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Equip: How to Study the Bible

Christian Assembly Week Three

Interpretation Gone Wrong

1. _______________________________________________

Ephesians 6:5. 9

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you

would obey Christ . . . And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since

you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with

him.

Titus 2:9

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to

them,

1 Peter 2:18

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good

and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.

CULTURE

CONTEXT

Ephesians 6:1-9

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which

is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may

enjoy long life on the earth.”

4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of

the Lord.

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you

would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves

of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the

Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they

do, whether they are slave or free.

9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he

who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Context on Slavery

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2. ______________________________

Matthew 7:1

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

CONTEXT

Matthew 7:2-5

2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will

be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no

attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck

out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the

plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s

eye.

John 3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved

darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

3. ___________________________________________________

Luke 6:38

38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running

over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

CONTEXT

Luke 6:27-38 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless

those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to

them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to

everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to

others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love

them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners

do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to

them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great,

and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be

merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not

condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be

given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured

into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

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Pathways to Correct Interpretation

1. _____________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________

Luke 4:7 “If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Philippians 4:13

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

3. _____________________________________________

4. _____________________________________________

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7. _____________________________________________

History || Law || Poetry || Wisdom ||The Prophets || The Gospels ||The Epistles || Apocalyptic

History [Genesis to Esther]

Law [Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy}

Poetry [Psalms; Lamentations]

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Wisdom [Job; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Solomon]

The Prophets [Isaiah to Malachi]

The Gospels [Matthew to John]

The Epistles [Romans to Jude]

Apocalyptic Literature [Daniel; Revelation]

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Resources for Bible Study

Study Bibles

ESV Study Bible published by Crossway

The NIV Study Bible published by Zondervan

**Devotional Bibles can be great, but they are not usually Study Bibles.

Books on Bible Study

Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind, Tremper Longman III – if you only get one book

Understanding the Bible, John R. W. Stott

Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today, N.T. Wright

Words of Life: Scripture as the Living and Active Word of God, Timothy Ward

How to Read the Bible for all its Worth, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

How to Study Your Bible, Kay Arthur

Jesus the Jewish Theologian, Brad H. Young

Bible Study Tools

The New International Dictionary of the Bible, J.D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney

Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, Inter-Varsity Press

The Joy of Discovery in Bible Study, Oletta Wald

www.biblegateway.com

www.biblehub.com

www.studylight.org

Commentaries I like [this is a personal preference thing and I don’t always agree with everything written]

Pillar Commentary Series

New International Commentary on the Old Testament/New Testament

Word Biblical Commentary

Everyone Bible Study Guides by NT Wright – the most accessible and easy to read. Love this series.

Authority of Scripture and Theology

The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? F. F. Bruce

Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem

The Cross of Christ, John R. W. Stott

Simply Christian, N.T. Wright

Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright

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Inductive Bible Study: Romans 8:1-17

Why Study Matters. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his

appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of

season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come

when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around

them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away

from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the

work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Galatians 1:6-10 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and

are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you

into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should

preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already

said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be

under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were

still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Start your time in attentive prayer. Seek to start your time with 3-5 minutes of attentiveness to the reality of the presence of God. Quiet your

heart and seek to be still before God. Evelyn Underhill says, “There should always be more waiting than

striving in a Christian’s prayer.” It is also helpful to remember the words of Eugene Peterson:

“The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it. So the task is not to get God to

do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and

participate and take delight in it.”

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1. Read through the passage and record your observations and questions. Circle all repeated and key words.

Romans 8:1-17 Observations and question Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are

in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the

Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and

death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was

weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the

likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he

condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous

requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not

live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set

on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance

with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit

desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the

mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind

governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to

God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of

the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the

realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And

if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not

belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though

your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives

life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who

raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised

Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal

bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but

it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live

according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put

to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children

of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves,

so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received

brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we

cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit himself testifies with our

spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children,

then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if

indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also

share in his glory.

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2. Record Key Words: [You’ll come back in the interpretation phase and fill in definitions]

Key Words Definitions

3. Record some general observations (lists, contrasts, promises, commands, etc.) [Again, come back later with what you find to be the significance]

General Observations Significance

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4. Ask Lots of Questions of the Passage [in the interpretation stage you will return to this chart and record your findings]

Question Findings

Before you continue on to INTERPRETATION, take a moment to pause and worship God.

I am in awe of God today because…

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The Interpretation Phase Record the context of this passage. How do the verses before and after the passage help you understand this passage? What is the theme of Romans? [Use your Study Bible or the internet to track this down]. Return to the Inductive Bible Study Chart and begin the process of Interpretation and filling in the right columns. In this stage you will use your Study Bible, the internet, dictionaries, etc.

Record your summary of the meaning of this passage

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The Application Phase

Application: Look back over your observations and interpretations and ask God to help you apply these

truths to your life. Remember, the desire is not a list of rules to add to your life but to enter into a life of

greater dependence on Jesus and life with him. Consider looking for one of the following -

(1) a sin to confess and repent of in a way that leads to a knowledge and experience of God’s lavish grace and

forgiveness; (2) a verse to memorize; (3) a command to keep by the grace of God; (4) a promise to hold onto;

etc.

What did you learn that causes you to see a greater need for the Holy Spirit today? Record one thing you learned that causes you to worship today. Record how you will apply this passage to your life today: