Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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

Don’t Forget Application’s Second Direction

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When people feel stuck in a rut of application—where their application of every passage sounds the same—my first bit of advice is to remember that application involves more than doing. But then my second instruction is to reflect on application’s second direction.

The Two Directions

Application can go in two directions: inward and outward.

Commonly, when people think about application, they think only about inward application: How will this text impact me? (And specifically, people tend to think of application as “according to this text, what must I do?”) Such inward application is good and proper. We ought to be personally impacted by the Scripture on a regular basis. The two greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor (Matt 22:36-40). Everything hangs on this, and our study of the Bible ought to sharpen and improve our own love for both God and neighbor.

So I would never argue against personal (what I call “inward”) application. But when your application loses steam and rehashes all the same things over time, you’ll be greatly helped by considering application’s second direction as well.

Outward application is all about how I can help others to change. How I can be an agent of influence. How I can obey Jesus’ Great Commission to make disciples (Matt 28:18-20).

Image by Raphi D from Pixabay

What Outward Application is Not

Outward application is not about sticking your nose into other people’s business. It’s not about being the sin police. It’s not about correcting everyone and everything around you.

The purpose of outward application is not to ask others to do things you won’t do yourself. Outward application without inward application is hypocrisy.

And by all means, outward application is not about picking fights, hunting for problems, or criticizing with gusto. Outward application is not about taking over responsibility for other people’s choices; “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it” (Prov 9:12).

What Outward Application is

Outward application is about honoring God in the various positions of authority he has given you. Outward application is about growing as a person of influence. Outward application is about considering others more highly than yourself, and helping others to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Outward application can take the form of effective evangelism, sensible apologetics, or wise mentorship.

Paul applies the Scriptures outwardly when he commands fathers to “not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4). An overbearing father and an absent dad are both failing to apply the Scripture in an outward direction—regardless of whether that man has attained a high degree of personal godliness or church office.

In addition to such instruction for parenting, potential outward applications include winning a husband (1 Peter 3:1-2), beautifying a wife (Eph 5:25-28), training younger women (Titus 2:4-5), leaving someone to God’s vengeance (Rom 12:18-21), inspiring others to glorify God (1 Peter 2:11-12, Matt 5:16), and entrusting faithful servants with the gospel (2 Tim 2:1-2).

Even missional prayers (Eph 6:18-20) and vibrant singing (Col 3:16) could be ways to apply the Bible in an outward direction.

This does not exhaust the options, but gives only a sampling of directly outward commands in the Scriptures. Many passages could be applied in similar ways.

Conclusion

In western societies that value personal freedoms, we can easily get into a rut when it comes to applying the Bible. We have abundant concern for individual holiness and godliness and want to make sure we are walking in personal relationship with our God.

The challenge is to not forget application’s second direction, and move beyond ourselves to help others. We’ve been saved into a new kingdom, a new community. And King Jesus gives every one of us opportunities to influence others and minister his grace to them. And make no mistake: He will hold us accountable for how effectively we have served and discipled the people he’s entrusted to us. There’s a whole parable to that effect.

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The Bible is Boring Only to the Uncurious

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Have you heard someone say the Bible is boring? Have you felt that way yourself?

Perhaps you’re not curious enough.

Aaron Armstrong shares his own experience:

Before I was a Christian, I didn’t really know much about the Bible. Which makes sense, since I didn’t read it. But I had a lot of assumptions about it, the same assumptions many non-Christians have about it. I assumed it was endlessly contradictory, outdated, and irrelevant. That nothing it said really mattered to life in the modern world. Most importantly, because I saw the few people I knew whose parents made them go to some kind of class at their church were bored to tears, I assumed the Bible was boring.

Then I read it, and I discovered a book that fascinated me. One that made me ask questions, and has kept me asking questions for nearly 19 years. A book that challenges me to dig a little deeper every time I think I’ve got something figured out.

Armstrong goes on to describe how curiosity about the Bible enables us to expose its bottomless wonders and riches. I appreciate his reflection and commend it to you.

Check it out!

