Application | Knowable Word

The Difference Between Meaning and Application

September 23, 2020 By Peter Krol

Here is a helpful devotional showcasing the difference between meaning and application. The author looks at Elisha’s “death in the pot” story in 2 Kings 4:38-41 to show how to both interpret (arriving at the author’s main point) and apply (connecting that truth to our own lives).

How many meanings does a passage of Scripture have? Sometimes we read a text and our minds race all over the Scripture with seemingly related texts and many possible meanings. Two of the challenges we can sometimes bring to our reading, interpretation, and subsequent understanding of Scripture are: 1) forgetting what Scripture principally teaches; and 2) confusing a text’s meaning with its application.

Check it out!

Bible Study is Painful

September 14, 2020 By Ryan Higginbottom

When we say that an activity is “uncomfortable,” sometimes we’re just being nice. We often sugar coat reality when we throw out the terms “messy,” “unpleasant,” “awkward,” or “disagreeable.”

Some jobs, projects, and habits are painful. They might be good for us, even necessary for our lives, but they hurt. And it is healthy for us to confront that truth.

The Hard Work of Application

Studying the Bible is painful work. Here I’m not referring to the discipline needed to study the Scriptures. I’m not even talking about the intellectual labor and focus that such study demands. No, the hardest work of Bible study comes in application.

All of the steps of Bible study are important, and none are a cinch. Application may be the hardest step, however, since it is the most personal. In application, we are forced to change. And rare is the person who likes to cha n ge.

If the idea of application is new or confusing, check out our page of Bible study instruction. Application is the third step of the OIA (Observation, Interpretation, Application) process we promote on this blog, and we’ve written a lot about application.

Genuine Pain

The biblical word for the change that application demands is repentance. When God confronts us, he intends for us to turn around—away from sin and toward him.

This is why applying the Bible is painful. We’re usually quite comfortable traveling the road we’re on. We don’t want to turn around. We’ve gotten used to the scenery, the weather, and the traffic. Cruise control is easy.

Through his word, God often brings us to a full stop. He puts his holy finger on the idols of our hearts—anything to which we are too devoted. Idols are often good gifts we have twisted or to which we have given inflated affection and attention. Idols like comfort, family, and power abound in the western church. Biblical application may feel like losing a piece of ourselves. But if God is removing something cancerous from our hearts, we should expect pain along the way.

In our application we may also be compelled to love our neighbors in difficult ways. Like us, our neighbors may be unloving and unlovely at times, so extending ourselves and taking risks may be painful. Like the beginning of any exercise routine, we will resist because of the pain involved, even though we see the good on the other side.

A Pleasant Pain

Pain often accompanies our repentance, because God is challenging and changing what we love. This leads many to resist repentance and reject studying the Bible altogether.

But if we spurn repentance, we turn away from something good. For repentance is coming out of the darkness into the light! It is hearing and receiving the correction of a father who loves us! Repentance is growing and living and walking more in obedience to God, becoming more and more like the people we were created to be! For these reasons, though there is pain in repentance, there is also profound joy.

And here’s the best part. God is with us through the whole process: conviction, despair, confusion, and our halting, crooked steps of repentance. He is more committed to our growth in godliness than we are, because he always has our best in mind.

The pain of Bible study is not like the pain of touching a hot stove, a caution to stay away. Rather, the pain of Bible study is like the sore muscles of a preseason athlete. We ache because we’re not yet in shape for competition, but we have a good coach who is getting us ready for the opening bell.

Enroll in Your Own Bible Class this Fall

August 31, 2020 By Ryan Higginbottom

The journey back to school this year has been a difficult one in the U.S.. Parents have made difficult choices about how and where their children will learn, and school teachers and administrators have faced some of the thorniest challenges of their careers. A global pandemic will do that, I guess.

I am a teacher myself, and the COVID chaos has tamped down my usual affection for the back-to-school season. Normally I love to gather supplies, feel a temporary sense of organization and schedule, and look ahead with excitement about what the fall has to offer. This year, however, I felt tired before classes began.

Despite my fatigue, I can’t shake the sense of early-fall possibility. Like the new year, this part of the calendar offers a new start.

