OBSERVATION: Identify the context
People will often pull out a verse of Scripture that is ambiguous on its own and then give it their own interpretation and meaning. The Bible is God’s absolute truth and it doesn’t matter what we think of it. It’s only important what God says is the truth. When it comes to determining the true meaning of Scripture you must study its context. In Bible study, the context is the words, phrases and sentences surrounding a particular word, phrase or sentence. Context means “that which goes within the text” and the text is written words than can be a verse, a chapter, a book of the Bible or the entire Bible itself. The trick is to start closest to the verse you’re trying to interpret and work outward until the meaning of the Scripture is clear in your mind. When it comes to Bible interpretation the context always rules! Knowing the context is critical. Otherwise you have no sure way of knowing what God is telling you.
God does a magnificent job in the Bible of making sure that the context explains the meaning of verses that, on their own, appear unclear or too complex to be understood easily. In inductive Bible study, context is determined or identified in the same way – by carefully observing what is repeated in the text and seeing how it all relates. You must develop your observation skills to a greater degree to effectively study the Bible. Sometimes when I’m blogging and searching for a verse of Scripture to corroborate what I’m sharing with the reader the verse I want doesn’t make sense on its own. When that happens I then broaden the context to include the verse or verses before or after the verse I want until the meaning is clear and easily understood.
Witnessing for Christ