The text book for Bible study is…wait for it…the Bible. It
is not some denominational publication, some bestselling book or some opinion
session about God. The text book is the plenary, inspired, literal, infallible Word
of God, the Bible. Use it and you will NEVER run out of relevant material and
its message is 100% as current as it was in the eternity God first thought of
it.
In order to properly teach the Bible, Bible study leaders
must be steeped in it themselves. They must know the perfect context of every
word of it, in terms of the words used, the verse in which they are used, the
chapter they’re found in, the book of the Bible they’re in, the testament they’re
in and the Bible as a whole.
They must realize that the Bible is God’s revelation of His
character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption. They must
not deviate from this revelation.
If you teach the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter or
from beginning to end, you will not miss any topic ever conceived in the mind
of man. That is why exegetical teaching is superior to topical teaching.
Topical teaching carries with it the danger of becoming a
philosophy study backed up by random verses that may or may not genuinely apply
to the topic. Thousands of cults, sects, and heresies are formed just this way,
and you are not smart enough to resist allowing Satan to lead you in the same
direction.
The Bible does not exist to support your spiritual
philosophy, your mind set or your ideology. It exists to reveal to you the mind
of God and to conform you to it. It exists to reveal to you His plan of
salvation. Its theme is the gospel. It has no other. Its objective is to bring
people to God through Christ.
A Bible study leader/teacher would do well to understand
those truths before beginning any Bible study session.
While college and seminary education has some value, any
priest can properly interpret the Bible if he sets his mind to discovering its
truths in their context. By the way, if you are a Christian you ARE a priest,
and thus can rightly divide the Word of God if you use the proper approach.Every Bible study teacher should have and make use of a good concordance, such as Strong's or Young's. He should also have a good Bible dictionary, Internet access (although you have to be careful on the Internet. There's a lot of very bad misinformation out there) and maybe a Greek/English, English/Greek lexicon (again, be careful. These can easily be misused and misunderstood). A really well put together lesson plan book can be helpful if it is not used as a substitute for the real text (the Bible).
Bible study can be as shallow or as deep as you want it to
be. It can be geared to preschoolers, grammar school students, teens, young
adults, middle adults and any age groups in between. And it should be. Every
Bible study lesson should be targeted to the group studying it. More mature
Christians require a different approach from those younger in the Lord, as well
as in age.
The Bible should NEVER be MADE relevant. It IS relevant. It
deals with the deepest needs of the darkest corners of every heart. It is the
vehicle by which you can be introduced to the presence of God! It is the
revelation of the greatest gift any person has ever received, the gift of
salvation through Christ.
All Bible study should lead to that end. It should have as
its point that whosoever will may come to God blameless if they place their
trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.
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