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Don’t Drift Away From the Bible

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waterfall

Rostam Torki (2014), public domain

Most people don’t set out to gain fifteen pounds. Instead, their diet changes over time. Candy and ice cream take the place of fruits and vegetables, and the numbers on the scale creep northward.

It happens over weeks, not days. And unless a person is taking measurements, visiting the doctor, or talking with friends about their habits, they might not even notice.

The same drift that happens with diet can happen with Bible intake. And both types of drift can leave us in an unhealthy place.

The Terrible Drift

Those with a commitment to God and his word don’t intend to drift away. But without an anchor, they get caught in the river’s current. They enjoy the breeze, not realizing they’re headed for the danger of a waterfall.

People that drift away from the Bible aren’t that different from you and me. They belong to churches. They have a history of practicing spiritual disciplines. But maybe they’re busy. Their priorities subtly shift. They develop other habits, even good habits like exercise or time with friends. And one day they realize they haven’t read the Bible in six months.

They don’t feel like they’ve forgotten the gospel, but the truth of the Bible is no longer at the front of their thinking. The glory of God is no longer the lens through which they see and interpret life. This leads to a person increasingly turned inward and focused on their own earthly happiness. Externally, they may be pleasant and kind, but their soul is in danger. Blatant, external sins often begin with the erosion of personal communion with God.

Guard Against Drift

While it may seem unthinkable to walk away from God, we have plenty of examples in the Bible (Hebrews 6:1–8, John 6:60–71, 2 Peter 2:17–22). Each Christian likely has a story of a friend or acquaintance who was once near to Jesus and is now in a distant land.

A drift from God often begins with a drift from his word. So, how do we guard against this drift?

  1. Make Bible intake a habit. Humans are prone to selfishness and forgetfulness. This is why we read and re-read the Bible. We need to study it, memorize it, hear it, sing it, and meditate on it. We cling to all reminders of the truth—to see ourselves, the world, and God aright. We cannot find this perspective within ourselves.
  2. Talk deeply and honestly with friends who share your values. We all need friends who care about us enough to know our temptations and triggers to sin and who will ask us regularly—even out of the blue—how we’re really doing. Friends like this will make you uncomfortable and even angry at times. And you should thank God for people like this in your life. Friends don’t let friends neglect the Bible.
  3. Give yourself to regular, corporate worship. It is difficult to hate that which your church family loves. If your church values the Bible—if God’s word is at the center of its preaching, singing, teaching, lamenting, praying, feasting, counseling, and encouraging—this can be a helpful tether. A church that consistently points back to the Bible helps its people learn to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
  4. Pray. None of us, if left to ourselves, are above turning from God. Confess your weakness and your proneness to wander. Ask God to keep you and to give you an enduring love for him. He is a good father who loves to give good gifts to his children.

This was originally posted in 2018.

Reading the Bible for the First Time

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bible on table

Ryan Riggins (2017), public domain

Imagine that a friend of yours has just become a Christian. She knows of your faith and asks to meet with you.

Your friend knows the Bible is an important book for Christians, and she wants to read it. But she has no familiarity with the Bible at all.

What would you say to her?

Only the Essentials

This post isn’t an attempt to say everything about the Bible, just what would be most helpful to a person reading the Bible for the first time.

In what follows, I’ve collected some important facts and advice aimed at first-time Bible readers. If you have further additions or suggestions, I’d love to read them in the comments!

6 Facts About the Bible

Welcome to the Bible! As you begin, you should know some information about the book you’re about to read.

  1. The Bible is God’s word. Though the Bible was written in time and space by human authors, it is divinely inspired. God’s love and sovereignty are such that the words we have are exactly what he intended. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17)
  2. The Bible is true. If God is the ultimate author of the Bible then we will see his character throughout this book. Since he is perfect, pure, and unable to lie, the Bible is trustworthy and true.
  3. The Bible is important. A small number of questions in life have ultimate consequences. What is God like? What does he think of me? What does he want people to do? Because God wants to be known, he has answered these questions in the Bible.
  4. The Bible is concerned with God and his people. The relationship between God and his rebellious people—first the nation of Israel and then the church—is the focus of God’s word. Biblical teachings have massive implications for individuals, but they are primarily addressed to groups of people.
  5. The entire Bible is about Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead, he explained to some of his disciples that every part of the Bible spoke of him. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
  6. The Bible is clear. Though some parts of the Bible are difficult to understand, far more of the Bible is plain. After all, in several places, God commands his people to teach the Bible to their children. We must interpret the more challenging parts of Scripture in light of the portions that are clear. The Bible is not only for those with high IQs or advanced degrees; the Bible is knowable to everyone.

