Bible Study Principle
by Dave Brown

If you believe that you can understand the bible, then the next step is to employ the principles of bible study that are given in the bible itself.  The articles on this page are designed to help in that regard.  As you read them, please study and understand the context of the passages that are given, and assure yourself that what is being taught here is not man's teaching, but that it is from the bible itself.  
 
This is a particularly important portion of this web site because its goal is to provide you with biblical methods for obtaining for yourself truth from the bible.  Unlike most other topics that attempt to tell you what the bible says on a given subject, the articles here are intended to equip you with the abilities to determine bible truth for yourself.  However, these principles themselves have the authority of scripture, as will be shown.

There are a large number of articles.  Rather than approaching them randomly, we recommend that you read them in the following order:

• Systematic the Bible Study - this approach to bible study is based on the "Milk before the Meat" principle described in another article below.  The idea is to start your study where God wants you to start it -- with the basic foundation of faith and the plan of salvation give by Jesus in the New Testament.  Once that is mastered the student then has the background to understand the more difficult passages.  This cannot be accomplished by reading the bible cover to cover.  In a short time you can have a very good mastery of the basics of the bible.
• Study the Bible for Yourself - this article will provide the motivation by showing that the bible was intended to be read, studied and understood by the average person.   Study for yourself does not necessarily mean study by yourself -- the help of others can be invaluable.  It means that you should be determined to draw your own conclusions from what you study -- depend on God, not on other people to resolve what is the truth.
• Milk and Meat - provides the basic reasoning process for "proving all things."  Note: the order of this listing is an example of beginning with the milk (simpler concepts) and move to the meat (the more complex issues).    
• Consider the Context - The context in which a statement is made can more than alter its meaning -- it can totally reverse its meaning, and there are several passages in the bible where it does just that.  One of the primary principles of biblical understanding is to make sure that all passages are interpreted in the context within which they appear.
  
• Comprehensive Study Techniques - Whether trying to resolve an issue or generally learning what the bible teaches, it is important that we do not just rely one or a few passages.  Find all of the passages (that you can) that relate to the issue, and then establish the preponderance of scriptural evidence to establish the truth.  We have found that there is usually no big contest - the truth will pop right out.
• Rules for Profitable Bible Study - This is a summary of bible-based precepts that are designed to make your study profitable.
• Teaching Aids: 
  
  • (1) Bible Study Questions,
    
  • (2) Teachers Guide to the Bible Study Questions, and  
    
  • (3) Periods of Bible History.  
    

What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?

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