These are a few Bible study principles and methods that can help you begin to study the Bible. These are the basics. They are given to help those who are just beginning to develop a good Bible study.
 

1. Study the WHOLE Bible

for starters

Here is a good exercise: Pick up a Bible and hold it at about face  level. Now flip through the whole thing from beginning to end. Say,  "I need to learn this whole book." Kind of scary isn't it? The Bible is a large book, but in order to correctly understand it, we must learn it from cover to cover.

Many people make the mistake of just learning one or two books or  chapters in the Bible, but not learning the WHOLE Bible. Each part of the Bible has a purpose. It is like a puzzle. If you only see five pieces of a five thousand piece puzzle, then you probably will not know how the puzzle looks. However, if you put each piece in it's place, then you will be able to see the big picture. This is how it is with the Bible. We must examine each piece and then put it in it's place. Then we can see the big picture. remember where it came from

It is also important not to use or study a verse without first  understanding how it fits into its chapter and book. For example, James 2:24 says, "You see that a person is justified by what he  does and not by faith alone." If a person were to read that verse without reading the whole book of James, then they might believe that salvation is gained by doing good things, and not by faith. But this is not what the passage is saying. When we look at verses 14-26 of chapter 2, we see that the passage is talking about works following faith. It is not saying that salvation is based on our good works, it is saying that a saved person will do good works. If a person claims to have faith, then people will be able to see their good works as well.

It is very important not to take verses out of their place. Think about  this: Suppose I were to go to a conference on bullfrogs. But, suppose I arrive late. In fact, the first speaker has already been speaking for ten minutes. When I walk in the first thing I hear the speaker say is, "I am a bullfrog. I love to hop around the pond. I love to croak a sweet song..." I hear this and become very angry. I am so angry that I say, "You liar, you are not a bullfrog. You are a human!" I then storm out of the conference in anger.

If I had been on time to the conference, I would have heard what the speaker said before I arrived, "For example, let's say I am a bullfrog. I love to hop around the pond. I love to croak a sweet song." I would have saved myself much embarrassment if I would have listened to the whole message from beginning to end. The problem is that we often do this with the Bible. Instead of understanding the whole Bible, we take out a few verses and try to understand them on their own. To properly understand one verse of a book in the Bible, we need to understand all of the verses. In order to properly understand one book of the Bible we need to understand them all.

At times we can come across passages that are very difficult to understand. For example, in Matthew 5 during the sermon on the mount, Jesus says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." At first glance this seems to be a very  difficult passage to obey. What does it mean? Should we be pulling our eyes out? First, in order to understand this one verse we need to examine the verses before and after; we need to study the WHOLE passage. Often, doing this will greatly help in understanding a portion of Scripture. Also, we may want to  examine other passages in the Bible that talk about the same subject. We may ask, "What does the rest of the Bible say about pulling out eyes and cutting off hands?" Well, the rest of the Bible does not speak very much about it. If the Bible did talk about it, then we would want to look at these passages. However, in this case we  need to keep in mind that the rest of the Bible does not speak in detail about this subject. This may be a clue for us. When something is important, it is often repeated. Pulling out an eye or cutting off a hand is a big deal. If this is something that we should be doing, then the rest of the Bible would probably talk more about  it.

2. Asking "what if" questions

After we see how the passage fits into the WHOLE Bible, it may be good to ask "what if" questions. Let's continue to look at the passage in Matthew 5. "What if Jesus really wants us to gouge out our eyes if we look at something wrong?" Well, if he did, then there probably would not be many people left who had hands and eyes. If we are honest with ourselves, we will probably find that we sin with our eyes and hands on a regular basis. So, if everyone cut out their eyes when they looked at something wrong, then the whole world would probably be blind. "What if Jesus really wants us to cut off our hands if we sin with our hands?" If that is what Jesus is saying, then it is interesting that he did not make Peter remove his hand  after he used his sword to cut off the soldier's ear when Jesus was being arrested. "What if Jesus really wants us to cut off our hands and pull out our eyes?" Even though most everyone would be blind and have no hands, we would still sin. That is because sin comes from within a person. Maybe this is what Jesus was trying to say? Look at the passage and see. questioning a Bible passage

If we spend time studying the Bible, questions about the Bible will come into our minds. Sometimes we will struggle with the meaning of difficult passages. It is important not to ignore these questions. One of the ways that we can grow as believers is to find answers to tough questions. The important thing is that we follow through and search for the answers to our questions. Sometimes it takes much  time and energy to find the answers, but it is well worth it. If we only ask questions but never look for the answers, then we will only be  skeptical. So, it is important to ask questions, and just as important to find answers.