7 Suggestions for Reading the Bible

There is much more to say about the Bible, but for those just starting out, it is more important for you to start reading. Here are some suggestions for reading the Bible that apply just as much on Day 1 of your Bible-reading adventure as they will on Day 10,000.

  1. Pray before you read the Bible. Because the Bible is God’s word, we need his help to understand and benefit from reading it. God loves to answer this prayer!
  2. You don’t need to read the Bible from start to finish. Many Christians read the Bible from Genesis straight through to Revelation, but this is not necessary. I suggest starting with the Gospel of John, then Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Then move on to Genesis and Exodus. There’s no single correct way to read the Bible.
  3. You don’t need to read the entire Bible right away. Read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans are popular, but these are not mandated by God. You should eventually make your way through the whole Bible, but it is far more important to read carefully and slowly than to read quickly without understanding.
  4. Reread the Bible. Plan to read the Bible for as long as you live. We need to reread the Bible both because we forget what is true and because each reading of the Bible offers more riches than the last.
  5. Read the Bible with others. Christians are a part of God’s family and we are called into community with each other. This is important for many reasons, including understanding and applying the Bible. Seek out a Bible-believing church and some people within the church with whom to read and discuss the Bible.
  6. Establish a habit. The sooner you can make regular Bible intake a part of your life, the better. Find a good time and place for reading the Bible, and try to read regularly. A habit like this doesn’t make you more precious to God, but it could make God more precious to you.
  7. Study the Bible. While the Bible is knowable, sometimes it requires work to understand what it says. Older Christians in your church should be able to offer guidance, and we have lots of articles and resources on this web site to help.
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This post was originally published in 2018.

Your Secret Weapon in Bible Study

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bible pen notebook

Aaron Burden (2016), public domain

It’s still early in January, so many Christians are working hard on their Bible-related goals for 2025. Some may even be participating in our 90-day Bible reading challenge.

Some others may have recommitted to studying the Bible this year. If this describes you, you’ve come to the right place! This blog exists to help ordinary people learn how to study the Bible.

But there is a Bible study tool that many people neglect. This device is both accessible and inexpensive. It is a key ingredient in your spiritual growth. This secret weapon for studying the Bible is …

A simple pen.

The Difference Between Reading and Studying the Bible

The contrasts between reading and studying the Bible might be obvious. They typically take place at different speeds and with different levels of attention. We can summarize these distinctions as differences in engagement.

When we study the Bible, we must engage deeply with the text.

Instead of continuous reading, one verse to the next, we pause. We re-read. We live in the words of the Bible, walking among the divine sentences like massive trees in a forest. We consider their meaning, their order, their connections. We ponder the author’s main point and prayerfully consider what it means for us.

So, how does this participation happen physically? What should we do with our bodies to help our hearts and minds engage with the Bible?

The best way I know to engage with the Scriptures is through writing. Writing triggers our thinking in surprising and powerful ways. You might do this on a phone or computer, but I’ve found that using pen on paper is the most effective way to push my nose into God’s word.

There are many ways to use this secret weapon to your advantage, but here are three to get you started.

  • Take notes — Grab a Bible, a pen, and some paper. It doesn’t get any easier. Write out your observations, your questions, and your conclusions; think and process what you’re reading on the paper. (If you’re new to Bible study, take a look at some of the steps we recommend.) There’s no need to be picky or fussy—any pen or pencil with any notebook, journal, or loose paper will work. We also offer free printable worksheets if you prefer a more structured writing environment.
  • Use a markup Bible — Instead of keeping your notes separate from your Bible, make your notes in your Bible. Consider dedicating one Bible as your markup Bible, your space for thinking, underlining, highlighting, connecting, and recording your thoughts on the Biblical text.
  • Copy the text — Writing out the words of the Bible is a powerful, tangible way to meditate on the Scriptures. Grab a notebook or a blank piece of paper and slowly copy the passage you’re studying. This is a great way to start observing the text, and it can help with memorization too.

