Season: 10 Episode: 150
Listen to episode 146 in Spanish:
Summary:
There is a wrong way to read the Bible, which means there is a right way to read the Bible. Today, we are using the book of Philippians to show how to use the 5 W’s and an H strategy to “til the ground” before reading any book of the Bible. We’ll also look at Dr. Frank Turek’s S.T.O.P. method for Bible study, and why the strategies you learned in elementary school are all you need to understand how to interpret your bible.
Recommended Resources:
Cross Examined Article: Is Teaching Your Kids About God Child Abuse?
Website: shandafulbright.com
Instagram and Facebook: @shandafulbright
Email: hello@shandafulbright.com
YouTube: Shanda Fulbright
I’m finally getting to talking about the books of the Bible, as requested by some of my followers on Instagram. But before we actually get into any books I’m going to talk about the proper way to even begin to study the books. There is a right way to study the Bible, which means there is a wrong way to study the Bible. I’ve talked about that a little bit here and there, but this is going to be a more detailed outline of what it looks like to properly study the Bible so you know how to apply it and don’t misinterpret it.
Just a reminder that TYB for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults goes live in September. Frank and I are teaching these classes and I am looking so forward to it. Go to onlinechristiancourses.com to register. Next month I’ll be in Jacksonville, Florida at the EMNR conference. The conference is free and is for anyone who wants to learn how to evangelize to those in cults and non-Christian religions. You can register at EMNR.org.
In this episode, we’re going to talk address a few things about how to study a book of the Bible.
We are going to talk about:
- What are the most important questions you need to answer before you even begin to try and apply a bible verse?
2. Why is patience and diligence key in studying the Bible?
3. What are some good study resources that will help you study and become a more diligent student of the word?
The most important questions to answer before you try and apply scripture.
I don’t think there are a lot of churches that teach their members how to study the Bible and if you want to truly learn how to disciple others and to be a disciple, you need to learn how to properly study the Bible. And I grew up reading the Bible only. I didn’t study it and there’s definitely a difference. Think of it this way – I can read a biology book to become familiar with terms and some of the concepts, but if I don’t study biology, I won’t know how the cell works or understand how organism survive in their environments. That’s why in college, kids study. And since we are students of the word, we have to learn how to properly study the word.
The first time I learned how to properly interpret scripture was in the How to Interpret Your Bible class with OCC and Dr. Frank Turek taught it. It was really good. And then I took a class on the book of Romans with Frank and learned how to study it. Since then, I’ve been really picky about the Bible studies that I do. I wrote a Bible study back in 2018 that I never recommend because now that I’ve learned how to study the Bible, I’m not happy with how I laid out that study. I wish I knew then what I know now. All that to say – if this is the first time you’re hearing how to approach studying scripture, don’t feel bad. But I really hope and pray that those who listen can apply some of these study tips so that you can make better use of your time.
Philippians
So I’m in the book of Philippians right now, so I’m going to use that book as an example on how to approach Bible study and you will see what I mean as I go through this with you.
The first thing you need to do is look at the basic questions:
Who wrote the book?
When was it written?
Where did he write it? (What was the circumstance surrounding the writing)
To whom was it written to?
Why was it written? (Authors purpose)
What is the theme of the book?
How do I apply this to my life?
A lot of things you learn about reading comprehension from elementary school are going to be applied to how you study the Bible so you understand it. Reading comprehension begins in about the third grade and the same strategies you learned then will help you now. The Bible is not a mystery book that has to be cracked. So many people say they don’t understand it. I can promise you that if you do this first, you will understand it. But I forgot to mention this – no understanding of God’s word is given apart from the Holy Spirit since He is the revealer of truth. Invited Him into your study time before you begin. I do it every time, asking the Spirit to open my eyes to see and my ears to hear.
How do you know how to find the answers to all of these questions?
A study Bible. A good study Bible is 100% necessary in order to study the Bible. There is no way to understand the historical context of scripture without one. Well, you can get an idea, but you’ll get maps, historical insights, and things that will help you know the context surrounding the scripture.
So you need to answer the 5 W’s and an H question, and then Frank uses the acronym STOP.
STOP
S – Situation. What is the historical situation? What do you need to know about the people and history?
T – What type of literature is this? Is it poetry? Historical narrative? What literary devices are being used? Is it metaphor? Hyperbole? Parable? Apocalyptic imagery?
O – Object? Who is the object of the text? Everyone? The people of the OT only? The disciples?
P – Prescriptive or descriptive? Meaning, is this passage prescriptive for us today or only descriptive – describing events in history?
So let’s use the STOP method and the 5 W’s and an H for the book of Philippians.
Who wrote it: Paul, the apostle. The reason I am specific when I say Paul the apostle is because there are several Johns in the Bible. The John who wrote the gospel of John is the not that same as John the Baptist. Be specific so you don’t get confused later.
When was it written? According to historians, it was written around AD 61.
Where did he write it? Paul was on house arrest, imprisoned by Nero.
To whom was it written to? Per the first verse in Philippians, Paul wrote it to the church in Philippi. This is an epistle, or letter, so you will find the address at the beginning, like you would any other letter.
