September 7, 2022 | Alexander Breytenbach

Reading the Bible is something every believer knows they ought to be doing. However, there seems to be a great chasm between what the Christian observes from their pews on Sunday and what they see themselves when they crack open their Bible in the quiet hours of the morning. This is discouraging. We can sometimes overcomplicate the simple act of reading the Bible. So I propose that we can segment the process into a few questions that we may ask of every passage of Scripture.

Do not skip over this step, nor confuse it with the following elements of interpretation. Before we dare interpret the text, we must first set out to see what it says. When I was forced to keep a lab notebook while doing research, I learned that it is a standard practice to clearly delineate the difference between an observation and an inference. Understanding the difference will save us many headaches as we labor to preserve the meaning of a  text of Scripture.

When we are looking at the text and observing, it may be wise to first read the passage several times. Perhaps before we begin a new book (and before we take a peek into the abundance of helpful resources), we resolve to read that book in its totality a handful of times. This can guard our emphasis on any one text as we bite off smaller chunks in the future. 

It may be helpful to keep a journal or a notebook which can serve as a medium for thinking and recording. This is especially helpful if you read in several different places throughout the week, and it can preserve your thoughts on a book from day to day so you can make quick reference to previous sections.

The primary goal here is to only note things that are explicitly in the text. If you are not able to take your finger and point to a letter on the printed page, then it is an invalid observation. We may note a whole host of things in the observation stage that will only become clear as we work into interpretation.

ex.) “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:2-3) Observation: There are two different kinds of spirits, those from God and those not from God. The confession that Jesus has come in the flesh separates them.

Now that you have a smattering of ideas scrawled into a notebook, it is time to make connections. When we make an inference about the text, we go beyond what has been printed and press into the text a touch more. Inferences are guarded by the printed text but also seek to make sense of what has been printed.

ex.) “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:2-3) Inference: People have different understandings about Jesus and what he is like. Some say he is from God, and others say he is not from God. Saying he is from God is synonymous with saying he has come in the flesh in this context.

Now that we have cut our teeth on the passage we may desire to synthesize the information into a larger framework of understanding. This is where we can  take a step back and ask how the passage  might be informed by the larger work of the author, or even by other books within the corpus of Scripture.

ex.) “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:2-3) Conclusion: Earlier John was discussing those who are antichrists (1 John 2:18-25). They deny that Jesus is Christ, and in doing so, they miss who the Father is. The correct understanding of Jesus is not only important for understanding Jesus, but it is also important for understanding the Father. To deny that Jesus came in the Flesh is to deny the Father who sent him. Not only is this a distortion of the trinity, but it is also a distortion of the love of God. The love the Father commands from us is something he also models for us in the enfleshment of Jesus (1 John 3:11-24). Getting Jesus right helps us to understand the love of God.

This question can not come before we have done our due diligence. For whatever benefit we may derive from applying the text must be authenticated by a confidence that God really said it.

ex.) “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:2-3) Application: Getting Jesus right is not an arbitrary dispute that divides us unnecessarily, but is at the core of our understanding about God. The Father sent his Son as a means of putting his love on display for the world to see and for his people to experience. Those of us who do confess this about Jesus can know that God loves us and that he moves from his heavenly throne to show us that love by means of himself. If we are feeling convicted of sin we can rest in such love. Let us hold fast to this confession and assure our souls of the great love with which he has loved us. Surely it will be a source of renewal for us as we continue our journey to the heavenly city.

As we take time to parse out the steps of reading the bible - from observation to application - we create good habits. None of what has been outlined above can be divorced from prayer. We know that we are dependent upon God’s grace to bless our efforts and bring forth fruit from our labor. So while it was not mentioned in any one discreet step, we would be foolish not to bathe our reading of God’s word in prayer, plead for insight, and upon receiving insight, thank God for his kindness to us.