Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible
Scott Hubbard wants you to know four things about the Bible’s portrait of a sluggard:
Hubbard does a great job correlating the teaching of Proverbs on the character of the sluggard. In the process, Hubbard models terrific head and heart application.
Marty Machowski has developed quite a body of educational and devotional works for children. I’m quite a fan of The Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, which my church uses, along with The Gospel Story Bible, which covers a wide variety of Bible stories beautifully.
So I was eager to see his new work taking children through the books of Luke and Acts: The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church. I’m grateful to New Growth Press for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Treasure is largely a devotional work, but not in the sense of providing a lesson plan or list of discussion questions. It’s more of a storybook Bible with devotional entries providing something to reflect on in light of Scripture readings.
Interspersed throughout are 12 chapters of an original story. A pair of young siblings growing up on a Greek isle discover some old journals reflecting on the teachings of Luke and Acts.
The physical book holds the same high production quality I’ve come to expect from New Growth Press’s children’s works. It’s larger size is on par with The Gospel Story Bible and The Radical Book for Kids. The thick semi-glossy paper gives the book quite a bit of heft, making it delightful to hold and read aloud. The cover and binding are strong and sturdy.
This book provides a clear and accessible introduction to the Christian faith through the lens of Luke and Acts. For that reason, it’s not exhaustive or doctrinally thorough. But it does what a storybook Bible does best: It tells the “ancient story ever new.”
The devotions in these pages walk straight through Luke and Acts, covering topics as they arise in the text. Each devotion has a Scripture reading, followed by a one-page reflection on something from the passage, always connecting it to the story of Christ and to his children today.
For example, in one entry, we’re told to read Luke 5:17-26 (Jesus healing a paralytic after forgiving his sins). Then Machowski’s comments talk about how someone could prove their physical strength by lifting a 300-pound barbell in front of their friends. Then he describes how Jesus did something even more amazing by healing the lame man to prove his ability to forgive sins.
The main divisions of The Treasure follow the literary divisions of Luke and Acts. So the contours of the Scripture drive the ebbs and flows of Machowski’s reflections.
The original story about the Greek children was my favorite part of the book, as Machowski tells a charming tale of their search for hidden treasure. Though the story’s climax comes across a little contrived—the character development to that point did not quite support it—the story remains engaging to the end.
I chose to review this book because I’m always interested in children’s resources that claim to help children study the Bible. From the back cover: “In The Treasure, Marty Machowski weaves a Bible study of the books of Luke and Acts with a fictional story.” And I’ve really loved Machowski’s prior devotional works. I was eager to see what he did here with Luke and Acts.
And I want to reiterate what I wrote above: This book provides a clear and accessible introduction to the Christian faith through the lens of Luke and Acts.
But with that said, I must be honest that Machowski does not quite succeed at the promise of providing a Bible study of Luke and Acts. I would describe the book as a series of devotional, theological reflections on some things inspired by the text of Luke and Acts. It does not actually provide a Bible study of Luke and Acts.
For example, the entry on Acts 15:36-16:5 reflects on the nature of conflict and how nobody is perfect. But it fails to explain the role played by the separation of Paul and Barnabas in Luke’s narrative agenda.
For another example, the entry on Luke 3:1-20 spends nearly as much time discussing John’s account of the Baptist’s ministry as the account at hand in Luke. This pattern is common: Machowski quickly bounces from Luke or Acts out to numerous cross-references that speak further on the theological topic under consideration. All to the detriment of providing and understanding of Luke’s own message.
I am delighted to have and to have read The Treasure. As a child’s introduction to Christianity through the lens of Luke and Acts, it succeeds marvelously. But as a child’s Bible study of Luke and Acts, it is less than could be hoped for. I’m happy to recommend it as a primer on the story and doctrines of Jesus Christ. But if you’re looking for a way to strengthen your children’s grasp of the books of Luke and Acts, you may need to supplement what you find here.
You can find it Amazon, Westminster, or New Growth.
