Study to Meet God.

This is the ultimate reason for Bible study. It is not about gaining more knowledge about the Bible or even God. The purpose of reading Scripture is to experience the Lord God. It is to come away from the Bible having sensed God. In this way the Bible becomes a means by which the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to us. This is our number one reason for opening the Bible and studying its pages—an encounter with God.

 

Tools for Study

The ideal tool for understanding the Bible would be a working knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek languages used by the authors of the Bible. But this takes years of hard work. However, today there are so many wonderful tools and aids that such knowledge of the original languages is not necessary.

If you are using a KJV, NKJV, NASB, or ESV translation, you have the word of God in English form. There are other English translations that are reliable. You do not need Greek or Hebrew to know what God has said. With a good translation you are capable, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to understand God’s message to mankind. Let no one convince you that unless you know Greek and Hebrew you cannot know what God has said. That is simply an attempt at elitism and has no place in the body of Christ. However, the need is great that men and women learn the languages of the Bible in order to preserve the Scriptures in our common tongue and to serve as translators and academic teachers of the Bible.