If you are anything like me, what I am about to describe is familiar. After promising yourself that you are finally going to begin a regular pro­gram of Bible reading, you pick up your Bible, open to the book you have chosen to read ... and almost instantly feel that familiar sensation slide over you. It’s the sensation caused by two common ques­tions.

The first question is: “How am I meant to read this book so that I understand it as God intended?”

The second question, usually hot on the heels of the first, is something like: “Even if I can understand it, how do I go about applying it to my life?” This second question is usually enough to shatter our resolve and send us fleeing back to the TV.

In giving some guidance on these two questions, I want to deal with understand­ing three things: the nature of God’s Word, the meaning of a passage, and the importance of the purpose. Having some insight into all three is important for us in reading the Word with profit.

The starting point for all profitable Bible study is in understanding the nature of God’s Word. Here I want to mention only a few things briefly, because I am assuming that most Presbyterians are aware of and agree about them.

First, we know that all Scripture is infallible and completely trustworthy (2 Tim. 3:16). We should never write off any part of the Bible as useless, or as some sort of accidental inclusion on God’s part. Not only that, but because God intends it to be useful to us, He has given it to us in a form that we can understand. Some books require more work than others, but there is nothing in the Bible that we should be afraid of approaching with the right tools.

Second, Scripture has a purpose and the power to achieve it (Heb. 4:12). As we read the Bible, God’s Spirit works through it to transform us. If we make Bible reading a regular habit, we should not expect to walk away unchanged.

Third, due to the power of sin within us, Scripture is impossible for us to understand without God’s help (1 Cor. 3:14). Unless God reveals the truth to us we cannot know it. This means that all serious Bible study must begin and continue in prayer.

Fourth, we need to feed on God’s word as vitally as we need our earthly food each day (Deut 8:3). We notice very quickly the effects of going without food for a day, including a loss of physical alertness and strength. The same principle applies to our spiritual lives when going without God’s Word.

So, with these principles in mind, where do we start in understanding the meaning of a passage of Scripture? Let’s begin with context. At the macro level, this means understanding where the passage fits into the overall nar­rative or argument of the book. Each pas­sage is going to be related to what has come before it and what comes immedi­ately after. Does broadening the scope of the reading to look at these things help bring out the meaning?

For instance, in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul warns:

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred and you are that temple.

For a long time I assumed that he was referring to individu­als as the temples of God’s Spirit. So I assumed the passage meant that if anyone harms another Christian, God will judge that act.

But when I looked at the wider con­text, I discovered that it was about leader­ship and divisions in the church. The Corinthians were siding with human lead­ers against each other, rather than being a unified body under Christ. In this broader context, it becomes clear that the temple is not an individual but the whole of the church body. Paul is warning against any human leader who brings division to the church body and directs attention away from Christ.

So the immediate context of a passage is very important to us.

The Biblical context is also important. Each passage is part of a book, and each book is part of the entire Bible. And the Bible, because it is from the mind of God, has a unity of message and purpose that binds it together. If we understand that the primary focus of the Bible is the reve­lation of God’s redemptive purposes in Christ, and on glorifying God Himself, then how does the book you are reading fit into that unfolding message?

Last, we need to consider the historical context of the book. When was it written, by whom and to whom? These things can help us understand specific cultural or his­torical elements that might exist in the text.

Consider, for example, the cross. To us, it is a symbol of Christ. But to a 1^st cen­tury Jew or Roman, it was a symbol of the death given to common criminals. Does this context help us understand Jesus’ instruction to followers to “take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23)? I have often read this to mean we need to imitate Christ even to the point of suffer­ing or death. But the original hearers never thought that Jesus was going to be crucified, and could not have made this association. To them, they were being told to effectively “die” before they followed Jesus. So the message was less about imi­tating Christ than forsaking all things to follow him. The context allows us to understand what the cross meant to Jesus’ hearers.

Another key step in understanding a passage’s meaning is to look for its central themes. One useful method is to look for concepts or words that are repeated. Think about the first few chap­ters of Paul’s letter to the Romans and how frequently he uses words such as “faith”, “justification” and “grace”. That sort of repetition is a clear indication of what some of his key concerns are.

