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God’s Law and Application

April 19, 2024 By Peter Krol

A firm grasp on the proper use of God’s law will take your application skills to the next level.

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Use of the Law

In some Christian circles, the word “law”—or more specifically, the phrases “God’s law” or “law of Moses”—is a dirty word. Something to be avoided. We certainly don’t want to be guilty of enslaving people under law do we (Rom 6:14, Gal 3:23)?

However, if the law is nothing but a slave master to be thrown off in Christ, our friends the Gideons should stop including Psalms and Proverbs in their pocket New Testaments:

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation al the day.
Psalm 119:97

The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father
Proverbs 28:7

The problem, you see, was never with God’s law but with the way people try to use it. If we use to attain righteousness before God, then Christ died for no purpose (Gal 2:21). Those who use the law to become righteous will, in the end, lose not only righteousness but also the very benefits of the law (Rom 9:30-32).

So what is the proper use of the law? The Bible gives a few of them, but I’ll highlight just two of them relevant to the skill of Bible application.

First, the law of God provides knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20, 7:7-12). The law of God reveals God’s standards of right and wrong, true and false, moral and immoral. If you get rid of God’s law, you must invent some other standard by which to define good and evil, right and wrong. And a cursory glance at contemporary western culture ought to be enough to show what a failure such an experiment has been. We need the law to define sin and righteousness for us so we might become aware of how far we fall short. In this way, the law is like a mentor to lead us to find grace and mercy in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:23-4:7).

Second, the law of God shows us how life works best (Rom 13:9-10, Eph 6:2-3, James 2:8-13). While the law of God cannot make a sinner righteous, it can make any society a far more pleasant place to live. God made the world to work, such that keeping his law would result in great blessings and breaking his law would result in miserable curses. God is pleased when his people honor his law in submission to his appointed king, Jesus, the Son of David. The New Testament regularly roots its ethical instruction in the revealed law of God. Paul goes as far as to call it a “debt” or “obligation” to obey God through the empowering of God’s adopting Spirit (Rom 8:12).

Help with Application

So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?

In nearly any text, you can ask “use of the law” questions with respect to the author’s main point:

What has God commanded in this text, and how do you and I measure up to that standard?
How does God define truth and falsehood, right and wrong? How does our society define these things (with respect to the topic of the text)? How do you tend to define these things?
How have others violated this command of God in the way they have treated you? How does that help you to distinguish between your responsibility and their responsibility in that situation?
If we got rid of the standard of God’s law as highlighted in this text, what other standard might we invent to deal with these sorts of issues? What are some pseudo-standards that have been invented by our society?
What would your life look like if you obeyed what this text commands? What would our church look like if it obeyed what this text commands? What would society look like if everyone obeyed what this text commands?
What would submission to King Jesus look like according to this passage? How can we make more progress in such submission?

I am intentionally sidestepping matters of creation, gifts, strengths, grace, and redemption when I ask these questions. That’s not because such matters are unimportant, but only because the focus of this post is on the proper use of God’s law.

Sometimes, robust reflection on the proper use of God’s law will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: ethical dilemmas, attention to the environment, abortion, marriage, transgenderism, care for the poor, euthanasia, sexuality and sexual identity, greed, taxation—to name just a few.

Deepen your grasp of the proper use of the law, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.

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The Nature of Wisdom

April 17, 2024 By Peter Krol

Michael Kelley describes three aspects to wisdom’s nature found in the opening verses of Proverbs:

Wisdom is for everyone
Wisdom is learned
Wisdom is a result

As he explains: “Wisdom is about reality. It’s about real-life decision-making in real-life situations. And that is, indeed, a powerful thing.”

Check it out!

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Cosmic Treason and Application

April 12, 2024 By Peter Krol

A firm grasp on the essence of sin will take your application skills to the next level.

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Essence of Sin

The essence of sin lies in the fact that humans tried (and therefore still try) to replace God. We see this when the serpent first tempts the woman in Genesis 3:5.

God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

The temptation was to be like God. And how would they become like God? They would “know good and evil.”

That phrase, “know good and evil,” cannot mean a simple grasp of the concepts of good and evil. Adam and his wife already understood both concepts, when God told them what to do and not do (Gen 1:28-29, 2:16-17). Clearly, it was good to obey God and evil to disobey him. The first humans were not cognitively deficient.

In the Hebrew Bible, to “know good and evil” is a mark not of intellectual capacity but of maturity. With respect to the promise of Immanuel, God says the following to Isaiah:

He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
Isaiah 7:15-16

The point for Isaiah (and King Ahaz) was that a child would soon be born. And by the time that child was mature enough to make wise moral decisions, the attacks on Jerusalem will have come to an end.

So what does this have to do with the temptation to sin in Genesis 3? The temptation was attractive because it came with a promise of maturity, but in the wrong way. That made it a promise of escape from submission to God’s authority. An offer to the woman and the man to become their own authorities and make their own decisions about what is (or should be) good and evil.

This is where sin got its beginning in human history, and it is where sin drops anchor in the human heart.

Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
James 1:14-15

God confirms that the “knowledge of good and evil” has to do with maturity (wrongly acquired in this case), when he says that “the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:22). The humans have seized a god-like position of deciding between good and evil instead of trusting God and waiting for him to mature them and raise them up in his way. And God—in his mercy—refuses to allow them to live forever in this state (Gen 3:22-23). He sends them away from the tree of life so that they can die, as he promised they would. But that gives him the opportunity to raise them from the dead and make their condition far more glorious than it even was to begin with.

The essence of sin, therefore, is the desire to get what you want. To make your own decisions. To throw off the yoke of righteousness God requires and fashion your own. I believe this is why Jonathan Edwards allegedly (I haven’t been able to trace the source) said that “The smallest sin is an act of cosmic treason against a holy God.” And this is why God’s wrathful judgment against human sin looks like God giving people the very death they want (“God gave them up” – Rom 2:24, 26, 28). Does someone most want a world without God in it? In the end, they will get their wish (2 Thess 1:9).

Help with Application

So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?

In nearly any text, you can ask “cosmic treason” questions with respect to the author’s main point:

What has God commanded in this text, and how to do you respond to his commands?
What is your posture toward the Lord Jesus as the supreme authority over heaven and earth?
With respect to this text’s main point, in what ways are you tempted to overthrow God’s authority and take control of your own life?
How does the world or the culture tempt you toward such cosmic treason? (In America, the terribly misguided counsel to “follow your heart” or “be true to yourself” or “you do you” ought to come to mind.)
Who gets to define what is right or wrong in this area?
By what standard will we distinguish between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, helpful and unhelpful?
In what ways have you tried to take God’s place in this area, and how can you grow in submitting to his righteous will?

Sometimes, robust reflection on our outright rebellion against God’s authority will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: postmodernism, relativism, materialism, greed, situational ethics, individualism, stewardship—to name just a few.

Deepen your grasp of the essence of sin, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.

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Tips to Read the Bible Better

April 10, 2024 By Peter Krol

Michael Bird offer 12 tips to help you read the Bible better. They’re quite good.

Read whole passages, not verses
Work through an entire book
Read several Bible books together
Read a passage in different translations
Study the Bible in a community
Practice public Bible reading
Take notes during the sermon and put effort into Bible studies
Get a good study Bible
Find helpful podcasts and video clips
Embrace the suite of digital tools
Explore some commentaries
Remember, the Bible is best alongside prayer and sacrament

His piece comes chock full of specific resource recommendations to help you put the principle into practice. Though I might have slightly different recommendations here and there, his counsel is well worth your time.

Check it out!

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Psalm 104: Praise the Lord Who Governs the Earth and Cares for His Creatures

April 8, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Some of the psalms stick in our memories because of their vivid imagery or their just right phrasing of a meditation or longing of our heart. The psalms which have been set to recognizable music are especially memorable.

