Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95), published by The Lockman Foundation

If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus, then you most likely know that you have an obligation to learn the teaching of Scripture. After all, that is our primary source of truth, containing God’s acts in history, the life and work of the Lord Jesus, and the testimonies and teachings of His eyewitnesses. But how often does your personal study, or your passive hearing of sermons, lead to transformed thinking about specific issues in your life, and to a deliberate change of behavior? If we’re honest with ourselves, we’d have to confess that most of our Bible learning has little to no impact on our beliefs, our thought patterns, and our habits. In most cases, this is especially true of our daily Bible reading, or what many Christians like to call “devotions.” If I may encourage you, please do not call your “quiet time,” when you read and/or pray, a “devotion.” Our whole life is supposed to be devoted to the Lord, just as Paul urges in Romans 12:1! And if we’re so devoted to reading and praying, then why does it usually have no lasting impact on our thinking and habits?

Obviously, a reliance on our average Bible reading, devotionals, sermons, or podcasts isn’t accomplishing the learning and life-change that the New Testament promises, illustrates, and commands. How do I know this? Because most western believers don’t actually change as a result of their daily reading, sermon-listening, podcast-listening, and even group Bible studies. I’m also speaking from personal experience. So often in my Christian life, I’ve forgotten most of what I’ve read during the start of the day by mid-morning, and what I have remembered has had little influence on my thinking and behavior!

What are the main reasons for this ineffectiveness in our usual Scripture-learning practices to bring lasting mind and life change? Two extremes in Christians’ attitudes to learning Scripture are what I see as the first two problems. First, some believers view Bible learning as primarily an individual task, in which the student takes upon himself the main responsibility of learning and applying the truths of Scripture to his life. Such a believer believes that only he is the final human interpreter and applier of Scripture to his life, to the large neglect of any other believer’s input. In other words, he gets to determine what Scripture means to him, with much disregard of the input of the rest of Christ’s body. The opposite extreme is the attitude of relying heavily on the teachings of other believers, especially Bible teachers like his trusted “pastor,” so that he bases most of his understanding of Scripture on what others say.

Both of these extremes are wrong. The individual believer isn’t adequate to learn all of his understanding of Scripture on his own, nor is he to simply let other teachers determine what he should learn, and how to apply Scripture to his life. There must be a balance of thinking. While believers are responsible for coming to their own conclusions regarding their understanding and application of Scripture, they must be eager to learn the views of other believers, especially those in their lives who have been gifted and empowered to teach them. On the other hand, an essential part of Scripture learning that’s often neglected in the west is the practice of community and cooperative Scripture learning. This type of learning is, in fact, the main type of learning that we see in the New Testament. And yet, at the same time, believers aren’t to be naïve, unthinking, or dependent devotees of their favorite Bible teachers. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21, all “prophecies” are to be “examined” in the light of the truths of Scripture. And this includes the teaching of recognized Bible teachers.

In addition to these two extreme attitudes, another one of the main problems in our modern-day Bible learning paradigm is unfocused, careless, mechanical, and even legalistic study of the Bible. Such reading or listening will not produce the learning, understanding, and application of Scripture that God’s children are called to. Instead, studying Scripture ought to be planned with specific goals in mind; given adequate time; given diligent effort; and include prayer, pondering the truth, applying the truth, and comparing our understanding and application to those of other faithful believers. In other words, fruitful Scripture study requires planning, discipline, thinking, and interaction with the ideas of other believers.

In this article, we’ll look at several preunderstandings that we must hold for new covenant Scripture learning, and then several principles of Scripture learning that should be practiced to follow the teachings of the apostles in the New Testament.

