What is the best resource for learning to understand the bible?

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

View the Youtube ministry videos of John MacArthur. His is very clear, straightforward and sound in doctrine. I don't agree with all his views about the Charismatic movement through he makes some very good and useful points about it and what to avoid, but all the rest of his Bible teaching ministry is really good! After 50 years in the faith, I am learning new things and seeing fresh insights through his ministry.

 

[PaulCyp1]

Every major denomination publishes study guides to the Bible, that is to say, each of them provides study guides to their own denomination's interpretations of the Bible. Which conflict greatly from one denomination to the next. If I wanted to study the Bible, I would seek guidance from the Church that actually compiled the Bible from its own writings, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and is the sole authoritative interpreter of its own book. The Church to which Jesus Christ promised "The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth", and "Whatsoever you bind upon Earth is bound in Heaven", and "He who hears you hears Me". You can find reliable guides to Bible study in any Catholic bookstore.

 

[GingerBeer]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.

Whatever you do make sure you do it with others in a community of believing people; there is no more sure way to understand scripture than with the help of many faithful people helping you. Avoid lonely isolated study. Read and pray and ask others. They are your brothers and sisters. The scriptures were written in communities of faithful people and were meant for communities of faithful people so they can only be well understood in a community of faithful people. Alone many mistakes can go unchecked and the results of solo study are often tragic.

 

[EphraimManasseh]

I highly recommend following an American Church online called Elshaddai Ministries (El Shaddai Ministries). They stream live their services and read the weekly Torah portion and haftorah portion, this is what is read every week in Synagogues. And then he relates this to the Brit Chadashah (New Covenant) made through the blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Within a year your understanding, knowledge, wisdom and faith will have grown exponentially. Remember, Jesus is Jewish. Thus his life is in context of God's earlier covenants, festivals, promises and the ones to come.

I would also recommend talking about what you learn with someone. This is a cognitive faith, doing is learning, and talking is reassessing.

Also, pray and talk to God through your day.

Enjoy your journey!

 

[KPhillips]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

Good resources I found was:
1. The Strong's Concordance for biblical interpretation of the Greek & Hebrew meaning
2. Perry Stone's Old and New Testament Bible Commentary that you can order (although he only has a few New. Test. commentary bibles left & won't reprint them ever again! & you can only order these books from his website. Perry Stone is an author, preacher, & teacher of the word- basically a genius spending hours a day in the word. He also has sermons called ManiFest on youtube and you can come across some of his sermons and the break down of the scriptures as well.
3. The bible app for your phone
4. Ask the Lord for a spirit of wisdom, discernment, and understanding. have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit yet? He helps!
5. Books by Watchman Nee!! Good reads! You can download some of his literature on a kindle app.
6. David Wilkerson has sermons more on preaching, but he really does hit deep conversations that many preachers I've heard talk about. He may suggest just the simple tips of growing deeper with the Lord. (if it's not simple, it's not God)
7. I would suggest seeking and praying for the Lord to send you a David (like King David) to help you keep going as well as a mentor to help you. (You only go as high as your leader..)

These are all suggestions of holistic care to help you not only in seeking to understand the scriptures, but also grow in your walk with the Lord.

I hope this helped!


Blessings.

 

[friend of]

Maybe read some bible scholars like Matthew Henry?

Type in the verse and add studylight.com in google. That place is rife with exegesis

 

[_Dave_]

Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

Look up Chuck Missler's Learn the Bible in 24 hours on YouTube.

Mr. Missler has a knack for tying the entire Bible together in what he calls an integrated whole.

I'm sure there are also audio-only sources for LTB in 24 Hours that you can download and listen to as well.

 

[SteveIndy]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

Most of those on this site will recommend their favorite authors who will all have differing opinions and theology. If you want to understand Jesus and the writers of the New Testament then go to men who knew Him best, the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Those men of the first two hundred years after Christ and the Apostles wrote many things and shed much light on Jesus' and the Apostle's teaching.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

The only way to understand scripture truth is through the Holy Spirit. Without Him we are lost in our translation.
Blessings

 

[Daniel Martinovich]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

The best resource for understanding the Bible is the Bible itself. You should be listening to it far far more through your headphones than anything else. Don’t worry about understanding what you are hearing. That will come in TIME. You just need to hear. Your spirit, the true man down inside you needs to hear it. Transformation starts down there. Your intellect can catch up later.

I did this as a young Christian. I can’t tell you how beneficial it was. Use to have a big boom box and even listen at job sites. The benefits to the other Christians on the site were very visible.

This is a long term thing not a short term thing. I do need to add. There is no such thing as the destruction of the human will, or its being absorbed into the will of God or anything like that. That is just the kind of thing the imaginations of people come up with who don’t understand the physical construct of human beings. Or why they do what they do.

If you want to understand true conversion though. (You can be a heaven bound true Christian but not technically converted.) you can listen to these audio recordings I made to tell you exactly what that means.
What Is Love And How Can It Become My Nature?