But we don’t always study those psalms which move us deeply. Today we’ll take a close look at Psalm 104.

Yahweh is Great

After exhorting his soul to “bless the Lord,” the psalmist begins his prayer with one of its main themes: “O Lord my God, you are very great!” (Psalm 104:1) The rest of this stanza—and the rest of the psalm—provide his reasoning.

The Lord is “clothed with splendor and majesty,” shining like light. He is also majestic in the way he governs heaven: riding on the clouds and the winds, putting them to work for his purposes (Psalm 104:1–4).

God Governs the Waters

The Lord is worthy of blessing because “he set the earth on its foundations” (Psalm 104:5). Verses 5–9 of this psalm describe the way God commands the waters on the earth, either at creation or after the flood (or both?). Regardless, God is the one who rebukes, appoints, and sets a boundary for the waters, “that they might not again cover the earth” (Psalm 104:9).

God Waters the Earth and his Creatures

God not only controls the oceans and seas, he directs each spring and stream. In verses 10–13 we see that God wants his creatures and even the mountains to be well-watered and satisfied. “Every beast of the field” drinks from God’s springs; the birds find shelter in the trees and sing a song of contentment (Psalm 104:11–12). God is the one who “water[s] the mountains” and “the earth is satisfied” with his provision (Psalm 104:13).

God Provides so Man can Provide

God governs the water so the earth will produce good things. The livestock benefit from the grass growing and man uses the plants to “bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). God provides for necessities and more: wine, oil, and bread are given to “gladden” and “strengthen” his people (Psalm 104:15).

God Provides Shelter for Animals

God plants and waters the trees (Psalm 104:16). One of the reasons? So that the birds would have a place to build their nests (Psalm 104:17). But God cares for other animals too—the wild goats and the rock badgers find refuge in the mountains and among the rocks (Psalm 104:18).

God Governs the Seasons, the Sun, and the Moon

In this psalm, we get a tour of the earth and the heavens, all the different elements of creation that God’s hand controls. God made the moon and he makes darkness (Psalm 104:19–20). The darkness of night provides a time for “the beasts of the forest” to hunt for food (Psalm 104:20). In their roaring and in their retreat, the young lions are “seeking their food from God” (Psalm 104:21). The day and night are even markers for the labor of humanity (Psalm 104:23).

Earth is Full of Creatures Dependent on God

Verses 24–30 are the heart of the psalm. The psalmist takes another survey of all earth’s creatures and concludes that God is worthy of praise. God’s works are “manifold” and full of “wisdom.” “The earth is full of your creatures” (Psalm 104:24).

For the first time in the psalm, the writer turns to the sea, “great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great” (Psalm 104:25). God deserves praise for the ships in the sea as well as Leviathan (Psalm 104:26).

Verses 27–30 show just how dependent the creatures of earth are on their creator. They look to God for food, and they are filled with good things when he opens his hand (Psalm 104:27–28). But God can also hide his face or take away their breath, returning them to the dust (Psalm 104:29). In contrast, God renews the face of the ground as he sends forth his Spirit to create (Psalm 104:30).

Responding to the Great Creator and Ruler

The final five verses of this psalm represent the psalmist’s response to meditating on God’s creative, sovereign rule. He is to be praised!

The psalmist cries for God’s glory to endure forever (Psalm 104:31) even as we read what this glory involves: God can make the earth tremble and the mountains smoke by his glance and touch (Psalm 104:32). It is appropriate to sing long and loud to this God, to rejoice in the Lord (Psalm 104:33–34).

The final verse of the psalm contains a cry for the elimination of sinners and the wicked (Psalm 104:35). This may seem like a tangent, but the psalmist connects the Lord’s holiness to his ruling power and praiseworthiness. Such a powerful and pure God cannot dwell with sinners! They must surely be “consumed.”

