Where I Share How I Study the Bible, in The Hope That You Do Too

I wasn’t sure where to put this next section of our study. There isn’t an obviously good spot to plug this session in but I feel it’s important to include it somewhere. So, this session is a little different; this week I’ll be sharing one of the ways I study Scripture. As someone with no formal biblical training, I have found the acronym R.E.A.P helpful as I do my personal studying. I got this particular method from a sermon David Platt preached and he got it from someone else (I can’t remember who at the moment), but this method is pretty easily found with a quick Google search.

So before we dive into what R.E.A.P stands for I want to look at why it’s important to study (not just read) Scripture. Looking at 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we can see what Scripture is good for.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-16 NKJV

From this verse we see Scripture is to be used in four distinct areas; Doctrine, Reproof, Correction and Instruction. These four things build on themselves as well as stand alone. Let’s take a look at each of these:

Doctrine- This helps us determine what it is we believe as Christ following people and what should be guiding our thought and actions.

Reproof- Scripture is to be used to show us where we are going wrong in our lives. (And on the flip side of that, we can see what we are doing correctly and in a Godly manner; so it’s not always in a negative light).

Correction- Scripture also tell us how we can get back in alignment with God.

Instruction- Scripture teaches us how to live out what God has commanded and is calling us to do as His children.

These four uses flow from one to the next; Doctrine forms what we stand on foundationally, then we are able to see where our actions do or do not line up with our believes (reproof), then we look to scripture to teach us how our actions can be turned back to what we say we believe (correction) and finally we can look to Scripture to guide us as we live our lives, becoming more and more like Christ (instruction).

To bring this around to be applicable to our current Bible Study as a whole, we need to be in the Word consistently, not only for our spiritual well-being, but also that we may have biblically-based answers at the ready when people approach us with questions as we seek to share the Good News of Jesus and as we live out our individual callings. This isn’t my own idea but Peter says as much.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” 1 Peter 3:15-16 NKJV

So now back to R.E.A.P. It’s much like what we learned (or should have learned) in a High School Literature class, which probably explains why I like it so much and find it helpful to me.

R- Read

E- Examine

A- Apply

P- Pray


Here is how to apply each letter to our study.

Read-
As simple as it sounds. Read the chapter, account, section, passage, whatever you are studying that day. Go slowly, read it out loud, read it a few times, whatever you need to begin building a picture of what’s happening. I suggest reading with a dictionary or the dictionary app on your phone handy for looking up words that you might not know or are unsure of. This is a habit I picked up in college and has stuck with me. As a side note to this, I’d encourage you to find a Bible translation that you can read and understand (and is accurate to the original writings). Personally I use KJV or NKJV, not from any ridge grasp on tradition, but because its grammar and word usage cause me to slow down and focus on what I’m reading. In college as I pursued my BA in Literature I got very good at skimming and flying through page after page, gathering the gist of what was going on, but I don’t want to do that with Scripture, so I use a translation that causes me to go slowly, and absorbing each word and phrase.

Examine-
Here is where the literature class kicks in. We want to start looking deeper into the passage we are reading. We want to know the Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of the section.

• Who is in the passage; is it Jews, Gentiles, the Israelites, etc.
• What is going on; a conversation, a sermon, genealogy, recount of history, etc.
• When did it happen; before the Cross, while Jesus was in the midst of His earthly ministry, etc. (Questions like this will help us grasp the application of what we are reading.)
• Where is it happening; on earth or heaven, in Israel or among Gentiles, etc.
• How this usually helps answer the What question.
• Why is X happening or why did X say what they did.

We also need to ask what is Normative and what is Exclusive. If it is Normative then what is being spoken about is for all of us for all time. Ex: Christ’s death on the cross was for all God’s Children not just for the people living during His earthly ministry. If it is Exclusive then it would be for the particular person or people in the passage. Ex: God’s command for Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, was exclusive to Abraham; not for all father’s.

This is also the time to do background research or consult commentaries, etc.  The goal is to build the best understand of all that is happening.

Apply-
Once we have the best picture we can get of what is happening in the passage we can now ask, what does this mean for me, for us in modern day, and how can we apply what I have just read in my life today? Remember, if you are reading for personal study (not for group teaching) that what you are reading is for you in that very moment, and probably is not for your neighbor. I want to caution us not to starting applying the conviction God lays at our feet as we read to other people in our lives. I don’t want us walking away from our quiet time with thoughts of, I’m going to go tell what I read to Sally Sue down the street because it said we shouldn’t gossip and that’s all she does. That message about not gossiping was for you as you read. We don’t ever want to pick up the lessons and teaching in the Bible and start whacking others over the head with them. We read first to understand how we personally should live, act and think.

Pray-
I love ending my personal study time with prayer. It allows me time to talk to God after spending time listening to Him through the reading of His Word. The prayer that comes after we’ve read has a particular spin to its direction; we need to ask ourselves, how can we approach the throne of Grace in light of what we have just read? What I mean by that is, does what we have read cause us to praise, or to ask repentance, were we convicted about sin in our life, were we edified, uplifted comforted, etc.? Our prayer should be guided by what God has shown us.

I hope this has helped you in some way. If you have an established routine for your quiet time- Awesome! If you are still searching for consistency, give this a try. But I want to encourage you to read out of a desire to get to know Him more, not out of a duty, or religious rigor. One of my favorite songs right now is You Are Good (That I May) by Tim Timmons, and the bridge goes like this “I’ll praise you, not that I have to / Not that I ought to / But that I may”.  I hope each of us takes that same attitude into our Bible study time. Brothers and Sisters, dive into the Word so that you may know Him more, so we are ready to share the Good News of Christ Jesus with all we meet.

"Don't take my word for it, be like the church at Berea, “[They] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11