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The Titles of Jesus in the Gospels

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Andrzej Gdula (2022), public domain

Do you remember choosing your first email address or social media username? This was a heady experience for me—I was picking a word or phrase by which I would be known. And this was nothing compared to the pressure my wife and I faced when selecting names for our children!

Authors know a bit of this pressure. The ways that characters refer to each other carry a lot of meaning. Consider the following scenario. A man appears in a courtroom before a judge, and the judge asks if he would like to make a statement. Among many other possibilities, the man might begin his statement with “Your honor,” “Judge Perkins,” “Ms. Perkins,” “Barbara,” or “Honey.” In that setting, each of those addresses carries a different, significant meaning.

The writers of the New Testament Gospels, while inspired by the Holy Spirit, were human authors. They chose their words carefully, especially when referring to the central character of their work: Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, we can learn a lot about the purpose of a Gospel as well as Jesus Himself by studying the ways that Gospel writers referred to Jesus.

I have made a small project of this study and I have listed the criteria I used for including a title or name in the first post of the series. I’ve also posted a link to the raw data on our Resources page so that interested readers might ask their own related questions.

Before listing the articles in this series, an important note is in order. The titles and names used for Jesus should not be considered apart from the context in which they are written. Just like the example of the man before the judge, the details of the setting, offense, and personal history of the characters involved matter a great deal. So while this current study can identify trends and tendencies, it is not definitive on its own. Each use of a name or title has its primary and most significant meaning within the historical and literary context in which it is used.

With that said, here are the eight articles in this series. I hope they will be of benefit to all who dive in.

Top 10 Titles of Jesus in the Gospels

The Titles of Jesus in Matthew

The Titles of Jesus in Mark

The Titles of Jesus in Luke

The Titles of Jesus in John

Jesus is the Christ

Jesus is the Son of God

Jesus is the Son of Man

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You Better Believe in Constant Reliance

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‌You better believe it’s worth it to keep going as a Christian. The third reason for this is the need for constant reliance.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Hebrews 10:32-39
Photo by Ruffa Jane Reyes on Unsplash

‌Hard Struggle is not Incompatible with Great Joy

Let’s be honest: The way of following Jesus is one filled with “a hard struggle with sufferings” (Heb 10:32).

Jesus never promised that following him would be easy. He called it a hard way and a narrow gate that few would find (Matt 7:14).

‌However, that hard struggle is not incompatible with great joy. The people to whom Hebrews was written had their stuff taken from them on account of being Christians, and they accepted it with joy (Heb 10:34)!

‌How is that possible? How does a person endure hard suffering with unexpected joy?

‌Only if you know that you have “a better possession and an abiding one” (Heb 10:34b). In other words, you’re giving up something you can’t keep anyway, in order to gain something you can’t lose (Jim Elliot). You’ve got a deep understanding that a better future awaits you, and this understanding gives you confidence in a great reward (Heb 10:35).

‌It’s not worth it to throw away such confidence! Like the children in a famous psychological experiment, you can deny yourself one cookie now, because of the promise of two cookies later.

‌In short: “You have need of endurance” (Heb 10:36). The sort of endurance that doesn’t “shrink back” in the hard times, but perseveres in faith (Heb 10:38-39). The need of the moment is constant reliance on the Lord Jesus.

‌This is just another way to say the same thing Hebrews has been saying all along. “Hold fast to your confession” (Heb 3:1, 10:23). “We have such a great high priest” (Heb 8:1). “Jesus is your better and abiding possession” (Heb 10:34). “Let us draw near to him with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb 4:16, 10:22).

‌Application

‌The only sin that warrants the Holy Spirit’s outrage and the Father’s vengeance is the sin of unbelief (not persevering in faith).‌ This chapter is not talking about broad struggles with sinful behaviors, but with the sin of disloyalty to Christ, also called unbelief.

‌So the solution to that sin is that you don’t ever throw away your confidence that something better is coming. Today, tomorrow, and the next day, you persevere in faith. You endure the hard times, knowing that Jesus remains your king, your priest, and your inheritance.

‌What might apostasy look like? What are the beliefs of a person who has thrown away their confidence in Christ?

  • ‌This will never change.
  • The people whose opinions matter most will hate me.
  • I’ll lose what I’ve worked so hard to gain, and it will be the end of me.
  • It’s not worth it.
  • Jesus is not worth it.