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“Everyone will be salted with fire,” says Jesus in Mark 9:49. But what does that mean?
Alistair Begg makes skillful use of the literary context (the argument of the larger passage), biblical context (Old Testament background), and cultural context (practices contemporary to Jesus and his disciples) to unravel this mysterious saying.
It’s clear that Jesus deals here with weighty truths. And it’s against the backdrop of verse 48 (in which He describes hell as a place where the “worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”) that His puzzling teaching on salt appears. With the costliness of discipleship and the picture of fire fixed in His disciples’ minds, Jesus asserts, “Everyone will be salted with fire.” How should we understand this peculiar phrase?
All authors employ names and titles to convey meaning in their work. The biblical writers are no exception.
I’m in the middle of a project examining the use of titles and names for Jesus in the Gospels. My first article laid out my methodology and looked at the top 10 titles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have written about the titles of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Today we turn to the Gospel of John.
John uses 129 titles for Jesus, which is 29.1% of all such titles in the Gospels. Since John contains 23.3% of the verses in the Gospels, we might say John contains more titles than expected.
Here are the top 5 titles in John.
The title “Son” is used here more than in any other Gospel, making up 18/30 uses in all of the Gospels. Fourteen of these times, Jesus claims this title for himself, and the other four times are by the Gospel author.
In general, the titles in John tend to be clustered. For example, while “Lord” appears most frequently as a title, 32 of these 36 occurrences happen in just five chapters (chapters 11, 13, 14, 20, and 21). Something similar is true for the title “Son”—15/18 of these uses happen in chapters 3, 5, and 17.
Of all the Gospel authors, John uses the most titles for Jesus. He wrote titles for Jesus 17 times, calling him “Lord” five times, “Son” four times, and “Word” four times, among others.
Unlike in Luke, none of these titles dominates the others.
As my co-blogger Peter Krol pointed out in his article about the feeding of the 5000 in John, this fourth Gospel leaves no doubts about its purpose.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)
All that John wrote was to convince his readers and hearers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. How do the titles that John used reveal or support this?
John used both the titles “Christ” (8 times) and “Son of God” (9 times). However, the title “Son” (used 18 times) is also relevant here. In context, most of the time “Son” is used it is shorthand for “Son of God.” The title is put in context with “Father” when that title clearly refers to God. Here are some examples.
John walked with Jesus and wrote his words down, and Jesus was not ambiguous about his mission or his power. Anyone reading John’s Gospel honestly will see Jesus presented as the Son of God and Savior of the world.
John’s use of titles in his Gospel doesn’t just support his main point. John used the titles of Jesus as a tool to communicate his main point.
If my experience is symptomatic of a broader reality, and heart application is the most difficult of the three spheres, then it behooves us to understand potential hindrances. And the New Testament leads us to expect two primary opponents.
The first opponent of heart application is legalism. Legalism is when we add to God’s word rules and behaviors he does not require of us. Even when such things used to be required under the old covenant, we are still “adding” them to God’s current ethical expectations (Gal 6:15-16).
Legalism was an issue when the Galatian trouble-makers taught that converts had to be circumcised and become Jews before they could become Christians. Legalism was an issue when Pharisees erected voluminous regulations for Sabbath-keeping (Luke 13:10-17) and ritual purity (Mark 7:1-5). Legalism was an issue when the Colossians and Ephesians were attracted to ascetic practices that removed them from tangible pleasures and blessings (Col 2:20-23, 1 Tim 4:1-5).
How does legalism oppose application to the heart? By producing the sort of person who does the right things without becoming the right person who believes the gospel. Legalism does not require any change on the inside, such that you become the kind of person the Lord wants you to be.
…this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men
Isaiah 29:13
The second opponent of heart application is license. License is when we subtract from God’s word and minimize or ignore kingdom ethics. Even when the motivating factor is God’s grace to needy sinners, we are still subtracting from God’s word if we suppose grace does anything but train us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age (Titus 2:11-14).