Why was it written?
You need to read the book now. Don’t rely on all of the information to come to you from your study bible. The study bible might give some insight into the purpose of Paul’s letter, but it’s going to take some reading again and again to start to see it. This is helpful by looking at repeated words. In Philippians, Paul mentioned rejoice in the Lord a few times. There are several infamous verses in the letter. For example, in chapter 1 Paul said: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In 3:7, he said, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” And of course, Phil 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Knowing that Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter and knowing that he was literally chained to a guard every day while on house arrest, not even going to the restroom alone, do you think Phil 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” is about winning a football game? People who tattoo this on their arm have no idea what it actually means because they read one verse out of 4 chapters and think it means they can do anything in their own strength. But looking at this verse in context shows us that Paul is able to count all things as loss as long as he can know Christ. And the loss Paul suffered was his home, his freedom, and eventually his life. It wasn’t the loss, or even the win, of a football game where the loser gets to go home and still pocket tens of thousands of dollars.
Alright, I know that was a rant. Sorry.
What is the them of the book? After reading and noticing the repeated words and phrases, the transition words used, and the literary devices, we begin to see that Paul used the words joy and rejoice. The Philippians were ministry partners with Paul and they supported him. Paul did not correct the theology of the Philippians but reminded them to rejoice in the Lord. He reminded them that he was a prisoner for Christ but it was good because nothing in this life surpassed the gain of knowing Christ. He encouraged them to rejoice in the Lord and to think on good things. It was an encouragement to them. He did give them a warning of what to watch for in regard to false teachers who taught legalism in chapter 3, but never scolding them for doctrinal errors. So all in all, Paul encouraged and reminded the Philippians to be united in christ and continue to rejoice in the Lord as they worked together for the Lord.
How do I apply this to my life? We’ll get back to this because this is the very last question we will answer. Let’s do the STOP questions first.
STOP
S – Situation. We already answered this because we did our homework with the author. Paul was in prison and the Philippians were his ministry partners and supported him on his missionary journey.
T – The type of literature is an epistle or letter. That means it’s going to have the structure of a letter you would get in the mail today and is meant to be read in one sitting. For those Phil 4:13 lovers, would you read one sentence in a letter you received from your friend or relative and not read the sentence in context? No, you wouldn’t. So we are not to read epistles that way either.
O – object of the writing. The Philippians. And this epistle is in the NT, which means the instruction we read is meant for us today is we are the ones who live in the new covenant because of Christ’s death and resurrection.
P – Prescriptive or descriptive. Since this is in the NT and applies to us today, the instruction in this epistle and almost all of the NT, is prescriptive, meaning we are to apply it to our lives. Now, most of the OT is going to be descriptive – only for those who lived at that time. The wisdom literature, like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job – are prescriptive but we still have to study the books and understand them correctly.
Ok, so how do I apply this to my life? After answering the questions and reading this multiple times, taking note of repeated words and themes of the book, I can say this is how I would apply this to my life. I do this in the form of questions and then ask for the Lord to help me as I live my life.
First, I am very convicted by Paul’s life.
He says in chapter 3 that the Philippians are to imitate him. He also said this to the Corinthian church.
Do I, as Paul, count everything as loss so that I may know Christ?
Do I, as Paul instructs, seek unity with my fellow believers so that I can join in the work of furthering the gospel?
In chapter 2, Paul says to adopt the same attitude of Christ which was not humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross – and He was God. He had every right to let us perish but instead did not consider equality with God something to be exploited. No. That’s not me. I think of what I have the right to and why I think I shouldn’t be mistreated. I need to adopt the same attitude as Christ.
And am I reaching to take hold of Christ?
I mean, Paul was in prison and still encouraging believers. He lost his freedom and he didn’t appeal to his credentials as a Pharisee or a Jew born a Hebrew of Hebrews. Instead, his identity was in Christ and he longed to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to his death.
All Philippians managed to do was convict me and make me realize that I have a long way to go before I can imitate Paul as he imitated Christ. But with that knowledge, my application was to pray and specifically ask God to help me get there. And to thank Christ for humbling Himself and suffering a gruesome death on the cross for me.
So, as you can see, this way of studying isn’t going to be the mainstream way of buying a bible study from a bible book store and it speaking to your “felt need.” The Holy Spirit knows our need and He knows how to get the word of God to hit us at our core when we study it.
Why is patience and diligence key when studying the Bible?
Here’s something else you need but won’t have to buy: patience, endurance, and diligence. Let me tell you why: because, if you’re like me, you like to move through content fast so you can learn and move on. But you can’t do that when you study. Studying anything to really know it does not allow for fast. You have to have patience.
I almost feel like I have a relationship with the book of Philippians at this point. I know what each chapter is going to touch on, and I know where the heavy hitting verses are. I’ve read it multipole times and I also bought a study book on Philippians (I’ll tell you about that in the resources section soon). So I have been in this for about a month and still have half way to go before I finish. As I stay in the book and read and study, I can tell my soul is just marinating in the theme of the book. The questions I told you about in the application part of studying bubble up in my soul like a pot of boiling soup. It just won’t go away. But that’s good. That’s the Spirit of God at work in my life even after I put the book down. So be patient and don’t rush through a book. Linger in it and become so familiar with it that you know it inside and out.
