www.soldierschurch.com
Soldier's, Sailors's and
Airmen's International Online Church: Christian Worship Services, Multi-Language Bibles &
Prayer Requests™
Answers About The
Bible.
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE
Part 2
INTRODUCTION: "More
about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show, more of
His saving fullness see, more of His love who died for me." How many
times have we sung this song. But are we really wanting to know more
about Jesus.
We have begun a series
of lessons on "How to study the Bible" in an effort to learn more
about the wonderful message of Jesus and what he has done for us.
This is part two in a series.
BODY
I. DON'T FORGET THE TWO
MAIN DIVISIONS IN THE BIBLE.
A. The Old Testament
was written for a specific purpose: to prepare the way for the
coming of Christ and His new covenant.
1. Galatians 3:24 -
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith."
2. Romans 3:20 -
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of
sin."
3. The Law of Moses
prepared a sinful world for the coming of the Messiah. It showed
to man the awfulness of sin, the impossibility of justification
by our own deeds, and the need for a
redeemer.
B. The New Testament
has taken the place of the Old.
1. Colossians 2:14
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it
to his cross;"
2. Hebrews 9:15-17
"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament,
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might
receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a
testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the
testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead:
otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator
liveth."
C. Knowing this
division is important.
1. Without it one
would not know not to offer burnt sacrifices.
2. One would still
be bound to the practices of circumcision, keeping of feast
days, and the abstaining from different kinds of
meats.
3. One would not
have a direct relationship with the heavenly Father but would
still need to go through a separate priesthood.
4. An understanding
of the proper divisions between Old and New Testaments will
allow us to understand whether we are bound by certain
commandments or not.
II. REMEMBER THE FIVE
W's OF BIBLE STUDY.
A. Who wrote, or spoke
this?
1. Who is doing the
speaking?
2. Is it God, or
some inspired man speaking the word of God.
3. Is it some
uninspired person, like the Devil doing the speaking.
a. See Genesis
2:17 and Genesis 3:4
4. This is
especially helpful when reading some of the book of Job. Many of
the statements spoken in the book were spoken by uninspired men,
like Job's "friends". Their statements must not be taken as
God's will.
a. Such statements
are inspired in that they have been accurately preserved, but
they are not necessarily God's will.
B. When was it
written?
1. This is important
when we read of certain commands.
2. Jesus commanded
his followers to follow Moses and the pharisees in Matthew 23:1
while after his death he said that he had all authority (Matthew
28:18-20).
C. Where are the words
found?
1. What is the
context?
2. Matthew 4:6 - "He
shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot
against a stone."
a. This is a
direct quote from Psalm 91:11. But when one looks at the
context it is a quote from the Devil who twists the Scriptures
to suit his own evil purposes.
D. Why was it
written?
1. Miracles were
commanded but the reasons were also revealed, thus implying the
duration.
a. Mark 16:14-20
and Hebrews 2:3-4.
2. Footwashing was
commanded, but as a good work and not as an act of public
worship.
a. John 13:14 and
1 Timothy 5:9-10.
E. To Whom was it
written or spoken?
1. Acts 2:38 was
spoken to alien sinners while Acts 8:22 was spoken to unfaithful
Christians.
2.. Noah was
commanded to build an ark, but we are not.
III. WE NEED TO
UNDERSTAND HOW WE FIND BIBLE AUTHORITY FOR WHAT WE DO.
A. Is there a Direct
Command for what we desire to do?
1. Mark 16:16 is
very clear about the necessity of belief and baptism for
salvation.
2. Luke 13:3,5 is
just as clear about the necessity of
repentance.
B. Is there an example
of Inspired men doing something that would be binding on
us?
1. How do we know if
an example of an inspired man is binding on us today? For
example, are we still bound by the example of Paul preaching
until midnight? Are we required to meet in an upper room because
the Lord and his apostles did so?
2. Some commonsense
ways to know when an example is binding.
a. If the example
of doing something is necessary to carry out a command. For
example, the apostles meeting on the Lord's day (Acts 20:6-7)
is binding on us because it is necessary to carry Jesus'
admonition to "do this in remembrance of me." However, meeting
in an upper chamber, or a specific container for the emblems
is not necessary to the carrying out of the Lord's
command.
b. If the example
was for a specific purpose for the circumstances surrounding
it and not to carry out an underlying command it is not
binding on us. Paul circumcised Timothy so that he, a half Jew
would be accepted in Paul's work with the Jews (Acts 16:1-3),
but Paul refused to circumcise Titus, a full gentile, because
it would have set an binding example on the gentiles
(Galatians 2:3-4). Using the circumcision of Timothy as a
binding example on Christians would not be sound reasoning
because Paul meant it as a expedience to allow him to use
Timothy, not as an example for all Christians to follow. Titus
demonstrates this.
