PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE STUDY

"Blessed is the man... (whose) delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:1,2).

There is a desire in the Church for more Bible study. Evangelists like D.L. Moody and many others have proved what power there is in preaching drawn directly from God's Word and inspired by the faith of its power.

Earnest Christians have asked: "Why can't our ministers speak in the same way, giving the very Word of God more emphasis?" Many young ministers have come away from seminary confessing that they were taught everything except the knowledge of how to study the Word or how to help others study it. In some of our churches, the desire has been expressed to supply this need in the training of ministers. Yet, it has been difficult for men with theological training to return to the simplicity and directness of God's Word. This simplicity is necessary in order to teach younger men the way to make Scripture the one source of their knowledge and teaching.

Bible study can bring a full blessing to individual lives by giving God's Word its true place in Christian work. Let us look at the principle underlying the demand for more Bible study and how it can be truly carried out.

God's Word Reveals God's Will.

God's Word is the only authentic revelation of God's will. All human statements of divine truth, however correct, are defective and carry a measure of human authority. In the Word, the voice of God speaks to us directly. Every child of God is called to direct fellowship with the Father through the Word. God reveals His heart and grace in His Word. His child can receive from God all the life and power there is in the Word into his own heart and being.

We know how few secondhand reports of messages or events can be fully trusted. Very few men report accurately what they have heard. Every believer has the right and calling to stand in direct communication with God. God still reveals Himself to each individual in His Word.

This Word of God is a living Word. It carries a divine quickening power in it. The human expression of the truth is often an idea or image of the truth, appealing to the mind and having little or no effect on the person. Because it is God's own Word, His presence and power in it make it effective.

The words in which God has chosen to clothe His own divine thoughts are God-breathed, and the life of God dwells in them. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. The Word was inspired when first given, and the Spirit of God still breathes in it. God is still in and with His Word. Christians and teachers need to believe this. It will lead them to give the simple, divine Word a confidence that no human teaching can have.

The Holy Spirit Interprets The Word.

Only God Himself can, and most surely will, be the interpreter of His Word. Divine truth needs a divine teacher. Spiritual understanding of spiritual things can only come from the Holy Spirit.

The unique character of the Word is that it is essentially different from, and infinitely exalted above, all human understanding. The deeper our conviction of this fact, the more we will feel the need for supernatural, divine teaching. We will be brought to seek God Himself, and we will be led to find Him in the Holy Spirit who dwells in the heart.

As we wait on and trust the Spirit, He will make us know wisdom in the hidden part, in our heart and spirit. The Word prayerfully read and cherished in the heart by faith will, through the Spirit, be both light and life within us.

The Bible Brings Unity of Will And Life.

The Word brings us into the most intimate fellowship with God—unity of will and life. In the Word, God has revealed His whole heart and all His will. In His law and precepts, He tells us what He wants to do for us.

As we accept that will in the Word is from God Himself and yield ourselves to its working, we learn to know God in His will. The Word works out His richest purpose as it fills us with the reverence and dependence that comes from the divine presence and nearness. Nothing less than this must be our aim and our experience in our study of the Bible.

In Holy Scripture, we have the very words in which the Holy God has spoken and in which He speaks to us. These words are, today, full of the life of God. God is in them and makes His presence and power known to those who seek Him in them. To those who ask and wait for the teaching of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, the Spirit will reveal the spiritual meaning and power of the Word. The Word is thus meant every day to be the means of the revelation of God Himself to the soul and of fellowship with Him.

Have we learned to apply these truths? The Word says: Seek God; hearken to God; wait for God; God will speak to you; let God teach you. All we hear about is that more Bible teaching and Bible study must lead to this one thing. We must be Christians in whom the Word is never separated from the living God Himself. We must live as Christians to whom God in heaven speaks every day and all day long.