New Covenant Preunderstandings for Scripture Study

The Indwelling of the Teacher

According to many places in the New Testament, every believer in the Lord Jesus enjoys the presence of the divine Teacher of the Holy Spirit within him. Therefore, he’s able and responsible to learn and apply the truths of Scripture to his life. This is taught in the first letter of John the apostle when he says,

“As for you, the anointing which you received from Him [Jesus] abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.” (1 Jn. 2:27)

The “anointing” that John speaks of is the “pouring over” of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of his audience. And this anointing “teaches [them] about all things.” So, anyone who has the Spirit living inside of him is directly taught by the Holy Spirit Himself about all things. From an understanding of the context, we can conclude that this teaching isn’t the impartation of knowledge, but is the empowerment and influence of such knowledge, which is only given by the Holy Spirit. In other words, it’s the Spirit’s work to use the truth to change the believer’s thinking, and to motivate him to apply the truth to his life.

The Openness of the Text

Scripture was originally written for common people, not for a highly educated, and specially trained, class of scholars. On the contrary, most of the New Testament was written to illiterate laborers. Therefore, we should expect Scripture to be plain and understandable in its most basic teachings. In scholarly circles, this truth is called “the perspicuity,” or openness, of Scripture. Knowing this, no believer has an excuse for failing to understand at least most of what Scripture teaches. Of course, this doesn’t mean that learning Scripture can’t be difficult, frustrating, or time-consuming. There are many steps that must be taken in order to study, understand, and apply Scripture, but its most basic doctrines, or “beliefs/teachings,” are plain as day.

The Instruction of Teachers

While it’s true that the most ignorant believer can understand Scripture’s teachings on the essentials of Christianity, the Lord has also gifted certain brothers and sisters with a supernatural gift of being skilled at teaching Scripture. Hence, Bible learning can’t be confined to personal interpretation, but must be informed by the understanding and teaching of knowledgeable teachers in Christ’s body. Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Romans, where he writes,

“Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us . . . if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching . . .” (Ro. 12:6a, 7)

Similarly, he declares in his letter to the Ephesians that,

“. . . He [Christ] gave some . . . pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service . . .” (Eph. 4:11-12a)

The Integration of the Thinking of Brethren

Learning Scripture in the accounts of Scripture is never portrayed as mainly an individual activity. Rather, it’s explained and narrated as a community endeavor, in which many of the saints contribute insights, explanations, examples, and applications to the group study of the truth. In fact, we must remember that most of the first Christians couldn’t even read! And in spite of our contemporary western church practices, the teaching during the assembly of the saints is almost never pictured as a sermonic monologue, or lecture. Instead, the teaching of the New Testament assemblies was often dialogue-based, interactive, and participatory, even though led by gifted and recognized teachers. The first Christians didn’t primarily learn the truths of Scripture that we now have on their own, but together. To rely only upon one’s own study, thinking, and experience in our Scripture study is either a manifestation of ignorance, or of arrogance.

New Covenant Principles for Scripture Learning

As noted earlier, there are several principles that must be put into practice if we’re going to be effective and fruitful students of Scripture. Learning Scripture is unlike any educational discipline in life, since our textbook comes directly from God giving verbal truth through Spirit-empowered eyewitnesses of God’s mighty acts in history. Therefore, the Bible contains not only the most important information anywhere, but also communicates every truth that is necessary to live a life pleasing to the Lord. In spite of the fact that most believers in the Lord Jesus believe these truths, there is much ignorance of how the New Testament teaches that Scripture ought to be studied.

The Content of Our Study

According to the Lord Jesus and his apostles, Scripture isn’t a rule book, but a reality book. It isn’t only meant to give us exhortation, but example. Although Scripture certainly contains instructions on what to do, this isn’t its primary concern. The Bible is mostly a collection of explanations and descriptions of the main truths of the universe, and of examples of what to believe, think, speak, and do.

