recommend a chapter from each of three sections of the Old Testament (the Histories, the Writings, and the Prophets) and one from each of two sections of the New Testament (the Histories, and the Epistles). As you study a book, it is good to label the book by its theme. This will help you in the future as you will know which book to go to for certain things and to encourage others. For instance, 1 John is a book of love, 1 Peter is a book for trials, 1 Corinthians is a book for those who believe the Gospel is a license for sin.I find it helpful to have a notebook when ever doing devotions, even though this was a difficult practice for me to begin. In your notebook, write on top of the page several questions to ask yourself as you read the scripture questions:

§ Who is speaking or writing? Keep this in mind as it certainly throws light on what they are trying to say.

§ Who is being spoken to?

§ Are there any significant events which led up to this situation?

§ Are there any examples or illustrations? Good or Bad?

§ Are there any commands to obey? Warnings?

§ Are these transferable to us or simply to those who were hearing?

§ What would God have me learn for my life from this portion of Scripture?

Obviously, not every question will apply to the portion of Scripture you are studying, so simply use these to begin your thinking. The biggest danger to survey-type studies is that often we read the passage mechanically without thinking it through. Your assignment for this week is as follows: Read through the book of Acts in the course of the week (about 4 chapters per day). If you are a slow reader spend about 20 minutes each day reading as much as you can. The theme of the book is found in Acts 1:8. Focus your attention on what these early disciples said about Jesus Christ. Notice the similarities and variations due to the audience they were addressing. What applications can you make for your own life?

Inductive Study: Week 3

With an inductive study, rather than answering questions, you will analyze a section of Scripture and try to determine what the author was trying to convey. From this you will be able to outline basic elements of doctrine outlined in Scripture as well as ponder the different points to come up with "applications" to your life. This will be accomplished in the following manner. We will attempt to outline the broad scope of what the author had in his mind as he wrote. For example, we would outline the general flow of though of Paul as he wrote to the Romans. We will use the following steps to accomplish this. Read the entire section over first, then:

Day 1:

§ On each line on a piece of paper in a notebook, break the scripture up into paragraphs and write the chapter and verses which correspond to each paragraph.

§ Then read each paragraph and write a descriptive title for each paragraph next to its chapter and verse.

§ Be specific in the paragraph's description, and yet use as few words as possible.

Try to use parallelism as much as possible:

e.g. 1:1-3. The greeting of Paul
4-6. The thanks of Paul
7-10 The concern of Paul

Day 2:

Re-read the paragraphs and try to see which ones go together to form a thought. Bracket these together and label the section with its major thought. Use parallelism.

Day 3 or 4:

Finally, re-read the entire section of Scripture and try to see which of the bracketed sections fit together to make a complete thought. Bracket these together and label these. Use parallelism.

Day 4 or 5:

Go back to a particular section or paragraph which you think might be particularly beneficial to you and outline the specific points. From this draw applications to your own life. Make these a topic of prayer to the Lord. On the next page is a short example of an inductive study of 1 Thessalonians.

I Thessalonians

1:2-3 Summary of prayer for Thess.

1:4-10 Assurance of Thess. call

2:1-6 Circumstances of Paul's preaching

2:7-9 Love shared by Apostles: Labor & History of

2:10-12 Ministry of Apostles among them: Fruit

2:13-16 Response of Thess. to ministry to Christians

2:17-20 Desire to see them

3:1-5 Timothy sent for encouragement and follow-up.

You will study a couple of messages in the Book of Acts. If you wish, you can use the following break down of the paragraphs to aid you. By the end of the week, you should have Paul's
message in Acts 13:16-52 and 26:1-29 broken down and systematized. Spend 3 or 4 days on each message following the pattern laid out above.Acts 13:16-52 Paul's message to the Jews of Pisidian Antioch

(Paragraph breaks follow NIV)

13:16-20a/13:20b-22
13:23-25/13:26-31
13:32-35/13:36-37
13:38-41
13:42,43
13:44,45
13:46,47
13:48
13:49-52

What can you learn from this message which would apply to your life and witness for Christ?

Paul's message before Agrippa:

Acts 26:1-29/26:1-3

26:3-8

26:9-11

26:12-14

26:15

26:16-18

26:19-23

26:24-26:25-27

26:28/26:29

What can you learn from Paul's message to Agrippa which would apply to your life and witness for Christ?

Topical Study: Week 4

In a topical study, one wishes to survey a broad expanse of Scripture to find what the Bible teaches about a specific topic. This is an excellent way of studying a particular subject that you are trying to learn for yourself. In this case, go to a topical Bible, such as Nave's and dig out all of the verses on a specific topic.

Write these verses out in a notebook and then begin to look up several verses each day and read them within the context. Then write what you have learned along side the verse. At the end of your study, try to write out a paragraph or two about what you have learned about that particular topic.For our purposes, we will continue our study on evangelism and especially looking at the person of Christ. Obviously there are many verses which could have been studied, but these have been chosen because they summarize much in a few verses. Write out each of the verses in a notebook, giving yourself several lines for each passage. Then each day look up a passage or two and, reading them in context, write down what you learn about Jesus Christ from each verse. The last day of the week, glance back over what you have learned and try to summarize who Jesus Christ is. Then briefly state how this would effect your evangelism.

John 1:1-18
John 14:1-6I
Corinthians 15:12-28
II Corinthians 5:10-21
Ephesians 1:19-2:10
Philippians 2:5-13
Colossians 1:13-23
Colossians 2:9,10
I John 4:1-3: 5:11,12
John 5:19-29
Revelation 4:1-20
Closing Remarks

I hope that last month has exposed you to different ways of studying the Bible. The crucial thing is to try to understand how God wants you to study the Bible in order to learn what He wants you to know. You will probably find that you will want to use a combination of the studies, changing them regularly to meet your particular need. A few of the following may help you:

If you like deductive study, one of the best studies there is "Search the Scriptures" published by Inter-Varsity Press. This is a three-year through-the-Bible survey, giving deductive questions to answer for each portion of Scripture you study. If you keep a notebook on this, it would be the equivalent of taking a Bible survey course in college. Another excellent deductive source of studies is the Navigator's series, which really combine a deductive study with a topical study (Their "Design for Discipleship" series). As I mentioned before, we have a one month deductive study through the book of Philippians which is especially good for new believers. Inductive studies and topical studies are best designed by you following the above directions for study of a particular book or topic.I trust the Lord will use this series of studies this past month to deepen your understanding of how to study the Scripture.