I have recently been reading through Corinthians with my mentor and friends, and I have to say it is a wonderful and profound journey. This is the second time I have studied the book. The first time was during my second year of the CiRCE Apprenticeship, so I was pretty excited when my mentor told me this is the book we would be studying. Corinthians is a book pregnant with life, truth, and filled with opportunity for personal and corporate growth and repentance. Will you join me?
First, I want to share one possible form for studying the scriptures. My mentor introduced me to and is teaching me how to use an expository Bible study method to study the Bible. The original source is Alistair Begg’s book ‘Preaching for the Glory of God.’ Even though this is a book marketed to pastors; this method is profoundly helpful for any person wanting to really learn how to study the scriptures for themselves. The best way to learn something is to teach it, or at least study like you will teach it. The only thing I would add is to do this with others, learning alone and in isolation is not a good plan. Here is the outline of the form.
[box] “Think yourself empty, read yourself full, write yourself clear, and pray yourself hot.” -Alistair Begg[/box]
“Think yourself empty. Survey a passage of Scripture in the proper spirit of unlearnedness. Avoid the proud assumption that you initially know what everything means.”
For me, this usually means a lot of confession and repentance. Pride is ugly, and I struggle with it so often. Call out to Christ, ask, wait, and learn. This step is critical if we want to see with any certain level of clarity. Simply asking the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas of sin that you need to confess is a great first step here. God is faithful and wants us to be like His Son; He will not leave you without help.
On a teaching note, this is also a great way to approach any and every lesson. In fact, this whole method could be applied to any liberal art or science in which you are giving a lesson.
“Read yourself full. Read widely and regularly.”
When reading, it is good to give yourself as much context as possible by doing a quick read through of the entire book you are studying. So if you are studying 1st Corinthians 1, then make sure you have done a quick read-through of the entire book of Corinthians. Likewise, if you are studying any book in the Bible, having an overview of the whole Bible in mind as you study the one book is highly profitable. If you have never read through the Bible, I will encourage you to do so. I recommend just starting. Do not give yourself a time frame, unless it helps you. Otherwise, we end up getting behind and eventually stop. I am reading through the Bible for the first time and am in Isaiah right now. Every morning I read 1-4 chapters. Then, after that I read and study whatever I am studying in depth. Some mornings I sleep in or am lazy or have an attitude and choose not to read. Nevertheless, when I come back after repenting I can pick up right where I left off without feeling like I have to catch up or not read.
“Write yourself clear. Aside from the essential empowering of the Spirit, freedom of delivery in the pulpit depends on careful organization in the study.”
Since I am not preparing a sermon, in this step I simply begin by writing out my observations. One could also ask simple questions as well. Things like ““Who are the people? What are their relationships? What do those terms mean? What is the importance of the place they are in? Read the passage as for the first time. Look for things that are emphasized, repeated, related, alike, unlike and true to life.” –Howard Hendrix. Simply record your observations. Next it is helpful to look for the melody line -as my mentor calls it. The melody line is the central principle the passage is talking about. Whenever you read Scripture, or anything for that matter there are always particulars and principles. You want to look for the principles. What are the transcendent truths echoing throughout the verse, chapter, book, Bible, and Creation? Note it when you find it. Next, begin to write about your observations in light of the melody line. “Grasp how the context fits with literary genres, history, and culture. Also, what does the context say about the writer’s relationship with God, or even about the natural world?” –Howard Hendrix
“Pray yourself hot. Without personal prayer and communion with God during the preparation stages, the pulpit will be cold.”
I am still learning a lot about this step. I feel uncertain at times exactly how to pray. One thing I do know for certain is that praying the scriptures and the publican’s prayer are always a safe bet. Candace Crabtree over at HisMercyisNew.com has great resources for learning how to pray the Scriptures. Including 10 Benefits to Praying the Scriptures, 5 Ways to Pray the Scriptures, and a super helpful Subscriber-freebie called “Quick Start to Praying the Scriptures.’ I highly recommend everything she puts out there. Now, once I get to this step I often find myself back at repentance once again. Seeing more areas of sin but also seeing more areas of God’s faithfulness, which in turn makes a perfect entrance into praise and worship. The cycle continues.