A New Start for Bible Study

Christians often start read-through-the-Bible plans in early January. We pour over schedules for books and chapters; some plans even build “make-up days” into each month.

We give a lot less attention to planning out our Bible study. This may be because our Bible study rhythms are tied to our church or small group. It may be because we have laid this important discipline to the side.

Today, I’m offering you a chance to plan out your Bible study. If you aren’t regularly studying the Bible, there’s no better time to start.

So join the children this fall. Head back to class. I invite you to design your own plan for studying the Bible this year.

In case you need a model, I’ve provided one below. There’s nothing special about my plan other than it’s already made. Feel free to modify mine or start from scratch.

How to Study the Bible

If studying the Bible sounds overwhelming or like a task reserved for professional clergy, I understand. Some people write and talk about Bible study so that it seems academic, dry, and intimidating. It doesn’t have to be this way!

This web site (Knowable Word) exists to help ordinary people learn how to study the Bible. If you need a quick way to prepare for your class, you’ve come to the right place!

I’d suggest you start with our summary page and then dig into more details. There are three ingredients to the age-old method we promote: observe, interpret, and apply.

When we study the Bible, we must first observe what is written. We must take note of the details and how they fit together. Then we interpret the text. We try to understand the meaning of the passage, and we search for the author’s main point. Finally, we apply the truth of the Bible. If we remain unchanged, our Bible study is incomplete.

An Example Class

Since the academic year usually lasts for about eight months, I’ve designed the class below to last from early September though the end of April, with some time off around the holidays. This long view will allow me to suggest a long book—Isaiah—for our study. (If you are designing your own class, you could choose a different long book or opt for several shorter books.)

The plan below begins with three weeks to do nothing but read through Isaiah as many times as possible. The Isaiah portion of many audio Bibles is just less than four hours. This means that an average reader should be able to read all of Isaiah three times during those three weeks in just 35 minutes per day. Rereading a book is the best way to understand its structure.

In your whole-book survey, put together a book overview. Try to outline the book as you go. These initial readings should not be passive!

At the end of the plan, I’ve scheduled some time for putting your thoughts together. In a high school or college class, your instructor might assign you a paper at the end of the term. This isn’t just busywork; writing or presenting your findings is a great way to help you process and organize all that you’ve learned. If you have a blog yourself, consider writing about your “class.” (Send us a link here at Knowable Word so we can read it!) You might even consider writing a guest post on this blog.

The Plan

Here’s the week-by-week schedule. Adopt and adapt and modify to fit your needs.

Aug 30–Sept 5: read Isaiah
Sept 6–12: read Isaiah
Sept 13–19: read Isaiah
Sept 20–26: Isaiah 1–2
Sept 27–Oct 3: Isaiah 3–5
Oct 4–10: Isaiah 6–8
Oct 11–17: Isaiah 9–10
Oct 18–24: Isaiah 11–13
Oct 25–31: Isaiah 14–16
Nov 1–7: Isaiah 17–19
Nov 8–14: Isaiah 20–22
Nov 15–21: Isaiah 23–24

Nov 22–28: Isaiah 25–26
Nov 29–Dec 5: Isaiah 27–28
Dec 6–12: Isaiah 29–30
Dec 13–19: Isaiah 31–33
Dec 20–26: break
Dec 27–Jan 2: break
Jan 3–9: Isaiah 34–35
Jan 10–16: Isaiah 36–37
Jan 17–23: Isaiah 38–39
Jan 24–30: Isaiah 40–41
Jan 31–Feb 6: Isaiah 42–43
Feb 7–13: Isaiah 44–45

Feb 14–20: Isaiah 46–47
Feb 21–27: Isaiah 48–49
Feb 28–Mar 6: Isaiah 50–52
Mar 7–13: Isaiah 53–55
Mar 14–20: Isaiah 56–57
Mar 21–27: Isaiah 58–59
Mar 28–Apr 3: Isaiah 60–62
Apr 4–10: Isaiah 63–64
Apr 11–17: 65–66
Apr 18–24: wrap up
Apr 25–May 1: wrap up

How Far You’ll Go

In a chaotic year, God is constant and sovereign. He has revealed himself in his word. Let’s take advantage of this time to draw closer to him.

