Bible Study

As  I  was  going  through  some  of   the materials  in  my  files  in  preparation   for this lesson, I ran across an article  in  a church bulletin from Richfield, Minnesota.  The article gives some  suggestions  for  effective Bible study, so I would like to share  part  of it with you.  This writer recommends five "R's" for better Bible study.
The first of these is "read."  This is  to be done carefully and it might  be  helpful  to read the same verses in another translation  or two.    Make   notes   of    any    significant differences.  Then read the  section  again  in your original version.
The second is  "reflect."   Ask  questions about it.  Who is the speaker  or  writer?   To whom is he writing?  What words are unclear  to you?  What is  the  historical  context?   What appears to be the theme?  It is here  that  you will find Bible dictionaries  and  concordances helpful.  For those  of  you  who  may  not  be familiar with a concordance, it is a book which lists nearly every  word  used  in  the  Bible, along with all the verses where  that  word  is found.   We  have  various   concordances   and dictionaries in our  office  library.   We  use them so frequently that we cannot allow them to leave the office, but we would be happy to have any  of  you  stop  by  and  use  them at  the building.  We would also be glad  to  show  you how to  use  these  and  any  other  reference materials we have.  While you are on this  step of  reflecting,  be  sure  that  one   of   the questions you ask is "How does this section  of the Bible relate to me?"
The third thing you should do is "repeat." Make notes in your own words  concerning  the
central message of the passage  and  definition of any  words  you  looked  up  in  your  Bible dictionary.  You  might  like  to  outline  the section.  This phase of the study allows you to check your understanding of the text.
Then you should "recite."   Pick  out  the key verse or statement and memorize  it.   This allows for recall when applied to your everyday activities.
Finally,  and  perhaps  most  importantly, "request."  At the conclusion  of  your  study,
pray that God will  help  you  incorporate  the lesson learned from the text into your life,
Many of  these  are  ideas  that  we  have already  mentioned,   but   this   author   has presented them in a little different  form and has added some new  ones.   Remember  to  read, reflect, repeat, recite and request.
	We can't stress enough how willing we  are to help you in your study  of  the  Scriptures. Some of you may feel that it would be  imposing to ask us to take time to help you.  We have  a friend who was associated with a radio  station that  broadcast  only  religious   programming. There were many requests for  help  with  Bible study, so this friend talked to the person  who was in charge of  the  station.   The  attitude seemed to be, "We have a full-time Job  on  our hands here.  We don't have time to go  out  and study."  Of course, the error of this  thinking is obvious.  Everything that we  do  is  geared toward making us better prepared to answer your questions, and toward  putting  us  in  contact with you so this preparation can be put to use. We have programs such as this one to  give  you one more avenue of obtaining  answers  to  your questions.	By  the  way, the only "dumb" question  is one  that  is not asked.  Any question that you may have deserves  an  honest answer.
Many Bible  questions  revolve  around  an understanding, or lack of understanding,  about the  relationship  between  the  Old  and   New Testaments, or more exactly, the  old  and  new covenants.  As we  have  said  before,  all  66 books of the Bible, including the 39 of the Old Testament, are inspired and are beneficial  for study.  However,  the  Old  Testament  contains rules, such as those found in the Law of Moses, that are no longer applicable to us,
In passages such as Deuteronomy  4:13  and 9:9-l1  we  read  about  this  Law  of   Moses. Deuteronomy 5:1-3 tells  us  that  God  made  a covenant, that He made it with  the  Jews,  and that He had not made the same pact  with  their fathers.  So here we see a transition  for  the Jews from the patriarchal system where God spoke directly to heads of the various households  to another system with a written code.  One  thing that we notice about this system is that people
were born as brothers in a religious sense, and then they were taught to believe as  they  grew older.  All of this took place about 1500 years before Christ.
In Jeremiah 31:31-34,  written  about  900 years later in 600 BC, it says that God  will make a new covenant.  It will be different from the old one in that God will write  it  on  the hearts of the people, they will no longer teach brothers to know the Lord, and it will  provide forgiveness of sins.
Jesus talked  with  Nicodemus  in  John  3 about a new birth.  The Hebrew writer  said  in chapter 8 verse 6 that we  now  have  a  better covenant,  enacted  on  better  promises.   One interesting thing about this new system is  the new birth, in  which  a  person  is  taught  to believe before becoming  a  brother,  which  is what Jeremiah said would happen.
Jesus pointed out in Matthew 5:17-18  that he had come to fulfill,  not  to  abolish.   So Jesus did not come to  throw  out  the  old  in order to change to something else.  What he did was fulfill and complete the  old  so  the  new could begin.  The old still  ceased,  but  only because it had accomplished what  it  had  been designed to do,  Romans 10:4 says  that  Christ is the end, or goal,  of  the  law.   Galatians 3:15-24  explains  this  relationship   between Christ and the law, calling the law a  "tutor" to lead us to Christ.
	John 1:17 says that the law came by Moses, grace and truth came by Christ.  Other passages that point out the contrast between the old and new covenants  include  2  Corinthians  3:6-18; Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 10:25-31 and 12:18-29, and Ephesians 2:11-16.
The first covenant is called "old,” “obsolete" and "ready to disappear" (Hebrews 8: 13), "changed" (Hebrews 7: 12),  "set aside," "weak" and  "useless"  (Hebrews  7:18), and a "shadow" (Hebrews l0:1).   It  has  been "taken away" (Hebrews 10:9-10),  "blotted  out" and "nailed to the  cross"  (Colossians  2:14). Galatians 3:24-25 says clearly that we are  not under it.
	Some of  you  may  be  asking  "So  what?" Others  may  be  disagreeing.   But  the   fact remains that this is clear, Biblical  teaching.  Although it may not be apparent  right  now,  a clear understanding of this difference  between the old and new covenants is essential for good Bible study.
	Many of you have been taught all  of  your lives to observe the Ten Commandments.  But the Ten Commandments as such  have  nothing  to  do with  Christianity.   Many  of   the   elements contained in the Ten Commandments are  repeated in  the  New  Testament   and   therefore   are applicable to us, but even then they have  been stated in a different way in order to focus  on our attitudes and the real problems behind  our actions, instead of on a cold "Thou shall not."
	Read Matthew 5:21-48 and see if this  is  not true.
	One of the Ten Commandments,  the  one  to remember the Sabbath, is not  repeated  in  the New Testament.  This Jewish holy  day  fell  on Saturday and is not related in any way  to  the Christian observance of Sunday.
Another religious practice that  is  dealt with by this distinction between  the  old  and new  covenants   is   baptism  of   infants. Actually, the word baptism is not a  good  word to use here, since it is a transliteration of a Greek word that  means  to  plunge  beneath  or cover with something, in this case water,   But we'll leave the discussion of the Biblical form of baptism  for  another  program.   Those  who baptize, or actually sprinkle or pour water on, an infant, say the  child  will  be  taught  to believe as he grows up.  Remember what Jeremiah said about the new covenant?  He said  brothers would not  be taught to believe.  Under the new system, belief must precede becoming a brother. As we have pointed out before,  children  don't even need to be saved, since they are not  lost until they are old enough to willfully  disobey God.
Why don't you look at some of  the  things you have been taught and ask yourself how  what we have discussed today can apply to you.   The greatest promise of the New Covenant is freedom in Jesus.  But we can never find  that  freedom if  we  insist  on   binding   upon   ourselves restrictions  that  were  done  away  with  two thousand years ago at Calvary.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."