Inductive Bible Study
I’ll probably never forget a men’s Bible study in the book of Colossians that I attended three or four years ago. We were using Bible study material written by a well known pastor in the United States. I was so excited to be studying Colossians with other men because it was a book God used very powerfully to shape my understanding of Jesus Christ and the nature of my relationship with God early in my Christian walk. I know that I had not possibly mined all the truths of that wonderful book on my own, and was interested in hearing what the other men would see and share.
I remember a question coming up during the first meeting that was answered by someone in the group. The room was silent for a few moments as everyone read the passage we were studying, and then I respectfully disagreed with the person who spoke first. I read and explained from the text of Colossians why I held a slightly different view. The leader thought it was an interesting point, but then looked at the answers in the back of his leader’s guide and simply stated, “Well that’s not what the book says.”
This was not a faith altering doctrine, just a simple observation, but I have been forever impacted by that experience. I was not emotionally scarred, or badly wounded, and I wasn’t even hurt that my opinion wasn’t given more consideration. I was shocked however that after explaining my position from the Bible itself, the very word of God (2 Peter 1:21), I found my answer simply and easily dismissed by an answer key in the back of a Bible study guide. I have often thought on this event since, and I can’t help but ask myself the question, “How long until our Lord may be chastising us, the church today, for neglecting the commandment of God in favor of the tradition of men?” (Mark 7:8)
I do not tell this story to dismiss the importance of gifted pastors and teachers in the life of the church. Without question our pastors and teachers are gifts to us from God (Eph. 4:11-13) and they are there to keep watch over us for our own good (Heb. 13:17). I have a deep respect for my pastors and have learned much from those who I have had the privilege to sit under in my short walk with the Lord. However, it is important to think about this question in relation to how we understand and apply the words of life given to us in the Bible.
When this event happened, God was already shaping a love for inductive Bible study within me. This event began to further show me how important it is to know and study the Bible for myself. Since then I have often been asked two questions; “What is inductive Bible study?” and “Why inductive Bible study?”
The best answer I know of to the first question comes from Kay Arthur, author of How to Study Your Bible. She defines inductive Bible study as “using the Bible itself as the primary source of information about the Bible,” and further goes on to say, “people learn more and remember better when they enter into the process of discovery for themselves.”
The process of inductive Bible study helps an individual to see the word as it is, understand what it is saying, and to apply it to his or her life. Kay Arthur describes this process as “Observation, Interpretation, and Application.” Morris Proctor uses the terms, “Reading the Text, Kneading the Text, and Heeding the Text.” Inductive Bible study is about taking time, undertaking effort, and applying some simple tools to try to understand what God is trying to teach us through the Bible itself before going to scholars and teachers to find out what they think.
The role of authors, scholars, and those who have gone before is not discounted in inductive Bible study, but rather placed in a secondary role. Interaction with the Word itself and the Holy Spirit Himself is emphasized. In a nutshell, inductive Bible study is first and foremost about building relationship with God, rather than having a relationship with God and His Word solely via an intermediary such as pastors, teachers, and authors who have written about the Bible.
This is not to say that other methods of Bible study don’t bring us into interaction with the Word of God, but it is to state that the specific goal of inductive Bible study is to allow God’s Word to stand as God’s Word in our minds and hearts, with no excuses and no veiled attempts at human justification. Inductive Bible study allows the din of human opinion to be quieted and allows our Helper to walk us along the path of understanding and relating to God.
The second question, “Why inductive Bible study?” is a much broader question and its answer could be as varying as the person who answers it. I have chosen to study the Bible inductively almost exclusively since I was first introduced to this method because nothing has proven itself more important to me than a personal understanding of God and His Word.
I was a man who had been deceived in the darkness of my own sin and the lies of the enemy of my soul for far too long. When I began studying the Bible inductively, I could not trust anyone but God Himself to teach me His ways. Arguments and doctrinal divisions abound in the church. How can one know what to believe? If Scripture is not a matter of private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20), then who is right?
Over the years, God has proven Himself faithful in teaching me from His Word and by His Spirit. As I have grown, learned to forgive, and received healing in my soul from God, I have also learned who I can trust and how I am to live. The Word defines for me what is right living and right teaching, and as my understanding of that Word grows so does my capacity to live in the light of it and share its light with others.
As one who has been given the privilege to teach, I know that I do not have the corner on truth, and I know that no man does. It is a high privilege to introduce others to the One who is truth incarnate, Jesus Christ. It is freeing to know that I do not have to have all the answers, but to simply know that God’s Word, illuminated by His Spirit does.
He is the Great and Good Shepherd, and He knows how to instruct, confront, correct, and train His sheep far better than I. When He reveals a difficult truth to His child, he knows He loves him, and he knows that He has the words of eternal life and there is no where else to go (John 6:68). My love is imperfect. My understanding is imperfect, and my example is imperfect. My Savior, however, is not. He loves perfectly, for that is the very essence of who He is (1 John 4:16). He understands both God and human kind perfectly, and His example is perfection (John 17:25; Heb. 4:15).
This is not to dismiss my responsibility to love, understand, and walk out a godly example. It is to acknowledge that I am not God. I will at times fail, and I am still but a pilgrim myself. As a Bible student, it is difficult at times to fish for myself. How can I feed someone else with my meager catch? However, since I am learning how to fish through inductive Bible study, it is easier for me to teach others how to cast their net. Together, as fellow pilgrims, those I lead into the joys of inductive Bible study and I can work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Inductive Bible study has formed the foundation of who I am today. Other than the love of Christ Himself, I have no greater joy than to teach others to study the Word of God for themselves.
Submitted by Brian Smith