In some biblical texts, we may need to examine a much larger body to get at the key themes. Consider, for example, the narrative of Joseph, which comprises the last 13 chapters of Genesis. One of the key themes is God’s sovereign grace working throughout Joseph’s life to bring about good for His people. But this is only really identified when you study the narrative as a whole, rather than any indi­vidual chapter.

We have covered context and theme. A third important step in identifying mean­ing is to seek to understand the text as the original recipients would have. In other words, what was the author’s original intent? Only when we have done this should we try to apply it to our modern context. This will prevent us from putting a modern interpretation on a biblical text that it could never have originally pos­sessed, for example, interpreting the book of Exodus as a justification for a Marxist opposition to capitalism. Our most important rule here is that, unless we have a specific reason for believing otherwise, the contemporary meaning of the text will always be exactly what it was to its origi­nal recipients — so deriving this original meaning is critical.

In all of these things — context, theme and original intent — we can benefit greatly from using commentaries, Bible dictionaries and other tools available to us. God has already led many wise people through the process of understanding his Word. Why not benefit from the insights He has given them?

Lastly, recognise that the Bible is a complex book. It was written over a period of 2000 or so years, and it has numerous authors from many walks of life, who have a wide range of styles.

Different sorts of approaches tend to be needed for different types of writing. A good book on the sub­ject is How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart.

Many people stop with understanding the meaning of a passage, but this does not go far enough. The Spirit of Christ wrote the Bible for a purpose, and it’s that purpose he seeks to achieve as we study it. We need to know more than simply what a passage means. We need to know its purpose.

Consider Romans 5-8. Here Paul pro­vides for us many arguments and illustra­tions designed to assure us of our security in Christ. He talks of Christ being like Adam, and Christ’s sacrifice redeeming mankind in a similar but greater way than Adam’s sin condemned it. He speaks of the power of the indwelling Spirit to change our wills and make us obedient to Christ. He speaks of our freedom from slavery to sin. He talks about the forgive­ness and love of our God, who, if He was willing to give up His own Son when we were His enemies, will surely not hesitate now to fulfill His purpose in us.

Without doubt, our first step is to understand the meaning of these things. But even once we have done that, what is equally important is why God has written them.

Why is Romans 5-8 there? Could it be because God knows how fragile our faith can be? Because He knows how fearful we can become that something will one day remove us from Him? Because He knows we find it hard to believe one man’s death can really atone for our sin? Because He knows that like wayward sheep, even as His children, we sometimes wander down dark paths and just can’t seem to find a way back?

I think we have Romans 5-8 because God recognises these frailties within us, and wanted to give us something to cling to whenever such fears overcome us. It is meeting this spiritual need that is one of the purposes of this passage. And in real­ising this, we will turn to it in times of doubt and darkness, thereby using it as God intended.

Discovering the purpose of a passage involves taking the meaning and asking questions of it. What need in me does this answer? What sin does it expose? What erroneous thinking does it correct? What fear does it relieve? What assurance does it provide? What comfort does it bring? What holiness does it encourage? What praise does it evoke? What is it within me or my relationship to the world or to God that this passage seeks to redress?

All of Scripture is there to teach us, to encourage us, to rebuke us, to train us. All of it addresses in some way the character of God, the character of man, and the shattered (and restored) relationship between the two. It answers our deepest spiritual needs and longings. Whatever passage you are reading, it will act towards these goals. We discover its purpose when we find out how it does this.

Because of this, one of the best ways to approach this process is to ensure other people are involved. Studying the Bible in groups is extremely beneficial. When several people are all asking these questions of the text, and are sharing what impact it has on them, then we can all understand more fully the way the Spirit uses it to achieve God’s purposes.

It would be nice if the Bible was a book we could simply pick up, understand easily, and walk away from feeling fully trans­formed. Then we would not have to lift a finger in our efforts to relate to our Lord. But God has chosen not to give it to us in quite that way. He wants us to put effort into our relationship with Him, just as He is always working to love and care for us. God wants us to read and meditate on the Word. It can take some work. It may often mean studying it alongside a good commentary or a group of our brothers and sisters. It might mean doing more than just reading, but actually taking notes, re-reading sections and otherwise applying a rigorous analytical approach. But the Bible is there for our good. It is our bread and we should eat it. We should not fear the food our Father has set out before us.