In Application, God’s Word Studies Us As was mentioned at the end of chapter 9, many of the specific principles for applying Scripture are related to the genre or type of literature of the passage or book. These principles are discussed more fully in part 2. In this chapter we will simply discuss four general guidelines for applying Scripture to your own life. Commit these to memory. • Know yourself. The better you know your own strengths and weaknesses, the more sensitive you will be to Scriptures that speak to your areas of need. • Relate the passage to life. Look for areas in your life where the principles you discover seem to apply the most. • Meditate on the passage. Reflecting on God’s Word brings daily strength and wisdom as we seek to obey God. • Practice what you have learned. Discipline yourself to put the principles you have learned into practice. 1. Know Yourself One way to know how to apply Scripture to your life is to know yourself well. Then, as you study the Bible you will find yourself saying, “Yes, I do tend to do ________” or “I do have a problem with _______.” Perhaps you’ve never thought specifically about the strengths and weaknesses in your walk with Christ. Because it can make a difference in how you personally appreciate and apply Scripture, take a moment here to list them. If you have a regular Bible study notebook or journal, keep the list there. This is your own private list. You may want to add to it now and then as you discover more about yourself. Your list can help you to be alert to Scriptures that address those areas so that you can apply them specifically to your life. 2. Relate the Passage to Life As you were studying Philippians 2:1–11 through the steps of observation and interpretation, you probably discovered truths that seemed important for your life. That was the purpose for your study. Now it’s time to summarize those truths into a principle statement. Throughout the Bible there are principles that speak directly to our lives. How are we to determine what those principles are? Here are three suggestions. 1. Write brief statements of universal truths that apply to you. Examples: From James 1:1–18: God uses trials to make us more mature. We can, therefore, have an attitude of joy in those trials, knowing that they have a purpose. From Colossians 1:24–29: If I am trying to help someone grow in Christ, my goal is to see that person become like Christ—spiritually mature. Once you have written a number of statements of application from a passage, you need to discern if they all apply to your situation. 2. Determine if the principle is timeless and universal. A principle from Scripture is timeless and universal unless the context itself, or subsequent Scripture, limits it. Often, we do this part of application subconsciously while studying and writing applications. You probably wouldn’t explore an application that did not apply to your situation. 3. Look for new relationships. Sometimes we need help in finding principles of application. One idea that may be useful is to see the Christian life as a series of new relationships. When attempting to apply the Bible, take a mental survey of your relationships. Then, open your life to potential change. Take a moment right now to study the chart on the next page. Read it with your own network of relationships in mind asking God to show you areas where He wants to strengthen His work in your life. What did you discover? Applications: A SERIES OF NEW RELATIONSHIPS with God a truth to rest in a command to obey a prayer to express a challenge to heed a promise to trust a fellowship to enjoy with yourself a thought or word to examine an action to take an example to follow an error to avoid an attitude to change or guard against a priority to change a goal to strive for a personal value or standard to hold up a sin to forsake with others (home, church, work, school, society, world) a witness to share an encouragement to extend a service to do a forgiveness to ask a fellowship to nurture an exhortation to give a burden to bear a kindness to express a hospitality to extend an attitude to change or guard against a sin to renounce with Satan a piece of spiritual armor to wear a temptation to resist a person to resist a sin to avoid and confess Are there specific application principles that come to mind as you think of the passage in light of these relationships? If so, write them down in one-sentence statements. Examples from James 1: (vv. 2–4) A truth to rest in: God uses trials in my life; they are no accident. (vv. 6–8) An error to avoid: When trials come, I must be careful not to doubt God and lose my faith in Him. Rather, I need to seek God’s help and wisdom in all of my trials. (v. 12) A promise to trust: After I have endured the trials of life that God has allowed to come, I will receive a great reward from Him. (vv. 12–18) A temptation to resist: When I am tempted, it is not God but my own desire that is trying to pull me down. I should recognize this and ask for God’s help, knowing that the temptation is in no way coming from Him. Once you have discovered a number of application principles for your situation, then it is time to focus on one or two. Bring these focused principles to bear on specific situations in your life: your upcoming conversation with your son, your sense of worry as you anticipate a job change, of what you will do with your free time on Saturday. 3. Meditate on the Passage May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. —Psalm 104:34 It is a good idea to zero in on one key verse for application. In this way you can enjoy the fruit of your study throughout the day as you meditate on it. God promises rich reward to those who meditate on His Word: Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffer, but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. —Psalm 1:1–3 (nrsv) Decide on one major point in the passage on which to focus, and memorize the verse in your passage that best expresses that principle. Example from James 1:1–18 The key verse is verse 2: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Think about what this verse says during the day and ask God to make it a part of your life. 4. Practice What You Have Learned The last goal of Bible study and application is action. Although we can’t always be diligently applying everything to our lives, we can consciously emphasize one or two at a time. Ask yourself, “What can I do?” Then write a specific action to take. Example from James 1:18 I am going to practice listening to _________________ at work and trying to understand her needs. Even though she frustrates me, I know that if I respond in the right way, God will use it to mature me—and possibly her, too. Your Turn Just for practice and to help you get started, begin a list of your strengths and weaknesses. (You may want to ask family and friends for their feedback.) Note: When studying Scripture in order to teach others, be aware of the characteristics and needs of your audience. Although you want to be sure to preach the whole Gospel, being sensitive to the concerns of your listeners will provide opportunities to bring the message home. Jesus often used people’s personal needs as the context in which He proclaimed the Good News; He started with what was familiar to them and then challenged them to turn over their lives to God. Using the instructions in this chapter as a guide, develop application principles from Philippians 2:1–11, based on your work in the previous chapters. 1. Know Yourself. You have already listed some areas that you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses. Do you see any ways in which the Philippians passage speaks to the items on your list? If so, simply list the ones that apply. 2. Relate the Passage to Life. Based on what you’ve studied about writing application principles in this chapter, write at least six principles from Philippians 2:1–11 that seem to apply to you. Remember to keep application principles brief. Are all the principles you listed timeless and universal? If so, go on to the next question. If not, write down what limits them. Refer to the list of relationships. Do you see any other potential applications of the James passage for your life? 3. Meditate on the Passage. Meditate both on the passage and the principles of application you have written. Select one verse in the passage to memorize and start working on that now. Then, single out one principle to emphasize from that verse and focus on it during the coming week. 4. Practice What You Have Learned. What will you do this week to apply these principles to your life? Based on your study of Philippians 2:1–11, write five concrete actions or attitudes you can work on this week. Congratulations! You’ve now completed the three-step approach to inductive Bible study! You have put much hard work into getting to this point. Take a moment to reflect on what you have learned and on how you have grown. Pray that you may use your new skills to more faithfully handle the Word of Truth. Part 2 of this book takes the three steps and applies them to specific genres (types of literature) in Scripture. You will learn, for instance, the difference between studying a Gospel versus an epistle, how to interpret a psalm versus a prophetic book, and the way to appreciate Old Testament law now that Christ has come. The best is yet to come!
Finzel, Hans. 2003. Unlocking the Scriptures: Three Steps to Personal Bible Study. David C Cook.