Engage With God’s Word

There’s nothing special about a pen, of course. But we grow in our relationship with God as we engage with the words of God. And using a pen—writing in any form, really—can help us immerse ourselves in the Bible.

And that is a great goal for 2025.

This post has been lightly edited since it was first published in 2018.

How Much of the Bible Should I Study?

By

measurement

Arek Socha (2016), public domain

It’s a natural and practical question. When you’re studying the Bible, how much should you study at once?

On this blog we write a lot about studying the Bible. But most of these articles presume you already have a section of Scripture to study. Today we’ll talk about choosing that section of Scripture.

As you read, keep in mind this is more art than science. What you’ll find below are suggestions, not rules.

Units of Thought

Though inspired by the Holy Spirit, the biblical authors were humans. In some ways, their writing is similar to ours.

Recall your most recent email. Though your message had an overall purpose, each paragraph had its own function. So it is with the biblical texts. Authors usually have one overarching point for writing. But the author builds his case for that main point by assembling arguments and examples. At the smallest level, think about these as units of thought—an author stacks and arranges these units to form larger points, all supporting the main point of the book.

When mapping out a Bible study, this is where I begin. Study complete units of thought.

The length (number of verses) will vary across genres, and remember, there’s no right answer. Your small group might study five verses in an epistle or two chapters in a historical book. The key is to identify and respect these units of thought.

Here’s a simple example. Suppose an author’s main point rests on supporting points A and B. Perhaps A is established by a, b, and c, while B is established by d and e. Your Bible study might consist of just the text for point a (one unit of thought) or for points a, b, and c (three units of thought forming one larger unit). I’d advise against studying the texts for points a–d all at once.

Finding the Units of Thought

If an author’s units of thought are so important, how do we find out what they are? The simple answer is to read the entire book as many times as possible. This is part of what we suggest when completing a book overview.

The more you read the text, the more you’ll understand the author’s flow of thought. You’ll see the transitions and the divisions in the text will become clearer. Some of these markers are obvious—a change of location or main character, a shift in topic, a transition word. Some authors use structural cues to signal their units of thought. These were more obvious to the original audiences of the writing, but we have to work a bit harder to see them.

Here are two of the often-overlooked structural tools used in the Bible.

  • Inclusio — An inclusio occurs when an author places the same idea, word, phrase, or character both at the beginning and end of a unit of thought. What falls between these two markers should be included (inclusio!) in the same unit of thought. Without the space to explore this further, I’ll point you to this page for an explanation and an example.
  • Chiasm — In a chiasm an author presents a series of ideas and then repeats them in the opposite order. This can be used to mark off the text or to emphasize the point in the middle. The structure might look like A-B-C-B‘-A’. In this case A and A’ would share something in common, as would B and B’. This would help the reader identify the author’s focus on C. (Here’s a short reference on chiasms.)

Wisdom from Others

When you’re trying to decide how much of the Bible to study at once, don’t be afraid to ask for help! God has placed us in a body of believers across space and time, so we’re not in this by ourselves. Here are some resources to consider.

  • Book outlines in your study Bible or in other reference material can help you see a book’s structure.
  • Bible commentaries can be a great aid. Devotional or pastoral commentaries are usually more helpful than academic commentaries on this front. (Check out our recommended list of commentaries.)
  • The chapter divisions in the Bible can be helpful. They aren’t divinely inspired, but they weren’t inserted at random either.
  • Don’t ignore your church! Ask your elders, friends, and family for help in setting up your Bible study. In addition to offering you wisdom, sometimes talking through the matter with a friend can help you understand a book more clearly.

In Service of the Main Point

Deciding how much of the Bible to study might seem like a small matter, a tiny decision before you get to the “important stuff.”

But in fact, this is one of the key parts of studying the Bible! If your divisions follow the author’s flow of thought, you’ll be swimming with the current of the book, making it easier to see the main point of each passage.