As Christians, we confess that Christ is all and that the entire Bible points to him. Here is another such instance. How will sinners (and sin) be eliminated from the earth? Christ will come; the Spirit will come; the Father will transform sinners into glad and grateful children.

If you’re anything like me, the last line of this psalm is easy to say with the psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 104:35)

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What Folks Thought about Reading the Entire Bible Quickly

April 5, 2024 By Peter Krol

This year, 28 people completed our Bible reading challenge and entered the drawing for a top grain leather ESV Bible. Many thanks once again to Crossway for sponsoring this year’s grand prize giveaway. The good people at Crossway really want to help you read God’s word, and they have generously supported our efforts to promote rambunctious Bible reading.

Some Stats

50% of those who entered used a combination of reading and audio. 29% used a physical Bible alone. About 10% used audio alone, and about 10% used e-Bibles or Bible apps.

The most common reading plan was canonical (54%). 14% followed a chronological plan, and the rest used a wide variety of reading plans.

54% read the ESV. 14% read the NLT. The rest read the NIV, NKJV, HCSB, CSB, NASB, or LSB.

Over a third of the entries were from folks who have completed this challenge more than once. One said he enjoyed it so much that he is going to keep reading the entire Bible every 3 months for the rest of the year.

Some Liked It

Here’s what some others had to say, identified by the number of days it took:

88 days: It was amazing. So many things were made so much clearer by reading different parts of the bible so close together in time.
88 days: It was kinda nice having that time set aside for the word.
72 days: Love it! So easy to see the big picture.
69 days: This is now my 7th year and I enjoy the challenge! … I so enjoy as I read to make note of books and certain chapters I want to go back to later and do more “digging.” It is a wonderful way to “see” and “hear” the full counsel of God… I have ended every year with the book of Deuteronomy. I need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness and amazing love to His people, and to take to heart the words of Moses in Chapter 32:46-47 “Take to heart all these words I am giving you as a warning…they are not meaningless…they are your life..”
66 days: It was a very inspirational and enjoyable experience as I read large chunks of scripture. I was able to make some connections between different books. As some of the readings would be still fresh in my mind.
70 days: It is a great thing to read the entire Bible because it really puts it into perspective. There are parts I didn’t know about untill I read them. It also familirizes myself with some of the most unkown books of the Bible. Reading it fast is way different than meditating but I was still able to absorb some of the information.
60 days: I really enjoy this experience and find it helpful. I am better able to see the big picture and link passages together. This challenge has also helped with my Bible reading in general. In the past, I struggled to read through the Bible completely in a year. Now it isn’t difficult to read it more than once a year. Last year I read it twice. Now that I’ve finished this challenge, I’m ready to start over at a slower pace. I also really appreciate reader’s versions for this challenge, they are very helpful.
76 days: I enjoyed reading large chunks of text at a time. The narratives were more cohesive. I noticed repeated words and themes. There was less time to procrastinate or get behind schedule. Psalms and Proverbs were difficult to read in large chunks. Hebrews and Revelation were fascinating to as a whole text. Reading large chunks generated questions that I will now chase down and also created ‘ah-ha’ connections between prophets, history and then carried into the NT writings.
76 days: I am so glad I did this again the year. It is a great way to wrap up 2023 and plunge into 2024. Seeing the connections and single thread of God’s hand throughout the entire Word is very encouraging. As I read, I created a list of questions and topics to launch my deeper study for 2024.
63 days: Every year I do this (eight years running), the consistency and coordination of the Word is reinforced and illuminated for me. This is a VERY doable challenge for almost anyone and I encourage my friends and family to take up the challenge.
84 days: Challenging, required a good bit of discipline initially. It now makes reading through the bible in one year almost like a “walk in the park”. Using the Crossway ESV Chronological Bible gave a better understanding, and detail, of passages that get repeated eg in Kings and Chronicles, and also the 4 gospels with repeated events. Seeing God’s redemptive plan throughout the bible from Genesis to Revelation was a real blessing.