‌The better you get at recognizing such beliefs in yourself, the better you will get at recognizing them in others. Then you and I can spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Toward endurance in Christ. Toward constant reliance on him to rescue and redeem.

‌You better believe it’s worth it to keep going in the Christian faith, in love for Christ Jesus.

‌In Christ, we have confident entrance. Without him, there is nothing but certain vengeance. Therefore, here and now, day after day after day, we exercise constant reliance.

‌We will never grow out of our need for trusting Christ Jesus. That’s not just what you do on the first day, when you become a Christian. It’s what you do every day, up until the Last Day.

‌May the Lord guard us and guide us, that we might never shrink back from him and be destroyed, but that we would persevere in faith and preserve our souls (Heb 10:39).

‌You better believe it’s worth it.

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Top 10 Posts on Bible Study Methods

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The entire reason for this blog’s existence is to help ordinary people learn to study the Bible. That requires us to impart principles and methods to help you along your way. Sometimes we back up and give sweeping tools and directions. At other times we zero in on a particular skill. All along the way, we encourage you to try these things at home and keep practicing.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Continuing in the spirit of the top 10 lists presented over the last few weeks, here are 2023’s top 10 most-viewed posts in the “Method” category. If you browse the full list, you’ll see that we’ve currently got 271 installments. So if you have time to read only 10 of them, you may want to consider these 10.

  1. Three Important Contexts for Bible Study
  2. Why We Reread the Bible
  3. Studying the Bible is Not Code Breaking
  4. Finding Repeated Words and Themes
  5. Two Ways to Outline a Bible Passage
  6. What We Miss When We Skip the Book of Nehemiah
  7. The Most Important Tool for Observing the Structure of a Narrative Episode
  8. My Favorite Way to Read the New Testament
  9. Details of the OIA Method
  10. Summary of the OIA Method
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When You Don’t Feel Like Reading Your Bible

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We’ve all had those seasons when Bible reading feels more like obligation than delight. And thought we do have an obligation to the who rescued us from darkness into light, his intentions have always been to increase our joy in him.

To that end, Kristen Wetherell has two great suggestions for what to do when you don’t feel like reading your Bible:

  1. Feast with your church
  2. Find a fresh method

Check it out!

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Top 10 Posts of 2023

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San Churchill (2007), Creative Commons

It’s hip and cool for bloggers to post their top 10 posts of the year. And we want to be hip and cool. Our hearts tell us to do it, and the Bible says to “walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes” (Eccl 11:9). So here goes.

Last week, we gave you the top 10 posts from those written in 2023. Now, we list the top 10 posts from the full KW archive. If lots of other people are reading these posts, you probably should be, too.

The 2023 post that got the most views—Overlooked Details of the Red Sea Crossing—just barely missed this overall Top 10 by about two dozen pageviews.

10. Top 10 OT Books Quoted in NT

This post was also #10 last year. Though it comes from a series that analyzes not only books but also chapters and verses, this list of most-quoted books always seems to be one of the most popular.

9. 11 Old Testament Books Never Quoted in the New Testament

This post was also #9 last year. It comes from the same six-part series—mentioned in the previous entry—analyzing every NT citation of an OT text. It’s interesting that, in that series about the NT quoting the OT, the most popular post is about the OT books that never get a direct quotation.

8. Context Matters: Apart From Me, You Can Do Nothing

This investigation of John 15 debuted on the top 10 list in 2021 at #6, rising two positions higher in 2022 before dropping to #8 this year. This “context matters” post does not suggest any drastic rethinking of the popular use of the verse in question; it largely shows how rich and deep our grasp can go when the verse is read without isolating it from its context.

7. Summary of the OIA Method

Just as the title says, this post summarizes the OIA method we aim to teach. It’s basically the reason this blog exists, so we’re glad it gets a lot of page views. This is up from #8 last year.