If you give yourself to careful, regular Bible study over the next 35 weeks, imagine how much you’ll grow in your understanding! Imagine how much you’ll change!

Give Them a Deeper Bible Study

August 19, 2020 By Peter Krol

I love Mike Leake’s reflection on what people really want when they ask for a deeper Bible study. Perhaps you’ve experienced the dynamic, where a folks express a holy dissatisfaction with superficial Bible study. They ask for more. You labor to deliver it to them. And then…

One of two things seems to happen. What often happens is that nobody shows up for our super deep Bible study. Or they show up and they get bored and they drop out. And so we conclude that they didn’t actually want deeper Bible study. Or, secondly, people do show up, they devour the Bible study, they really learn their Bibles, they get deeply educated but something is still missing. Sometimes it seems as if knowledge isn’t translating into lifestyle. But more often than not, what is happening is that these folks who are devouring the word studies are still asking for something deeper.
This is because when people say they want deeper Bible study they do not mean they want to go deeper into the Word but what they are really desiring (and what I believe the Spirit of God is prompting) is for the Word to go deeper into them. This is what they mean when they say that but we’ve often heard this request the wrong way.

Leake then shows how Hebrews 4:12 expects exactly this sort of “deeper” Bible study. His post is well worth a few minutes of your time.

Check it out!

We Need Humility to Study the Bible

May 11, 2020 By Ryan Higginbottom

A man lacking humility will want nothing to do with the Bible.

Perhaps that’s obvious, but it’s worth repeating. Our pride lurks in the shadows, ready to spew lies about our independence, our capability, and the fact that we’re not really so bad after all.

In fact, we are finite and fallible, with hearts full of corruption and self absorption. How could we possibly know about a holy God? How could we begin to approach him?

The very existence of the Bible should fill us with gratitude. How wonderful that God has made himself known! It should also kindle humility within us—we need him to reach to us because we could never reach him ourselves.

Humility must be the beginning—indeed, the ongoing foundation—of Bible study. But it is also necessary in each stage along the way.

Humility in Observation

Familiarity is a great enemy of observation—when we think we already know a passage, our hearts cool and our eyes glaze. We think that we have noticed everything before, that we have already wrung out the sponge. And since observation gathers the wood for the fire of interpretation and application, this strain of pride can blunt the force of God’s powerful word.

Familiarity is an avenue for pride, but it may also be a fact. Some Bible passages come up frequently! So how do we cultivate humility in observation?

We may need to prevent ourselves from getting comfortable. We can turn to different translations of the Bible. We might also consider different Bible formats (audio, print, digital, reader’s versions) to see a passage with fresh eyes.

Humility in Interpretation

All Christians come from certain traditions and perspectives, even if we don’t recognize it. (As they say, a fish might not describe itself as “wet.”) As a result, we might find ourselves in a rut, drawing on a narrow interpretive framework to answer important questions.

This is precisely the problem that fueled the explosive conflict between the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei and the Catholic church in the early 1600s. Based on his astronomical observations, Galileo promoted a heliocentric (sun at the center) model of the solar system. The church opposed this view based on Biblical texts that seemed consistent with a geocentric (Earth at the center) model. The church could not fathom that Galileo’s scientific perspective could be reconciled with the Bible, so he was accused of heresy and lived the end of his life under house arrest.

One of the best ways to cultivate interpretive humility is to reject our cozy Biblical echo chambers. It is easy to think we’re always right when no one ever disagrees! There is great value in joining a Bible study group with Christians of different ages, ethnicities, traditions, and genders. We can also seek out diversity in the books we read and the sermons we download.

Humility in Application

Humility is the basis of all application. If we see no need to change, we won’t.

Those who would be humble appliers of the Bible must be courageous, because this humility requires a terrifying prayer: God, please show me my sin. Bring people and situations into my life that show me my need to change.

Bigger Than You

Humility does not demand that we belittle ourselves or our contributions. We are not called to deny the gifts or talents that God has given.