And what are the most important truths that Scripture conveys to us? We can understand its main message when we recognize that we read all of Scripture as followers of Jesus. Thus, we ought to understand Scripture the way that He did. Repeatedly, He said that the Old Testament – the only Scriptures written at the time – was about Him. And the same is true of the New Testament, since that section was authored by eyewitnesses of Jesus (the apostles), as well as their close friends. It therefore contains the testimony, teachings, and example of the apostles, the direct spokesmen of the Lord. From this truth, we ought to deduce that the New Testament has instructional and interpretive precedence over the Old Testament. To put it simply, when we’re learning Scripture, we start with the teaching of the New Testament, and then derive our understanding of Old Testament passages from that teaching. This is why Luke records in Acts 2:42 that the first Christians in Jerusalem weren’t devoting themselves merely to the teaching of the Old Testament (“the Law and the Prophets”) but were, “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching . . .” Why were they learning mainly from the apostles? Because they had been taught directly by Jesus, and had been appointed as the first leaders of the Spirit-indwelt body of Christ. The author of Hebrews summarizes this New Testament priority when he begins in his letter by proclaiming, “God . . . in these last days has spoken to us in His Son . . .” (Heb. 1:1a, 2).

The Purposes of Our Study

 One of the most dangerous temptations in our study of Scripture is to read Scripture for the wrong reason. There are two false purposes for Scripture study that are common among western Christians. The first one, which is usually confined to personal Bible reading, is to read so that we’ll gain knowledge of a direct and specific truth or instruction that we can practically implement immediately. Some believers put this attitude in terms of receiving a direct message from the Lord that’s directly applicable to that particular day. But such revelation isn’t always forthcoming. In fact, this purpose neglects several steps of Bible study that ought to be taken before application. Another error in seeking to learn Scripture is the mistake of reading it only to receive more knowledge. But knowledge of Scripture without application of Scripture is useless.

The apostle Paul gave his pastoral representative, Timothy, the most concise description of the purposes of studying Scripture in his second letter to him. After urging him to continue believing and practicing his biblical learning, Paul gives this reminder of the purposes of Scripture learning:

“. . . from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Ti. 3:15-17)

Paul gives us five purposes of Scripture study in this passage. First, we ought to study “the sacred writings” to receive “wisdom,” or the understanding and motivation needed to please the Lord (v. 15). Such heavenly wisdom will lead to our final “salvation” at the end of our lives, since Paul is speaking to Timothy in the present tense, and saying that Scripture is still able to give Timothy wisdom unto salvation.

In verses 16-17, Paul lists the ways in which Scripture gives us wisdom in living for the Lord. But he prefaces these functions with the all-important declaration that “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (v. 16 ESV). Hence, all of Scripture, including its teachings and principles, is God’s direct message for us, and the only written source of His direct revelation. So, what are the purposes of Scripture for “the man [or woman] of God?” First, we go to Scripture for “teaching,” or instruction. Second, we study it for “reproof,” or the chastisement and conviction of our sins. Third, we learn it for “correction,” or explanation of how to change our thinking and actions. And fourth, we devote ourselves to Scripture for “training in righteousness,” or the systematic, regular, and continual discipline of ourselves to be righteous. Although this purpose encompasses all the previous ones, one of the aspects of Scripture that especially addresses this function is its description of godly examples to follow.

Finally, Paul sums up the purpose of Scripture study by concluding that Scripture can profit the believer in these ways so that he’ll be “adequate, equipped for every good work” (v. 17). With this statement, our teacher is saying that Scripture is sufficient for giving any believer all he needs to do any good work, or to be “adequate.” In other words, no other source of truth is needed. From this fact, we should realize that the study of Scripture should be primary and preeminent in our learning of the truth.

But does every part of Scripture have the power to benefit us in these ways, including the Old Testament? Well, if we remember that the main Scriptures that the believers had at the time Paul was writing consisted of the Old Testament, we can conclude that when Paul told Timothy that “all Scripture is . . . profitable,” he was referring at least mainly to the Old Testament. But Paul makes this explicit in another purpose statement for the study of Scripture, found in his letter to the Romans:

“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

In this verse, the apostle is clearly writing about the Old Testament, since he describes them as what was “written in earlier times.” And what are some of the works of those Scriptures? To give believers “encouragement” and “hope.” Therefore, it’s not only the New Testament that gives us encouragement in righteous living, as well the hope of our glorious future, but also the Old Testament.

