Welcome to our new video series, How to Read, Understand and Make Use of the Scriptures.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
As the Apostle Paul declares, all of Scripture is useful for …
- proclaiming right teaching about the Triune God
- rebuking and refuting the false teaching of the devil and his agents of deception
- correcting wrong living
- encouraging, exhorting and training in right living
- and they always point to the person and work of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. (Romans 15:4 NIV)
The Holy Spirit Helps Us Answer the Two Main Questions
If you feel like the Bible is an intimidating, overwhelming, daunting and closed book, take heart! We don’t read the Scriptures alone.
As we open the Bible, we have the promise that the Holy Spirit will be the Real Teacher. The very One who gave “God-/Breathed Words” to the prophets, evangelists and apostles, will help us understand and make use of the Scriptures.
He will open our minds and help us answer two basic questions:
- What does this portion of Scripture mean? What is God saying in and through the words of the text? What is the content of the words and sentences and paragraphs? What’s the context of His revelation? How do I interpret the text and find the Triune God’s one intended meaning?
- How does God want to apply these words to me? What gift do these words offer? What work does God want to do through them? Does He want to reveal/convict me of my sin? Does He want to reveal and offer the forgiveness of sins in Jesus? What is the Scripture’s “salutary use” for my life?
For more videos about how the person and work of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins is the central message of the Scriptures, you can go to the new ekklesia membership site and find an archived library of them here:
List of Resources
Here’s a list of links to help you navigate through past videos or other digital resources:
- paulwarndt.com
- new ekklesia site (video resources in a “netflix” format)
- “eXPlain it” portal (digital resources in curriculum format)
Here’s a list of resources that I reference in the videos and that were influential in the creation of the content. Some are accessible and easy to read. Others are a bit more “academic” and “scholarly” in substance and require some effort to work through.
- Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions-A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord – 2nd edition, by Concordia Publishing House
- On Interpreting Sacred Scripture and Method of Theological Study, by Johann Gerhard, translated by Joshua J. Hayes and edited by Benjamin T. G. Mayes
- On the Nature of Theology and on Scripture – Theological Commonplaces – 2nd edition, by Johann Gerhard, translated by Richard J. Dinda and edited by Benjamin T. G. Mayes
- The Theology of Post-Reformation Lutheranism Volume I, by Robert Preus
- The Useful Applications of Scripture in Lutheran Orthodoxy: An Aid to Contemporary Preaching and Exegesis Benjamin T. G. Mayes, Concordia Theological Quarterly, Volume 83:1–2, January/April 2019
- Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, by C.F.W. Walther