Some Didn’t Like It

I don’t mind mentioning that this sort of reading is not for everyone. Nor is it the best way to read at all times. I have high respect for those who persisted to complete the challenge even when it wasn’t their favorite thing:

89 days: Honestly, I felt that I was speed-reading, and I did not have time to meditate on what I was reading.
90 days: It felt rushed to read completely on 90 days.
90 days: I’m glad I did it but it’s not my favorite way to read through Scripture. I don’t feel like I was really spending quality time in the word, but just reading to read.
83 days: It was hard, but very satisfying! However, I’m ready to read slowly through one book 🙂
90 days: It was like drinking out of a fire hydrant. This was my first time ever reading the whole Bible straight through. I liked it. My parents did it too, so I got to do it with them. I’d like to do it a little bit slower next time.

Looking Ahead to Next Year’s Challenge

Thanks to all who participated. If you thought about it, or got started but didn’t finish, we hope to be back at it again next year. Expect to hear from us in November to launch the 10th annual reading challenge.

I’d love to hear your ideas for how to make next year’s challenge more grand. So far, a number of folks have requested continued prizes of reader’s Bibles or Scripture journals. But the most commonly requested prize so far is a Logos package.

Many have also suggested generating a broader social media presence to advertise the Bible reading challenge. We would be delighted to do so, but could really use some help with that. If that is something you might like to help with, please contact me.

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Congratulations to Winners of the Drawing!

April 3, 2024 By Peter Krol

Many thanks, and great job to all who participated in this year’s 90-day Bible reading challenge. We had 28 entries into this year’s drawing. Congratulations to Anthony H. for winning the grand prize, and to Kristy B. for winning second prize.

Next year will be the 10th annual Bible reading challenge. What ideas do you have for ways we can make the 10th anniversary a grand event?

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Creation and Application

March 29, 2024 By Peter Krol

A firm grasp on the doctrine of creation will take your application skills to the next level.

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Doctrine of Creation

Humans were created to be different from every other creature. Humans alone were created in the image of God.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27

The fact that humans were created by God means that those humans are not themselves God. There remains a distinction between creatures and their Creator.

And yet there’s something special about humans. They are not merely a part of the “circle of life,” distant cousins to other species on planet earth. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

What does that mean to be made in God’s image? In the most basic sense of defining terms, it means simply that humanity is like God. Humanity reflects or represents God. But in what way does humanity reflect God? In what way are human men and women like God?

Does it mean that the human body looks like what God would look like if we could see him? Does it mean that humans have a unique capacity for morality, intelligence, or relationship? Does the phrase “image of God” simply identify the unique value of every human person?

Such questions are worth considering in light of the rest of Scripture. But in the argument of Genesis 1, the way humans are like God has particular reference to God’s delegation of authority to rule the earth. After stating his intention to make man in his image, God gives them dominion over all the earth. And the narrator concludes: “So God created man in his own image.”

And how is humanity to rule the earth? If men and women are reflections of God, what should they learn from who God is and what he does?

In Genesis 1, we should learn that we—in contrast to every other creature—were made to be creative like God is creative. We were designed to bring order to chaos. To fill the empty spaces of our planet, and to spread the true knowledge of God in all the earth.

God made us for these things. He gave us authority to do these things. And he has equipped every one of us to follow through on these things.

Help with Application

So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?

In nearly any text, you can ask “creation” questions with respect to the author’s main point:

How does this text help us to recognize and delight in our creatureliness?
What is the distinction between the Creator and the created?
How can we exalt Jesus as the very Creator God?
What is the difference between humanity and the rest of the creation?
How has God given authority to us in this area? How can we exercise loving dominion under his guidance?
Where are the “empty spaces” in our world or our lives, where this text is not yet obeyed? How can we fill those spaces with the obedience of faith?
How can we bring order to the chaos that resists obedience to God in this area?
How can we proclaim God’s truth, so others can replicate it, until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God?

I am intentionally sidestepping matters of direct sin, repentance, and redemption when I ask these questions. That’s not because such matters are unimportant, but only because I haven’t gotten to them yet.

