How to Read Scripture
If we believe the Scriptures are infallible, supreme, and sufficient, then we also understand the form in which Scripture is delivered to us is aligned with God’s plan. The Bible is presented to us as a grand narrative revealing the redemptive purpose of God, relating stories like the beauty of creation, the tragic introduction of sin and its destructive power, and the winding road of redemption. These stories are told in the context of king’s palaces and prison cells, through the lives of fishermen and prophets. The characters of Scripture are unassuming men and women, always in the minority, whose lives play out in the Bible for the sake of our salvation. The inevitable conclusion of this redemptive story is divine victory because of the triumph of God’s sovereign will, summed up in our Savior’s words, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
This narrative, however, does not end at the cross. The book of Acts tells the story of the early church, recounting victories, and not shying away from the struggles and defeats of the brave men and women who blazed the trail for the church today. When we read the Bible as a narrative, we allow ourselves to become immersed in the story. We identify with the characters and sympathize with their struggles. These stories are not fairy tales. They happened to real men and women living in the moment, walking by faith, not having the luxury of knowing how their stories would end. This is the reason we can identify with the characters in Scripture. They are just like us—ordinary, fallible, imperfect people.
There is an ebb and flow about the Bible that is comforting. The Scriptures are not packaged or systematic. The story of redemption meanders through a variety of cultures, languages, and literary genres. Not all the books of the Bible are written in narrative form. The Psalms are songs and poetry. The Epistles are letters written to churches and individuals. In the books where the primary form is not a narrative, the text is still part of a bigger picture that tells the story of God’s redemptive purpose.
Knowing how to read the Bible is of fundamental importance if you are to arrive at a correct and well-rounded understanding of what the text reveals. The process of reading and extracting the correct meaning of the text is known as exegesis. Eugene Peterson describes exegesis as “the discipline of attending to the text and listening to it rightly and well.”[1] Peterson continues:
Exegesis introduces another dimension into our relation to this text. The text as story carries us along, we are in on something larger than ourselves, we let the story take us where it will. But exegesis is focused attention, asking questions, sorting through possible meanings. Exegesis is rigorous, disciplined, intellectual work. It rarely feels "spiritual." Men and women who are, as we say, "into" spirituality, frequently give exegesis short shrift, preferring to rely on inspiration and intuition. But the long and broad consensus in the community of God's people has always insisted on a vigorous and meticulous exegesis: Give long and close and learned attention to this text! All our masters in spirituality were and are master exegetes. There's a lot going on here; we don't want to miss any of it; we don't want to sleepwalk through this text.[2]
Exegesis applies to all readers of the Bible, not just ministers who prepare a sermon. Giving the text its full and proper attention is a discipline everyone who reads the Scriptures must do. Too many preachers of the gospel do not give due diligence to the intentional reading of the Scriptures, making biblical exposition in the pulpit nearly impossible.[3] We all must read the Bible with care, and with a prayerful mind, absorbing every bit of revelatory truth God has for us at that moment.
[1] Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), 50.
[2] Ibid., 50.
[3] See chapter ten for a full discussion on expository preaching.