Question: Do you recommend a certain way of reading the Bible?

Question: I want to thank you for your newsletter and radio programs. They have been a great encouragement to me to take the Bible more seriously. I especially like what comes off as a genuine enthusiasm, a real love, for the Scriptures. But I’m curious. Do you recommend a certain way of studying the Bible?

Response: Our recommendation is to just start reading it. And read it, and read it, and read it—certainly with a prayerful heart, a sincere heart, a heart that wants to do what it says, but read it! Get familiar with it (2 Tm 2:15) and ask the Holy Spirit for understanding (Jn:16:13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
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As you read the Sacriptures, you will inevitably come across something that provokes curiosity: “What does that mean?” So then, you’re going to have to probe deeper. You need to compare Scripture with Scripture. We believe that the Bible is its own best commentary. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and a good Bible dictionary, such as Vine’s, which is keyed to Strong’s Concordance, are excellent helps along the way. Using these tools, one can see where else in Scripture a certain word has been used and begin to understand the context. 

The Bible is a deep book, and we’ll never get to the bottom of it. But let’s not read it superficially—let’s work at understanding the depths of what it says.

We need to read the whole Bible. We can’t just know a few verses here and there; we shouldn’t have only a couple of favorite places in the Bible that we like to read over and over again. We need to know it from Genesis to Revelation. This takes time and diligence, but the more you study it, the more you will see! This is God’s Word. And it really speaks to our hearts—it draws us into a deeper understanding.