But how does the Old Testament do this? In much the same way that the New Testament does. As we’ve seen from 2 Timothy, as well as from our consideration of the Bible’s contents, Scripture’s work isn’t simply to give us knowledge or facts, but to show us how the Lord has worked in history by Himself and through His people, so that we’ll rightly respond to His work in our lives, by working together with Him and our brethren to serve Him. And since we possess both the Old and New Testaments, which makes up the whole of Scripture for all time, then we have even more responsibility and opportunity to understand the Lord’s works and will, and to put them into practice, than the 1st-century Christians did. Therefore, as western believers with easy access to the Bible, we have few excuses for being ignorant of the main themes of Scripture, and its basic teachings for Christians. Even the first Christians without Bibles possessed all the truth they needed, as Peter makes clear when telling the audience of his second letter, “. . . His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pe. 1:3).

Our Community Study

We ought to learn Scripture in order to find truths, explanations, encouragements, and examples for our individual needs, but Scripture study ought usually to also be done in the context of God’s household, what’s commonly called “the church”, or “the pillar and support of the truth” (2 Ti. 3:15). This is one of the reasons why almost all the New Testament letters were addressed to whole Christian assemblies, not to individuals. The work of learning Scripture and applying it isn’t just an individual responsibility, but the responsibility of God’s family as a whole.

Therefore, Scripture learning shouldn’t be one-way communication, but multiple-way communication, as we not only receive Scripture and its teaching, but respond to it in interactions with our brethren in Christ. Simply reading Scripture on our own, and even supplementing this with teaching from the Christian assembly, isn’t sufficient. We need to be in the habit of studying Scripture together, and not just listening to a lecturer or teacher. Scripture study ought to be interactive, corporate, interpersonal, and application-oriented. Not only are knowledgeable teachers to teach the truths of Scripture, but they also should discuss and apply it with their students. This will require that non-teaching students take an active role in their learning of Scripture, and actually think about how the teaching personally impacts themselves, as well as their closest brethren. For one clear example of interactive teaching from Scripture, consider how Luke recounts Paul’s time with an assembly in Acts 20:7, 11:

“On the first day of the week [Sunday], when we were gathered together to break bread [in the Lord’s Supper], Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight . . . When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while . . .”

Notice that Paul was with an assembly of believers on Sunday, and for the main purpose of “breaking bread,” which Luke consistently speaks of with reference to the Lord’s Supper, beginning with Luke 22. So, here we have a weekly gathering of saints. And how did Paul encourage and teach them? Not by preaching to them, but by “talking to them,” and talking “with them.” The Greek words Luke uses for these phrases contains the root from which we get the word, “dialogue.” Thus, Paul wasn’t giving them a sermon or lecture, but discussing with them. And this is the way in which Luke usually speaks of Paul’s teaching in Acts. When Paul taught God’s Word, it usually was in the form of a discussion, just as he demonstrates in Romans 1-6. In those chapters, Paul often uses a hypothetical dialogue with an opponent. And this teaching style, which was also characteristic of Jesus, has been shown to be the most effective in promoting accurate comprehension of truth. So, we ought to follow the example of Paul and Jesus in our Bible studies with discussion!

Our Care in Study

Nowhere in Scripture are all believers enjoined to engage in personal Bible study. This can be explained mainly from the fact that most believers in the account of Scripture lacked their own personal copy of the Scriptures. As a result, the 1st-century Christians relied heavily on their gatherings to learn both the Old Testament, as well as the new teachings of Jesus and His apostles. But when they were listening to the reading of the OT, to the teaching of the apostles, or to the prophecy of prophets, you can bet that they were usually listening as carefully, and as eagerly as possible. So, what’s your attitude toward learning Scripture? Do you treat it as a mere necessity that must be done in order to fulfill your duty to the Lord, or do you relish it as one of the highest privileges in this life? If we really understood the eternal and spiritual value of the Bibles that we have access to, then we’d take more care in our learning of their truths. But even having a basic understanding of this value isn’t enough to take full advantage of God’s Word. We must understand how to learn it.

