Are you ready to explore Scripture like never before? Join us on the Bible Basics Podcast as we delve into the transformative first step of the Living by the Book Bible Study Method by Howard and William Hendricks: observation. Imagine yourself as a detective, meticulously dissecting every verse to uncover profound insights. This episode guides you through Romans 12:1-2, teaching you how to read and re-read passages, ask essential questions, and utilize tools like concordances to fully understand key terms such as "mercy," "bodies," and "reasonable service."
Flowing from our exploration of observation, we emphasize the importance of engaging deeply with God's Word for genuine spiritual transformation. Listen in as we encourage you to apply these techniques to Romans 12:1-2 throughout the week and share your discoveries with us. Spread the word by sharing this enriching journey with friends through Bible-Basics.org, or by supporting our YouTube channel with likes, subscriptions, and comments. We close with heartfelt wishes for God's grace and peace to be with you always, inspiring you to uncover the rich, hidden details of Scripture that can profoundly impact your spiritual journey.
KEY SCRIPTURE Romans 2:1-2 NIV 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Are you ready to explore Scripture like never before? Join us on the Bible Basics Podcast as we delve into the transformative first step of the Living by the Book Bible Study Method by Howard and William Hendricks: observation. Imagine yourself as a detective, meticulously dissecting every verse to uncover profound insights. This episode guides you through Romans 12:1-2, teaching you how to read and re-read passages, ask essential questions, and utilize tools like concordances to fully understand key terms such as "mercy," "bodies," and "reasonable service."
Flowing from our exploration of observation, we emphasize the importance of engaging deeply with God's Word for genuine spiritual transformation. Listen in as we encourage you to apply these techniques to Romans 12:1-2 throughout the week and share your discoveries with us. Spread the word by sharing this enriching journey with friends through Bible-Basics.org, or by supporting our YouTube channel with likes, subscriptions, and comments. We close with heartfelt wishes for God's grace and peace to be with you always, inspiring you to uncover the rich, hidden details of Scripture that can profoundly impact your spiritual journey.
KEY SCRIPTURE Romans 2:1-2 NIV 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.
Jacqui:
Greetings listeners. Welcome back to the Bible Basics Podcast. Today we're excited to bring you Part 2 of our four-part series on the Living by the Book Bible Study Method by Howard and William Hendricks. In our last episode, we discussed the importance of studying the Bible on your own. Now, as we continue our journey, we'll explore the three actionable steps of the Living by the Book method. In this episode we're diving into the first step observation Imagine watching your favorite detective show where solving the mystery depends on uncovering a hidden clue. Studying the Bible can be just as captivating and insightful. Join us as we learn to see the Bible in a whole new light, discovering the rich details that are right before our eyes. Well, welcome everyone. I'm your host, Jacqui Adewole, and this is the Bible Basics Podcast, where weekly, we break down the Bible into understandable, bite-sized chunks. I'm a huge fan of the TV crime drama Law and Order. The detectives on this show investigate crimes thoroughly. They don't just take witness statements over the phone. They visit the crime scene, examine evidence, gather background on suspects and take various steps to solve the case. Similarly, we need to engage deeply with scripture on our own. While sermons and classes are incredibly valuable, there is much to be gained from personal Bible study. In our last episode we learned that studying the Bible independently equips us to know God better, understand our salvation, and develop discernment, spiritual maturity and transformed minds. The Living by the Book method is an excellent approach for this. Howard Hendricks and his son William wrote this insightful book called Living by the Book the Art and Science of Reading the Bible, which aims to provide us with the tools to understand and apply the Bible in our lives. This method is accessible to everyone, jacJacqkie from beginners to seasoned Bible readers. The book is structured around three core steps Step one observation. Step two, interpretation. And step three, application. In this episode we'll dive into step one, observation, exploring how to see and understand what's right in front of us in Scripture and understand what's right in front of us in Scripture. In Living by the Book, dr Hendricks shares pointers on how to boost our powers of observation when we read Scripture. He begins with a little exercise to illustrate that seeing is not the same as observing. Let's try it. I'd like you to answer the following questions from memory. Later, after you listen to this podcast, check to see if your observations are correct. Number one think of a stairway or the steps to a building you use regularly? How many steps are there? How many stoplights do you pass on your way to the grocery store or to work? Number three which of the following four inscriptions is not found on the back of a dollar bill? A In God we Trust. B Annuit Coeptis. C the Department of Treasury, 1789, or D E Pluribus Unum. Four. Think of someone you live with or work with closely. Describe in detail what that person was wearing the last time you saw them. How'd you do? Do you have a keen eye for detail or do you miss the little things? Of course, none of these questions are a matter of life and death. But back to Law and O order. Crime solving often hinges on seemingly minor details like the color of a suspect's eyes, the time of day or whether the culprit was left or right handed. The facts are there, but only a great detective notices them. Now let's apply those skills to the Bible. The first step, observation, asks and answers the question what do I see? Observation is the art of seeing clearly what the Bible says before jumping to interpretation or application. Think of it as putting on your detective hat and examining the text with fresh eyes, noting everything you see. Fundamental, because it ensures that our understanding of scripture is based on what is written rather than our assumptions or prior knowledge. Are you ready to apply your keen sense of observation to a scripture passage? Let's use Romans 12: 1- 2. It reads in the NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is His good, pleasing and perfect will. The first thing we must do is read the passage several times. I read it in a couple of other translations as well. This repetition helps you to become familiar with the text. As you read, note anything that stands out to you. Let's read Romans 12:1- 2 again slowly, in the New King James Version. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now start asking some basic questions about the text. This helps to uncover details that might not be immediately obvious, for instance, who is speaking and to whom. In this case, it's the Apostle Paul who is writing to the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome, and when was it written? It was written around AD 57. You can find answers to those questions in the introduction to the book of Romans in your Bible. Next, we want lLawaw to underline and look up the definitions of key words and phrases that seem important In Romans 12: 1 - 2,. Some key terms you might consider are mercy, bodies, reasonable and service. For definitions, you might think oh, let's go straight to Webster's. This will give you a general definition. But to be precise, you want to look at a source that will give you the definition for the word as it's used in that specific verse. You do that using a concordance. If you don't have a hard copy, I recommend using blueletterbible. org. That's all one word blueletterbible. org. So let's start with the word mercy. In Greek it means compassion and is used by Paul not only here, but in 2 Corinthians 1:3 and Philippians 2:1,. He describes God as the father of compassion and his deep affection and compassion for every believer. In response, Paul urges us in Colossians 3:12, to be compassionate. Next, the word bodies. The Greek word used here, soma, refers to the entire person. It represents the totality of one's life and activities. Used here, logikos could be translated as reasonable or proper, indicating worship that reflects a correct understanding of the gospel message and a rational response to it. And then the word service. The Greek word used here, latreia, commonly refers to priestly duties in the temple. We also see that in Hebrews 9: 1 and 6: I then identified contrasting words. The words conformed and transformed in verse 2 stood out. They contrast with one another. Conformed I like how the Holman Dictionary of Bible Words describes this. Remember kindergarten when we used to take a piece of clay, turn it into a particular shape by squishing the clay into a plastic mold and then taking out the newly formed object. That's what Paul is warning us against conforming to a system of practices and values without God. And then there's the contrasting word transformed. Transformed comes from the Greek word that gives us metamorphosis, indicating a change in outward appearance or nature, meaning it's a continuous action happening to us. And it is commanded. Lastly, I looked at how the passage flowed by taking note of conjunctions and other connecting words. For S schoolhouse R rock fans, you know the song, conjunction, junction. What's your function? Anyway, I know better than to sing Anyway. I highlighted the words, therefore, but, and then the first word, therefore, is significant. My pastor always says that when you see the word therefore, you should stop and see what is. Therefore, it typically indicates that what comes next is, in light of what was previously stated, stated Therefore connects this passage to the preceding 11 chapters in Romans, where Paul discusses the righteousness of God and the message of the gospel.
Jacqui:
Then there's the connecting word or the conjunction, but it's often used to contrast things that are not alike. Paul inserts the word but between do not conform to the patterns of this world and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In this case, it contrasts conforming to the world with transformation. It contrasts conforming to the world with transformation. The last connecting word then indicates what follows is the result of renewing our minds. So in this observation step, we ask key questions. In addition to looking at words that were emphasized or seemed significant, words that were not alike or contrasted with each other and words that may have multiple definitions, we also looked at some grammatical features. Other things Hendrix suggests we look for in this step are repeated words or phrases and cause and effect relationships which identify logical connections within the text.
Jacqui:
Now don't be intimidated In this observation step. Ask as many or as few questions as you're comfortable with. This is your study process. You are the detective on this case. Now that we've accumulated clues or information, the final process in observation is to summarize what we've noticed. Hendricks recommended organizing our observations in a chart. I used a simple column chart, placing my question in the first column, the word or phrase I observed in the second and my findings in the third. This summary then answers the question for me what do I see? So is this the end? No, we'll stop this episode here, but in the next episode we'll address the next step in our Bible study process, called interpretation. Think of yourself as a detective piecing together clues to form a complete picture.
Jacqui:
In this step of observation, we've looked carefully and gathered the evidence, the words, phrases and structure of the text. Now we must move to the next stage interpretation. Interpreting the clues to understand the full story. This is where we ask and answer the question what does it mean? It's essential that we identify the meaning of the passage. We're studying not our meaning, but the original meaning, what the original authors intended. Our goal is to produce change in our lives, so the last step is application.
Jacqui:
Work with me through each episode to see your study of God's Word come alive. Try this first step yourself. Spend some time this week observing Romans 12, 1 and 2. Let me know what you come up with. You can message me by clicking the link at the top of the show notes or, of course, email me at info at bible-basicsorg. If you found this episode helpful, informative or inspirational in any way, would you please share with someone you know who needs to hear it? You can do that by sharing the podcast website Bible-Basicsorg, or you can click on the share button right where you're listening now. For those of you listening on YouTube, go ahead and like, subscribe and leave us a comment. In closing, may the grace and peace of God be with you now and always. You.