From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Keeping these six questions in mind will greatly aid the Christian's profitable study of the Scriptures.

Many years ago, I took a course in journalism. After all this time, one thing I learned in that course has stuck with me. We were taught that every good news report must answer six questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Any news report that does not answer all of those questions gives the reader an incomplete, and possibly misleading, picture of the facts.

Those same six questions also apply to the profitable study of Scripture.

Who

Remember Who you are reading. The God of the universe wrote the words on the page before you. God the Holy Spirit spoke in His own words directly to man through inspired men (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:19-21). The absolutely trustworthy God of the Bible does not contradict Himself (Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, 1 Kings 8:56, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17). He is not a God of paradox, and Scripture contains none. He does not say both "Yes" and "No" on any matter (2 Corinthians 2:18-22, Hebrews 13:8). When we think we see paradox in the pages of the Bible, the problem is with us, not with God or His Word (Romans 1:25, Hebrews 4:12).

What

Remember what you are reading - it is revelation. A more literal rendering of 2 Peter 1:19-21 reads, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture originated in the human writer's own personal determination of what is true or not true - for this reason: Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved [literally, driven] by the Holy Spirit."

In other words, Scripture is not a mere collection of the words and ideas of men. It did not originate in man's understanding of things. The Bible is not the record of man's views, perspectives, opinions, or interpretation of events. Sinful man did not decide what is true and what is not true. "Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

The Apostle Paul elaborates on this in First Corinthians chapter two:

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)

Where

Remember where you are reading. We must always keep the context of a passage in mind in all its respects - the immediate passage, the book of the Bible, the full body of Scripture. We must never divorce any part of Scripture from its context. The words of Scripture have one and only one meaning in context - God the Holy Spirit's meaning. We can understand God's meaning only by remembering that it is always a meaning in context. We begin with the immediate context of the surrounding verses of the passage we are reading. Then we expand outward to the larger context of the book of the Bible we are considering. We also need to take into account the full context of the entire Word of God, since God the Holy Spirit never contradicts Himself in Scripture. We cannot look at one part of the Bible in a vacuum, and build a doctrine that contradicts the rest of the Bible. We must consider the Bible as a whole.

When

Remember when you are reading. Keep in mind the time and setting, the place of the passage in the unfolding revelation of God, and strive to understand matters of history and culture that relate to the portion of the Bible you are reading. For example, the record of the tabernacle and its ceremonies in Leviticus must be read in light of the fact that it was forward-looking, anticipating the coming of the Messiah who would fulfill all of its types and symbols. The book of Hebrews is the Holy Spirit's great inspired and retrospective commentary on the Levitical system, showing us how Christ fulfilled it all in His incarnation and atonement for sin on the Cross, and that we must never go back to that system because it has been done away.

Why

Remember why you are reading. The believer's study of the Scriptures is not a mere intellectual exercise, or for the purpose of accumulating knowledge for its own sake, but for God's purposes in this life and the life to come:

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:21-25)

How

Remember how you are to read God's Word. Believers must read in prayerful submission to the divine Author, seeking His enlightenment of the Word - His power to understanding it rightly. We must read with careful attention, comparing Scripture with Scripture. We must read with the goal of the glory of God.

Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. (Psalm 119:17-18)

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; (2 Peter 1:19)

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:12-16)

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:4-6)

Resting On God's Great Promise

As we read and study the Word with these things in mind - the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How - we can rest on God's great promise to use His Word for His glory:

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever, because "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever." Now this is the Word which by the Gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22-25)

So the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. (Acts 19:20)

Dear Christian friend, may God's Word grow and prevail in your own heart and life!

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