The Sure Word Bible Study Copyright  2012 William (Bill) R. Chambers All rights reserved. These lessons may not be reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without permission from the author. (Which will be freely given.) Unless otherwise noted all scriptures quoted are taken from either the King James Version (KJV) or the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. You may order additional copies of this study or contact the author through the following: Mail: Bill Chambers 115 Lazarus Dr Hiram, Ga 30141 Phone: 770 530-2308 E-mail: [email protected] This is a study of biblical teachings designed primarily for use in a student / teacher setting as a study in preparation for baptism. However, this book contains many helpful studies that will be beneficial to anyone seeking to learn biblical truths. This series of study topics include: Lesson 1 - The Word Lesson 2 - The Origin of Evil Lesson 3 - What is God Really Like? Lesson 4 - God Wants to be Your Friend Lesson 5 - Sin the Enemy of Good Lesson 6 - Understanding Forgiveness Lesson 7 - The Sleep of Death Lesson 8 - The Second Coming Lesson 9 - The Millennium Lesson 10 - Lost Forever Lesson 11 - The Passion of Christ Lesson 12 - The Second Death Lesson 13 - The Healing Model Lesson 14 - The Health Message Lesson 15 - The Sabbath Rest - Part One Lesson 16 - The Sabbath Rest - Part Two Lesson 17 - Commitment and Baptism Lesson 18 - The Church The Sure Word Bible Studies Lesson 1 The Sure Word of Truth One thing is certain – we live in uncertain times. And as always, most people depend upon their fellowman for truth and spiritual guidance which leads to more uncertainty. The Catholic Priest, the Jewish Rabbi, and the Protestant preacher, all say they speak for God. They all claim to have the truth, yet they all are teaching different things! How can that be? Common sense tells us that all of them can’t be right. In fact, the Bible warns us that even some ministers will be agents for Satan! II Corinthians 11:14,15 "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." This being the case, how can we know for sure what is true? Jesus praying to the Father, said: "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). God’s word is truth and is found in the Bible. The Bible is the only constant, unchanging guide we have to help us navigate the uncertain times in which we live. Here are some important facts about the Bible:  The Bible is not one book, but a collection of books in one binding.  Over 40 different men wrote the Bible over a period of 1500 years.  Each Bible writer wrote in his native language, Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek.  These men came from various backgrounds, different levels of education and different cultures. 1 Scripture is not the thoughts and ideas of these individual men, but the Bible itself tells us: "for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (II Peter 1:21) The Bible is not a word for word dictation from God, but rather God speaking through the human mind with each writer expressing it in their own way. The Bible was written in a way that enables it to speak to all men in every age, language and culture. Because of this we will find some difficulties which will require more than a casual reading to understand. The Bible was first circulated as a complete unit during the 4th century and copied by hand until 1469 A.D. and the invention of the printing press. The original writings had no chapters, verses, or punctuation. Punctuation was not added until the Bible was translated into the English language. Verses were added to the Old Testament in by Jewish rabbis in 900 A.D. The Bible was divided into chapters by Stephen Langston, professor in the University of Paris, during the 12th century and finally verses were added to the New Testament in A.D. 1551 by Robert Stephens. The Jewish Bible has 39 books. (The Old Testament only) The Catholic Bible has 73 books, the Old and New Testaments plus seven additional "apocryphal" (which means "hidden") books which were rejected by the Protestants as un-inspired. The Protestant Bible has 66 books including both the Old and New Testaments. The combination of books selected to be included in the Bible are known as the "canon" of scripture. They meet the criteria set by the church qualifying each one as an inspired writing. 2 Today the Bible has been translated into more than two thousand languages and many different versions. The versions can be divided into three different types of translations. (1) "Word for word" translations. Examples are the King James KJV, New King James NKJV, New American Standard NAS and the English Standard Version ESV. In these versions the translators have attempted to stay as close to the original wording as possible. (2) "Thought for thought" translations. Examples are the New International NIV and New Living Translation NLT. In these versions the translators have attempted to convey the thought the writer had in mind rather than the exact words. (3) "Paraphrase" translations. Examples are the Clear Word, the Message, or the Living Bible. These versions are usually done by one person rather than a group in which the translator puts into his own words what he believes the writer was saying. The "word for word” translations are considered the best for study and teaching while the others are considered best for public and / or personal reading. A casual reading of the Bible isn’t enough. We need to know for ourselves how to study and correctly interpret and understand its contents. If our study is to be fruitful it will involve work, effort, and patience. There will be times of discouragement, especially in the beginning, but we must be persistent. Because we do not understand or can’t make sense of something should not cause us to lose confidence in the scriptures, if we keep studying – understanding will come. 3 Some of the problems we find as we study may be products of our inaccurate perception rather than actual mistakes in the Bible. We must be careful that we do not put God on trial when we come across a text that we cannot understand. Remember, God is infallible - we are not. The following is a list of helpful tools for Bible study. 