And if you can understand and apply the main point of a Bible passage, genuine change in your life is next!

This was originally published in 2017.

Make Your Bible Application Stick

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Steve Buissinne (2015), public domain

How often do Christians interact with the Bible? Forget the inspirational bookmarks and proof texts—let’s count substantial encounters.

For Christians who regularly attend church, belong to a Bible study, and maintain a personal devotional life, they consult the Bible 5–10 times each week.

Now the uncomfortable question: How many of those encounters with Scripture produce lasting change?

You don’t need an advanced degree to see that the lives of Christians—our lives—rarely carry the fragrance of Christ (2 Cor 2:15). If the Bible has as much power as it claims, why is this?

Why We Resist Change

Any significant time in the Bible should involve application.

But application is hard! Much as we don’t like to admit it, we’re fond of our sin. We have the powerful Spirit of God within us, but the flesh is formidable. The world and the devil also sling their arrows, leaving us battle-weary most days.

We’re also ignorant of our sin at times. We have serious blind spots, and we need the help God provides through Christian community.

Further, we lack imagination to change. Sometimes we’ve been walking in a deep, muddy trench for so long we can’t envision life in the nearby meadow. We can’t picture ourselves taking that risk or loving that difficult person.

Why We Must Apply the Bible

It’s tempting to study the Bible as an academic exercise. Observe the passage and interpret it carefully. Try to discern the author’s main point in writing.

But if we don’t carry on to application, we’re fools. That’s what Jesus calls us.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24–27)

And James says that we can know the truth and yet be deceived if we don’t apply it.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22–25)

We show our love for Jesus by keeping his commandments (John 14:15). And God sent the Spirit to be our Helper in this effort (John 14:16–17). We must apply the Bible.

How to Apply the Bible

We have many articles at Knowable Word on applying the Bible. Here, I’ll mention four strategies to help your application stick.

Be specific. Peter has written about this in detail, but it’s worth repeating. Vague goals and resolutions won’t take you far. If you want to produce real change, list the necessary steps and make your progress measurable.

Be realistic. Your goals should stretch you, but consider your starting place when you set them. Aiming for a four-minute mile isn’t the wisest approach, especially for the out-of-shape father with angry knees.

Enlist help. We need community to apply the Bible. Tell your friends what God is teaching you and how he is leading you to change. Ask them for counsel. Ask them to pray, and encourage them to follow up.

Remember Jesus. The biggest need you have in applying the Bible is not self-control. It isn’t discipline or accountability or time. It’s Jesus. He welcomes all who come to him, whether for the first time or the ten thousandth. Stand as a child of God on the finished work of Christ, and apply the Bible with confidence in his love for you.

Originally published in 2017

When God Seems Absent in Bible Reading

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Christian Gafenesch (2022), public domain

In my previous post, I wrote about the way God reveals himself through the Scriptures. I claimed that he meets with us when we seek him in the Bible and that he entices us to continue seeking him.

I’m guessing some readers finished that post and muttered, “yeah, right.” For many people what I described seems like a dream, completely divorced from their difficult reality. For these Christians, Bible reading is not joyful, but difficult. It feels much less like a meeting with a loving, fatherly God than it does a dry, drowsy duty. They gain no encouragement, conviction of sin, or measure of hope when they open the Word.

In short, it feels like God is absent.

If this describes your situation, you’re in good company. Not only do I have some good news for you from the Bible, but many Christians now and throughout history feel and have felt exactly the same way you do.

Is God Actually Absent?

For Christians, God is not absent. This isn’t to deny what people feel and experience, just to state the Scriptural reality: God has promised never to leave or forsake his people (Heb 13:5).

You may feel that God is distant or absent, and that is a common feeling and experience. But when God the Holy Spirit comes in our conversion, he does not leave. This presence of God himself is a down payment or a small taste of the full divine presence we will enjoy in the new creation.

So, God may not be absent, but it sure feels like he is sometimes. We might not be able to point to a specific cause behind this effect, but we can easily find similar expressions of this feeling in the Bible.

