Bible Training Center
Section 1.0 – First Things
introduction & articles
introduction
begin with fundamentals
Actually reading the Bible is first and foremost. Also, have a good reading and studying program that works for you. This is very important. You can use one of the many pre-arranged ‘read through in a year plans’ or you can devise your own plan.
The read through in a year plans do not work for me. My plan is to start with Genesis 1:1 and to read a little every day. There is no set amount to read and not prescribed time for reaching the end of the Bible. Sometimes I read a little and at others a lot. If I miss a day for some reason, no problem, I just pick up the next day where I left off. I continue in this manner until I have read through Revelation. Then I start again at the beginning. That has worked well for me for many years. The system you employ should work for you.
Reading from cover to cover is important for two reasons.
1. We forget. The English Bible contains about a million words. For example, each time as I am reading through I come upon verses, or even long passages, that seem new and fresh to me. If we didn’t read through the Bible by reading on a daily basis, we would eventually forget most of it. The Israelites forgot there even was a Bible (Scriptures on scrolls). 2 Kings 22:8-13 tells how the Book of the Law was found in the house of the Lord.
2. You can’t understand what you don’t know. Reading the Bible is the way to knowledge, and knowledge is necessary for acquiring understanding.
Knowledge is mental and therefore physical in nature. Knowledge of the Bible is gained by reading or listening to the words on the pages of the Bible. Understanding is a heart function, and is therefore spiritual in nature. To understand the Bible is to see behind the words on the page. Acquiring understanding is to move into the world of the Bible’s hidden meaning. Understanding is only attained by means of revelations from the Holy Spirit. This topic will be discussed in detail in later articles.
Studying the Bible is another essential part of your Bible regime. Study should take many forms such as seminars and group Bible studies. However, the most important Bible study you will undertake is your own personal study as you are directed, led and taught by the Holy Spirit. This level of study is available to every born again believer. When you sit at the feet of Jesus, so to speak, and listen to Him explain the meaning of a passage, you are encouraged and built up to a mature man or woman in Christ. This is the way you are equipped for the work He has for you. This type of study is very personal and extremely powerful.
Start your own reading and studying to understand the program today.
Section 1.0 - Articles
The Bible is the Word of God. In its pages God reveals Himself to mankind. The apostle Paul wrote on two different occasions, that the things that are in the Scriptures are there for our instruction. (Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11) Biblical instruction is gained through two pathways.
While many know what’s in the Bible, few understand it. At the same time, there are many who believe they understand the Bible, but their understanding is little more than a collection of theologies and doctrines passed on to them by the leaders of the church system they have joined themselves to. While the situation is a sad one, there is one thing that to me is the most sad of all. That is: It doesn’t have to be that way.
People are, for the most part, forgiving. We are willing to at least listen to someone else’s point of view. Many people will bend over backward to understand the other person’s position. That everyone has a right to their own opinion is a belief practiced by many in the United States. Two groups may disagree vigorously, but will defend the other’s right to their opinion with equal vitality.
The title of this article isn’t as strange as it sounds. It says we’re going to try to gain some understanding on the subject of understanding. Another way to say the same thing is that it’s important to understand understanding.
You’ve surely heard that phrase before.“Did you see that?” In fact, there’s a very good chance you actually spoke it at one time or another. Similarly, we’ve all heard and uttered the query, “Did you hear that?” We aren’t baffled by these questions. We understand them as asking if we saw something with our eyes or heard a sound with our ears.
Dualities are everywhere around us. In fact, they are so common we usually give them little if any attention. A duality is the quality of two things being opposite yet related. For example, the surface of a piece of wood can be either rough or smooth. Both of these qualities relate to the texture of the wood. Since both terms are indications of the same property, the texture of the wood, they are related but opposite.
Whether common or uncommon, my guess is that commonality is not a subject that is sending great waves of expectation coursing through your body. I’m also probably correct in assuming the idea of reading something as usual as commonality doesn’t even register on your excitement Richter scale. Admittedly, commonality doesn’t sound very exciting, but it is a very important principle of Biblical understanding.