1. Different versions of the Bible for comparison. 2. Exhaustive concordance with Hebrew and Greek dictionary. 3. Bible dictionary. 4. Bible commentaries. 5. Computer Bible programs. (There are some free ones, like Bible Explorer and E-sword.) The following ten principles will help us better understand the Bible and correctly apply it to our lives. 1. Before studying the Bible always first ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." The same Holy Spirit that inspired the writing of the scriptures will help us to understand them. 2. Approach Bible study with humility, an open mind, seeking to learn, never with preconceived ideas or pride of opinion. Matthew 18:3,4 "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." 4 “Become as little children.” That is, being inquisitive, open minded and willing to be taught. No matter how old or how well educated we may be, that must be our attitude when studying the Bible if we are to know the truth. 3. Develop the practice of asking questions about what is read. When we read the Bible or engage in conversations with other Christians, we will hear or read words and phrases we do not understand. There may have been times when we may have repeated them even though we couldn’t explain them. For example, can you clearly explain the meaning of the expression, “covered by the blood”? Or can you explain the meaning of words like “justification, sanctification, and propitiation?” If we can’t explain it, it usually means we don’t understand it. Often the problem is that we don't ask, “What does that mean?” Because after all, a good Christian should know what all those words and phrases mean, shouldn’t they? But if we don’t know, we should set aside our pride and ask “What does that mean?” and diligently seek the answer. 4. Consider all scripture on a subject before drawing any conclusions on that subject. A concordance is a must for this. We begin by looking up the key words of the topic or subject we wish to learn more about; for example, the baptism of Jesus. The key words would be “baptize,” “baptism,” or “baptized,” and “Jesus.” Next we look at the verses that include these words. In this example, we begin with a text in the book of Luke. Luke 3:19 - 23 "But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he 5 shut John up in prison. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age," These verses tell us 1) Jesus was baptized. 2) That the Holy Spirit came upon Him at that time, and 3) that He was 30 years old. But they do not tell us who baptized Jesus or where. So we look at another account of this event in the book of Mark. Mark 1:9,10 "It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove." This text has given us more detail; it tells us who baptized Jesus and where. Then reading another passage relating to this subject in the book of Acts we learn even more about Jesus baptism. Acts 10:37,38 "that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Here we learn that Jesus’ baptism signified His anointing by God with the Holy Spirit prior to His beginning His ministry. This is when He actually became, the “Christ” or the “Anointed.” (The word Christ means “anointed one.”) By looking at everything the Bible has to say on a subject we can better know the truth about that subject. Remember, never say, “The Bible says” until you’ve looked at everything the Bible says! 6 5. Word Studies. Since the Bible was not originally written in English it must be translated. Translation is a difficult work because some Hebrew and Greek words have no equivalent in English. In addition to that, the translators may be strongly biased to a particular doctrine and unintentionally allow that to impact their translation. Therefore doing word studies by examining the original Hebrew or Greek words used in scripture to better understand their definition and use is critical to Bible study. The exhaustive concordance and Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are essential for this. This is especially true if you use the King James Version of the Bible. Hundreds of the words used in the translation of that version back in A.D. 1611 have completely changed meaning and some are no longer used at all. An example of a word no longer used is found in Philippians 1:22 “But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.” (KJV - King James Version) Few people know what “wot not” means. “Wot” is an old English word for “know.” He is saying “I know not.” An example of a word that has changed in meaning is Luke 17:7 – “But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?” (KJV) The phrase “by and by” is translated from one Greek word “euthos” which means “immediately.” Today the expression “by and by” means just the opposite, it means later on. These are just a couple of simple examples that show the benefit of word studies. It also should be remembered that in the original languages of the Bible, just as in modern English, some words have more than one 7 meaning and only by the way the word is used can we determine which meaning to apply. Note the following examples of the word “day.” In the first example, a day is a literal 24-hour period. Genesis 1:5 "God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day." In the next example, a day is an indefinite period. It could be a day, a week, months or even years. Ecclesiastes 7:14 "In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider:" The final example speaks of “a day for a year.” Numbers 14:34 "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years," The use of a “day for a year” only applies in the setting of Bible prophecy which relates the foretelling of future events found mainly in the books of Daniel and Revelation. Word studies are essential in whatever version we choose to use for study. We want to determine as best we can what the writer of the text intended to say, and not necessarily what the translator determined he intended to say. 6. Consider the context The “context” is the main subject of a certain passage (a passage is a group of verses). Read the following passage and look for the context. Romans 14:1 - 7 "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all 8