Lamenting God’s Absence

Prayer in the Bible comes in many flavors, including prayers of lament. A lament is simply an honest cry to God about the sorrowful parts of living life in a fallen world. And these parts include feeling like God is absent.

Hear the ways the psalmists pray.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:1–2)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest. (Psalm 22:1–2)

But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me? (Psalm 88:13–14)

These Biblical prayers do not fit our present condition exactly; however, they are all examples of saints who were expecting God to be present in their troubles and their experience is the opposite. (It has been helpful for me to realize that many of the psalms are psalms of lament; here is a list to consult.)

How to Handle God’s Perceived Absence in our Bible Reading

My basic advice when Bible readers don’t secure a take-home nugget every day was it’s okay and keep going. My advice in this post is basically the same, but with a few more specifics.

Pray. It is good for us to share our hearts with the God who already knows them. Use some of the language of the psalms of lament or put your frustration into your own words, but talk to God! Ask him: he has promised never to leave you, so why does it feel like he has?

Ask others to pray. As I mentioned above, this feeling is not unusual. If you take someone aside after church, you’ll almost always see a sympathetic smile in return. Enlist your Christian friends to ask God to make his presence real to you again.

Read with others. In the global west, we often individualize our relationships with God, but this doesn’t have to be! If you’re struggling to read or study the Bible on your own, perhaps a friend would be willing to read or study the Bible with you a few days each week. God may use this shared experience to meet with you more intimately.

Keep reading. The Bible is a treasure because it reveals God himself. Sometimes this treasure seems easy to access, like candy at Halloween. At other times, it seems entirely invisible. Talk with older saints and listen to their testimonies: these dry periods eventually come to an end.

Devotion Begets Devotion: Encountering God in the Bible

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Arvid Hoidahl (2019), public domain

The force of gravity that one object exerts on another depends on a few factors: the mass of each object, a gravitational constant, and the distance between the two objects. But in the calculation, distance is in the denominator of the fraction, meaning that, all other things being equal, gravitational force and distance have an inverse relationship. The closer the two objects are, the greater the gravitational pull.

If you have trouble with formulas and forces, picture a whirlpool. A feather caught in the outside of the spinning water starts to move slowly in a circle. But the longer it stays in the whirlpool, the faster it moves, pulled steadily inward and down until it disappears.

A Book Like No Other

The Bible is a book like no other. We do not read it like a biography, a novel, or a textbook. We can return to it again and again with much profit. It is deeper and greater and more wonderful than anything else we could ever read.

Why do Christians read the Bible? If you are a Christian, why do you read the Bible?

We read the Bible to know God. About the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith states that “it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church” (my emphasis).

God reveals himself! This means that reading or studying the Bible is no ordinary endeavor. We are not reading just for information or even inspiration. We are studying the Scriptures to learn from God, to know and love him. And as we learn from him and love him, this should kindle a desire to draw even closer.

God Entices Us

When we read the Bible, God teaches us about himself. He also shines light into our hearts and convicts us of sin. God shows us his Son and removes the blindness from our eyes. And like many in first-century Galilee, we are eager to follow the Rabbi-King, Jesus.

By his Spirit, God works on our hearts as we read the Bible. He meets with us and entices us to return and meet with him again.

Reading the Bible creates a longing within us for what is to come. When the world seems to be crumbling around us, we have a sure promise that all will be put right (Rev 21:4). And we will enjoy fellowship with God face to face (Rev 21:3).

Additionally, as we read, we see more of what we will become. In all the ways we offend God and our neighbors, we can cultivate hope that these stubborn sins will not last forever. God’s commands are for our good, and one day we will embrace and obey them fully.

Further Down and Further In

If you’ve talked to any older saint recently, you’ve probably noticed they are still eager for the Scriptures. Even after a lifetime of reading and hearing and studying, they are not tired of those familiar words.

The Bible may be bound like other books. It may sit on our tables, support coffee mugs, and sport dog-eared pages and pencil scribbles like other volumes. But what the Bible offers we can find nowhere else.

God reveals himself to us in the pages of this holy book. To the novice and the expert, to the young and the old, God offers himself to those who would take up and read. And as we taste and see how good the Lord is, we’ll joyfully take another lap around the whirlpool, drawing closer and closer to the God who made and redeemed us.

