truth on Bible study

Understanding the Bible requires nothing more than the Bible itself^1,3,6,9 and a diligent, open, seeking heart^2,6,8,10. With our prayer to God for understanding^4,7, He has promised that we will find (or, know) Him^8,9,10. It is, in fact, the only way we can know His will for us.^1,7,9

Of course, the word may travel by way of a teacher/preacher⁶. There are some portions or topics that are difficult⁵, but Scripture’s promise^3,10 is that we can grow in the truth⁹ with careful, diligent study^2,6.

The Bible is the complete revelation of God^{1,2,6,7,9,10,11,12,13}. While there was a time God spoke to man through prophets^5,8, that time was replaced by the gospel revelation through His son, Jesus Christ and His time on earth^5,9,10 and His appointed apostles^9,10,11,13.

As of the first century, God’s word had been proclaimed throughout the whole world^4,6,8. If the word was sufficiently complete in the first century to save individuals^{1,3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12}, how is it any less complete now and why would it be necessary for God to reveal more? The foundation^9,12 would not still be being laid some 2,000 years later.

We should have full confidence in Scripture interpreting Scripture since all Scripture is divine and perfect (from God)^1,6. Its entirety forms a complete picture^{2,8,9,10,12,13}. The very idea that God is the sole author^1,6 forces the conclusion that Scripture cannot contradict itself⁵ and must also interpret itself since God cannot lie. Of course, we still must draw conclusions and/or teach/explain as needed^7,9,14. Jesus required the lawyer to form a conclusion after reading it¹⁰ (and only it). Scripture is the sole source for morality and obedience…it was this way for those under the Law^3,4,7,8,10 (“Scripture” for that time) as well as for those (like Timothy¹ and us) under the Gospel^9,11,13,14.

We can only interpret prophecy to the extent that God, through another inspired writer^2,4,6, has revealed what it means¹. For example, we have cases where we would never even think to make application on our own, and yet the inspired writer does⁵. In fact, interpreting Bible prophecy and how we handle it in general is the ultimate example of how Scripture interprets Scripture, or literally, God interprets God¹.

There is no precedent in Scripture for “Scripture Weighting.” Quite the contrary. All Scripture is divine and perfect^1,7; they are His words⁵. God is the sole author^1,5. Further, it is only when taken in its entirety that we get a complete picture^2,7. It is consistently put forward as equal weight since “all” is always the standard for understanding — Old^4,6 and New^1,3. Never has God said, “Read it all, but you really only need to focus here.”

May we never scripture weight – whether by authorship, testament, or presupposition. Instead, seek to gather all that Scripture has to say on the matter and only then make careful conclusions.