All I’m doing here is applying the doctrine of creation. Drawing application from the way God originally intended (created) things to be. There is much work to be done in our application, before we even get to our sin and need for Christ.

Sometimes, robust reflection on God’s creation of humanity will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: human rights, the environment, secular humanism, same-sex attraction, gender identity, global justice, racism, stewardship, work and rest—to name just a few.

Deepen your grasp of the doctrine of creation, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.

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What We Miss When We Skip the Book of Leviticus

March 25, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

The book of Leviticus is not popular. It is rarely quoted, rarely studied, and rarely read. It might be the most frequent place for well-intentioned Bible readers to give up their annual reading plans.

This is understandable, especially when one reads the books of the Bible in canonical order. Genesis is the book of beginnings; it is full of covenants, scoundrels, and promises. Exodus offers a narrative unlike any other—grand and sweeping in scale, with cinematic opportunities galore.

The narrative momentum slows at the end of Exodus during the construction of the tabernacle and then grinds to a halt in Leviticus. If Genesis is about how God calls his people and Exodus shows how God delivers his people, Bible readers can be forgiven for scratching their heads when opening Leviticus. Is this just how God…instructs his people?

If you’ve skipped Leviticus because you think it’s too slow, too boring, too repetitive, or just plain obsolete, you’re in good company. But, Leviticus is in the Bible for our good, and when we skip this book we miss a lot that God intends for us.

Asking the Wrong Question

When evaluating the importance of a book of the Bible, we often turn to characters, events, or doctrines. Leviticus doesn’t shine in any of these areas.

Rather, the book of Leviticus exists to answer a crucial question: How can a holy God dwell with sinful people?

At the end of Exodus, the Israelites construct the tabernacle (Exodus 35–39). This is the location on earth where God will dwell and where the people will worship him. God’s people have not dwelled with God in this way since the first days of Adam and Eve. And since the moral landscape is quite different than the beginning of Genesis, we naturally ask: How can God remain holy and live with people like this?

Leviticus aims to answer this question.

Forgiveness of Sin

Part of resolving the tension between God’s holiness and the people’s sinfulness lies in the forgiveness of sin. God had given commands to his people before Mount Sinai, but the path toward forgiveness was not always clear. In Genesis and Exodus it seems that God overlooks offenses more than he forgives them.

But in Leviticus, God makes the requirements for forgiveness clear. God tells Moses what type of sacrifice to bring along with where and when; he gives explicit (and sometimes graphic) instructions to the priests regarding these sacrifices.

The phrase that rings throughout chapters 4–6 of Leviticus should be delightful to us: “And the priest shall make atonement for him…and he shall be forgiven.” (See Lev 4:26; 4:31; 4:35; 5:10; 5:13; 5:16; 5:18; 6:7.)

Let’s not skip over this. God made a way for his people to be forgiven! This is one reason Paul Tripp says there are “few more hopeful books in all of Scripture than Leviticus.”

How to Live as God’s People

Some commentators split Leviticus in two, with the first 16 chapters focusing on ritual commands (offerings and priests) and chapters 17–27 concerned with ethical commands (laws, blessings for obedience, and punishment for disobedience).

Not every word of Leviticus fits neatly under those umbrellas, but God gives many regulations in the second part of the book. If the offerings and instructions to priests are about how God can live with his people, then the ethical commands are about how God’s people should live with him.

Further, God makes it clear that these aspects of life are related. Jeffrey Kranz points to this verse as a summary of the book.

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. (Leviticus 20:26)

God demands holiness from the people because he is holy and he has called them to himself. His holiness is the basis for his regulations; the phrase “I am the Lord” is given almost as a punctuation to many of the laws in Leviticus 18–26.

Understanding Holiness

Leviticus is not the only place in the Bible that explains holiness, but it is one of the best.