 

[danielmears]

Well, I think I understand the "values" of what it means to be a Christian but that's as far as it goes. I know HOW I should act morally, I just don't understand scripture and how it all connects together.. I understand that having the spirit gives you discernment and wisdom to understand the bible. That's why I've been praying non-stop for the spirit so that I can receive that discernment and wisdom but nothing as far as that goes is changing? It's almost as if my prayer for understanding and wisdom is being ignored. Walk with the spirit? I would if I knew how!! The only thing I can do is pray that I can walk with the spirit, but then it's like that prayer gets ignored too. So now I'm at a roadblock.

Love and faith are paramount. Realize God/Christ are with you, in you and you are in God. God is love, light and spirit, in and through all things including you, me, all of us. Jesus was one with the Father, that is, one with light, love and spirit. He prayed all of us would, be one just like he and God in John 17:21. We speak so often of God that we do not realize that we are speaking of infinite power, love and light. The Word of God is power and we are made in God's image. Words and thoughts matter. We are to speak God's word whether we initially feel it or not. There are blessings which are provided for we who believe and incline our ear to the Father. The reason people are not blessed is because they are not speaking the Word in faith. You are a child of the living God with all power at your disposal, made in the image of God! Tell your self this until it gets into the depths of your being. Love God and others fervently realizing we are all spiritual beings. Look to the unseen, not the seen. Realize with God all things are possible. When you think of God, realize God is love and know you are dwelling in God, He in you! Eventually if you read the scriptures it will all fall into place. You are absolutely awesome for bringing this to the forefront!

 

[martymonster]

Find a teacher who has had his understanding to the spiritual nature of scripture, and learn from them.....checking it against the scriptures.

 

[joshua 1 9]

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though

I use Biblehub and I click on the Hebrew or Greek link lot.

 

[GraceBro]

I think I fall under Arminianism.. Which does not make me happy. All the glory should go to God right? How can one take God's glory? Wouldn't God frown upon that? Would you say it's safe to say if that is me that I am not one of the elect and if I am somehow saved it's probably out of pity?

Arminianism and Calvinism are not the only ways of believing about our relationship with God. There is a third way that is rarely discussed; God is a living God.

 

[dailyprayerwarrior]

I like to read commentaries to help understand Scripture.

 

[Mel333]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

Since the OT is written in Hebrew and the NT in Greek, I found this resource helpful for understanding the original language of the bible and English interpretation.

The Ancient Hebrew Research Center

 

[The Righterzpen]

I study the Bible pretty much with about 4 different reference books:

1.Strong's concordance.
2. Englishman's concordance - It is coded to the Strong's and has listed all the places a particular word is used. There is a Hebrew and a Greek one. Here is an example. There are several additions of it. I have an older addition. I'm not sure the addition matters; although the lexicon may have more information in it in a newer addition?
Englishman's Greek Concordance
3. The Word Study reference book - This is extremely helpful because it will tell you all the grammatical information. (word tense; is it future, present, etc)
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Word-Study-New-Testament/dp/0899576516
4. The Word Study references also have companion dictionaries; which can be helpful too, but not always 100% accurate.
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-WordStudy-Dictionary-Testament-Scripture/dp/0899576648

Other than these types of reference helps; I don't use any other material.

If I'm doing internet, I'll use:
BibleGateway.com
Biblehub.com
Blueletterbible.org
Scripture4all.org

There are some difference between the Greek and Hebrew in some of these reference books; depending on whether they are using "received text" or "critical text". For the Old Testament, it doesn't matter because the Hebrew is all the Masoretic text anyway; but for the New Testament, there's more than one set of texts out there.

Majority text: This is the body of texts that has been passed down through church history starting with the Antioch texts.

Minority text: This is a body of texts; all post 10th century, some of which were found via archeology.

Here's an explanation of the differences. There are some English Bibles other than King James that use the Majority text; but most of the newer ones, use the minority text.

Now how to study the Bible?

The Bible is its own dictionary, commentary and interpreter. If you want to know what something means in the Bible; you will find the answer somewhere else in the Bible. This is why I only use Bible reference materials and not commentaries when I study it.

Now I do read commentaries for information sake; to get a better understanding of what people of past history thought of a particular passage. I do not use commentaries though for the sake of understanding theology. I use Bible study reference books to help me find related things in the Bible and that's how I develop my understanding of theology.

Learning the Bible really well takes time. It takes years of steady and diligent study. It's not something you will learn over night!

Now you posted a worry about not being elect? If you are afraid you are not elect; to my experience, that is a good indication that you are. Knowing and understanding that we don't deserve redemption; makes grace anything but cheap. It took me probably about 10 years before I knew for sure I was elect. So, don't be frightened by that struggle; it's not unusual.

As you study the Bible; you will find a lot of things in it that just flat out; don't make sense! That's OK, it's part of the journey. Doesn't mean you are spiritually deficient; it just means your a "newb".

So, that's my basic advice in studying the Bible. Be patient and keep plugging along. The more you learn, the easier it gets. So keep plugging!