C. We need to
differentiate between General and Specific authority.
1. General (or
generic) Authority is where God gives us a command to do
something and does so in a broad way, allowing the individual
the option to carry out the command it the best way in their
sight.
2. Specific
authority is where the Lord gives the details of a command. He
tells the how as well as the what of the command.
3. In most cases the
commands of the Lord are a combination of both general and
specific authority. Some Examples.
a. We are
commanded to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark
16:15-16). We are told specifically what the preach, the
gospel. The message is specific, excluding others. But we are
generally told to go. It is left up to us as to the means of
carrying out the message.
b. We are
commanded to sing (Ephesians 5:19). In this verses the kind of
music to be used is specified, singing. The instrument is
specified, the heart. This excludes other types of music. But
it is also general in nature. He does not specific from where
to get the words. Therefore, the use of songbooks, hymnboards
to announce the songs, or tuning forks and pitchpipes to get
the right pitch are all authority by general authority because
they do not change the nature of sings. But instrumental music
is a violation of the specific of the command, to sing with
the voice.
D. We need to keep in
mind the Law of Silence.
1. While not
specifically written down, it is nonetheless a true
principle.
2. When the New
Testament specifies a command, we are not free to do it in a
different way, even though there may not be a "thou shalt not"
for what we are wanting to.
3. A New Testament
example of the law of Silence.
a. Hebrews 7:12-15
teaches that Jesus' priesthood has replaced the levitical
priesthood because Jesus, our high priest, could not be a
priest under the old covenant because, "For it is evident that
our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake
nothing concerning priesthood." The old covenant specified
that the priests come from the tribe of Levi. But it did not
say not to have the priest come from Judah. It didn't have to.
When the Lord specified it ruled out all other.
4. For example, when
the New Testament specifies immersion, it does not have to
specifically rule out all other so called "modes" of
baptism.
CONCLUSION: The Bible
can be understood by the average person. We simply need to put in
some effort in that study. We will be eternally rewarded in our
labors.
Copyright 1999
by Grady Scott may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes at no
cost to others.
MORE ANSWERS:
a. The Bible:
What is The
Bible?
Part
1, Part
2, Part
3,
How to Study the
Bible?
Part
1,
Part
2,
Part
3,
b.
Who is Jesus?
Part
1,
Part
2,
* Feel
Free to Link Our Web Sites and Our Descriptions to Your
Websites!!!
Padre360.com &
WarChapel.com &
SoldiersChurch.com &
www.SOLDIERS-SAILORS-AIRMENS-MARINES-ONLINE-CHRISTIAN-BIBLE-CHURCH.COM: Soldier's
International Church Online Christian Worship Services, Multi-Language Bibles
are Ministries of The "Abba Father God Inter-Continental Online
Internet Christian Church Worship Services Mass, Bibles & Prayer
Requests™" which is The Home Church for Our International
Missionary Churches' Organization of Caring Churches, Reaching Out
in God's Love through Jesus Christ, Offering All People, Families,
Children, Ministries, Persecuted Christians, Soldiers
& Prisoners in All Countries, Their God Given Global Right to
Practice Religious Freedom of Belief, Study, Prayer & Worship,
with Easy Access Online by Computer, 24 Hours Daily. We have
Complete Christian Internet Church Mass Services, Prayer Requests,
God's Word in Multi-Language Bibles, Sermons, Music & Christian
Resources. Attend Church Alone Privately, or in Small Local Groups
& House Churches, Anytime. We Are Here 24-7-365! All Our
Services are in A User Friendly & Compatible Format for
Computers Worldwide. You Can Read through Our Online Internet Church
Mass Services Carefully & Slowly, at Your Own Personal Pace of
Devotion & Learning, and Enjoy Your God Given Blessing to
Believe, Read the Bible & Freely Worship Our Heavenly Father
God, The Holy Spirit & Our Lord & Living Saviour, Jesus
Christ!
Establishe in 1976, All
Rights Reserved.
|