Of all the books in the Bible, Leviticus uses the word “holy” the most—a total of 80 times in the ESV translation. Additionally, Leviticus is the leader among books of the Bible for the words “atone” (47 times), “guilt” (35 times), and “blood” (65 times). It uses “forgive” the most in the Old Testament (10 times) and its use of “sin” (93 times) is second only to the Psalms (111 times).

The point is that these words we read in the New Testament and sing on Sunday mornings are illustrated and explained primarily in Leviticus.

Understanding the Work of Jesus

The New Testament gives us plenty of reasons not yet mentioned to read Leviticus carefully. One of the two great commandments, according to Jesus—”you shall love your neighbor as yourself”—is first seen in Leviticus 19:18. And the apostle Peter quotes Leviticus when exhorts his readers to be holy in all of their conduct “since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Pet 1:16).

With Holy Week upon us, perhaps there is no more timely reason to read Leviticus than this. When the New Testament portrays Jesus as both priest (see Hebrews 7) and sacrifice (see Hebrews 9:11–14), when we read that our sin is forgiven because of the work of Jesus (1 John 1:7–10), we learn much of what was required and what was accomplished in this often-neglected book.

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Take Your Application Skills to the Next Level

March 22, 2024 By Peter Krol

One way to think about Bible application is to approach it as an individual seeking to make individual change. There is nothing wrong with that approach, as it can yield much fruitful application in your life.

Yet when you understand what God says about humanity broadly, you can take your application to the next level. Have you met someone whose insight could penetrate to the bottom of a sticky situation? Have you had a mentor who had a knack for identifying just what you needed to hear in a timely moment?

Chances are, such wise folks weren’t gifted with supernatural revelation about your particular situation. They likely had a firm grasp on what God’s word says about humanity as a whole. Then they could draw on that framework to make relevant application to particular situations. In other words, they had much biblical and practical wisdom.

You can develop that wisdom, too.

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General Application to the Human Heart

Sometimes, your Bible application grows stale because you’ve run out of specific ideas of what to do in your own life. One solution to such staleness is to strap on a wide-angle lens and consider how your passage applies generally to the human heart.

We can make generalizations about the human heart because God has told us how the human heart works, as well as what the human heart needs. The purpose of such generalizations is not to presume upon any situation nor to put ourselves or others in a box. The purpose is to give us a framework from which to draw when we need to figure out what to do in a given situation.

And if you lead others in Bible study, drawing application from anthropological generalizations doesn’t mean you should make judgments about people’s struggles without understanding them as individuals. It just means that God has given you categories of things to look for and be aware of, both as you seek to disciple your own heart and as you lead others in Bible study.

Sometimes the most insightful teachers and wisest counselors—whose words penetrate most personally—are not those who have a deep relationship with you or even know you particularly well. No, often they simply understand the human condition and can therefore predict how the main point of a text might hit close to home in their generation.

According to Psalm 119:49-56, you can trust God’s words in a way you can’t trust anyone else’s words. This means that knowing what God says about people is more valuable than knowing what people (even experts) say about people.

This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
The insolent utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from your law.
When I think of your rules from of old,
I take comfort, O Lord.
Psalm 119:50-52

And according to Psalm 119:97-104, the student who loves the law surpasses his teachers. This means that God’s word will equip you with more profound application skills than any teacher can offer.

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
Psalm 119:98-100

Application to our Application

So what can we bank on, as we consider how a text applies to the human heart generally? What does God’s word say about what it’s like to be human? Let me give you eight points to guide your Bible study.

These eight ideas don’t capture an exhaustive doctrine of humanity. Nor are all eight present in every text. But they give you a framework of what to look for when the time comes to consider application.

These general principles can be fleshed out in great detail for the rest of our lives and the rest of history. We’ll always find new points of connection to the particular lives of particular men and women on Planet Earth.

But these are the sorts of things we ought to keep in mind so we can look out for them in our application. In the coming months, I’ll give each of these eight points its own post (linked above) to unpack it further and demonstrate how it assists with Bible application.

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