3. Let the Word Speak

After reading the whole passage and asking "what if" questions, it may be that a passage does not agree with our ideas. Then, we must be open minded and consider that our ideas may be wrong. We must let the Word speak.

In the past, scientists have discovered things that completely change the way people see the world. For example, at one time people thought that the world was flat. Then, a few scientists began to say that it was round. They were not treated very well, even though they had strong evidence to suggest that the world was  round. One reason people could not accept a round earth is because they were deeply set in their ideas; so set that they were not able to fairly examine the evidence. Often this happens in our study of God's Word. We are so set in our own ideas that we cannot understand the messages presented in the Bible. When the Bible clearly presents an idea, we need to be ready to examine it fairly. We cannot ignore it or pretend it is not there. We need to carefully evaluate it. It is important not to be like the scientists who could not accept a round earth. We must let God's Word speak.

4. Prayer

When I attended high school algebra class I made a point to use my  teacher to help learn. When I had questions about algebra I would ask. It was rather simple. In fact, teachers exist to help students learn. When it comes to studying Scripture we must remember that God is our teacher. Psalm 119 records prayers that God would give understanding of the Scriptures. "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (Psalm 119:18). "Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your  wonders" (Psalm 119:27). Also, in James chapter one we are encouraged to ask God for wisdom.

Prayer is an important part of studying God's Word. In fact, it is good to pray even during Bible study. It is good to pause and thank God for things he has done. It may be that we want to repeat a prayer that is recorded in the Bible. Or, we may simply sit and wonder about God...speechless.

5. How deeply should I study a passage or verse?

If I were to take an hour to read the book of John from beginning to end without pausing, I would get a good idea of what the overall idea of the book was. For example, I would remember that Jesus performed some miracles, that he spoke with the people about his Father, that he spent time with his disciples, that he died on the cross and rose again, and other basic themes and stories from the book. It is important to get the overall idea of a book, so it is also important to spend time reading through a book.

However, in just reading without stopping to think about any passages I will miss many of the details. On the other hand, if I were to take the same amount of time to read the first chapter, I would notice many details that I would have missed if I would just read the book straight through without pausing. However, I would also miss the big picture of what happens in the book of John.

So, which way is best? That depends on what you want to learn. A good Bible study will do both. Usually, it is best to read a book straight through a number of times before looking at chapters and verses in detail. Once we develop an understanding of the "big picture," then it is important to look at individual passages.

6. When to study the Bible

There are some people who wake up with an amazing burst of energy, ready to take on the world. Others wake up feeling as if their bodies weigh about 50,000 pounds. (These are people that you want to stay away from until they have had a few cups of  coffee.) People are different. Some people can concentrate better in  the morning, while others find it very difficult to concentrate in the early hours of the day. When it comes to studying the Bible it is usually best to find a time when we can concentrate. The better we  can concentrate, the better we can learn. This may be evening, morning, or afternoon. Once we find a good time when we can concentrate, it is usually best to set a routine and study at the same time every day. If there is no set time, then we often put off our Bible study and it does not get done.

It is not always possible to study at our best time every day  because our schedules change. So, sometimes we are forced to study the Bible when we cannot concentrate very well. Once a friend of mine went on a short term missions trip and found that he had no time to study the Bible. His schedule was filled from early morning to late at night. This person was not a morning person, but he made himself get up a half an hour earlier in order to spend time  in God's Word. He did this because it was important for him to spend time in God's Word. When schedules change, then the time for Bible study will also change. However, it is important to be  regularly studying the Bible. It is best to study it every day, and even several times in a day if there is enough time. Often Bible study is the last thing on our schedules. If Bible study is  important, then it will be one of our top priorities.

7. Where to Study

We all have different times that we concentrate best, and we also have different places where we concentrate best. Usually, the best  place to study the Bible is the place where it is easiest to  concentrate. For some that may mean complete silence with no  distractions. Others may want background music and may study best when there are people around. The point is that we need to find a place where we can concentrate and learn.

8. Study Guides

There are many books that can help us learn the Bible. Some of  these are: Concordances, Bible Dictionaries, Bible Handbooks, Bible maps, Bible Encyclopedias, and Bible Commentaries. It is good to make use of these resources.

9. Studying the Bible is Tough

There are many difficulties that we may have as we regularly study the Bible. It may be difficult to concentrate, we may "get behind" our set schedule, we may feel like we are not learning, or a passage may seem boring. These, and other difficulties, often cause us to become discouraged and we may be tempted to quit. However, it is important to work through these things. God is there to help us as we are trying to know Him better by studying His Word. Studying and learning God's Word is one of the most important parts of the Christian life. For that reason we need to keep on keeping on.