Information vs. Transformation

Over the last few years there has been a plaguing thought in my mind - "I wonder how many people just read their Bible aimlessly?" To that end I began to study the, well, study of Scripture. The Lord began to show me so much and after much prayer the Lord led me to prepare a series in youth group about it. Because, let's be honest, the goal of study or knowledge for a disciple of Christ is change...changing to be more like Him and to grow in my relationship with Him. What follows are my notes (condensed) from that series - which was given over a 3 week period.
Let's begin by admitting that because the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore written by God we MUST have the Holy Spirit's help to understand what it says.
1. Place yourself under the authority of Scripture to have your actions and attitudes interpreted by it. (Heb. 4:12-13)
2. Trust your English translation of the Bible:

• There are over 14,000 copies of the New Testament and all of those copies agree completely over 99.5% of the time

3. Do not read into the Scriptures (careful not to read our own agendas and desires into the Scriptures - James 1:22; II Tim. 2:15) rather read FROM them.
4. Interpret the Bible literally...most of the time - just as poetry cannot always be taken literally, so also the Bible. (a resource to help here: www.biblegateway.com then click on "Additional Resources"). However, there is a great portion of the Bible that can be taken at face value.
5. There are descriptive and prescriptive texts of the Bible.(Descriptive texts report what happened whereas prescriptive texts detail what should happen).

• For example Solomon had MANY wives, that does not mean we should do the same.
  

• On the other hand, the Bible includes many texts that tell us to DO SOMETHING, like "love your enemies."

6. Study the Bible intentionally: ask the following questions when reading-

• Who was the author?
• Who was the original audience?
• What was the original cultural context?
• Why was it written?
• What are the units of thought in the book?
• What is the Biblical context - surrounding verses, etc...?
• What is revealed about God (for example, Jesus dies on the cross says that God is LOVE)?
• How does this connect to Jesus?
• What sins do I need to repent of or from?
• What principles need intergration into my life?

7. Don't confuse principles and methods. Principles are timeless and methods are timely.

• Example: Colossians 3:16 commands God's people to sing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. That is a timeless Biblical principle. To be obedient we need to develop cultural methods by deciding when the church gathers, where it gathers, who leads worship in song, what songs we sing, and so on and so forth.
  
• A small rural town may have only an organ for worship - where as a more urban church may have a different blend of musical styles for Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs - both are obedient to the principle without confusing the method.
  

My prayer is that you all find this helpful...though not an end in itself. For more information about resources available for free please comment.