Bible Reading Tips from John Stott

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I recently read the book You Can Trust the Bible: Our Foundation for Belief and Obedience by John R. W. Stott ( copyright 1982 Discovery House Publishers edition 1991) and I thought I would pass onto you a framework for Bible reading that could be helpful.

Stott says: "... all the teaching of the Bible can be divided into these three catagories, requiring these three responses" (page 81)
1. revelations of God- the response is worship
2. promises of salvation - the response is trust
3. commandments - the response is obedience

To apply this to the passage you are reading, ask yourself the following questions.
What does this passage teach me about God: Father, Son, and Spirit?
What promises does this passage state?
What commands are given in this passage that I am to obey?

Sample application for what you discover could be:

Worship:
I worship you Lord for.....(list the aspects of God that He has revealed to you from the text).

Trust:
I acknowledge Your Word promises that..(list specific verse/promise/idea).. and I believe You.

Obey:
This command.. (list specific command).. is God's will for me. I will seek to obey Him as I rely on His strength by...... (list specific action).

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 22, 2010 at 10:24 AM

    I'm finally checking out your blog. I love the brevity and practicality of it. I'm going to remind myself to read it every week.

    Rhonda

    ReplyDelete
  2. jessOctober 26, 2010 at 5:37 PM

    WOW! This is exactly what I am struggeling with reading the Bible. I'm not sure if I can conform exactly to this everytime... but I think it's an encouraging format to fall back on when I'm really struggeling about what/why I'm reading. Thanks for this post!

    ReplyDelete

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