We are called, however, to seek the Lord first and love him most. Humility follows naturally when we focus less on ourselves and more on God and his plan for the world and our neighbors.

And with this preparation, we will be more faithful students of God’s word.

The Usefulness of Luke’s Gospel

October 11, 2019 By Peter Krol

I’ve now written a number of posts presenting an overview of Luke’s gospel. I’ve addressed numerous background issues, but not simply for historical knowledge. My purpose has been to lay the groundwork for a fruitful study of Luke’s gospel. And for such study to bear fruit, we must be able to grasp the main point of the entire book. All the discussion on genre, audience, occasion, and structure has been working to this end: proposing a main point for the book.

And I have one last issue to cover before I can finally propose that main point. How did Luke expect his book to be used?

Two Audiences, Two Uses

As I’ve covered so far, Luke has at least two audiences in mind. His primary, explicit audience is the Roman official named Theophilus, serving some role or other in the Apostle Paul’s trial before Caesar (Luke 1:1-4). And the secondary, implicit audience is the Jews—both ethnic Jews who need to repent before it’s too late, and spiritual Jews, who become such by trusting in Christ.

So it’s not difficult to imagine two main ways Luke might expect people to make use of his book.

He wants Theophilus to read, understand, and consider the evidence in support of Paul’s innocence. Luke wants him to corroborate the testimony, check out the source documents, and confirm the facts. In short, Luke writes his book in order to defend Paul.

And he also wants those who would be children of Abraham to read, understand, and consider the evidence in support of Christianity’s legitimacy. Luke wants both Jews and Gentiles to corroborate the testimony, check out the source documents, and confirm the facts. In short, Luke writes his book in order to defend Christianity.

For more information, you may be interested in checking out Daniel Wallace’s overview article on Luke which argues further for this dual purpose of Luke’s gospel.

Two-fold Usefulness

With Paul on trial, Christianity is on trial. And Luke (and the Holy Spirit who inspired him) feels no embarrassment going on record in the Roman court system to stake his claim that this movement is the real deal. Christianity’s God is real. Christianity’s beginnings are real. Christianity’s truth claims are real. And Christianity’s ringleaders are trustworthy.

Luke expects his work to be cross-examined and thoroughly vetted. So go right ahead. Consider these claims. Look for holes in the testimony. Review the cited documentation. Give it your best shot; Luke is not afraid of political, historical, or scientific verification. He’s presented his material in an orderly fashion to make it easier to cross-examine and verify.

And in the end, the evidence will, in fact, show two things:

Paul is innocent.
Salvation is here.

The first conclusion is of historical interest to Luke. He wants his friend to go free.

The second conclusion is of apologetic interest to Luke. He wants the world to be saved from sin and attain to the hope of resurrection.

With this in mind, we’re ready to finally craft a main point for the book. I plan to do so next week, when I’ll also show how the main point ought to guide your study of each passage on your way through the book.

Why the Church Needs Malachi

October 2, 2019 By Peter Krol

Mark Fugitt has a very helpful post on the book of Malachi. He encourages us to see more in this book than a memory verse to inspire capital campaigns (Mal 3:10).

Like all self-serving humans, Christians are apt to use particular Scriptures to further their own causes, and Malachi has become sadly typecast as a result. However, the book is so much more than this one liner. God wasn’t needing money and calling His prophet Malachi to start a capital campaign when He revealed what became the final book before the long, dark night of the souls waiting on redemption.
Malachi is a book about corruption and justice. It begins with the people’s hopeless state of sin and the consequences of it. By the time we get to the famous verse about bringing all the tithes into the storehouse of God, we realize that giving was only one of the things they had forgotten. Godly institutions like marriage and sacrifice had become shams of their former redemption.

Fugitt briefly explains the book’s context, flow of thought, and main point in a way that promotes vibrant application to our generation. I commend this article to you.

Check it out!

Help With Hosea

May 29, 2019 By Peter Krol

Unlocking the Bible has a great introduction to the prophecy of Hosea. If you’ve ever been confused by this book, here is a great place to start.