6. Did Jesus’ Ministry Last 3 Years?

This 2019 post makes its first appearance on the annual Top 10, knocking How to Recognize Sowers of Discord off the list. In this post, Peter considers the information from the gospels to reconsider the tradition that Jesus’ ministry lasted 3 years. Quite a few commenters are concerned that anything other than a 3-year ministry throws off their calculations from Gabriel’s message in Daniel 9. However, we’re not swayed by views that require certain assumptions about an end-times sequence of events in order to work.

5. 4 Bible Studies for Lent

This companion piece to Ryan’s 4 Bible studies for Advent is up from #7 last year, and back in the same slot it held in 2021. Lent is a great time to study the Bible, and here are four 6.5-week studies you could consider for that season. Be forewarned, however: These are not your typical you-can-only-trust-the-experts, fill-in-the-blank sort of Bible studies you may be used to.

4. 10 Reasons to Avoid Sexual Immorality

This was the most-viewed post in 2014, but then it dropped off the list until resurfacing as #8 in 2017 and #2 in 2018 and 2019. It dropped slightly to #3 in 2020, but went off the charts in 2021-22. It simmered down quite a bit this year, but still remains the fourth most-viewed post in the blog’s archive. We’re delighted to see a continued interest in such an important topic. Find whatever motivates you to avoid sexual immorality, and glum onto God’s grace in providing that motivation!

3. Context Matters: You Have Heard That it was Said…But I Say to You

This 2018 post was #9 on this list in 2020, but rose to #3 in 2021 and has remained in that position ever since. This post examines the series of contrasts in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to determine, from the context, what Jesus was arguing against. Hint: It wasn’t the Old Testament Law.

2. Identifying Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job

This post first appeared in 2015 as part of a brief series on Job (which included the next post on this list) and was republished in 2021. But it didn’t appear in the annual Top 10 until 2022 (at #5). And as the second most-viewed post, its popularity is only increasing. As can be seen from the title, it identifies what the behemoth and leviathan are in the book of Job. Teaser: They are not the hippopotamus and crocodile. And they are not dinosaurs, either, but something even worse. You’ll have to read the post to find out what.

1. Why Elihu is So Mysterious

The popularity of this 2015 post (republished in 2021) continues to surprise us. We really cannot explain why it has been so popular, but if you haven’t read it, you must really be missing out! Elihu is that mysterious fourth friend in the book of Job. If you even knew he existed, chances are you’ve skipped his speeches entirely. This post is Peter’s attempt to explain Elihu’s role in the drama of the play of Job. This post was #3 in 2017, but since then has alternated between the #1 and #2 slots.

Previous years’ lists: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013

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The Sermon on the Mount is not Meant to Make You Feel Bad

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I’ve seen a general pattern in “Christ-centered” or “gospel-centered” Bible teaching, that preaching the gospel requires us to always make ourselves and others feel bad for our sin. That the gospel has not been preached unless we get to the conclusion that “We cannot do what this text is saying, but Jesus can and did, so let’s trust him.” I’ve contributed to this tendency in years past, and have come to see how this actually flattens the Scriptures, often using them in a way contrary to their stated intentions.

One key place where this tendency shows up is in studies on the Sermon on the Mount.

Kevin DeYoung has a wonderful piece, excerpted from a recent book, where he debunks — from the text itself — this way of reading Jesus’ most famous sermon.

If we approach the Sermon on the Mount only or mainly as a means by which we see our sinfulness, we’ve not taken the sermon on its own terms… We’ve turned the Sermon on the Mount into a giant spanking spoon—good for making you squeal in pain, but not a welcome instrument or a way of life. The Great Commission, then, becomes a summons to teach the nations everything Jesus has said—which, of course, they cannot do, and he doesn’t expect them to observe.

DeYoung then observes four ways in which the text points us “away from thinking Jesus means to give us an impossible discipleship plan.”

  1. Jesus presents us with bracing either/or options at several points in his sermon.
  2. Jesus understands that there is an already-and-not-yet dimension to our Christian walk.
  3. Woven into the fabric of Christ’s kingdom living is the expectation that we will need grace and forgiveness.
  4. The Sermon on the Mount is not an impossible standard, because pleasing Jesus is not impossible.

DeYoung observes the text carefully, following the sermon’s own logic, to free us from unnecessary guilt to walk in the joy of allegiance to the Lord Jesus. I highly commend his article to you.

