Step 1: Observation

Read the book in 1 sitting (if possible) or in large chunks. Do this more than once. Note cross references for the second or third time through but do not pause constantly in your first pass. Note basic details that you may otherwise ignore. 1.1) Who is involved? 1.2) What are they doing? 1.3) Where are they? 1.4) When did this happen, what happened before? 1.5) Why is this happening, what happened to lead up to this event?

Warnings:

1.1 - Speed reading. Often, either through familiarity, boredom, or lack of time, we tend to rush through a passage. We must learn to take our time, extracting from the text every detail.

1.2 - Trusting our memory. Too seldom do we actually write down what we are seeing in the Bible’s pages, our memory for detail will be greatly enhanced once we start to take notes during the observation process.

1.3 - Giving up. Just because we have already studied a given text does not mean that we know all there is to know about it. Simply because we have not studied the Bible in a classroom environment, or have not gone to Bible college, it does not mean that our Bible study will be ineffective. It is God who rewards the student, as we gain experience in Bible study we will still need to rely on His guiding hand, our mind will simply be better at doing the work of Bible study.

1.4 - Immediate application. Many passages of Scripture may seem to be easily understood, especially to those who read the Bible frequently. In some cases this may not be out of place but in general the point of Bible study is to put off application until we fully understand what we have been studying. The danger of immediate application is that we tend to apply what the passage means to us personally rather than what the author intended the passage to mean to all.

Some of these questions will lead to the next step of interpretation but that is not the goal during the observation step, what you are attempting here is to get a good understanding of the flow of the passage, its surrounding events, its characters – you are in short looking for every detail you can find. Take your time through this stage, as it is foundational to the overall impact of the study.

Step 2: Interpretation

Read like you are a detective, studying the passage for any clues that can help to answer the following questions: 2.1) What is the plain meaning of this passage? 2.2) What would the readers be thinking about while reading this passage? 2.3) What does this mean to us today? *There is often significant distance (historical, political, societal, cultural, geographical, covenantal and positional) between the original readers and us* 2.4 ) Why is this here, what is the theological significance of the text?

Keep in mind that: When the plain sense of Bible makes common sense, seek no other sense, you might find nonsense. The Bible was written for normal people to understand, not merely the super intelligent or those who (according to some cults) claim an additional knowledge not generally given to all. Don't look for hidden meanings unless you have good reason to think there is further meaning that is not obvious or indicated by the surrounding context. This means that we are not to modify the plain sense of the Bible when it contradicts our treasured beliefs but must instead modify even our treasured beliefs when the teaching of the Bible is against them. Remember also to ask questions, Christianity is not a faith for the intellectually challenged and our God is not a God who acts in a manner that is beyond our ability to understand, though He often acts in ways that are beyond our capacity to understand. We can ask questions of all that we read in the Bible and expect reasonable answers that we are able to understand and that are consistent with teachings elsewhere in the Bible.

Step 3: Correlation

Correlation is generally done with interpretation or as a follow up which essentially brings in a second phase of interpretation, or a refinement of your previous thoughts. You bring cross references from the same chapter, book, or entire Bible that will bring clarity. Remember, The Bible is its own best interpreter but that doesn't mean we pull in random texts to redefine the plain meaning. An example of good correlation would be to refer to parallel passages in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) during a study of the gospel of John. A concordance, cross reference system or study Bible will be especially valuable at this stage. Useful practices in correlation are: paraphrasing the passage, summarizing the passage, outlining the passage, and making charts that relate concepts and ideas in the passage to each other and to other passages dealing with similar ideas.

Step 4: Application

Putting legs to your theology... that's where we are. You will not grow by only reading, but by applying what you have learned. However, you shouldn't run around applying things until you fully understand them (thus the previous steps). Be intentional about this and monitor it. I.e. "What have I done differently today, this week, and this month with what I have learned?" Some useful questions:

1. Is there a command or instruction for me to be doing something?
2. Is there a command or instruction for me to NOT be doing something?
3. Is there something here I should be thanking God for or changing my thinking about?
4. Is there a promise or blessing for me I haven't taken hold of?
5. Is there a good example or bad example shown to me?
6. Is there a challenge for me to accept? i.e. not being angry etc.
7. Is there new revelation about God, the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Satan, man?