The article walks through Hosea as a living parable and unpacks what we can learn from the book. In particular, the authors land in three areas:

What does unfaithfulness look like
How does God love us despite our unfaithfulness?
What does God desire from us in return?

May this brief intro to Hosea equip you to read this book well, and to desire your Lord more than ever.

Check it out!

Analyzing the Rich Man and Lazarus

April 24, 2019 By Peter Krol

Peter Gurry has an interesting post at the Gospel Coalition entitled “Is the Rich Man and Lazarus a Parable?” While the post does address that question, it also does much more.

Gurry tackles the account in Luke 16:19-31, demonstrating a number of excellent OIA skills. He observes how the characters are named and portrayed. He considers the surrounding context. He asks great interpretive questions and answers them from the text. He draws vibrant application from the passage.

I encourage you to read the article to see another example of good Bible study skills (even though he doesn’t use the terminology of OIA).

Check it out!

Take the Obvious Step

March 18, 2019 By Ryan Higginbottom

Mahkeo (2017), public domain

If you need refreshment or encouragement, schedule some time with a new Christian. The recently-reborn often have a clarity and passion lacking in those who are older in the faith.

A friend was recently telling me about a new Christian he knows. I was thrilled to hear the steps this young man was taking! He heard biblical teaching on stewardship and finances, and he asked for helping making a budget. He was convicted about church membership, so he looked for a local body to join. He read the Great Commission and began inviting his unbelieving friends to an evangelistic Bible study.

For this young man, there is great power in recognizing and submitting to Jesus as Lord. When the master’s commands are clear, there is no room to argue.

How We Mangle Application

As we study the Bible, we often come up short when it comes to application. This is both understandable and regrettable.

Our flesh is fiercely resistant to the Spirit, so it is natural to omit application. It’s the hardest step in the Bible study process precisely because it is the most personal. Application requires repentance and faith and change, all of which are hard.

But stopping short of application is also a great tragedy. In fact, many unbelievers would be comfortable observing and interpreting the Bible. We show and pursue the fruit of the Holy Spirit when we apply God’s truth personally and corporately.

Even those familiar with solid Bible study principles may wriggle out of applying God’s word. Seasoned Christians, tired of “read more, pray more” mantras, may dig and brainstorm instead. They end up distracted by a countryside hunt when the treasure was sitting on their doorstep.

Different Kinds of Application

In an effort to seem original or deep, our chase for applications can dodge the undeniable thrust of a passage of Scripture. We approach the gold mine with a shovel and end up buried under a pile of nuance.

It’s worth re-orienting ourselves. Peter has urged us to consider two directions (inward and outward) as well as three spheres of application (head, hands, and heart). Though this makes six total combinations (our worksheet can help), not every passage will land on every person or group in all six ways.

However, dividing possible applications into these categories may lead you away from actually applying the main point of a passage. Resist this temptation! Sometimes the next steps are obvious, and instead of spending time checking boxes, we should direct our prayer and planning toward the clear application.

There may be something obvious we should believe (head application).

There may be something obvious we should embrace or love (heart application).

There may be something obvious we should do (hands application).

A Recent Example

My small group is studying Luke, and at a recent meeting we read Luke 14:1–24. In part of this passage (verses 7–11), Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast. Jesus insists that his followers should not assume a place of honor but rather the “lowest place.” This way, if anyone is in the wrong chair, the public re-seating would be honoring instead of shameful. Jesus ends the parable with his main point: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

In our meeting, we talked about humbling ourselves. How can we remember our standing before God on a regular basis?

In the moment, I thought of an obvious application: confessing my sins. In remembering my sins and taking them to God, seeking and receiving his forgiveness because of Jesus’ work, I have a plain application of this passage. I have been trying to work this into my regular devotional life.

Find the Next Step

Not all passages have obvious applications, but some do. If you have been following Christ for many years, you may instinctively resist what seems easy and obvious. However, these applications are abundant in Scripture for a reason: We need to hear them. Often.

And, as always, remember Jesus as you apply his word. Walk toward that application in the Spirit’s power and with the understanding that—as a Christian—you are already loved and forgiven.

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