Diving Deep Into Scripture: Preparing to Study

It was somewhat misleading to say that the previous post was an "Introduction", because this post will also serve as an introduction of sorts, although a technical and necessary one. In the last post I laid out the "why" of diving deeper into Scripture, and in this post I want to provide an introduction to how. Before you can set to any task, you must first be prepared and have the right tools. My grandfather exemplified this for me, as he always knew exactly what he was going to do, and he always ensured that he had the right tool and that it was in working order before he did it. The same can be said for studying God's Word. In this post, I want to provide three ways that you can prepare to study and four essential tools that you will need throughout the process of studying.

Preparing to Study, Step 1 - Believe
It may seem an oversimplification, but you will get nowhere in your study of God's Word unless you first believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. There is no right technique or special commentary that will illuminate the Word of God to you. Only God's Spirit can do that, and you can only receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ's work to save you from your sins by living, dying, and rising again. Perhaps you have picked up your Bible in an effort to find some meaning, or you desire to see what this religion stuff is all about. The only way that you can truly understand is to believe. St. Augistine said "I believe that I might understand", and this is still true today. Trust in Christ, even now, that you may understand the truth of Scripture.

Step 2 - Pray
Words on a page, even holy words, will mean nothing apart from the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. God must work through His Word by opening our spiritual ears to hear what he says through it. And, so often we can bring our own baggage to Scripture, so that we have, as it were, scales over our eyes that prevent us from seeing what the real meaning is. Pray that God would remove your assumptions and hindrances and direct your heart and mind to understand. Also, pray that God would bring to mind ways in which the passage you are studying relates to other passages and to the big picture of Scripture.

Step 3 - Make Time
Serious study of Scripture takes time. I typically devote 1-2 hours a day to studying for my sermon. Some of this might be done in the car as I'm driving to and from work (I'll explain later), but I make the time. Granted, if you are preparing for a devotional or a Sunday School lesson, it may not warrant that much time, but you will still need to set aside time for serious study. Find a place where you can sit up, read comfortably, and have the time to study.

Tools of the Trade
Another aspect of being prepared is having the right tools. With biblical studies, there are a boatload of various tools that you could have. Pastors often use very expensive tools, whether it be a collection of commentaries that push $1000 or software applications that push $5000 or more. While I use some of those tools, you don't need them to seriously study Scripture. With just four basic tools (some even free), you can effectively study the Word of God.

Tool #1 - A Good Study Bible
A quick search of any Christian book store will reveal that there are an overwhelming number of options when it comes to study Bibles. And, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but not all study Bibles are created equal. Many study Bibles are heavily biased towards the application of Scripture. This isn't bad, and you might want to hold on to one of those for your devotional time. But, if your goal is to get to the meaning of a particular passage, these application-specific study Bibles can fall short. As a general rule, you want a study Bible that has five features. First, you want a Bible that provides a good translation. I don't have the space or time to get into a debate about which translations are the best. To save time and gain precision in your studies, you want a modern English translation that seeks to be readable and faithful to the original languages. I recommend the English Standard Version, but NASB, NKJV, and even NIV are all good translations.

Second, you want a study Bible that has a synopsis at the beginning of each book of the Bible. This synopsis should be three or four pages and should include information about the author, the time and place, and the audience of the book.

Third, you want a Bible that has cross references. Cross references are Scripture references that correlate to the verses that you are reading. These are almost always printed in a center column on each page and referenced to a superscripted letter in the verse.

Fourth, you want a Bible that has commentary, but not too much (more on commentaries later). Commentary can be helpful, especially to read in line with the passage. But, don't let the commentary be the sole reason you purchase a study Bible.

Finally, you want a Bible that has a concordance. A concordance is a glossary of words in the back of the Bible which will provide the word with many of the scripture references where it can be found. This will be invaluable when carrying out some aspects of your study that we will discuss in later posts.

One warning on study Bibles: consider the source. As I said at the beginning, all study Bibles are not created equal, and this is most apparent in the way they are organized and the information they provide. Consider the denominational affiliation, theology, and background of the editors of the study Bible before purchasing. Personally, I own a Reformation Study Bible from Ligonier Ministries, but I would also recommend the ESV Study Bible or the McArthur Study Bible.

Tool #2 - A Bible Dictionary
Another tool that is critical to understanding the history and context of a passage is the Bible dictionary. A Bible dictionary is really more of an encyclopedia. It provides a list of topics, places, and words from Scripture with a detailed description or history. I use the Holman Bible Dictionary, but the Zondervan Handbook to the Bible is also very useful.

Tool #3 - Bible Study Software
There is no greater time in world history to study the Bible than today because of our advancements in technology. Particularly, there are amazing resources available for Bible Study software. Chief among them is an application called Olive Tree. Olive Tree is amazing for a number of reasons. For one, it mostly free. The application itself is free and many of the resources, including some of the most popular Bible translations, are free. Also, it is available on pretty much every platform from PC to Mac to mobile. In future posts, I will be referencing Olive Tree resources a good bit, so I would recommend that you at least be familiar with it. There are other applications like Olive Tree, such as E-Sword, which are just as free and easy to obtain.

Tool #4 - Sermon Libraries (and maybe commentaries)
The final tool that I have found invaluable are the many free, online sermon libraries. I find the sermon libraries from John Piper, John McArthur, and WA Criswell to be the most useful in condensing a good deal of commentary down to a 30 minute sermon. These three men are especially helpful because they have all preached through most of the Bible. I have found that John Piper is helpful because he typically provides a more theological view of a passage, while John McArthur and WA Criswell typically spend more time in the weeds, diving into every nook and cranny of a passage. This is where I cheat a bit in maximizing my time in study by downloading and listening to a sermon while I drive to and from work.

You will likely notice by now that I have not listed commentaries as an essential tool for study. I use commentaries and do find them valuable in my sermon preparation. However, I don't have to have them to prepare for my sermon, and I'd bet you won't need them either. A good commentary that covers every aspect of a book of the Bible is almost impossible to find. So, building a library of commentaries that cover the theological, devotional, and textual aspects of a book can take much treasure and many years. The more I have studied the less I find myself using commentaries. In addition, the wrong commentary at the wrong time can lead you astray very quickly and cause you to lose site of the meaning of a passage. So, if you have a set of commentaries, use them in your study. If you don't own any, don't worry about it.

On to the Good Stuff
Now that you have trusted in the Lord, prayed for understanding, found the time and space for study, and gathered your tools, it's time to study. One last point of preparation before the next post. Before you begin to dive into the methods I will communicate in subsequent posts, take the time to read through the passage you desire to study three times. Read through it twice silently and then once out loud. I will be using Genesis 1:26-31 as the example for future posts on this method, so if you want to prepare for the next steps, pray and read through this passage to get ready.