How do I read the Bible without getting lost or bored?

“You Asked For It” Series

HOW DO I READ THE BIBLE?

(MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

“A completely authoritative or truthful Bible is the first step and the prerequisite for a warm, personal relationship with God not the enemy of it.” (Keller)

These words “speak of an uncontrollable for someone. In other words, the Emmaus disciples were saying that they had a life-changing encounter with the Lord… And when did they feel it? When they what the Scriptures really meant.” (Keller)

BIG IDEA: We can trust God chose to communicate in scripture even if there are parts we don’t understand.

“Scripture is the story of the God who is not going away despite our and challenges.” (Williams)

“Since God’s thoughts are profound compared with human thoughts, it should not be surprising that some parts of the Bible will require time and study to understand.” (Fee and Stuart)

Guidelines for Interpreting Scripture:

1) Doctrine occurs more than .

2) Understand the .

3) Look at the of the portion.

4) Interpret scripture with .

Some Parts of Scripture Where We Might Get Lost or Bored:

1) The .

“They us that throughout history even though God does not keep His promises immediately, He keeps them certainly and surely.” (Gregory)

2) Some in Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation.

3) The imprecatory Psalms.

The purpose of this imprecatory Psalm is “to us from our anger and to channel our anger to and through God rather than to or at anyone else.” (Fee and Stuart)

4) The portrayal of God in the Old and New Testaments.

The key idea is that God wants with us humans.

It is important to keep in mind the main thing which is that the of God is strongly portrayed in the Old Testament.

“God is not in the judgment business but in the forgiveness business. Yet He cannot forgive those who will not . So, he sends prophets to warn the people about the judgment that will inevitably come.” (Kaiser)

“In the Old Testament, judgment normally happens within … In the New Testament, judgment normally happens at the end of .” (Kaiser)

All love, beauty, joy, relationships, all that is good comes from God.

“God doesn’t Himself on anyone. If you want nearness to God, you get it. If you want God out of your life, you get it.” (Keller)

The Central Message of the Bible:

1) The fallenness of all humanity, “all have .” (Rom. 3:23)

2) The act of redemption or buying back from that fallenness is God’s gracious activity through Christ’s death and resurrection.

3) The end of that redemptive work is the return of Christ.

The reason for Scripture is for us to read it and accept the challenge to let it speak to us in our and so for us to become part of His .

For more resources on this topic, scan here:

https://www.thebibleeffect.com/