Living by the Book

An Introduction to Bible Study Methods

Week 3

Titus 3:3-8

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Titus 3:3-8

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:3-8

This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

Where we were?

•Observation•Interpretation•Application•Correlation

Where are we going?

•Observation•Interpretation•Application•Correlation

Application

Integrating what has been interpreted.

Our task, then, is two-sided. First, we must get into the Word of God for ourselves. But then we must allow that Word to get into us, to make a permanent different in our character and conduct.

Living by the Book by Howard and William Hendricks

Application

• Substitutes for Application– Interpretation– Superficial obedience for

substantive life-change– Rationalization for repentance– Emotional experience for a

volitional decision

Application

Knowledge Relate Meditate Practice

Practice

One aspect of world that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once…There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

Words of Caution

Having determined the universal elements of a passage through the process of evaluation, the next step is to discover the exact contemporary situation to which the passage is applicable. For though the truths one may have found are actually timeless, it does not follow that they can be applied indiscriminately to any circumstances.Methodical Bible Study by Robert Traina

Governing Principles

• Principles should correlate with the general teaching of Scripture

• Principles should speak to the needs, interests, questions, and problems of real life today

• Principles should indicate a course of action

Governing Principles

What we are looking for in reading [or studying] the Bible is the ability to turn the two-dimensional words on paper into a three-dimensional encounter with God, so that the text takes on life and meaning and depth and perspective and gives us direction for what to do today.

The Blue Parakeet by Scot McKnight

Shortcuts

• To do and what not to do– Converting the story of the Bible into a

collection of little more than commandments completely distorts the Bible.

• Morsels of Blessing and Promises– Blessings and promises of God in the Bible

emerge from a real life’s story that also knows that we live in a broken world and some days are tough.

• Seeing what is in our head– Instead of being swept into the Bible story,

the Bible gives us an opportunity for narcissism.

• Puzzling together the pieces to map God’s mind– God has given us what He wants us to know

Titus 3:3-8

• From your key learning of the passage, explore some applications

• From your secondary learning of the passage, identify some applications

Next Week

•Observation•Interpretation•Application•Correlation