Basic Tools for Bible Study

 

The best way for spiritual growth is to study the Bible. The study of God’s Word is an individual task. This task will affect your whole being – who you are and what you do.

Have your own Bible

The first and foremost tool to study the Bible is of course, you need a Bible. It will be helpful to have more than one version of the Bible so you can compare the wording of difficult passages of scriptures. Now it is easy to get the versions as all are available freely on phone apps.

The Bible expresses all of God’s revelation to man. It tells you all you need to know about your new life in Christ and your eternal life in heaven. The more you read the Bible, the more you understand its meaning. Bible is its own best interpreter.

Your eyes and mind

Physical sight is closely connected to spiritual sight, which is knowledge or insight into the hidden truths of God. Scripture uses the word “seeing” to mean “knowing spiritual truth”. In 2 Corinthians 4: 4, those who do not believe the gospel about Christ are blinded by Satan so they cannot see the light that comes from God’s Word.

You can have the mind of Christ if you allow the Holy Spirit to make the Word clear to you (1 Corinthians 2: 16). The goal of your study is to have spiritual sight. Through careful study you will receive knowledge of the Bible’s teachings about your new life, and you will be better prepared to reject false teachings (Ephesians 4: 14).

Write

Third tool is a pen to write notes as you read the Bible. Writing helps you to remember things. As you write repeated words or ideas that are mentioned, you will see more of what the writer wrote. You can write questions or thoughts that come to your mind as you read. Later when you read over notes, you will understand the Bible better and you can answer some of your questions.

Other tools

You may be able to use a Bible Concordance, which lists in alphabetical order all the words of the Bible and their Scripture references. Some Bibles have a small concordance in the back.

Bible dictionary is a tool that provides definitions of difficult words and information about biblical times, places, culture and people.

Bible commentaries are books written by various Bible scholars who share their own understanding of the scriptures based on their long and intense study.

Whatever tool you have in your study time, only Holy Spirit can reveal the meaning of the Word. May The Spirit of God help you to understand the Bible as you submit yourself for the study, Amen.