Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

Copyright © 2012–2025 DiscipleMakers, except guest articles (copyright author). Used by permission.

You are here: Home / Archives for Check it Out

Getting Together to Read (Not Study) the Bible

By

T.M. Suffield has a rather novel idea. Well, it seems novel to us, though the church before us had done it for centuries. Let’s meet together to read the Bible. A lot of it.

Paul commanded Timothy not to neglect the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim 4:13), and yet many evangelical Protestant churches read barely more than a few verses during their worship services. Sadly, to get a large dose of public Bible reading, you often have to go to a liberal or Roman Catholic church.

But Suffield has begun hosting gatherings in both his church and his home to simply read Scripture together. At a recent gathering, they read the entire book of 2 Timothy.

Suffield offers compelling reasons for such a practice, including:

  • Hearing Scripture read in context.
  • Following the thread of an author’s argument.
  • Hearing the structure.
  • Experiencing Scripture the way generations of believers have engaged with it for centuries.

This is worth your and my further consideration. How can we organize our local believing communities around extended public reading of Scripture together?

Check it out!

The Truth about Spirit-Led Bible Study

By

I’ve sometimes heard people oppose rigorous Bible study skills with being “Spirit-led,” as though academic reflection might get in the way of what the Sprit of God wishes to do in our lives. Faithlife recently published a piece I wrote to explain that rigorous Bible study skills are right in line with the work of God’s Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God inspired the Scriptures. He illuminates the Scriptures. And he gives his people wisdom to know God through Christ in the Scriptures. By developing good habits and skills, we partner with this same Spirit to attain to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Check it out!

Proclaiming the Gospel from Old Testament Narrative

By

Some friends of mine recently pointed me to this article from Steve Mathewson on preaching the gospel from Judges. Mathewson wrestled through an old debate about whether we ought to teach OT narratives as foreshadowings of Christ or as examples to follow or avoid. And in the end, Mathewson cogently demonstrates that we shouldn’t have to decide between those options.

After wrestling through a philosophical framework for reading the OT, Mathewson gives a few examples from texts about Ehud and Barak.

I agree with many of Mathewson’s conclusions. One thing I would add to his reflection is that, before we even attempt to connect the text to Christ or to application, we must first grasp the author’s main point for the original audience. Mathewson essentially does this in his examples, but he doesn’t state outright that he is doing so. But much trouble would be resolved if didn’t race immediately from the text to the cross, or from the text to today. Taking the time to consider the full meaning for the original audience is the very practice that will enable us to grasp its teaching about Christ and its true implications for people today.

And though Mathewson frames his article around preaching, his framework applies just as much to personal or small group Bible study.

Check it out!

HT: Mark Fodale, Andy Cimbala

Applying the Old Testament in Africa

By

I appreciate seeing how Christian brethren around the world seek to apply the Bible in their own context. While the interpretation of the Bible is rooted in the author’s intention for his original audience, application of the Bible can and should be as varied and diverse as are the people laboring to apply it.

And there is much we can learn from watching those in other culture apply the Scripture to the particular issues they face. For example, this piece from Africa wrestles with proper application of the Old Testament to contemporary African issues such as circumcision and polygamy.

Polygamy was not God’s plan for humanity. The fact that God made concessions to the polygamous practices of Abraham, Jacob, and David does not mean that he approved their sexual choices. Abraham and Jacob were still influenced by their cultures as they were learning God’s principles for family. David used polygamy to form alliances. Unfortunately, some Christians in Africa have used the example of Abraham to justify polygamy. God honoured Abraham’s faith; he nowhere condoned Abraham’s polygamy.

Check it out!

Why “Just Your Interpretation” is Never a Reasonable Refutation

By

Kevin DeYoung writes thoughtfully about a perceived resurgence of “that’s just your interpretation” as a defeater accusation toward disagreeable Christian doctrine. Whether it’s the uniqueness of Christ, the necessity of his salvation, the definition of marriage, or the distinction of male and female—some folks may think they’ve refuted the Christian position by simply observing that disagreement exists among Christian interpreters. So one interpretation cannot be any more valid than another.

DeYoung exposes the problem with such accusations:

The reality is that “interpretations” are what we have in every area of intellectual inquiry. The problem of pervasive interpretation pluralism is not an evangelical problem. It is a human problem. Do we really think historians, economists, sociologists, and scientists don’t disagree on how to interpret matters in their field? And do we think they aren’t confident that their conclusions are much more sure than mere “interpretations”? If we are going to give up on reading texts and reaching firm conclusions, we won’t just marginalize the Bible; we will render the entire exercise of human reason fruitless and irrelevant.