License was an issue when Philippian citizens worshiped their belly and set their minds on earthly things (Phil 3:18-21). License was an issue when Ephesian believers were tempted to live like unbelievers, allowing hardness of heart to darken their understanding and live for what they could see, hear, feel, and touch (Eph 4:17-20). License was an issue when teachers would arise who employed the doctrine of grace to promote “anything goes” and thereby lead people away from loyalty to Christ (Jude 3-4).
How does license oppose application to the heart? By producing the sort of person who may even believe the right things but without becoming the right person who does the right things. License does not require any change on the inside, such that you become the kind of person the Lord wants you to be.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
Both opponents of heart application—legalism and license—prevent people from becoming the right people on the inside. Both are concerned with outward behavior. Both are harsh masters, demanding far too much of their victims.
The best tactics for resisting both opponents is to properly grasp the main points of Scripture, and then to allow those truths to shape you from the inside out. To make you into not only a person who does the right things but also a person who loves and desires the right things.
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
Hebrews 12:15-16
When studying a passage in the gospels, we must handle parallel passages with care. We’ll make better use of the parallels if we don’t merely harmonize but illuminate.
For example, let’s take Luke’s Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6. Much time could be spent on the question of harmonization: Is this the same sermon as Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, or not? How do we harmonize these two extensive teachings of Jesus?
But that question of harmonization is not nearly as important as the following:
Those questions may not have the same answer!
To help you with this example, let me recommend an article called “The Sermon on the Plain: What It Is & How It Differs from the Sermon on the Mount.” I wrote this article to analyze some of the similarities and differences between the two sermons. But ultimately, I wanted to get to these four suggestions:
Of the three spheres of application, I believe the most difficult one for most people is the heart sphere. For that reason, my series of posts on leading small groups has one specifically on how to encourage heart-oriented application. Most people tend to find head and hands application more natural.
Why do you think that is?
Unless they have an extraordinary aversion to theological debate, most people have no resistance to head application. What we must believe about God, the world, ourselves, sin, and redemption—these things are glorious truths, and clarity on such things from the Scripture is precious.
And as I wrote last week, we tend to have such an affinity for “doing” (hands application) that the concept of application itself is often reduced to little more than what we do in light of the Bible’s teachings. The challenge is to help folks understand that application involves more than doing.
But when it comes to heart application—what we love, value and cherish; what sort of people we are to become—those who don’t balk at such personal intrusion can sometimes feel like ignorant babes.
How do we do it? How do we not simply guilt people into obedience, but motivate and inspire them to want to obey God? How do we become the sort of people who turn away from sin not only because it’s our duty but also because we are personally repulsed by the idea of committing it? How do we find in Christ a greater and more secure treasure than anything we can see, smell, taste, or touch here and now?
The thing is: Heart application requires a grasp of both human nature and the Lord’s process for rebooting that nature in Christ. That takes hard work. If you want your Bible application to be quick and dirty, the sphere of the heart will nearly always become a neglected stepchild.
Hebrews 4:14-16 provides an interesting study in the spheres of application:
Does the confession of Christ as great high priest lead you not only to approach the Lord, but to do so as a person with full confidence in his mercy and grace? Is your first instinct to turn to the Lord in prayer when you need help?
Is heart application difficult for you? If so, why do you think that is?
Because Karrie Hahn believes the Bible is precious, she wants you to read it for the right reasons. She gives three quite compelling ones.
Sometimes application means simply letting the Bible shape us in these areas. For example:
An encounter with the God of the universe can’t help but produce awe and wonder in those to whom He reveals Himself. He is glorious and majestic, unlike anyone or anything else:
The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty . . . Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!” (Ps. 93:1, 4)
His greatness is unsearchable, and He is glorious, splendid, and majestic (see Ps. 145:3, 5). Holy Scripture is how we come to better know the God who has called us to Himself.
All authors employ names and titles to convey meaning in their work. The biblical writers are no exception.
