How to study the Bible - Part 2

by Ben Santing

Let's Start!

The best way of telling how to study God's Word is by example. Let's open God's Word at one of the most well known verses and study it together:

You didn't forget to pray did you? If you did, please take some time for prayer now!

John 3:16 is one of the most well known verses in the Bible. If you want to memorise just one verse from the Bible, well, take this one! Since it is such a beautiful verse, it will be impossible to say everything about it that can be said, but that is OK. Actually, if you have done an in-depth study of a chapter or a subject of the Bible, and you think you have completely exhausted the subject and there is nothing more to be discovered ... think again - since God's Word is living and active, you will never exhaust any subject. There is always another view possible that sheds more light on the subject, or another example that shows how someone was blessed through this topic.

Any difficult words?

The first and obvious way to study God's Word is to ask: "Do I understand this text, is it grammatically clear, are there any difficult words?" As the Bible is written (mainly) in Hebrew and Greek, the text we read is a translation. Every translation needs to make a balanced choice between keeping close to the original language (accuracy) and writing proper English (readability). Sometimes these two are mutual exclusive! The problem with choosing for readability is that you translate the thoughts of the author, rather than what actually is written down. You paraphrase, interpret the Bible, and by doing so you may loose the original intent of the Bible and your interpretation can sometimes be wrong, leading into a wrong translation! The Message, the New Life Translation, Bible in Basic English are some examples of this. If you want to read through the Bible quickly, these translations are excellent.

The Message: "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."

However, since we set out to study the Bible, we should use a modern translation that stays close to the original languages. Good examples of this would be the English Standard Version, The New American Standard Bible, the NET Bible, or the translation used in this study, the New International Version. I use the NIV because it is the most accepted modern English translation of the Bible, among the "accurate" translations it shifts most towards the "readability" camp.

An example of a literal translation would be Young's Literal Translation. It is easy to observe that the English grammar is no longer correct.

Young's Literal Translation: for God did so love the world, that His Son -- the only begotten -- He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during.

If you have access to multiple Bible translations, even better. There are great online Bible tools available where you can compare several Bible versions, such as Bible.org and Biblegateway.com. Remember that no translation is perfect, but most (all?) translations are useful for their own purpose. God can speak through any of them.

OK, back to the Grammar ... This verse has one "difficult" word, and the translators have two translations for this word: "one and only" (in the text) and "only begotten" in footnote a. The NET Bible has a lengthy footnote explaining that the original word means "one-of-a-kind," or "unique."

How does the sentence work grammatically? The sentence can be broken in three portions, the first one speaking of God's love, the second of God's giving, and the third one - which also can be split in three! - about the response possible. The third one is broken down below in three, first the subject "whoever believes in Him", this is the active person. the other two is the result, first in a double negative (not perish) than in the positive (have eternal life).

For God so loved the world that
    He gave his one and only Son, that
       whoever believes in him (i.e. the Son)
          shall not perish but 
          have eternal life.

There are a few more words that deserve careful studying in this passage. The words themselves are not really difficult, but they (may) have special meaning in the Bible:

• God

Who is God? Well, God is completely different than "the force" of StarTrek or the gods of the ancient stories that were always young, beautiful and bad. No, God is good, God is love, God is light, God is live, or to say it with the words of our statement of faith: "We believe in one God, the great living Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. He is spirit, unique, omnipotent, omnipresent, and eternally existing in three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal, and co-eternal, and are sovereign in creation, providence and redemption. These three are one God, the Holy Trinity existing in perfect unity, having the same nature and perfection."

• The World

The word "world" occurs more often in John's writings than anywhere else in the New Testament. It generally means the created order (especially of human beings and human affairs) in rebellion against its Maker. Interestingly, the Lord Jesus says to his disciples: "you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." John 15:19. 

• The Son

The Son is a name of the Lord Jesus, whereas "Son of Man" (vs. 13,14) is a title. "The Son" generally refers to the Lord Jesus as God the Son, emphasizing his Deity, whereas "Son of Man" generally means "truly human" and refers to the manhood of the Lord Jesus.

• Believe

We often use the word "believe" when we are not sure of something: "I believe they will arrive shortly." In the Bible believe is always based on assurance. Believe is to accept as true or real, to credit with veracity, to have faith, confidence, or trust, to have confidence in the truth or value of something.

• Perish

Going to waste / being spoiled, as in: When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." (John 6:12) or  "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. (John 6:27). In this context it means for ever missing the purpose for which we have been made, to be lost, ruined, destroyed, having eternal misery in hell

• Eternal life

The word "eternal" is not primarily used for the length, but for the quality of life. "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40). This indicates that someone may have died, but still have eternal life. In John's first letter he explains more about eternal life: "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ... Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life" (1 Jon 5:11,12,20) The eternal life is the life of the Son of God, the life He gave for us and we now have received from him. It is a life of fellowship with and closeness to God.

Just one more thing to say before we go to the next Study topic. This verse starts with "for," which indicates that it doesn't stand on its own, it is part of a context. So you cannot really study it on its own, you have to know the context! But that statement brings us to the next subject.

The Context

Very often the grammar study of a verse indicates already that you need to read the context, just as is the case in John 3:16. And it is always good to know the context when you do a study! If you study a verse or passage, read the chapter. If you study a chapter, read the book! If you study a topic, you can break your topic down into multiple verses or passages, for which you must read the context! Looking at  the context could also mean looking up details about the author of the letter or book, contemporary prophets/kings (if you are studying an OT subject), major (world) events...

What can we learn from the context? Well read it first! John 3:1-21 belongs together. It is the story of the ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who came to visit the Lord Jesus in secret. He comes to the Lord Jesus as an equal, he calls the Lord Jesus "a teacher" v2, whereas the Lord Jesus calls him "the teacher" v10. However, Nicodemus is quickly taught that he still needs to make the first step in order to see God's Kingdom, and he doesn't understand anything about it: a new birth is required, a birth from above, born from the Spirit. The Lord Jesus then draws a parallel with the Old Testament story of the bronze snake and Himself, resulting in the requirement that He must be lifted high like the bronze snake (meaning either exalted or crucified) so that salvation can come to mankind.

Examples for studying the context of John 3:16

• Who was John?
• When did John write the gospel of John?
• To whom did John write?
• Who was Nicodemus - any other references?
• Who are the Pharisees?
• What about the bronze snake?
• Is this passage in the other 3 gospels? If so, are  there any differences, if it is only in John, what does that mean?

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To read part 3 of this article check back next week!