No preacher or teacher can adequately preach or teach God’s Word without having adequately read God’s Word. Paul advised his young son in the ministry to “accurately handle the Word of Truth” for “all Scripture,”writes the Apostle, “is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 2:14; 3:16-17
Three Steps to Reading the Bible . . .
1 Read the Bible in in its proper context: You can prove almost anything you want to Biblically, if you take Scripture out of context. Read what the Bible is saying before and after the text. Read other Scriptures that relate to the text and topic that you are preaching or teaching. Be careful that you are saying the same thing God is and that you are not contradicting His Word. What you preach and teach must agree with the whole Bible.
2 Read the Bible bi-focally:That is, read it first as it is reflects the day and age in which it was written. What was the writer saying to the recipients of his day, i.e., what was Paul saying to the church in Corinth when he wrote about eating meat sacrificed to idols (I Corinthians 8)? Secondly, what does it say to us today?
3 Read the text prayerfully: Allow God to speak to you. The Holy Spirit led the mind and heart of those who wrote it (II Timothy 3:16) so, allow God to lead you in the understanding of it.
If other thoughts or recommendations for a proper reading and an adequate understanding of God’s Word come to your mind, please share them. I welcome your comments!