“Be yourself, but don’t preach yourself. There is nothing quite so ridiculous as the affected tone and adopted posture of the preacher who wishes he were someone else. Also – a good teacher clears the way, declares the way, and then gets out of the way.”
This is good advice for us moms. Even though I am not a pastor, I am a mom and a teacher, who hopes to direct my children and students in beholding Christ. It is best to set the truth before our children in a simple and accessible way, get out of the way, and then allow the Holy Spirit to work on their hearts. It is much easier to do this when we have encountered the transformative truths of scripture first and personally.
Above Quote selections are from the new edition of Preaching for God’s Glory by Alistair Begg.
My personal notes for the first reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-17
Verse 1 :9
God is faithful
I need to pray for personal revelation of the fact that I was called into fellowship with God’s son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Important word: calling
Verse 1:10
Before we go any further, we need to make a die-hard commitment to Christian unity. There ought to be no divisions among us, be committed to this. Rather, commit ourselves to being perfectly united in the same mind/opinions/judgments/common understanding. Seek this.
Paul knows what he is about to say to the Corinthians, and he is inviting them and urging them to commit to a principle that will give them endurance in learning all that he is about to teach them.
Unity is an essential principle for all of us to learn and grow. I do not think we cannot expect to learn anything of the mysteries of God without that unity.
Be prepared to do whatever is necessary to attain this Christian unity, be open to whatever the Lord wants to reveal to me about my part in this pursuit.
Question: Judgments about what?
Principles, particulars, first things, second things
Verses 1:11-17
First Example of Divisions for the church in Corinth
The most fundamental division
Question: Whose allegiance have I pledged myself to? {Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ}?
Solution: We are all “in Christ.”
“In Christ” is an important truth and is repeated throughout Corinthians. Be looking for more instances of it. I think this might be the melody line of verses 1-17. The principle that settles the divisions the Corinthian Church was experiencing is that we are all “in Christ.”
Question: Where have I pledged my allegiance? When have I cared more about what a man or woman says than what God says?
Question I am wrestling with: What are the distinctions between seeking counsel, learning in community, and doing what the Corinthians were doing with their proclamations about being of {Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ}?
Words and Ideas to keep an eye out for throughout Corinthians: gifts, calling, in Christ, judgment, unity, divisions
What are you learning in Corinthians, or in any of your Scripture reading and study? Join the Conversation in the comments section.
Expanding Wisdom, extending grace,
Jennifer
candacec says
I love this post so much! I am pinning it (and sharing it!) but want to come back to it myself when I can really read it more mindfully. I love the quotes you’ve shared and I appreciate your sharing my links as well.
Jennifer Dow says
My pleasure! I am glad you enjoyed the article. Thank you for reading!
gasthausramstein says
Hi Jen, I am also reading Isaiah. I have read it before and remembered it with great relish. This time however, it seems to be more of a struggle. But the verse at the conclusion of Chapter 40 where it talks about waiting on the Lord is speaking to me. My 20 yo son has been living at home after his first year away in college. It is a blessing and a curse:) I am pleased he opted to leave behind a life of debt–college is crazy money these days without a full scholarship. I am pleased I have more time to read great literature aloud to him. And I am pleased he is looking into joining the Air Force, as his father did at his age. Yet my son, is just not where I want him to be spiritually. It is humbling because I am not either, where I want to be spiritually, that is. But son is all about fun, and technology. So I get frustrated and wish he would just go start his own life so as not to be a negative example to the other two kids. Yet I keep coming back to this verse. “Wait on the Lord.” ” Renew their strength” I don’t feel very strong right now. Or perhaps I am leaning too much on my own strength. His timing is perfect and eldest will leave when the time is right. He will mature, in God’s perfect timing. I think I just want to know how I as a mom can encourage rather than nag my unmotivated eldest. But as CM says often at the end of Home Education “this kind cometh forth only by prayer.”
Jennifer Dow says
Amen sister. I think you quoted it perfectly. “this kind cometh forth only by prayer” that is for sure.” I look forward to seeing how God works in all of this. My oldest is 12 so I cannot completely relate, but I can relate to not being where i think I ought to be. If there is anything I have learned so far , it is fear and worry usually stifles my ability to discern. Keep doing what you are doing and thank you for sharing. It was a blessing to hear your story.