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

My method of learning the Bible over the years is through discussion with other Christians online and in reading lots of articles. I have talked about a wide variety of Christian topics. There are many. There are some false beliefs in Christiandom and there are true biblical teachings. The key is to ask God for help constantly, to compare Scripture with Scripture, and to not compromise on what is good and moral because God is good and righteous. If you ever have a crisis of faith on something you don't understand in the Bible, be calm and trust God and ask Him what it means. Seek after the answers by reading tons of Christian articles on the topic, as well.

While there is not one definitive source that I would recommend because not everyone is 100% infallible in teaching the truth, here are some helpful generic resources and tools that many Christians use.

Biblehub = Eye friendly for reading the Bible online with many helpful resources.
Biblegateway = You can read multiple chapters of different translations side by side.
OpenBible = Great cross reference resource.
BlueLetterBible = Great resource for doing keyword searches and in checking out the original languages on a word with the Strong's option.
OliveTree software or app = Some great supplementary Bible resources.
PureKingJames software = Doing keyword searches involving related words (For example, if you want to look up all the related words for the word "command" like commandment, commandments, etc. this is a great app to do that. Simply put an * symbol after the keyword you want to search for.

Great Dramatized Audio Bibles:
1. Word of Promise.
2. Bible Experience: Inspired by (New Testament) (Best voice actor for the part of Jesus).

Best Graphic Novel Bible:
Action Bible.
This gives you a bit of a quick overview of the Bible stories in comic book form. It is a 752 page hardcover full color comic book.

I like the New Living Translation to read on my Kindle. The OT is pretty difficult to read in the KJV, so I read both the NLT and KJV when reading the Old Testament (OT).

As a new believer: I would encourage you to check out the evidences that I discovered that show that God's Word is divine in origin in my Blogger article here:

Love Branch: Evidences for the Word of God

I would also encourage you to watch excellent Christian movies that build up your faith, as well.

Here is my top list of Christian films:

What Christian Movies Do You Find To Be The Most Rewatchable?

Here are some great Christian films that I can watch on rare occasion:

Excellent Christian Films That I Can Only Watch on Rare Occasion.

Hopefully these films will keep you uplifted in your walk with the Lord.

Here are some great Christian songs that you may find uplifting to your faith, as well.

 

[DamianWarS]

I am trying to find my faith and lacking understanding although I pray for understanding and wisdom very often.. but I don't feel "transformed" I'm like "Lord COME ON!! Destroy my will and let your will reign in soverignity over my life and let me be flooded with the holy spirit!" I'm still waiting though, don't feel like I'm "reborn". Although I will say my life is better than when I was atheist and although I'm quite discouraged I don't plan on giving up..

I need to learn how I can study the bible on my own time though.. yes some of you will say go join some kind of study group..etc. and I very well may do that in the future but with my schedule right now, I'm working non-stop long shifts overnights and have to try to sleep during the day and I need a way to study and understand the bible on my own terms and time right now.. I am listening to christian podcasts/sermons with my headphones at work which is helpful, I do listen/read the actual bible though too but for me the podcasts are far less intimidating to me since I can understand most of what they are talking about since they explain things.. But I'm also limited to learning only what they are choosing to address instead of being able to open the bible myself to whatever page and be able to find understanding and wisdom in that because I guess I was not blessed with being able to understand God's word.

On the podcast I've been listening to, they talk about bibles with footnotes to help better understand and pointers that show the connections in the bible? Where can I find something like this that I can download and read/listen on my phone? Thank you!

the bible is the best resource for itself. try this study called the discovery bible study it uses only the bible and then asks the same questions at the end of each passage. The link is only an example (it's just an easy to follow example with an app) but you can search for it on google and find a bunch of other examples as well as books on the subject like Contagious Disciple Making, all great sources.

The purpose is to draw natural discovery of what the bible says and to teach responsible study such as staying in context and not adding things that are not in the text. It is meant even for non-believers and is best in a group, no one needs to be an expert on anything (its probably better if you're not) you just read the passage and answer the questions based on what the passage says and nothing else.

As I said, it's best in groups so try and get a small group and do it together.

 

[DennisH]

Now a more personal response.

I’m a bit concerned about your post. Not everyone gets to be St. Paul, with Christ calling him personally, and turning around his life. I suggest that you read one of the Gospels, maybe Luke. Jesus calls for people to follow him, but he talks mostly about loving God and neighbor, and not about impressive religious experiences.

Following him is about the kinds of relationships you have with people, and the kinds of decisions you make in your life.

Generally, the Christian life is lived in community, and it is supported by worship. Jesus called a group of disciples, and mentored them as a team. Paul worked with churches, not normally with individuals.

One of the most important things for Christians is to appreciate what God has done for us. The natural response to this is worship. In particular, in communion you should be brought back to Jesus’ death for you.

People react very differently to different types of worship, so I can’t make a specific recommendation. But don’t overlook more traditional churches. A lot of people find that traditional communion liturgy is more helpful than rock concerts. Excitement isn't everything.

Hello Hedrick