When Bible Reading Doesn’t Produce a Neat and Tidy Takeaway

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Joshua Wilson (2024), public domain

It’s hard to imagine the American restaurant landscape without the drive-through window. It wasn’t always this easy, but now about 70% of fast food customers make their purchases from the comfort of their cars.

The convenience is undeniable. I’ve driven past a coffee place in my town numerous times and seen a line of cars wrapped around the building. (I always wonder how much faster it might be to park and go inside.)

Many of us treat our Bible reading like a trip to the drive through. We want it to be convenient, we want it to be easy, and when we’re finished, we want a neatly-packaged takeaway to sustain us (spiritually) for the day.

Our Desire for a Takeaway

Our desire for a strengthening spiritual nugget is part of what has fueled the daily devotional industry. Every year, publishing houses produce dozens (hundreds?) of collections of short, prepackaged, easy-to-digest Bible teachings designed to help Christians start their days. These often end with a thought or question of the day related to a spotlighted Bible passage.

This seems like a modern and processed form of an ancient practice called meditation. Bible meditation is the practice of thinking pointedly about a verse, passage, or idea for an extended period of time. And Bible meditation is a wonderful way to grow in our understanding of, love for, and obedience to God. But Bible meditation is not the same as Bible reading.

(For the record, I am not opposed to all devotional materials! Many of them are good and edifying.)

Bible Reading and Bible Study

In our desire for a takeaway from our daily Bible reading, we may simply be confusing forms of Bible intake. Bible reading, Bible study, and Bible meditation are certainly related, but they are not the same.

Bible reading is the most straightforward—this is reading or listening to portions of the Bible. Daily Bible reading is often part of systematically making one’s way through a book or longer portion of the Bible. Bible study is a slower, deeper look at a Bible passage with an effort to understand what the author was trying to communicate and then apply that truth. And we defined Bible meditation above.

If we are frustrated that we do not have a takeaway from our Bible reading, it may be a blurring of categories. The main goal of Bible reading is exposure to the larger themes and threads of the Bible, while Bible study aims for deep understanding and application. Bible meditation has a more narrow aim: to turn a specific verse or concept over in the mind for our transformation.

It’s Okay, Keep Going

For those who feel frustrated by their daily Bible reading, I have two short bits of advice.

First, it’s okay. Coming out of your Bible reading without a thought/truth/question/application for the day does not make you (or your Bible reading) a failure. Hopefully you have other opportunities and outlets in your life for deeper, engaged thinking and prayerful interpretation of the Bible, but that doesn’t need to happen every morning.

Second, keep going. The greatest value of daily Bible reading comes not from pointed epiphanies but from the accumulation over time of familiarity with the things of God. We cannot get very far with a few long jumps, even with Olympic-level ability. But if we put thousands of ordinary footsteps together, one in front of the other, we can travel quite a distance indeed.

Examples of “Thinking Bigger”

By

Last week, I argued for the value of “thinking bigger” in your Bible study—of seeking to grasp how your text fits into the book’s larger argument. In this post, I’ll give some examples to show the payoff of such bigger thinking.

jigsaw puzzle on yellow background
Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com

Proverbs 2

First, a rather simple example. Upon studying Proverbs 2, you may recognize that this poem describes how to become wise. All you have to do is passively receive wisdom and actively seek it, and the Lord is just waiting to dole it out.

So much, so good. But how does this chapter fit into the book’s argument?

As a whole, Proverbs 1-9 serve as an extended introduction to the book. In the long poems there, the sage poet explains the fundamentals of how wisdom works, what it does, and why it’s worth it. Chapter 2 on how to get it fits right in with the other fundamentals.

And all those fundamentals are to be assumed when we read chapters 10 and beyond. Therefore, to read particular verses of proverbs as points of secular business, finance, or relationship advice is to miss the entire point. Proverbs 2 plays a crucial role by explaining that God is the only source of wisdom and that he is generous in giving it to those who seek him. Recognizing this role enables us to perceive the weightiness of chapter 2 and the importance of constantly returning to it to help interpret the wisdom found in the rest of the book.