I’m in the middle of a project examining the use of titles and names for Jesus in the Gospels. My first article laid out my methodology and looked at the top 10 titles of Jesus in the Gospels. I recently wrote about the titles of Jesus in Matthew and Mark, and today we turn to the Gospel of Luke.
Luke uses 122 titles for Jesus. So while Luke contains 30.5% of the verses in the Gospels, it contains only 27.5% (122/443) of the titles.
Here are the top 7 titles in Luke. (I’ve included 7 instead of 5 because of equal numbers at the end of this list.)
Luke is notable in that he himself used titles for Jesus more than Matthew (10 times) or Mark (5 times). Luke referred to Jesus by a title 16 times. He called Jesus “Lord” 13 times, “Christ” two times, and “son (as was supposed) of Joseph” once.
Compared to the writers of the first two Gospels, it seems Luke had a favorite way of referring to Jesus. This is likely related to why that particular title is used so much by other characters in Luke’s Gospel.
Courtesy of my co-blogger Peter Krol, we have an abundance of resources on this website related to the Gospel of Luke. Most of these articles are linked from Peter’s Interpretive Overview of Luke.
Peter stated the main point of Luke this way.
The hope of Israel, God’s plan of salvation for the world, has arrived in Jesus.
Can we draw any connections between this main point and the titles of Jesus that Luke uses?
We must remember that Luke was a historian. He wrote these investigative accounts (Luke and Acts) to “most excellent Theophilus” so that he might “have certainty concerning the things [he has] been taught” (Luke 1:3-4).
In addition to being a historian, Luke was a companion of the apostle Paul. There are moments in the narrative of Acts (such as in chapter 21) where Luke’s account shifts from “they” to “we.”
I noted above that Luke himself used the title “Lord” for Jesus quite a bit in his Gospel (13 times). When I look at those occurrences, I can’t detect any trends or patterns. I can only conclude that “Lord” was simply a natural way for Luke to refer to Jesus.
And upon reflection, this makes sense, doesn’t it? Who better to write an accurate historical account of Jesus’s life and ministry—in addition to an account of his followers in the years after his death—than someone who called him “Lord”? Luke could masterfully write about God’s salvation for the world arriving in Jesus because that same salvation had come to him.
Luke was not a modern historian, writing in stuffy remove and objectivity. Luke wrote as an ancient historian—accurate, yes, but with an accuracy compelled by love of his subject.
How do you know when you’ve successfully applied the Bible to your life?
Of course, obedience is a life-long practice, which we’ll never be finished with. But when you are studying a passage of Scripture, how do you know when you have arrived at appropriate application? At what point can you say you’ve done enough study? You now know what you must go and do, and you’re ready to go and do it.
I think it depends on your definition of “doing.”
In my experience leading Bible studies, one of the most common conceptions I find people have is that application = doing. As in, until you have something concrete and particular to add to your schedule or task list, you haven’t yet done application. And if a teacher doesn’t give you specific actions for your schedule or task list, that teacher hasn’t yet helped you with application.
So I find it crucial to remind people that application involves more than doing. Yes, the Bible often calls us to do something. But sometimes it calls us believe something. And sometimes it calls us to love or value something. All such calls could be properly labeled “application.”
To put it another way, application is not only about the hands but also about the head and the heart. All three spheres can be considered legitimate ways to apply the Scripture. One of them (hands) involves doing. But that’s not the only thing application involves.
We cannot improve on the sorts of applications the apostles themselves sought from their readers.
Of course, the apostles sometimes proposed hands (doing) applications:
Outdo one another in showing honor … contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Romans 12:10-13
Yet sometimes, the primary application they’re after is head application:
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
1 Cor 3:16-18
And yet other times, they go for the heart. They want Christians to become people of character who receive and rest upon Jesus Christ and nothing else.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31
Of course, doing is one of the spheres, so I would never encourage you not to get applications on your schedule or task list.
But if a particular text lends itself more to believing or loving, have at it. Don’t feel guilty. Don’t conclude that you haven’t yet “applied” the Scripture.
We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
1 Thess 1:2-5
