Right Attitudes When Reading the Bible

The Bible: God Speaking to Man

The Bible is an ancient text, having first been penned thousands of years ago. It’s also a living text, containing real truths we can apply today and offering invaluable insight into the nature of God and the salvation He freely provides. Some people try to dismiss its legitimacy and relevance in modern times with comments like, “The Bible is all fiction, none of the events in it actually happened,” or “It’s outdated – the authors had no idea of the challenges we face today.”

However, the thing about Biblical truths is that they’re timeless. God Himself wrote His Word, divinely inspiring the people who penned it, and its words are as unchanging as He is. It’s our window into His nature and He speaks to us through its pages. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

So how do we access this Godly wisdom? What are some principles, best practices, and habits to use as we study? The Bible is so full of information and some of it is hard to interpret or doesn’t make sense in 2021.  Here are some helpful guidelines I use every day, and they really help me get the most out of my Bible time.

1. Believe in the accuracy of things presented as historical fact.

The events in the Old and New Testament presented as a statement of fact, such as, “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words” from Genesis 11:1, actually mean what they say. Everyone spoke the same language, which would make sense since everyone learns language from their parents and we all started with a literal Adam and a literal Eve.

Archeologists are continuing to find more and more evidence that supports the accuracy and the authenticity of the written history found in the Bible. The actual graves of the patriarchs have been found right where they were reported to have been buried in the Bible. Cities once thought to be fictitious because they were only mentioned in God’s Word have been discovered and proven to be real places with real history. 

For more specific instances of the veracity of the Bible, read this.

2. Listen for the Author’s intention.

Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3 that “all scripture is inspired by God” which means it was His idea to reveal Himself to mankind in this way. When we read scripture, we need to keep in mind that God’s voice is speaking to us through the Bible’s pages. The specifics may not apply to us, but we can use God’s words to paint the picture of His character. He is sharing His value system with us in its pages. He is sharing His depth of love for us as we see Him looking for Adam and Eve in the Garden after the Fall. He is sharing His holiness with us as we see the Ten Commandments given on Mount Sinai. He is sharing His mercy as we see Him dealing with King David after he commits adultery and murder. He is sharing His purpose of redemption and restoration through the prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel. He is sharing His great power through the miracles He did in Egypt for the Israelites. He is sharing Who He is also with us today, because He never changes.  

Ultimately, He is sharing Himself with us. As the curtain opens on the New Testament, the words of Isaiah are still in the air…

… as Christ—God’s most complete revelation of Himself to us— enters the scene as a newborn babe.

The Old and New Testaments are both reflections of God’s character and personality. This does apply to us in that the same God Who walked the Garden with Adam split the Red Sea for Moses, struck down Goliath before David, and leveled the walls of Jericho. He is our God too and He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

3. Use two or more corroborating verses to ensure the right interpretation.

God’s Word is sure and true always and forever, but our understanding and ability to interpret it will grow as we discover who He is in His Word. There are many ideas I have had over the years about how a verse should be interpreted that have changed as I was exposed to more scripture and meditated on them. Our ideas, especially the ones that seem “revolutionary,” need to be held loosely until we can see agreement throughout the Word to corroborate them.

The principles God reveals in His Word are oftentimes repeated multiple times. For example, God tells us not to give in to fear 365 times in the Bible. If He says it this many times, He must really want us to get it! When you find a new conclusion to draw about what God is communicating in a verse, always do additional study to ensure it’s supported in other verses as well.

This is where serious study of God’s Word begins.

4. Use the New Testament for instructions for daily living.

Verses in the Old Testament are useful for revealing God’s character and personality to us, but the New Testament is more useful to the Christian as a source of instruction because it was written specifically to us today and for us to follow.

Practical Application

Just as your physical body needs food to remain healthy and productive, so does your inner spirit and soul need daily nourishment in the Word of God. Remember, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states,

When contemplating decisions and interpretation of events in our lives, this is the order of importance I use to determine the validity of various thoughts. (And we are to take EVERY thought captive to Christ [2 Corinthians 10:5], so we should keep that in mind at all times!)

Order of Importance According to God’s Word:

1. Jesus’s Words and Actions
2. God’s written word (Old and New Testament)
3. Holy Spirit’s guidance (which will always agree with the first two)
4. Our own reasoning directed by Godly principles
5. Wise counsel of spiritual leaders in our lives
6. Expression of spiritual gifts
7. Our experience and the experience of others

Now we don’t naturally choose that. As a matter of fact, if left to our own devices we tend to get it all mixed up and then we wonder why we are confused and can’t make good decisions. We may even begin to blame God for our circumstances when we are simply dealing with the repercussions of our own foolishness.  

Knowing the tendency of our fallen nature to have a different set of priorities than God, here is a list of how many of us rate the sources we use in our decision-making: 

1. Our feelings
2. Our thoughts
3. Our experience
4. Our friends’ opinions, feelings, thoughts, and experience
5. Experts
6. (If a believer) our pastor
7. (If a believer) the Word of God

Since the ONLY source listed here that is infallible is the last one, I think we can see where we tend to go wrong in our decisions! Jesus spoke about the conundrum of what we choose to build our lives on in the parable of the two houses in Matthew 7:24-27:

What Are You Building On?

I want to encourage you today to choose the right foundation. YOU build your house — your life, your legacy, your future, your eternity, your children’s foundation— every minute, every day, every month, every year, either based on the Rock of God’s Word or the sand of yourself and your perceptions and experiences. God has given you that choice and will not override your free will, even though He knows the better way for you. But He will also not remove the consequences of your decisions so that you may learn what you need to learn through the hardship, and hopefully repent, grow, and mature, and have the life He wants for you!

Prayer to God for help:  Dear Patient Father, thank You for showing me that I need to change. I know it is only out of Your great love for me that You led me to this word and that You only want good things for me. Help me to let go of my own ideas and fully embrace Your wisdom in every area of my life. Your will for me is so good, and I don’t want to miss any of it! Please show me where I have compromised Your will and replaced it with my own. I choose life! I choose You! Thank You for Your help to live a life worth living! I love You Father. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.