Tips and Helps for Reading and Understanding Scripture

Christ-Centered View of Scripture
The grand story of Scripture revolves around Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When the Apostle Paul describes our duties as fathers, mothers, children, masters (bosses), slaves (employees), friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies, even in story form, he connects the doing with the Person and Work of Christ. When the Old Testament writers describe a story of sin and repentance (i.e. David and Bathsheba), the implication (however slight) is pointing to a repentance which is only possible because of the (then) future (now-fulfilled) promise of the Messiah (Jesus Christ) Who saves His people from their sins. Without this promise, there is no hope for salvation of any kind even in the Old Testament.

The original writers and recipients of the Old Testament Scriptures understood the Gospel (Luke 24:27), not in the explicit terms as we understand it, but they understood the Gospel nonetheless. They understood it in terms of covenant and promise. Those who believed in the promise of God of the Messiah Who (at that time) will save them from their sins, they were counted as righteous. The Old Testament, except for certain passages, never really speaks directly of Jesus, however, all passages point to Christ in some way. How?

We must continually remember that the God of Scripture is a Trinitarian God, simply put One God in Three Persons. Everything that has been and is done is from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. When God (in the Old Testament) did something, Jesus also participated in some fashion. What God did, Jesus did. And for anyone to come to God, they must come to God through Jesus, whether looking forward to His historical crucifixion or looking back to His historical crucifixion for as the writer of Hebrews explains, "...to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). For anyone to be able to come to God, even in the Old Testament, is to come to God through the Person and Work of Christ. From the Old Testament perspective, it is through the future promise of Jesus the Messiah--they were to believe in the promise of God of the Messiah. From the New Testament, even until today, we are to believe in the fulfilled promise of the Messiah Who is Jesus. The Old Testament Saints looked toward the future historical event of Jesus' crucifixion (even though they did not know the details we know today) and we look back to the already accomplished historical event of Jesus' crucifixion. The Old Testament Saints believed in the future promise of the Messiah and we New Testament Saints believe in the fulfilled promise of the Messiah.

There is only one way of salvation Who is Jesus, but there are many ways to Jesus. We can only properly understand Scripture through the Person and Work of Jesus. Everything God does is from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit.

Never Read a Single Verse
Read at least a paragraph of Scripture when you read Scripture. But also try to read a book in one (maybe two) sitting(s). These books and letters in Scripture were written as a whole and were initially read in whole. We should strive to read each book in whole. But when time does not permit, read at least a paragraph or even a chapter. Do not merely read a single verse- you will not gain as complete a meaning of the passage as you will by reading a paragraph/chapter/whole book.

Scripture as Spoken Word
"...devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13). Even though this passage is speaking to the public reading of the Word in corporate worship, I believe we must also listen to Scripture being read in our personal time. You will pick up things from Scripture while listening that you may not pick up so easily while reading. You will most likely have more time to listen to Scripture than you will to read Scripture. Take all the opportunities to immerse yourself in Scripture- It is also a good thing to listen to the Scripture while reading at the same time.

(I highly recommend getting the Bible on either audio CD or mp3. My preference is the ESV- a very good translation)

Scripture as Prayer
The many times that I do not know what to say in my prayer times, I turn to Scripture and pray passages back to God. Scripture is filled with songs and prayers- the Psalms in particular among many, many other passages. I have used passages from Ephesians (and other books) as prayers for corporate prayer time at my church. But this is also a good practice for personal prayer (whether prayer of praise, thanksgiving, adoration, supplication or confession). What a great way to worship God by using His very Word as a prayer! The bi-product is that you will learn Scripture!

Knowing God
The purpose of Scripture is not that we become holy. The purpose of Scripture is to know this Triune God Who has revealed Himself in Scripture. Becoming holy is a bi-product of knowing God through Christ. With this in mind, I recommend getting to know and understanding all the names of God, as well as each verse/passage each name of God occurs. To help with this, I have published a document with roughly 1,000 names of God. Let the majesty and glory of God overcome you as you learn more about our God.

Spend MUCH Time and Effort Studying Scripture
I know some people do not like Mark Driscoll, however, I recently heard some astounding facts about him. He writes, "I prayerfully choose a book of the Bible (and sometimes a thematic theological series) that bites me and plan on spending months, sometimes years, studying that book in preparation to preach it. A book like Genesis will take me over 1,000 hours of work to study, write commentary, and preach."

He also explains, "Only after I have spent considerable time in the naked text do I check my studies with trusted teachers to ensure that I have not come to heretical conclusions. I try not to pick up the commentaries until I have had many months in the Scripture I am preaching to ensure that I do not get lazy or simply rely on another man's walk with God. I will read it repeatedly in multiple translations, and read every decent commentary from every theological persuasion I can find to examine the book from every angle."

Granted, not many of us are preparing to preach. But I believe the blood, sweat, and tears we pour into understanding the Scriptures is immeasurable! I fail at this- spending much time in Scripture as I would like, but it is one thing I strive to do, and I encourage and exhort you to do the same.

Listen to Sermons
There are so many Gospel-Centered preachers out there that have their sermons on the internet. Seek them out! Listen to them! This will help you understand the Scriptures, as well. And you will be amazed at the multi-faceted glory of our God.

Practice What You Read and Learn
James speaks to this, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." As with me, I deceive myself into thinking I am following God's commands simply because I have striven to understand the text of Scripture, however, merely understanding Scripture is not enough. One of the signs of a true believer of Jesus Christ is the doing of righteousness.

Accountability is huge in this area. Place yourself under accountability with someone- whether it be your spouse, a friend, a sibling, or parent. Place yourself under accountability so that you may learn to practice what you learn and read.

An objection to accountability may be, "but isn't it dangerous to place yourself under accountability?" YES! It is dangerous, but it is even more dangerous to not keep yourself accountable. Think on Matthew 5 for a bit.

Rely on Grace
Grace is the thread by which all of these are tied together. God has given us grace by giving us Scripture, by giving us prayer, by giving us our minds to learn and understand Scripture, by giving us each other in accountability, by giving us participation in our local church, by giving us our Pastors/Elders, and even by giving us our conscience that we may seek after righteousness, but above all, He has given us His Holy Spirit Who points us to our Savior that we may be enlightened to the Truth from which all other truth flow.