Bible Study

Martin Luther never intended to start the Lutheran church or launch the Protestant Reformation. This lawyer-turned-monk-turned-priest just wanted the Roman Catholic Church to hold another formal council meeting to discuss some serious problems he'd discovered.

After visiting Rome, Luther was disgusted. The priests didn't know Scripture well enough to teach it properly, and the Pope was actively misusing God's Word for political and financial gain. So Luther started writing pamphlets — essentially topical Bible studies in German, the native language of his people. He wanted ordinary Christians to read Scripture for themselves and discover what it actually said.

Here's why this matters for you today: Luther's reforms gave us the privilege of private interpretation, but most Christians today don't understand the responsibility that comes with it. We can study Scripture like the Bereans to confirm whether what we've learned is true, but we don't have the right to make up our own theology by misunderstanding or pulling verses out of context to bend God's Word to our liking.

And yes, this absolutely happens.

The Darby Disaster

Want proof? For 1,800 years, the church practiced baptism only. Then John Nelson Darby came along in the 1800s and convinced people otherwise. Darby pulled Scripture out of context, elevated implied text over explicit text — which is terrible hermeneutics — and invented or modernized the Pre-Tribulation Dispensational view.

He convinced C.I. Scofield, who was writing a study Bible at the time. The Scofield Reference Bible became incredibly popular and was adopted by Dallas Theological Seminary. Today, Dispensationalism is the only eschatological view they endorse, and now a lot of American Christians follow this recent invention instead of 1,800 years of church history. - I'd have more respect for DTS if they presented all the views and said this is what we suspect is most accurate.

Sharp Edge: You/we are often arrogant Americans. We all too often view the world through the lens of our own society and culture. You are not the original audience for the biblical authors. Again, God's Word is timeless, but let's not throw away our hermeneutics studies and think like Tim LaHaye! He wrote the Left Behind books and made comments about Revelation 2-3, claiming we live in a "church age." That's heresy, folks. There's zero evidence to suggest those seven letters were lip service to the original audience but powerful and specific for us today. None whatsoever!

Darby should have looked at John 17:15 and realized that passage is explicit — we shouldn't elevate implied text over what's clearly stated. Doing so leads to bad interpretation and misleads millions of people.

We have the right to confirm facts through private study. We don't have the right to theorize what's convenient for us. We have the responsibility to get this right, or we become the ones misleading others.

This is why proper Bible study matters so much — and why we're different from 70% of Christians today. - Please help me change this. I don’t care if you agree with me or not, but help me lower the average number of folks who misunderstand the Bible. Then, we can have a meaningful discussion about what you believe later.

Here's where most Christians go wrong: they open their Bibles, read a passage, and immediately ask "What is God saying to me today?" But that's starting at the wrong place. Before you can properly apply Scripture to your life, you need to understand what it meant to the people it was originally written to.

God's Word is absolutely timeless — it speaks to every generation and you'll discover gold nuggets of truth every time you read it. Something new seems to pop up and speak directly to your situation. But here's the critical part: don't close your Bible, call it a day, and think God's been giving you personal messages. That's misleading at best.

Yes, there are plenty of messages woven into Scripture that make it relevant today. God made sure His Word would speak to all generations. But there was a specific audience, and the main point of any passage meant something specific to that audience. This is where we need to start our investigation, not conclude it.

Don't throw away those personal nuggets — they're super valuable and often show how God's truth applies across time. But the main point of the passage is likely even more valuable, and it's our job to search for it first.

This is when we properly let Scripture interpret Scripture. We don't elevate implied text over explicit text. We search to find out who the actual audience was, understand their historical context, and then let the original author's words speak clearly.

Example: When Paul writes to the Corinthians about head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11, you can't just jump to modern application without understanding the cultural context of first-century Corinth. What was happening in their society? What specific problem was Paul addressing? Once you understand that, then you can carefully consider how the underlying principles might apply today.

The Hermeneutics Foundation

This is why understanding hermeneutics — the science of biblical interpretation — isn't optional for serious Bible study. It's the foundation that keeps you from reading your own ideas into the text instead of drawing God's intended meaning out of it.

Most Christians practice eisegesis (reading into the text) when they think they're doing exegesis (drawing from the text). They see a verse that seems to support what they already believe and run with it, never stopping to ask what the original author actually meant.

We talk more about the difference between exegesis and eisegesis in our specific article on that topic — it's cornerstone content that every Christian should understand. But the point here is simple: if you don't start with proper hermeneutics, you'll end up twisting Scripture to say what you want it to say instead of hearing what God actually said.

That's dangerous territory for any believer.

Three practical approaches will cover most study needs — but here's the key: pick the method that fits the passage, not just your preference. Close reading, deep exposition, or topic-focused exploration each serve different purposes.

Most Bible study leaders don't know the difference, but they'll volunteer to lead anyway.

Inductive Bible Study

How-to in brief: Observe the text carefully, interpret its meaning, then apply it. This lets the passage speak for itself without assumptions.

Observation — What does the passage say? Note keywords, repetitions, and context (try Philippians 4:6–7).

Interpretation — Ask about author, audience, and genre to uncover intent.

Application — What one step will you take this week because of this text?

Try this (10 minutes): Read Philippians 4:6–7, note one command and one promise, then write one practical response.

When Inductive Works Best: Luke 15 is a perfect example. Jesus told three parables back-to-back in one sitting to address the Pharisees grumbling about His dinner companions. The Lost Sheep (1 in 100), Lost Coin (1 in 10), and Prodigal Son (1 in 3) all build to one main point: the older brother represents the grumbling Pharisees. Taking weeks to go line-by-line often misses this central message.

Expository Bible Study

This is book- or passage-level study — verse-by-verse, paying attention to context and flow. It's ideal for sermon prep or deep studies of a book.

Focus on context — Where does this passage fit in the book's argument (example: Romans)?

Verse analysis — Break key verses into phrases and note theological implications (see Romans 8:28–30).

Application — How does the author's point shape the church or your life today?

Try this (20–30 minutes): Take one short chapter from a New Testament book and outline its main idea and three supporting points.

When Expository Works: Perfect for working through Romans systematically or studying how Paul builds his argument in Ephesians. But don't force it on passages that were meant to be understood as complete units.

Topical Bible Study

When you want to know what Scripture says about a subject (faith, prayer, forgiveness), gather passages across books and synthesize their message.

Choose a topic — e.g., "faith."

Gather texts — use a concordance or study Bible to find Hebrews 11, Ephesians 2, James 2, or Romans 10:17, for example.

Synthesize — Compare how different books present the topic and note practical takeaways.

Try this (15 minutes): List three passages on your topic, note one common theme, and one way to live that out this week.

The Method Matters

Here's what most Bible study leaders miss: Jesus explained Luke 15 in one sitting, not over weeks. When you use expository methods on inductive passages, you often stop mid-sentence, point at someone, and say "You're the prodigal son!" and we should all rejoice.

Maybe that's a valuable gold nugget for personal application. But you're not the original audience, and that wasn't the main point. The Pharisees were grumbling about Jesus eating with sinners — and Jesus used three parables to show them they were acting like the older brother who resented his father's grace.

Match your method to the passage's structure, and you'll discover what the author actually intended.