The Fruit of the Spirit

We love to give Sunday school children their coloring pages to help them learn about the cornucopia described in Galatians 5:22-23. But what role do those verses play in light of the letter as a whole?

Gal 2:16 could perhaps summarize the main point of the whole letter: “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Paul makes his case first through his autobiography (Gal 1-2) and then by drawing out the tension between law and promise (Gal 3-4).

Now, in chapters 5-6, he explains the freedom that comes with the righteousness that is by faith. This freedom leads us to serve one another in love (Gal 5:13), which is the sum of the whole law (Gal 5:14). In other words, getting right with God (by faith) will produce rightness of relationship (in love).

Gal 5:16 then contrasts the desires of the flesh with the desires of the Spirit. At this point and throughout the letter, “flesh” has stood for justification by works (which leads to all kinds of strife and relational tension), and “Spirit” has stood for justification by faith (which leads to loving communities).

So by following the argument of the entire letter, we will recognize that the fruit of the Spirit is not about how to be a good Christian person, but about what sprouts forth when people put their faith in Christ.

The Good Samaritan

Luke’s gospel is especially challenging on account of its length. But repeated reading and re-reading pay great dividends as you pick up the overall contours of the book’s structure. I won’t restate the full structure here, but can only refer you to my post on the topic.

We find the parable of the Good Samaritan within the lengthy middle section of Luke, which can be difficult to navigate until we discover that it’s organized around four key questions. The Good Samaritan is the final scene in the discussion of the first question: “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). In other words, Luke is addressing the issue of how Jesus’ followers must go about proclaiming his kingdom.

So in the section of Luke’s gospel where Jesus’ disciples want to call down fire on Samaritans for not receiving Jesus, Jesus ends up telling a story about a Samaritan to illustrate who is one’s neighbor. The parable demonstrates that Jesus wants his people proclaiming the kingdom to all their neighbors (with neighbor being defined by the story as anyone in need, even across the cursed Jew-Samaritan divide).

So yes, those who hear the parable today ought to do good to people they wouldn’t otherwise like. But they ought to do so from a belief that the message of Christ’s kingdom is for all nations. We proclaim grace, and we act out that grace, so they might believe.

Conclusion

These three examples, from three different text types, exemplify the value of following the argument of the entire book you are studying. This takes a lot of work, and it’s not easy. In fact, I don’t think I ever get it “right” on my first pass through a book. But I do the best I can and then refine my work when I come back to a book later in my study.

Don’t settle for quick answers on a text. Think bigger and take stock of how your text fits into the author’s larger argument. In this way, you may find your Bible study more enriching, encouraging, and enlightening than you expected.

Keep Thinking Bigger

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One Bible study skill that’s worth developing is the skill of always thinking bigger. By “thinking bigger,” I mean broadening your grasp of the text’s argument.

The books of the Bible were written as books, and not as loose collections of smaller texts. These books are narratives, poems, and letters sent from one person to another person or group of people.

woman draw a light bulb in white board
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Sometimes, however, we read the Bible like we would read Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. This turns the Bible into a collection of pithy sayings instead of a work of literature. And the problem with this approach is that we can then make the Bible say anything we want it to say. For example, you can find brochures from the Jehovah’s Witnesses that use Bible verses to “prove” that Jesus is not God, the Holy Spirit is not a person, and blood transfusions are immoral.

So to study the Bible competently, you must have a clear grasp of how to read Scripture in context.

  • a verse in the context of the paragraph or stanza
  • the paragraph or stanza in context of the episode or poem
  • the episode or poem in context of the book
  • the book in the context of its historical era
  • and the era in the context of God’s entire plan of history

So there are really two skills that involve “thinking bigger.”

  1. Grasping how your passage fits within the argument of an entire book,
    • which requires you to grasp the argument of your entire book.
  2. Grasping how your passage fits within the Bible’s larger theology,
    • which requires you to grasp the Bible’s larger theology.

For examples of the first skill, see our collection of posts showing how context matters. And for examples of the second skill, see the brief series on how biblical theology impacts application.

Here are some additional resources I often recommend to help build these skills. None of these are flawless, but all have something to offer: