Key #5-Have a Plan: Learning the OIA Bible Study Method

Learn about the OIA Bible Study Method (Observation, Interpretation, Application) from Pastor Peter Krol's Knowable Word blog—Although taught to seminary students, it's a practical approach that makes Bible study accessible for all ages and educational levels. This method ensures that we let the text speak to us without projecting our own meanings, leading to a richer understanding and application of biblical truths.

Finally, discover how to see Jesus throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. Reflect on Jesus' assertion that all scriptures bear witness to Him, brought to life through examples from biblical figures like Philip, Peter, and Paul. We discuss the significance of interpreting the main point of a passage before connecting it to Jesus and applying it to our lives. With practical tips for moving from interpretation to application, and understanding the importance of correlation, we help you connect individual Bible passages to the broader narrative of Scripture. Don't miss out on these invaluable insights designed to equip you for purposeful and passionate Bible study.

Episode Links:
Summary of the OIA Method
Details of the OIA Method
Why OIA is the Best Bible Study Method
Purchase "Knowable Word" By Peter Krol-Amazon

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Philippians 1, starting in verse 9. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. All right, welcome to another episode of Informed Faith. My name is Patrick, your host. I am excited to be here with you today. Thanks for joining. If this is your first time, go to informfaithbuzzsproutcom and you can read more about the purpose of this podcast ministry.

Speaker 1: 0:33

We have been on a roll in a series called Five Keys to Studying the Bible, kind of going from a macro to a micro, more detailed view of the study of God's Word. Key number one was illumination by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit illuminates the truths that are already in scripture. Key number two was preparing for those truths, preparing our minds to accept the truth that we are sinners, we fall short of the glory of God, but that Jesus Christ, if we believe he died on the cross for our sins, we can have eternal life with him in heaven. The third key was approaching God's word with humility, not with an attitude we're not saying, hey, god, what can you do for me today when you go to your Bible, you're put God in the proper place, that is, over your life. He has authority over your life and therefore we are humbled by that. The fourth key was understanding the parts of the Bible. We didn't do an in-depth study of each part of the Bible, but we talked about the Old and New Testaments, talked about the books of the law, prophetic books, poetic books. We talked about the major and minor prophets, the gospels, the epistles or letters. We also talked about the book of vision and just a little bit about the purpose of each one, all with the goal of getting to helping you read scripture and understand what you're reading. Remember we talked about the fact there was a Pew Research study not that long ago where 50% of believers said that they do not read the Bible because they don't understand it. It's too complicated. We need to arm ourselves with the proper tools so that we can get into the Word. You know, just listening to a podcast and this is a podcast but just listening to a podcast as you're driving to a customer's or driving home, that is not Bible study. That can be a great tool, and reading a book outside of Scripture that can be a great tool as well. There's many great tools that we have, great technology that we can support our Bible study with, and that shouldn't be ignored, but all of them should drive you back to reading Scripture for yourself. Even your Bible study groups that you're a part of should drive you back to wanting to be in the Word on your own.

Speaker 1: 2:32

If you turn to Philippians 1, verses 9 and 10, philippians 1, verses 9 and 10, and this is Paul talking to the believers in Philippi, and this is what he says, I pray that your love may abound or boil over still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. Real knowledge, real knowledge, that means the Word of God, that's the truth, and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, until the day that Christ returns, so you can be doing the right things. He prayed that our love, our desire, may continue to grow and just boil over more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. That word discernment says here the English word aesthetic comes from this Greek word which speaks of moral perception, insight and the practical application of knowledge. Yes, you can apply the scripture properly to your life. It says here also he didn't just want us to say we love the Lord. You hear people say that all the time, though, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that I love the Lord, but if I'm just going around saying that, but I don't know the Word of God, that means I don't really know the heart of God. I can't know the heart of God without understanding the Word of God. That's just not possible and scrutinizing it and examining it and there's examples of that in Scripture.

Speaker 1: 4:05

If you turn to Acts, chapter 17, paul and Silas had been traveling, they'd been ministering to people, they'd been in Thessalonica, they'd had some problems in Thessalonica, they'd been driven out. In fact, they had to escape out of Thessalonica. Starting in verse 10, paul and Silas immediately go away by night to Berea, b-e-r-e-a, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews, as they usually did, to start preaching. Now, these were, it says, more noble-minded and it means more noble-minded believers than those in Thessalonica. And listen to what they did. These believers received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed. Along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. They examined the scriptures.

Speaker 1: 4:54

There's nothing wrong with discernment. You're not walking into this relationship with the Lord blind. This isn't like a blind date or something. You need to have knowledge of the Lord, knowledge of his word. In fact, if you turn to 1 John, 1 John, chapter 4, verse 1, john here is talking. He says Beloved, do not believe every spirit. It says don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits. That word for test is assay, a-s-s-a-y. Asay means perform an examination, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Speaker 1: 5:34

We have to be careful with the podcast we're listening to. You need to examine this podcast and its doctrine. We have to be careful with the books that we're reading, with the people that we're listening to. On Sundays People say things in group study and we need to examine everything. How do we examine it In the Word of God? If you know the Word of God, when you listen to a podcast, when you read a book, when you're in a group, you will know whether or not the person is speaking truth. So we're going to talk about what's our plan for doing that. That's key number five. What is our plan for really understanding the Word of God. We plan everything else in our lives. Do we have a plan for this? So let's talk about a basic plan for studying the Word of God.

Speaker 1: 6:17

Now, this is going to be kind of a high-altitude view of this. We're just going to summarize the method that we're going to use, and it's not a new method. It's a method that has been taught in seminaries. They call it different things, but I went to a website called noblewordcom and I really like this website. In fact, this is a blog and it was done by a really neat guy. He's done a good job with it. His name is Peter Kroll. He's a pastor. He's taught the Bible since 1996. He's the president of Disciplemakers Campus Ministry and the preaching pastor at Grace Fellowship Church at State College, pennsylvania. He's trained dozens of people to study the Bible. Many of them now train others who have begun training others. This is a great site knowableword, k-n-o-w-a-b-l-e wordcom and O-W-A-B-L-E wordcom and he's got as one of the tabs there the OIA method and I'm going to read you what this says here. This is a method for Bible study, he says.

Speaker 1: 7:11

I've argued that everyone has a Bible study method, whether conscious or unconscious. He said so. Here's mine. The acronym OIA summarizes the method. The O stands for observation, or what does it say? Interpretation is the I, what does it mean? And the A stands for application. How do I need to change? I really like that. How do I need to change? You can restate these three steps as what, why and so what, or again as what did the original author say? What did that mean to the original audience and what does it mean in our context? Now he says here noble word did not invent this method. It's an old, old method. Seminaries call it the historical grammatical method of Bible interpretation. But that title can be big and scary to most people, so more popular treatments call it the inductive Bible study method. But he says I think that's an unfortunate misuse of the wonderful term inductive from the realm of logic, so he prefers to call it simply OIA, or observation, interpretation and application.

Speaker 1: 8:19

The wonder of OIA method is that it allows the text to speak to us, rather than reading our own meaning into the text, which can be really dangerous. Right, we talked about that last episode. The beauty of the OIA method is that it can be taught at seminary and get very, very deep, or it can be taught to the youngest children, enabling them as well to know the Lord in His Word. Before we get into the details of the OIA method, let's talk about why it's such a great one, and I think. First number one, it works for any person anywhere, of any age. It can be taught to PhDs and other professionals and get really complex and profound. It could be taught to three-year-olds just learning to talk. Anyone in between can use this method to great profit, and understanding the main ideas of what God has communicated and becoming more like Christ is a result of that. So it really works for any person. Number two is that it's the way God designed all communication to work.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Oia isn't new or innovative. It's simply an attempt to outline the steps by which any human being communicates with another human being observing what was communicated, interpreting the meaning and responding appropriately. And God made communication to work this way. So of course, the Bible works the same way, and Peter gives an illustration of this. He says if I met you on the street, you might observe me, walk up to you, smile and stick out my hand. You would interpret that I mean you no harm and simply want to greet you. You would apply the gesture by reaching out your own hand, taking my hand with yours and saying hello in some similar sentiment. So communication has now taken place and he says let's say I ask you a question. You might observe the raised inflection at the end of my sentence. The question mark a result in silence raised eyebrows on my face. You would interpret these signs to mean that I want you to answer the question. Mark. A result in silence raised eyebrows on my face. You would interpret these signs to mean that I want you to answer the question. You would apply the interaction by answering the question, frowning in thought, holding up a finger to request more time or running away in terror. Right, we simply can't escape OIA. We do it all the time. We should employ it when we study God's Word.

Speaker 1: 10:24

And the third reason that Peter gives is because it's how Jesus interpreted the Bible. He gives some examples. He says look at Matthew 21, 42 to 44 as an example. Notice how Jesus observes the Old Testament text in verse 42, interprets it in verse 44, and applies it in verse 43, implying that his listeners should believe the truth and make some changes in their lives. So if we go to Matthew 21, verse 42 to 44, it says this. Jesus said to them have you never read the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, in verse 43, he says I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. I see Jesus used it. He observed, he interpreted and he applied.

Speaker 1: 11:16

Jesus often references scripture, giving us a window into his understanding of it, and he rarely is as clear as in Matthew 21, 42 to 44. Usually he assumes or applies the interpretation and states the observation and application explicitly. For example, if you turn to Matthew 13. Verses 10 through 17, he does that and Mark 12,. Verses 35 through 37, he says. Actually he says and as Jesus taught in the temple, he said how can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? Verse 36, david himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. That's an example where he implies the interpretation and states the observation and application explicitly. One place where he observes and interprets but doesn't explicitly apply is Luke 4, 17 through 21. It says this and the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where it was written. And so here, starting verse 18, he starts quoting from the Old Testament, verse 19, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And it says in verse 20, and he closed the book, he gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, meaning Jesus, verse 21,. And he began to say to them today, the scripture has been fulfilled. In your hearing, that's a place where Jesus observes and interprets, but he doesn't apply it. So in suggesting that OAA is the best or good method to use, he's not saying that there's an easy, one-size-fits-all way of plugging every text through an equation. He's merely saying that we have a valuable and clear way by which we can understand what God is communicating in his word.

Speaker 1: 13:17

The study of the Bible is not arbitrary. Now let's get into the details about the OIA method. So first let's look at observation. So there should be five things that we observe. Picture yourself sitting down at your Bible. You're ready to study it, you pray and open the page to the right spot. Then what you see? Lots of ink and paper. You've heard these verses before. You'd like to go deeper, though, and don't want to let familiarity get in the way. But what exactly do you do? What should you begin to observe? And this is what Peter says. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Speaker 1: 13:51

He says first thing you should observe is words. Pay attention to the words. Count up how many times different words are repeated. Notice how many different things are described or labeled. The second thing you should pay attention to or observe is grammar. Identify the subject, verb and object of a sentence. Remember doing this in elementary school, right. What are the main verbs? Who is doing what and where and how are they doing it? The third we should observe is structure. How does the passage fit together? Break it into paragraphs, pay attention to transitions. The fourth thing to observe is genre. Is this poetry or prose? A letter or a narrative? Who is the author? Who is the original audience? And the fifth thing we should observe is mood. What tone of voice is the author writing with? Does this passage inspire action, invoke emotion or challenge assumptions? Here's an exercise for you to consider Click on, send Me a Text in the show notes and, using John 3.16, write 50 observations or so on that one verse and send it in to us. We'd love to hear what your opinion is. Here's four more tips that Peter gives about observation Number one, he says, is repeated words.

Speaker 1: 15:15

I can't repeat it enough. Pay attention to the stuff that repeats. This is one of the simplest observations you can make. Get a Bible that you don't mind writing in and highlight repeated words with the same color. The author's big ideas will jump right off the page. For example, genesis 14 repeats the word king more than 20 times. It's even built into one of the character's names. Melchizedek means king of righteousness. The author wants us to think about what a true king looks like.

Speaker 1: 15:48

The second tip is comparison and contrast. A passage often shows how two or more things are similar. Comparison or different contrast. Picking up on that connection can help. For example, genesis 24, 29, exodus 2, and John 4 all describe interactions between a man and a woman at a well of water. What is similar and different in each account? So use comparison and contrast. The third tip is characters. Pay special attention to how each character is named in a passage. Authors will communicate important stuff just by using certain names. For example, genesis 21, which has a lot to say about Ishmael, never mentions his name. He's always the son of Hagar or the son of the slave woman. Why do you think that is? And the fourth tip is connectors. Words like therefore, in those days or in the same way Draw significant connections between sentences, paragraphs and chapters. I know Paul does that a lot throughout his epistles. Notice the connection so you can work to figure out why they're there.

Speaker 1: 16:47

Now let's move on to interpretation, and it's the second major step in the Bible study process. Interpretation is all about asking why. In the observation phase we deal with what a passage says. In the interpretation phase we deal with why the passage says what it says. And Peter tells a story. He says my two-year-old daughter just entered the interpretation phase of life. It's a significant milestone. He says he remembers when it happened, when they got home from church and their wife had told the children to get out of the van and go into the house and Charlotte, their two-year-old, immediately asked why. And he's pretty sure she didn't even know what why means, but she had heard her older siblings say it so much that she figured she would do it as well. God created us to interpret. Communication always moves beyond the what to the why. So here's three steps for interpreting any passage of the Bible.

Speaker 1: 17:37

Number one is ask questions of your observations. If you observed well, you're ready to interpret. Take your observations and ask questions of them, lots of questions. Tackle those observations from every direction. Be as inquisitive as possible. Get better at asking questions and you'll get better at interpreting the Bible. Note that your questions should be about your observations of the text. Don't ask just any old questions. Don't feel the need to be particularly clever. Your job is not to innovate but to uncover. Note how the disciples didn't observe well and so asked the wrong questions.

Speaker 1: 18:17

In John, verses 22 and 23, it says this Jesus said to him if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me? Exclamation point In verse 23 says so. The saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but if it is my will that he dies.

Speaker 1: 18:41

Here's the second step. It says answer the questions from the text. Once you've asked your questions, answer them. There's one critical rule, though Answer questions only if they are answered explicitly or implicitly in the text. Like Proverbs 30, verses 5 and 6, every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words. Don't go on a rabbit's trail. Don't use minor details to make the text say what you want it to say. Don't build a whole theology from one verse. Instead, answer only those questions that are either assumed or addressed in the text. Just let the rest go. And here's the third step for interpreting any passage of the Bible Determine the author's main point as you answer all your questions.

Speaker 1: 19:30

Pull them together into a big picture. Your job is to understand the main thing the author is communicating through the passage. Most theological disagreements among Christians take place when people focus on things other than the main points of passages. I'm not saying that theology is bad. In fact it's very important. Peter says here. I'm simply saying that it's important to focus on the main points of the Bible and not on secondary, questionable or implied points. Missing the main point means misunderstanding the text, and misunderstandings stink. Before we move on to application, peter, in his blog how to See Jesus in Any Bible Passage, wants to make one more point about interpretation. He says Jesus is the main point of the entire Bible.

Speaker 1: 20:16

Jesus said in John 5.39, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me. John 1.45, it says this Philip found Nathanael and said to him we have found him, of whom? Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote, jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Peter recognized. In 1 Peter 1.10-12, he says this concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. And Paul knew this as well. In 2 Corinthians 1, 20, he says For all the promises of God, find their yes in him. 2 Corinthians 1.20, he says For all the promises of God, find their yes in him. No-transcript. So do you see Jesus in every passage that you read in the Bible? Peter says in seminary he was told that we have to be very careful here.

Speaker 1: 21:14

Apparently, some ancient Christian interpreters thought that they saw Jesus in every detail of the Old Testament. So Rahab's red cord, for instance, in Joshua 2.18, was treated as a prophecy of the flowing blood of Christ that would save her and her family, or Abraham's servants 10 camels in Genesis 24.10, were understood as the 10 commandments which would be fulfilled in Christ. Not every passage of the Old Testament is a direct prediction of the life or death of Jesus Christ. Some passages tell stories of what happened long before Jesus' birth. Other passages contain songs or prayers, or rebukes or instruction. So what did Jesus mean when he said that all scriptures were about him?

Speaker 1: 21:56

Every passage of scripture reveals Jesus by explaining at least one of the following truths. Number one the Messiah would suffer and die. Number two the Messiah would rise from the dead. Number three we must repent of our sin and be forgiven. And number four this message that the Messiah's death and resurrection make forgiveness possible must be preached to all nations.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Here's the key point. We must first understand the main point of an Old Testament passage before we can connect it to Jesus. We shouldn't look for Jesus in every detail. Jesus isn't necessarily in every detail, but his message is there. The message of the whole Bible is a unified message that boils down to those four points from Luke 24. For example, the call of Abram in Genesis 12, 1 through 9, is about how God chose one man to be the focal point of blessing the whole world. What's the connection to Jesus? His message is for every nation. And here's another example.

Speaker 1: 22:53

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only beloved son, in Genesis 22, he was showing Abraham and us how the Messiah had to die and rise from the dead. When innocent Daniel was tossed into the lion's den and came out unharmed, in Daniel 6, he demonstrated the Messiah's death and resurrection. When Moses and Solomon wrote laws and proverbs, god was showing us how high his standards really are. He had to expose our inability to perform so we might learn to repent of our sin and be forgiven. So try this at home.

Speaker 1: 23:23

When you read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, always ask which of Jesus' four points is being addressed. Decent interpretation depends on it. Now let's make the transition from interpretation to application. Pastor Kroll says this to study the Bible, we ought to observe, interpret and apply. We must first see what the passage says before we can figure out what it means. Once we know what it means, we're ready to conform our lives to God's will.

Speaker 1: 23:50

And sometimes, though, we stop with interpretation and never go ahead to application. Jesus said when we do this, we're in danger of flash flooding. In Matthew 7, verse 24-27, jesus says this. Everyone, then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

Speaker 1: 24:29

At other times we're quick to change, but we apply the wrong things. We haven't interpreted carefully. Jesus said we're in danger of missing the point, like in Matthew 23,. Verses 23 and 24, he says Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe, mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.

Speaker 1: 24:57

How can we succeed at transitioning from interpretation to application? Here are two tips that Peter gives us that will help us build a good bridge. Tip number one work from the main point. It's important to understand the main point of a passage before beginning to apply it. Working from the main point gives your application some teeth, since it focuses you on what God considers most important. Such application is both effective and satisfying. Note if you're in the Old Testament, there's an extra step. Once you've determined the author's main point, remember to connect the passage to Jesus before launching an application. And here's the second tip Ask good, so what? Questions? During the interpretation stage, we ask lots of questions. The main types are what, why and so what? The third type of question can be the most difficult, but it provides the bridge between interpretation and application.

Speaker 1: 25:53

The greatest enemy of application is insight. Application happens when we understand the meaning of a Bible passage, for example. We see Jesus and our need for him and we conform our lives to it. This conformity to Christ is the great purpose of God from the foundation of the world, and Romans 8.29 confirms that. It says for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. But the chief obstacle to vigorous application is insight. As we gain more insight into the Bible, we become more prone to revel in the insight itself and not in the life change that ought to result from that insight. For example, have you ever read the verse Romans 8 29, which I referenced before and turned it into a theological debate? What does this verse mean about the predestination and free will controversy? Which side is right? Who has the best insight into what Paul meant by the word foreknew? Peter says here.

Speaker 1: 26:53

I'm prone to feel good about myself if I can answer these questions. I really want to win such debates. I've invested much time fighting my way through them, but the chief question shouldn't be whether predestination or free will is right. The chief question is how is my life becoming more and more conformed to Christ? It doesn't matter which side of the debate I fall on. God's purpose in my life remains the same. What must change in order for me to be more like Jesus so he can have preeminence as the firstborn Insight can get in the way of application in other ways too?

Speaker 1: 27:27

Have you ever felt disappointed after reading the Bible because nothing new and fantastic had occurred to you? In contrast, have you ever felt the warmth splash over your heart when you see something you've never seen before in God's Word? Maybe you found an allusion to another Bible passage that wasn't immediately obvious, perhaps a repeated word or idea became clear. Maybe you felt like you could relate to a Bible character due to some recent experience of your own. Perhaps you just started to get the hang of this OIA stuff and you're amazed at the beauty and joy that results when you can find an author's main point.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Such insight in the Bible can be invigorating. But don't let it distract you. The task isn't complete until you change. Keep moving forward into application. In fact, jesus warned us of the danger of insight when he used the image of architecture. This is in Matthew 7, verses 24 through 27. The one who hears the word and stops there, possibly rejoicing in his key insight, is like a foolish builder constructing a beach hut in a hurricane zone. The wise builder is the one who hears the word and does it. What other hindrances to application can you think of? Our final thoughts on application have to do with the two directions we can take it. We think rich application is complicated, but Jesus proved it can be quite simple.

Speaker 1: 28:45

Consider a summary of how to apply the Bible. In Matthew 22, verses 35 through 40, he says this a lawyer asked him a question to test him, teacher, which is the great commandment of the law. And he said to him you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment, and a second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. All the law and the prophets. That's pretty comprehensive. Jesus said the entirety of what God wants us to do boils down to two things Love God and love your neighbor. These two commands show two directions in which we can apply any passage of the Bible inward and outward. We can work on becoming more Christ-like people who love God more desperately. That's inward application. We can work on becoming more Christ-like people who love God more desperately. That's inward application. We can work on becoming more selfless people of influence who love others as Christ has loved us. That's outward application.

Speaker 1: 29:41

For example, in Ephesians 6.4, it has obvious and immediate inward application to fathers. It says this fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. However, taking your application of that same passage outward will deepen your insight. Whether you're a male with children in the home or not, how can you invest in the fathers around you to help them be better fathers? How can you make the most of your current season of life and singleness, retirement, whatever that is to serve others and help them in their parenting of their children? What can you do to serve in your church's children's ministry? How can you image God by being a father figure to the fatherless in your community? How might these issues affect your prayers for your church and community? As you study the Bible, remember to consider both how you can change and how you can help others to change. All the law and the prophets depend on it.

Speaker 1: 30:38

When we talk about the OIA Bible study method observation, interpretation and application we focus primarily on the diversity of Scripture. Each author of each passage has a unique point to make. We read each text in its context to figure out its main point, connect it to Jesus and draw applications for today. We'll get something different out of each passage. Different cultures and different generations will draw different applications from the same main points, and that's okay. In fact, it's beautiful when we see God's knowable Word connecting with any person in any culture at any time. It's important, however, not to neglect the unity of Scripture. God, the Holy Spirit, spoke through each of those different authors. He strategically unraveled the stories and the laws and the poems and the letters in just the right way to reveal the Lord Jesus to the world.

Speaker 1: 31:28

After studying a passage of Scripture, it's important that we connect what we learned to the rest of Scripture. We call this process correlation. For example, luke 2 teaches about God's plan to rescue the lowly and rule them graciously through the birth of His Son. But it's not the only passage that speaks of His rescue or rule. It's not the only passage that speaks of Jesus' humanity. In fact, if we treat Luke 2 as though it has the whole truth about Jesus' embodiment, we'll come away with a pretty thin perspective. We'd miss the fact that God wants to be with us, like he says in Matthew 1, verses 21 through 23. We'd miss out on the beautiful imagery of God's residence in the temple, god's altar, his light, water, bread, incense and private chamber of Exodus 25-40. We'd miss the point that Jesus' humble birth prepares him for his gruesome death in John, chapter 12, verse 27. We think that imaging him simply means going to be where people are. We'd miss the corresponding need to call them away from what they're doing like in Mark, chapter 1, verses 16-20.

Speaker 1: 32:31

Stephen understood correlation when he spoke to the Jewish rulers in Acts 7. He didn't focus on a single Bible passage, but he connected them all together to show how the religious have always rejected the godly. The author of Hebrews understood correlation when he wrote of the intricate connections between priest, temple and sacrifice and how the whole system finds its fulfillment in Jesus. John understood correlation when he wrote his climactic book of signs. We call it Revelation. He pulled together all the imagery of the Bible into one dense letter written to encourage persecuted believers in the Roman province of Asia. John was so skilled at smooth correlation that many people miss it. Today we tend to read Revelation with internet newspapers as our reference guides and not in light of the other 65 books of the Bible, as John intended.

Speaker 1: 33:19

In Revelation 1, verses 1 through 3. He says the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant, john, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all. In short, correlation is the process of constructing a systematic theology from the scripture. We shouldn't pit one passage against another. Rather, we work to understand how they fit together. As we do so, we get to know the Lord, who made Himself known in the Scripture.

Speaker 1: 33:54

I hope this high-altitude journey through the five keys to studying the Bible has been as helpful to you as it has been to me. Just in summary, the first key was illumination by the Holy Spirit. The second was preparing our minds for the truth that the Holy Spirit illuminated for us. The third was approaching the Scripture with humility, not an attitude of pride. The fourth was understanding the basic parts of the Bible and their purpose, and in this episode we covered the fifth key, which was having a plan, and we discussed the OIA method of Bible study, which was observation, interpretation and application.

Speaker 1: 34:30

Remember that you can find links to everything that I talked about today on the show notes to this podcast, especially for the website knowablewordcom, a ministry of Pastor Peter Kroll. I'm also going to include a link to his Amazon book page so you can check out some great books that he's written. In future episodes we're going to take a deeper dive into Bible study and, of course, continue to bring you tools and practical tips that you can use to make sure that you have a more informed faith, subscribe or follow us so you can be ready for the next episode and, as always, have a great week, take care.