My Personal Bible Study Methods

I've been a part of Bible Study Fellowship for a few years now.  I love it for so many reasons.  One of the reasons is because of how it saturates me with God's Word.  During one week's lesson, I look at the same verses in four different ways: personal study, group discussion, the teaching and notes.  But this blog isn't about BSF's ways.  It's about mine.

I've taken that same idea of layering my Scripture reading. Just so you know, I do my bible study at night.  First I'll pick a book or chapter and read a few verses that day.  If there's anything that sticks out, I'll write it down.  If I write something down, I'm much more likely to remember it.  The next day I'm hopefully thinking about what I read the night before.  The next night, I might read the same passage again, just to remind myself of what it said.  After that, there are a few things I can do.  I can read a commentary.  My favorite one is Bible Believer's Commentary because it gives a concise overview of the passage.  Or I can look up some words that stuck out to me in the Greek or Hebrew, to get a better understanding of the definition.  There are also Bible Dictionaries and Handbooks.  I might also look up other verses that relate to the ones I'm reading.  There's an almost infinite number of things we can do to fully understand what the Bible says. As I post from my own personal studies, I'll try to label where I'm pulling things from and give other options.

I don't do all of these things the same night.  I'll pick a commentary one night.  Then maybe a Bible Dictionary the next.  I might get caught up in a really cool Greek word and do a separate study on that one word (eilikrines is a good one!).  Eventually I'll come back to the original passage and move on to the verses following.

Oh and just so you know, by no means am I consistent in my own bible studies.  That's part of why I'm posting them, so I'll have a little more accountability.  But there is one great thing I've learned over the years:  if I ever do leave off my study for a while, I don't beat myself up about.  I just jump right back in where I left off.

- Erika

Philippians 2:1-2 Reflections

After reading and re-reading just these first two verses, something sunk in finally.  So, if we have any of the attributes listed in verse 1:  the consolation of love, fellowship in the Spirit, affection, compassion then we should move forward and have the following:  the same mind, the same love, the same purpose, and being united in spirit.  But wouldn't it also work the other way around?  If we are having a hard time with that unity of believers that Paul asks for, then we should focus on the first verse again.  Instead of perseverating on what is causing the disunity, we should train our minds to remember the consolation of love, the fellowship, the affection and/or the compassion we have for them.
- Erika

Philippians 2:1-2

"If there is any consolation of love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection, compassion, then be of the same mind, with the same love united in spirit, with one purpose."

We so often focus on the next two verses (3 and 4) in this chapter that I think the wisdom of the first two verses sometimes get skipped.

- Erika

Phil 1:10 Thoughts

After my word study on this verse, I came away with this conclusion:  We are to be sincere (not hypocritical or deceptive) and blameless (being the kind of person that others want to be around, even when we differ in our beliefs) in our faith.

I think these are two things believers in the Western world struggle with and against.  Being sincere is so important in our culture today because of all the pseudo-Christians that are not.  Well known pseudo-Christians, as well.  I can't judge their souls; I don't know if they're true Christians or not.  But our country has a history of Christian leaders who ask for our money and then get put in jail for fraud.  To me, that is the epitome of insincerity.  And that's just one type.  What about the preachers who are only concerned about the pews being filled instead of the maturity of the ones already in the pews?  We could go further back, before America was born, to the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the practices of the church that started the Reformation.  The motives behind our evangelism have often been questioned by the world, for good reason.  So not only do we have to struggle within ourselves to be genuine when we speak about our faith, but we have to struggle against our history, the past abuses of people under the broad label of 'Christian'.

Blameless: Not offending; not causing others to stumble.  Paul often talks about being at peace with our fellow man, being a pleasing aroma to our neighbor.  There are so many divisive political issues right now, and in big, black thick ink the line has been drawn between conservative and liberal.  In no way do I think that believers are meant to keep silent and not enter the debate.  But what's our motive when we do debate with others of differing views?  Is it to win them to Christ?  Or is it to win the argument for ourselves?  Paul says in 1Cor. 10:32-33, "Give no offense either to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of many, so that they may be saved."  If our intent is to proclaim Christ in all we do, then even if we do get into a debate with someone over the validity of the healthcare law, they should come away saying, "We might disagree on some issues, but that's a pretty decent character there."  They should be more attracted to the Way of Christ after the debate than before, not necessarily by our words but by the action of being blameless.

-Erika

Philippians 1:10 Word Study

Vs 10 "so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ."
Sincere = eilikrines - to shine, the sun (eili) + to judge (krines)  It also can mean pure.  Guileless, transparent, or  acting with full disclosure.  The word originates with the Greek market for pottery.  There were two kinds of potter: real (or sincere) and fake.  The fake potters would take bits of old pots and form a new pot using a form of wax.  The customer could judge whether it was real pottery by holding it up to the sun.  The sun would shine through the wax though, allowing the customers to know if it was real or fake. Hence the genuine pottery was called 'sincere'. 
Blameless (forgot to write down the Greek word) - to not offend or cause others to stumble.  This is not generally used to mean without sin. It is the word used in various letters by Paul when he says to be pleasing to others (See 1Cor. 10:31-11:1) so as not to offend them, in order that they might be saved.

So we are to be sincere (not hypocritical or deceptive) and blameless (being the kind of person that others want to be around, even when we differ in our beliefs) in our faith.

- Erika

Philippians Chapter 1

vs 6 "For I am confident in this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
vs 9-10 "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ."
My own thoughts:
Our love must grow.  How?  In real knowledge and all discernment.  Why?  So that we may approve the things that are excellent from what is bad, perverted, corrupt so that I can be sincere or transparent, not fake or false or deceptive, as well as without blame, until the day I see Christ face-to-face.
Love is the foundation for real knowledge and discernment.  We must have love to have those other things.

- Erika