Learn how to apply Biblical texts!
The Last Step
If you’ve made it through the entire series thus far, congratulations! This is the end of the “How to Study the Bible” series with part 6: Application. My prayer is that by reading through this series you have a better understanding of how to approach Bible study in a meaningful and purposeful way and that a desire to study God’s Word has grown within you.
If you haven’t kept up with the series, here’s a recap (with links) of where we’ve been:
Part 2: Researching the Context
Part 6: Application is the last part of an Inductive Bible Study. We’ve prepared for our study by engaging in prayer before, during, and after, we’ve researched the context of the text we are studying, we’ve lived with the text for a given period of time to become familiar with it, we’ve observed the text by asking ourselves, “What does it say?”, we’ve interpreted the text by asking ourselves, “What does it mean?” and now we finish up by asking ourselves, “How should it change me?”
I love that God’s Word describes itself as being “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). No other book can make that claim! When we engage God’s Word, we engage something that has the ability to shape and change us in a way no other text can. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” The Bible doesn’t merely inform us, God uses it to transform us by correcting and training us in righteousness. As we study God’s Word we actively put off our old self and behold the glory of the Lord, as we are being transformed into the same image [of Christ] from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is a worthy pursuit to behold God through his Word as we are transformed into Christ-likeness.
Therefore, one of the most important parts of studying the Scriptures for ourselves is to consider how what we just learned should change us. After we discover the meaning of the text, we need to ask ourselves what that meaning specifically means for us and how we ought to live. This is an important, but admittedly difficult, part of studying the Scriptures.
Take Yourself Out of the Text
When attempting to apply the scriptures to yourself and your life, the very first step is to take yourself out of the text. I know what you’re thinking: “Wait a minute! That doesn’t make any sense. How can I discover what the text means for me if I take myself out of the picture?”
There are two important truths that we need to consider before we think about what the text means for us.
Those important truths are:
- The Bible was not originally written to you
- The Bible is not primarily about you
Let’s consider these two truths for a moment. First, the Bible was not originally written to you. This is an important truth to consider when attempting to apply to the text. When you researched the context of your text, you discovered as much as you could about the original author of the text, the audience to whom he was writing, and some of the circumstances they were facing at the time the book was written. Before thinking about what the text means for us, we need to consider what the text originally meant to them. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, in their book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, say this:
“A text cannot mean what it never meant. Or to put it in a positive way, the true meaning of the Biblical text for us is what God originally intended it to mean when it was first spoken”
This is important to remember and it’s a mistake we often make. An example of this is America’s favorite verse, Jeremiah 29:11. It is often treated as though it was written directly to us. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah. 29:11). I hope I don’t burst any bubbles, but you need to know that this verse was not written directly to you. It was written to Jewish exiles in Babylon who were undergoing suffering but would see a period of prosperity according to God’s will (for more information on this verse, read this great article by Russell Moore). Does America’s favorite verse hold meaning for us? Yes. But we need to first consider what God originally intended it to mean before we think about what it means for us. Otherwise we risk applying it incorrectly.
The second truth to consider is that the Bible is not a book primarily about you, rather it is a book about God. When we approach a text by first looking for what it says about us, we miss understanding what the text is telling us about the character of God. And we can only rightly understand ourselves and how we ought to live when first we rightly understand the character of God.
As Joe Carter says in his article, “5 Ways to Read the Bible for Personal Application“:
The Bible is a book about God, not a book about us. And yet as Paul says, everything in the Bible was written for us.
He then goes on to quote Romans 15:4 (NIV) which says:
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
We can learn about ourselves through the Scriptures, and we should endeavor to do so. In fact, the only way to learn the truth about ourselves is through the pages of Bible. But as we seek to learn more about ourselves, we need to always remember that we are not the main character of the story, God is. We need to first understand what the passage is telling us about God: His character, His conduct, and His concerns, before we can begin to understand how to apply the passage to ourselves.
Questions to Consider
With all of this in mind, I’ve come up with several questions to use with any text that can help you think through the application of that text. Be sure to check out my free printable at the end that has all of these questions printed on a easy-to-use handout for you!
1. What would this text have meant to its original audience?
We start by thinking about the context and considering what God originally intended the text to mean. Only then can we rightly think about what the text means for us.
2. What has this text revealed to me about God’s character, conduct, and concerns?
We then seek out God and his character within the text. Even if God isn’t specifically mentioned, each passage reveals something about Him. For example, God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, but His sovereign hand is very obviously at work throughout the entire story. Write down what the passage has taught you about this awesome God that we worship.
3. In light of who God is, what does the text reveal about who I am?
Now we can bring ourselves into the picture. What does the passage tell you about humans and how we work, think, and act. How do you see your strengths and weaknesses portrayed throughout the pages of Scripture? What does the passage reveal about our purpose, our struggles, and our enduring hope?
4. What has this text revealed to me about what I should believe about God, myself, and God’s plan of redemption for humankind?
It’s important to think about how the text changes what we should believe. We not only need to know how to act on what we’ve learned, but how we should rightly think about what we have learned.
5. What has this text revealed to me about what my heart should desire?
Along with changing the way we think, we need to consider how our desires should change in light of what we’ve learned.
6. What has this text revealed to me about how I should respond to God?
Considering what you’ve learned in the text, how will you now respond to this God whose character has been revealed to you?
7. What has this text revealed to me about how I should respond to others?
How can you better love your neighbor as a result of learning more about God and yourself through the text?
8. What are some specific practical things I can do or changes I can make to better respond to God and others?
How will your behavior change as a result of what you’ve learned. List some practical things you can do. Always keep in mind that we need the power and strength of God to make any sort of change in our lives. He alone is the heart-changer. Pray and ask God to give you the desire and ability to make these changes.
These questions were inspired by the article 8 Questions to Help You Understand and Apply the Bible by Matthew Harmon.
Some of the questions may have overlapping answers and some questions will be easier to answer than others depending on the passage. But thinking through how the text should change us is a critical part of studying the Bible.
Free Tools for You!
My prayer is that you’ve found this series helpful as you endeavor to study God’s Word for yourself. Throughout the series I offer free printables with almost every step. These are free for you to download, print out, and stick in your Bible Study Notebook to help you remember each part of the process. Click the image below to download the free printable on Application.
For further help, check out my Inductive Bible Study Workbooks on the books of Ruth and James (Genesis 1-3 coming soon!). These are totally free and available for download. To get access to these workbooks, click here or enter your email in the gray box below.
May your heart change to look more like Christ’s as you faithfully study God’s Word!