The objection cannot stand up under its own weight.

Check it out!

Find Friends Who Know the Bible

By

Your friends foreshadow your fate. Show me your friends, and I’ll show your odds at ever finding wisdom.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 13:20

Part of the reason for this is that wise friends will tell you what you need to hear, while foolish friends will tell you only what you want to hear.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Proverbs 27:6

Daniel Seabaugh understands these truths as he reflects on the gift of friends who know the Bible. He describes the delight and support to be found when you surround yourself with people who know and have courage to speak the Scripture into your life. Speaking such friends, Seabaugh writes:

When I watch them lead at work, home, and church, I’m encouraged to take Christ-like responsibility for my own life. Whether they realize it or not (and I think they get it), their lives display God’s power. When we acknowledge our weakness and invite Christ into those spaces, God shows up in mighty ways. I’ve seen it over and over in the lives of my friends.

Check it out!

You Can’t Understand the New Testament Without the Old

By

Mitch Chase wants you to embrace not only the 27 books of the New Testament but also the 39 books of the Old Testament for your Christian discipleship. He argues that the Old Testament is not only Jewish Scripture, but is also a foundational part of Christian Scripture. In fact, you can’t really understand the New Testament without the Old.

After giving seven reasons for this assertion, he concludes:

The Old Testament is relevant for the Christian life because it is Christian Scripture. We are children of Abraham by faith, so the earlier covenants and redemptive acts of God are part of our history. We need the warnings and exhortations of the Old Testament. We need its songs and proverbs. We need to know about its prophets and kings. The Old Testament tells of saints before the cross, and they form a cloud of witnesses as we run the race after the cross.

Check it out!

7 Reasons to Study Revelation

By

Nancy Guthrie wants you and me to study the book of Revelation. She writes:

Let’s be honest: Revelation can be an intimidating book. Because of that, some of us have avoided Revelation, deeming it to be too difficult to interpret and understand, too controversial, or too scary. Perhaps we’ve ignored it because we have assumed the book is only about the future, with nothing “practical” for us today.

The truth is, while the apocalyptic prophecy of Revelation presents some challenges to us as modern readers, it also provides gifts of insight and understanding to those who are willing to engage with it. Revelation is a letter written to gird us for faithful allegiance to Christ as we wait for his return. And that is encouragement we all need!

The she proceeds to offer 7 reasons this book is worth studying.

  1. Revelation is a message from God sent to us.
  2. Revelation opens our eyes to see the risen and glorified Christ.
  3. Revelation provides a picture of Jesus’s presence with us.
  4. Revelation enables us to see this world from heaven’s perspective.
  5. Revelation assures us that God will deal with the evil in this world.
  6. Revelation shows us what our eternal future will be like.
  7. Revelation promises blessedness.

I encourage you to consider what she has to say. Check it out!

One of the Most Important Discussion Questions

By

Stephen Kneale writes about all the different kinds of Bible studies held in his church. Perhaps their example will give you some ideas for what could be possible in your church.

But at the end of his piece, he makes a crucial point. Regardless of what sort of discussion or study group we’re holding, we must always make sure our conclusions and applications are drawn reasonably from the argument of the biblical text. And when people make spontaneous connections to all the different areas of their lives, leaders ought to help them remain anchored to the text.

And one of the most direct ways to do that is to ask the simple question: So where do you get that from the text? As Kneale writes:

This matters because not every comment in every bible study is of equal worth. Not every application of scripture is a valid application of scripture. What we are trying to model to people in these studies is how we helpfully read the Bible. We are either showing how we understand the text in front of us or we are highlighting how we rightly apply the text to ourselves, without making applications that are not permitted or bear no real relation to the text itself.

Check it out!

Trust and Obey

By

I love this reflection from Seth Lewis on “The Key to Understanding the Bible.” He writes about how the Bible cannot be read and understood like other books. This book demands trust and obedience before it yields its storehouses of wisdom and knowledge.

You won’t know the “peace of God that surpasses understanding” until you “present your requests to God” in prayer (Philippians 4:7). 

You won’t experience the truth of Jesus’ promise that he will “give you rest” unless you accept his invitation to “come to me, all who are weary and burdened” (Matthew 11:28).

You can read that “godliness with contentment is great gain” but you’ll never understand that gain until you are growing in godliness and contentment (1 Timothy 6:6).

Check it out!