Read Bible II - Spiritual Growth for New Believers

Chapter 2: The Basic Principles of Reading the Bible

There are four basic principles when reading the Bible:

1. Discover the facts.

2. Memorize and remember.

3. Analyze, synthesize, and compare.

4. God's illumination.

When reading the Bible, always follow this order: never jump from the third principle to the first, nor from the first to the third. The first step is to discover the facts within the Bible. The second step is to memorize and internalize these facts. You must clearly understand how God’s Word is expressed and then remember it thoroughly. You cannot skip or be vague, as that would render it useless. The third step is to analyze, synthesize, and compare these facts. When you are able to analyze, synthesize, and compare these facts in the presence of God, you will have the opportunity to receive the fourth, which is God’s illumination.

The Bible contains many spiritual facts. When a person’s spiritual eyes are blind, they cannot discern these facts. If you can read and identify the facts in the Bible, you have already received more than half of the light, because God’s illumination shines on the facts in His Word. Discovering the facts is already half of the work in Bible reading. We must actively seek these facts in the Scriptures.

For example, gravity is a fact. Before Isaac Newton, gravity existed, but no one had discovered it. One day, as Newton sat under a tree, an apple fell in front of him, and that’s when he discovered the law of gravity. So, the issue is not whether a fact exists, but whether that fact has been discovered.

Similarly, the things the Bible says and doesn’t say are closely related. In some places, the Bible says one thing, while in others, it says something else. Sometimes, the same word is used in plural form, other times in singular form. The Bible may focus on the name of the Lord in one place and on the name of a person in another. Sometimes, the Bible provides specific numbers, while in other places, many years are left unspecified, almost as though they are ignored. All of these are facts.

A person who can read the Bible carefully is a person who is attentive before God. The Bible is precise; not one dot or stroke can be altered. What God says is exactly as it is. When God speaks, you should understand where His emphasis lies. Many careless people fail to hear God's words accurately and struggle to understand the Bible. They fail to recognize where God places His emphasis. Therefore, the first step is to discover the facts, then memorize them, analyze, synthesize, and compare them. Only then will you experience illumination from God.

Once you have God’s illumination, you can nourish yourself with His Word and also supply others.

Let’s consider a simple example: When you carefully read the Bible, you will notice that the New Testament always says “in the Lord,” “in Christ,” or “in Christ Jesus,” but it never says “in Jesus” or “in Jesus Christ.” (In 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “in Jesus” means “through Jesus” in the original Greek.) The New Testament uses “in Christ Jesus” and not “in Jesus Christ.” These are facts you need to memorize and remember. Look at how the Bible uses "in the Lord" in one place, "in Christ" in another, and "in Christ Jesus" elsewhere. Once you memorize these, you will be able to compare them. Why does one place say “in Christ” and not “in Jesus”? Why does another place use “in Christ Jesus” and not “in Jesus Christ”? The more you analyze and compare, the more you will be able to receive God’s illumination and see the reasons behind these distinctions.

When you understand the light, everything becomes clear. Jesus is His earthly name; Christ is His name after His resurrection, when He was anointed by God. “God has made Him both Lord and Christ,” as spoken in Acts 2. Christ is His name after His resurrection. In the book of Romans, when you see "Christ Jesus," it means the Christ who was once Jesus. Thus, “Christ Jesus” refers to His current name—He is the Christ who was once Jesus. “Jesus Christ” refers to His name before His resurrection, indicating that Jesus was to become the Christ. The two names have different meanings. We can only be "in Christ," not "in Jesus." We can only be "in the Lord" or "in Christ Jesus," not "in Jesus Christ." If we were "in Jesus" when He was on earth, we would have had part in His crucifixion and atonement, which would be contrary to the truth. The birth in Bethlehem was unique—He is the only Son of God, and we do not have part in that.

Why can we be "in Christ"? 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “You are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God…” (It does not say “in Jesus”). When the Lord Jesus died and was resurrected, we were united with Him in His resurrection. Through His death and resurrection, God made Him the Christ; through His Spirit, He united us with Him. We receive His life starting from His resurrection. Being born again is not through His birth, but through His resurrection. This clarifies everything.

This is the method of reading the Bible. It starts with discovering the facts, then memorizing them, followed by analysis and comparison. Finally, you wait for God’s illumination through prayer, and the Lord will open your eyes. These are the four principles of reading the Bible, and none of them can be neglected.

Let’s consider another example: In John chapters 14 and 16, the issue of the Holy Spirit being given is discussed. When reading these chapters, pay attention to the Lord's promise and look for specific facts.

John 14:16-20: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you."

What is the fact here? In the earlier part of this passage, “He” is used, but later, “I” is used. This change in pronouns is a key fact.

Based on the four basic principles of Bible reading, what does this mean? First, the discovery of the fact: the pronoun changes from "He" to "I." Second, we must remember this fact. Third, we analyze it. Here, there are two Advocates. The Lord says, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate." The word “another” suggests a second Advocate. If there is a second Advocate, there must have been a first.

The first thing we determine is that there are two Advocates. The Lord’s intention is that you already have one Advocate, and now another one is being given. This second Advocate is described as being with you forever. Who is this “He”? The Lord goes on to say, "the world... does not know Him, but you know Him." Why? "Because He abides with you, and He will be in you." This “He” refers to the Holy Spirit, the first Advocate.

Then, the Lord says, "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you." The second Advocate will be the Spirit, and the Lord will come to be with us through the Spirit. Thus, the “I” refers to the Lord Jesus, and the “He” refers to the Holy Spirit. We see the difference between the two Advocates. When "He" is used, it refers to the Holy Spirit in Christ; when "I" is used, it refers to Christ in the Holy Spirit.

Paul was a man who knew how to discover facts. For example, in Galatians 3, when he saw that the promise to Abraham's offspring was singular, not plural, he understood that it referred to Christ (Galatians 3:16). This fact was revealed to him.

In the Bible, there are many such facts. A person’s richness in God’s Word depends on how many facts they can discover. The more facts you discover, the richer your understanding will be. If you merely read carelessly without discovering the facts, you will end up not understanding anything.

Therefore, as we begin to read the Bible, we must learn to discover the facts, then memorize them, analyze, compare, and finally, kneel before God, asking for His illumination.