Endurance is related to patience.
It has everything to do with sticking with it even when you don’t feel like there’s a reward or when it’s hard. You don’t need endurance for something that’s easy, you need it for the challenge. But endurance comes the longer you do something. You condition your body for working out, and you condition your mind and your soul for reading and studying the Bible. Don’t quit. Set a timer if you need to, and make studying a daily habit.
Finally, you have to be diligent. Diligence is careful and persistent work or effort. That means you don’t just study one day and quit. You don’t study for one week and quit. You put the effort into studying the Bible daily, not expecting goosebumps or some great revelation. God speaks to us by His word and then He speaks to us by His word as we meditate on it throughout the day, or even later down the road because Jesus said in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The key word here is remind – bring to your remembrance. That means it’s something you’ve already read or heard. The word is in you as you are diligent to study and seek the Lord in your own discipline of study. Do your part and God will do His.
Resources for Study
Here are some of my favorite resources for bible study that I recommend. I’m sure there are more out there but these are just a few that I use.
An ESV study Bible. I have an apologetics study Bible but I don’t recommend that for studying the Bible. The apologetics study bible doesn’t have as many notes and quotes or cross-references, and it has mostly articles from apologists. So a good ESV study Bible is going to tell you about the author, when it was written, and a lot of the historical background for a larger context. Another thing a study bible offers is cross-references so you can see the related scripture passages that will shed light on what you’re studying in the book you’re in. For example, Paul mentions in Phillipians that they should imitate him. The cross-reference to that is 1 Corinthians 11:1 – imitate me as I imitate Christ.
You’ll also get notes at the bottom of the passages, which are short commentary on more historical information or even the meaning of words or the original language. Without a study Bible, you will not get this as you study.
I also love the Life Change Bible Series study guides.
They have one for every book of the Bible and I’ve done these for years now and I recommend them to everyone. They do not center around a felt need and they are for both men and women. There is no topical teachings and they don’t give you any answers to your questions. Their questions are thought provoking and open-ended. They also give you cross-references to look up and they never write the verse in the study guide. They make you go find it. I personally like that because I am of the opinion that everyone ought to navigate a hard copy of the Bible rather than on their phones. You’re not going to be able to use a study bible on your phone as easily as you can an actual Bible.
The Life Change Bible Series takes you through an entire book chapter by chapter and they show you a map of where the book was written at the time it was written. It gives you historical facts and other information you may not get from your study bible. So, just laying the groundwork of those 5 W’s and an H questions before you even begin to read might take a few days of study. But again, be patient and take your time. This will pay off in the end. I always say – the work you put in on the front end will help you make up for it on the back end. You’ll always be happy you tilled the ground in those first few days of study.
Bible Project
I also use GotQuestions.com and The Bible Project to help me with the 5 W’s and an H questions. I love Got Questions as a resource and I read their information on the book of Philippians. The Bible Project quickly outlines the entire book and helps you get a broad view of the book before you read it.
I do read some commentaries but commentaries come at the very end. I would say they come right before application so you can make sure you’re on the right track or see if there’s any other insights those commentaries provide that will help you better understand the book. But I don’t have any I want to recommend right now because I want to encourage you and challenge you to study the Bible this way for a while. Got Questions will help a lot in lieu of a commentary.
I truly believe that if you study the Bible this way, you will become a student of the word who right divides the words of truth.
Close:
For the next several episodes, I plan to use these steps in looking at books of the Bible you recommended on Instagram. I want to encourage you and remind you of a few things as we get into some of the books of the Bible:
First
Remember that the Bible is God’s word to us. It is God breathed, meaning it is inspired by Him. There is no way to know God apart from His word. It is the avenue in which we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and have an intimate (knowledge through a personal relationship) with Him. It can easily become a to-do list. I know because this has happened to me in the past and I run the risk of it happening to me now.
Second
God doesn’t change and neither does His word. The Bible is always applicable to our lives because it is an active word. It is always relevant because it is a living word. You can trust that it does not return void when you speak it, read it, study it, share it, and meditate on it.
Third
You must know the word of God because there is so much false teaching in the church and in the world. If you do not know the word of God, how will you know how to spot false teaching? You won’t.
Fourth
The Bible is not a book like any other. It is a book written by men, sure. But it is the only book that claims to be inspired by God as men wrote it. And I am confident that God used the testimony of more than one man because it brought more validity to the word of God. Every other “sacred” book from other religions that claim to have divine writings only has the testimony of one man and none of whom died for the God they claim to have lived for.
Leave a Rating
If you want to get a more in depth look into these steps, the show notes will be on the website and you can go check them out there and even write them down. If you begin studying this way, email me and let me know how it’s going. I’d love to hear from you. I do hear from some of you after an episode touches you or helps you out in some way, and I am always grateful for you.
If you love the show, please leave a 5 star rating and review. It helps get the podcast into the earbuds of others. If you have a question for me, email me at hello@shandafulbright.com and I’ll catch you on the next one.
e next one!
Leave a Reply