Key Bible Passage(s):
Ps.119:27 & 34; Deut.4:29; II Pet.3:15-16;
Tier 1:
Although the Bible is designed to be understood, we do have a propensity to make it hard for ourselves. Sin distorts our desires and confuses our thinking, and so there are times when we want to make the Bible obscure, so that we can give ourselves room for maneuver. We need a virtuous circle in which we are learning to love what God loves and to reshape our mind so that they are better placed to connect with the teaching of the Bible. This is established in an atmosphere of grace and confidence that the Lord will reveal Himself to us.
Tier 2:
Some passages are hard to understand. Some can be quite shocking, and even disturbing to read. The Bible itself is aware of this, and it may be that we have to live with questions for years before a passage begins to come into focus. In the meantime, there are plenty of other parts of the Bible we can get our hearts and minds around! The key to unlocking a passage can often be found elsewhere in the Bible - but finding it and recognizing it for what it is can often take time!
Tier 3:
Don’t ignore the questions. It can be easy to shut down a conversation because of our preconceived ideas. We simply can’t imagine that the passage means what it says it means. Or perhaps when we realize that we’ve got it wrong before we can get defensive, and fight for what we thought we knew, rather than to recognize the Spirit beckoning us into a deeper insight, and through that into a deeper worship and realization of who God is.
Let it be a settled principle in our minds, in reading the Bible, that Christ is the central sun of the whole book. So long as we keep Him in view, we shall never greatly err in our search for spiritual knowledge. Once losing sight of Christ, we shall find the whole Bible dark and full of difficulty.
J C Ryle
Group Discussion:
Is our own sin always the reason we don’t understand the Bible? What other reasons are there that you might not be able to make sense of Scripture?
What should you do if you disagree with something that is preached in a Church service? How do we balance our own convictions with the teaching of the Church family?
How do we keep Church unity when we have different views on what the Bible teaches?
and later in the session:
Do you agree with the analysis offered in this session? How much of this resonates with your experience of struggling to make sense of the Bible?
Do you have examples of where your understanding of something in the Bible changes? What happened?
How serious is it if you misunderstand something in the Bible?
How will this affect your approach to Bible reading?
Homework:
Over this half-term we have been working to memorise Matthew 6:16-24. You will have to keep refreshing Matt.5:1-26, Matt.6:5-15 & 25-34 and Matt.7:7-28 whilst you do this.
(we’ll memorise the whole of the Sermon on the Mount over the 3 years of DTP)
Read through Ps.119. Pick out the ‘prayers’ about reading the Bible. Compile them into something you can use when you read Scripture.
If you are planning to do a Bring ‘n’ Share meal next week part of the homework can be preparing for that.
A popular way of gaining a quick overview of Books of the Bible has been developed by The Bible Project. Here is their video on Hebrews to give you a taste of how it works:
