Applying a Bible Text Generally to the Human Heart

Over the last few months, I’ve written a sequence of posts connecting Christian doctrine to Bible application. In particular, I’ve explored eight things the Bible teaches about the human experience, in order to highlight how that doctrine can improve your ability to apply the Bible.

My purpose has been to demonstrate that a firm grasp on what the Bible says generally enables you to apply the Bible far more specifically than you may have expected. As my co-blogger Ryan has written, we really want to help you move beyond the “Big Three” (read the Bible more, pray more, share the gospel more) in your regular application.

Here are the eight points of doctrine I covered:

1. Creation: Humans were created to be different from every other creature.
2. Fall: Humans tried (and therefore still try) to replace God.
3. God’s Law: We need God’s law to show how great our sin is, and to show how life in God’s world works best.
4. The Law’s Purpose: We need God’s law to help us find Jesus.
5. The Law’s Misuse: People tend to misuse God’s law in one of two ways.
6. Substitutionary Atonement: We have seen a perfect man, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
7. Kingdom of God: We live in the tension of overlapping ages.
8. New Heaven and Earth: We long for a better world.

These are not the only eight doctrines we could cover. They are merely the ones that I find most directly beneficial when studying nearly any text. If you master these doctrines, you may be surprised by how rich and penetrating your application questions become, in both personal and small group study.

I don’t cover all eight areas with every text. Usually one of these doctrines will be more closely aligned than the others with the passage’s main point.

But if you feel your ability to apply the Bible has become stuck, dry, or rote, consider taking a deeper dive into the Bible’s teachings about humanity and the human experience. When you grasp how a text might apply to human hearts broadly, you’ll be able to suggest ways it might penetrate any specific human heart, including your own.