Check it out!

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Top 10 Posts of 2023—Written in 2023

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Many bloggers take advantage of this time of the year to reflect on their most popular posts. Now we know there is a time to follow the crowd (Zech 8:23), and a time not to follow the crowd (Ex 23:2). And I believe the present time to be akin to the former and not the latter. So here we go.

This post lists the top 10 viewed posts this year, from among the posts we wrote this year. Next week, we’ll list the top 10 viewed posts from the full KW archive. May these lists enable you to be warm and well fed while you celebrate the season with joy and delight.

10. Can You Focus on the Bible Too Much?

Technically, this post wasn’t written in 2023. But I republished this older piece for a vacation week, and it got some attention. The easy answer to the title question is: of course you can—if you miss Jesus in the process. But the more difficult answer is that when you use the Bible properly it’s not possible to focus on it too much unless it’s also possible to focus on Jesus too much.

9. The Wisdom of Avoiding Strife

The first of five posts on Proverbs to make the list this year, this piece describes the many causes of strife. Knowing those causes enables you to do the first thing Proverbs recommends you do with strife: avoid it. This post is referring not to everyday disagreements, but to the sort of disagreements that look like knock-down, drag-em-out fights, that turn people into enemies of one another. The book of Proverbs refers to such situations as “strife.”

8. How to Prevent a Spiritually Dry December

This was another re-post for a vacation week, and it came quite late in the year, but it still made quite a splash. This post reminds us of why we study the Bible in the first place, offering some practical suggestions for the dark and difficult winter months.

7. Studying the Bible is not Code Breaking

Just as the title says, the Bible is not a secret code. God wants to be known, so he wrote to us plainly. This doesn’t mean the Bible is trivial or obvious. It takes serious work. But treating it like a code to crack is taking the easy — and foolish — way out.

6. Beware the Leech’s Daughters

Since the Bible is not a code, it’s obscure statements must be interpreted in light of the context and not some secret meaning. Proverbs 30:15a makes sense in light of what comes before and after it. Is it the rejection of ancient wisdom that causes the perpetual dissatisfaction of a generation of leeches? Such that, when you lose your grounding in the reality of God’s world, you have nothing left but to make increasing demands of the people and the world around you? The leech has two daughters. Not only in ancient Israel, but quite alive and well today.

5. What We Miss When We Skip the Book of Nehemiah

Ryan enjoys motivating people to give attention to the obscure parts of the Bible. In this post, he explains how Nehemiah can help us with prayer, God’s word, and money. You won’t want to miss that, so don’t skip it! For insight into other books you wouldn’t want to skip, see: Ezra, Lamentations, Numbers, and the Prophets.

4. Overcome Your Enemies by Dying

As a follow-up to #9 above, this post examines what Proverbs teaches about the sort of strife that can’t be avoided. When you have adopted the fundamental mindset that we can control only what we do and not what others do, there are five tactics that will help you to “win.” Warning: You’ll have to lose first.

3. 5 Misconceptions about Wealth

More help from Proverbs, to help us live well in the world God made. Let’s set aside these detrimental misconceptions, such as: It will make my problems go away. It’s something I ought to feel guilty about. It doesn’t matter whether someone has it or not.

2. The Problem with Proverbs

This year’s most-viewed post on the book of Proverbs describes the pain of trying to read and study this book of wisdom. It’s wild practicality blinds us to its covenantal context. The scattershot jumble of topics cause very little logical flow or coherence (at least, after chapter 9). And the widespread misconception that proverbs are not promises but only probabilities just needs to go, lest we fail to hear what the Proverbs are really saying. Studying this book along its natural contours yields a wealth of results, as it leads us to Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3).

1. Overlooked Details of the Red Sea Crossing

This most-read post from 2023 had nearly twice as many views as #2 on the list. By looking at four crucial ones in the narrative of Exodus 14, Ryan demonstrates why the details matter. In them we see God’s hands-on involvement in the crossing of the Red Sea. God rescued his people and closed the door to any possible return to Egypt. In tangible ways, the Lord fought for his people as he promised. When God sets out to deliver his people and gain glory for himself, he will make both happen.

Previous years’ top tens: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

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