9. How shall we study the Bible?
When we receive a letter from a dear friend, we are not content to pick out bits here and there or stop at one reading of it. We read it through, over and over, until we have entered into the spirit of it. So it must be with God’s letter to us. We must make it our daily companion – week in, week out; year after year – and, as we do so, its teachings will sink into our hearts and minds and ennoble our characters.
Daily we will become better acquainted with its divine Author, and our love for Him will deepen and grow. In our reading we shall come across much that we do not understand; but, with each re-reading, fresh light will dawn, for:
No matter how long we live, we shall be continually discovering more and more. Each of us must be fully persuaded in our own mind. Religious books, commentaries, concordances, and marginal references have their
place, but human commentators are not infallible, and nothing can take the place of personal study under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
As the writer already quoted says, ‘It is the first and highest duty of every rational being to learn from the Scriptures what is truth, and then to walk in the light, and encourage others to follow his example. We should day by day study the Bible diligently, weighing every thought, and comparing scripture with scripture. With divine help, we are to form our opinions for ourselves, as we are to answer for ourselves before God. The truths most plainly revealed in the Bible have been involved in doubt and darkness by learned men, who, with a pretence of great wisdom, teach that the Scriptures have a mystical, a secret, spiritual meaning not apparent in the language employed.’
To know what the Bible teaches on a given subject, we must gather together all that it has to say about it. We shall find that some passages are plain and unequivocal, while others are less so. By comparing scripture with scripture and allowing the Bible to be its own interpreter, we can with certainty arrive at a correct understanding. Any interpretation, however ingenious, that makes the Word of God appear to contradict itself is obviously wrong. Only that interpretation which shows the Bible to be in perfect accord is the true one.
The purpose of this course of lessons is threefold:
To kindle in the hearts of men and women a deep and personal love for God and His Word,
To make plain the way of salvation,
To strengthen their faith by opening before them some of the wonderful Bible prophecies and their fulfilment.