Let’s talk about not falling in to bad theology!

This past week I posted about doing the SOAP Bible study method. Here is what the acronym stands for:

S – Scripture (Reading a Bible passage)

O – Observation (Looking to see what the passage is saying)

A – Application (How can I use this and live this out to honor God?)

P – Pray (Responding to God about what you read)

And I got the following comment on my post:

This is a great question because if we are simply meditating on the text and recording our observations, how can we really know if we are getting out of it what we should?

Here are seven ways you can make sure your interpretations are safeguarded (to the best of our ability) from bad theology:

1. Prayer

Ask God to make His Word known to you and for you to understand it. Since the Bible is a supernatural book that is living and active, we need the Lord’s help to understand it. This is where we all need to start, no matter if you’ve just started reading the Bible or you’re a seasoned veteran. It leads into the next point well!

2. Humility

Recognize that you need God’s help to understand, interpret, and apply the Bible to yourself. If this is purely an academic pursuit without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we will be filling our heads and hearts with cold information devoid of life-giving life change. We need humility from the Spirit that guards us and reminds us while God’s Word is without error, that doesn’t mean we are. We bring predisposed ideas and biases to the text from our human understanding every day and we need to be aware of those and come with a moldable and humble heart.

3. Use Cross References

The following phrase is imperative to Bible study, “Scripture interprets Scripture.” This means that we can use other parts of the Bible to understand what we are reading. One of the coolest things about God’s Word is that it can never contradict itself. If you want to understand something in the Bible, go look around at other Scriptures. If whatever your conclusion is does not align to the rest of God’s Word, it’s not true. God’s Word cannot be something that means one truth to me and a different truth to you. God’s Word is absolute truth.

4. Study Bible Notes

Using a good study Bible is a great way to check your understanding. If you’re not familiar, a study Bible is a regular Bible with the text but the bottom portion of the page has short notes for what things mean. Study Bibles also contain the cross references like I mentioned above. You can access this stuff for free on websites like Blue Letter Bible but I find it helpful to have a physical copy. My favorite is linked here. Crossway also just released the most beautiful study Bible that is ALSO a journaling Bible. I need to get one! It’s linked here.

5. Good Commentaries

Having a trusted commentary is a big deal because you’re taking in information from someone you know has good theology that aligns with you and your church. I have to add here it’s best to look up study Bible notes and commentary notes after you do the digging on your own. If you read the text and go straight to the notes, you’re not truly engaging in the act of studying the Bible as a student would, you’re reading what other people said about it and taking those thoughts straight on. Also keep in mind people have different leanings on doctrine, examples such as Reformed Theology or Wesleyan-Arminianism theology. Try to get an understanding of where you might land on that spectrum to know what authors you may like to read from. This will go along with the next point. More important than what “camp” you may find yourself in, make sure whatever you are reading is orthodox doctrine, where everyone agrees on who God is, who Jesus is, what He came to do, how He accomplished it, and so on and so forth. My favorite commentaries are linked here. Others have also recommended this series linked here.

6. Ask a Godly Mentor or Church Leader

So far we have discussed many personal ways to understand theology and how to interpret the Scriptures. But the Bible was never meant to be understood, read, and applied in isolation. We were created to be together as the body of Christ, the Church. We need other believers around us to help us. Listening to expository preaching every week from your pastors and elders will help build your theological understanding. If you have questions about good commentaries or how to interpret a passage, you should be able to ask your local church leadership for help. This is why it is vital to be involved in a local church. If you need help finding a church please visit the ‘find a church’ portion of my website linked here. We need to be in the flock (the church) with other sheep (brothers and sisters) with shepherds (elders and pastors) who are vigorously caring for the body of Christ and shaping their spiritual health through good theology and preaching as they are submitted to God who is their ultimate leader. Same with godly mentors. It’s helpful to have someone a bit further along in their faith than you so you can walk through the Scriptures together and they can help you understand it. Most likely, they have had the same questions you have!

7. Use An Inductive Bible Study

While this may seem like a personal plug, it must be said whether you engage in my resources or someone else’s! The simple SOAP method I shared is effective and great for someone who needs to jump into the Bible either at a beginner’s level or to get back into it after a while away. Or maybe they need a method that’s a little quicker and not super deep. That’s okay! We just need to be in the Word whatever the case. The person who asked the original question would not have asked that (I don’t think) if there wasn’t a clear gap to know “How do I know what I am observing and applying is the right thing?” That’s why I created my Inductive Bible Study guide and why other people have created similar resources. Taking that next step past the SOAP method will help you dive deeper into the Word and understand it for yourself. I’ll link my Inductive Bible Study guide here. Take this guide and use it alongside all the other tips presented here! Walk through it with a friend, bring questions about it to your pastor, exercise Spirit-empowered humility, and pray that the Lord will open your eyes.

I don’t want anyone to leave this email feeling discouraged that they “aren’t doing enough” in Bible study, church attendance, or discipleship.

Lastly, my aim is to bring to light things we need to have in our lives to make sure we’re reading the Bible as it was meant to be read, in truth and in community. There’s so much to say here, especially about just reading the Bible devotionally and spending time with God in worship. It’s okay to just slow down and sit in a verse without any other resources, simply talking to your Heavenly Father. It’s also okay if right now is not the time where you have 4 different books out and are doing an archaeological dig in the text.

We aren’t after legalism or perfectionism. We are after God’s heart!

What I am saying is that no matter who we are and where we are, we should be prioritizing good doctrine in community with a high view of God and His Scripture to see God’s glory more clearly and how He calls us to live in light of who He is and how He has called us to be.