October 25, 2022
Equipping Others to Follow Jesus Through Bible Study
Elder Letter by David Brewer
Studying God’s Word personally and in community is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I do as a follower of Christ. I am so thankful that God chose to reveal Himself through His breathed out written Word that is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). 2 Timothy 2:15 holds out a goal for all of us to strive toward being unashamed before God as a result of “rightly dividing the word of truth.”
As we open the pages of Scripture, we find that God chose to give us His Word through a variety of writing styles. Over 60% of Scripture comes to us in the form of historical narratives but we also see prophetic writings, letters, poetry, and books of wisdom. Although we make adjustments in how we properly interpret each of these genres, knowing that all of Scripture was breathed out by the same divine author reminds of the importance of praying while studying God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is with us to help us understand what He wrote while simultaneously convicting our hearts as we study the Scripture.
Knowing that all Scripture had a divine author working through a human author, our goal in Bible Study is to determine what the text meant to the author. Bible Study often goes awry because we approach it with the goal of determining what the text means to us, the reader, which quite frankly is irrelevant.
Only by first determining what the text meant to the author can we deduce how to draw proper applications to our setting today.
As an aid to the Bible Study GO Group that I am currently teaching, I recently created a model that follows the outline used in what is referred to as the inductive Bible Study method (see below). You will notice that this model represents the initial goal of being obsessed with converging on the purpose and meaning that the author assigns to a text. After the authorial intent is determined, we can then diverge to the possible implications for all Christians while ultimately drawing significance for us personally by asking what should I think/do and who can I help/teach?
I pray this has been instructive and encouraging to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Blessings!
David Brewer
Elder
David Brewer has served as an Elder of Tri-Cities Baptist Church Since 2009. He is married to his wife Lynda and they have four children; Abigail, Philip, Leah, and Elizabeth.