There are a few basic principles that we should employ in our study of Scripture. These principles assume that we understand the nature of Scripture, and its purposes in our study. First, we should have specific goals in our study. There is usually no spiritual benefit in blindly opening a Bible to a random place, and reading whatever happens to be in that place. Nor is it the wisest choice to use a randomized devotional, and let someone else determine the content that we’ll study. Our most pressing spiritual needs ought to come first in our Scripture learning. Is there a specific sin that you keep committing habitually? Is there an important life decision that you need to make, but you’re ignorant of what the best option is? Then search the Scriptures, as well as your brethren in Christ, to find instruction regarding those things. Aside from our pressing needs, what about the teaching that you’re receiving from other Christians? Do you understand every important detail from the last lesson you learned from one of your teachers? Do you see how one of your teachers was able to argue their interpretation of the Scripture that they explained? Did they teach the truth that a passage or passages actually contained? In these cases, you must compare your own study of Scripture to the teaching of others.

A second principle in studying Scripture, which we’ve already mentioned, is that we must study it with our emphasis on the New Testament. To reiterate the reason for this, the fullest revelation of God that we have is the Lord Jesus, and He’s most clearly described, explained, imitated, and represented in the New Testament. Hence, our focus should be on the New Testament teaching, while our study of the Old Testament should always be conducted with a mind to learning how the New Testament authors would have understood and applied it.

Third, our study should be holistic and canonical. This has two components. First, it should be our aim to understand the main events of the overarching story of the Bible. This is often called “redemptive history,” or the “metanarrative” of Scripture. Since the Bible is a collection of historical documents that together tell God’s story of the entire universe, and our part in it, then it’s important that we understand the beginning, the plot, the characters, the conflict, the climax, and the conclusion of the story. If we understand the basic elements of Scripture’s story, then we’ll more easily be able to understand the individual sections, books, and passages of Scripture. This is the second element of canonical study, with “canonical” referring to the whole “canon,” or “body,” of Scripture. Anytime we study a particular section of Scripture, we should seek, not only to understand it in its own context of history, literature, and so on, but also understand how it fits into the whole story of Scripture.

A fourth and final principle I’ll give is that Scripture study should be application-oriented. That is, just as 2 Timothy 3:16 teaches, the purpose of our Scripture learning should be to apply it. And this requires a number of other tasks. First, it means that we must understand any given passage in its original context. In other words, we need to determine what it meant to the original audience. Second, we need to draw out the universal truths or principles that lie behind the author’s original purpose for the text. In other words, what truth was he conveying when he wrote the passage, and/or what principle was he teaching his original audience to put into practice? Third, we need to find the points of comparison between our situation and the situation of the audience of the text. And finally, we must use these commonalities to determine which truths and/or principles we can apply to our individual condition. What hasn’t been mentioned, but assumed, is that, as godly Christians, we’ll be doing all these things with prayerful reliance on the Holy Spirit to teach us the truth, and to motivate and empower us to put it into practice. If we find a new truth, we must believe and apply it, and if the Lord discloses to us something we should do that we’re not, we must do it.

These principles of careful and wise Scripture learning require much more unpacking than time permits. I have only touched on the new covenant principles and practices for studying Scripture directly, and learning it in the context of the Christian community. Therefore, in the next article, I’ll concern myself with laying down the fundamental principles necessary to rightly read, study, understand, and apply Scripture in light of our participation in the new covenant.

Reflection Questions

Do you rely upon the Holy Spirit to teach you Scripture, and how to apply it, through prayer?

Do you recognize that the main teachings of Scripture are plain to anyone who gives adequate effort to understand them?

Are you open to the teaching, insights, and applications that your brethren have about Scripture?

Are you actively engaged in cooperating with your brethren in Christ to learn and apply Scripture together?

Do you study Scripture merely to gain more facts, or to learn and remind yourself of God’s works and messages in the lives of His people?

Do you study all of Scripture in the light of your identity in Christ, and of His work of redemption?

Do you have a solid understanding of the main events of the Bible, and the flow of its story, and are you increasing in that understanding?

Do you take care to understand individual Scripture passages in their own contexts, as well as in the context of the rest of Scripture?