5 Ways to Read the Bible

for Personal Application

JUNE 7, 2016 | Joe Carter

B I B L E & T H E O LO GY

The Bible is a book about God, not a book about us. And yet as Paul says, everything in the
Bible was written for us:
 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. (Roman 15:4, NIV)

How can the Bible be about God and yet be written to teach us? As David Powlison
explains (https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Scripture-Overview-Reliability-
Meaning/dp/1433529998?tag=thegospcoal-20),

The Bible was written to others—but speaks to you. The Bible is about God—but
draws you in. Your challenge is always to reapply Scripture afresh, because God’s
purpose is always to rescript your life.

When we reapply Scripture to our own lives, the Holy Spirit is rescripting our lives so that
we may become more like Jesus.

What Spiritual Formation Is (And Is For)

Every day we are becoming either more like Jesus or less like him. The direction we move is
largely up to us, for we don't drift into Christ-likeness. Becoming more like Jeuss takes
effort and intention; it takes spirtual formation.

Christ-like spiritual formation is the name for that process by which Christians in union with
Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, become conformed both internally and externally to
the character of Christ for the purpose of communion with God.

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Learning how to personally apply the Bible to our own lives is therefore essential to our
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spiritual formation.
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How then do we personally apply the Bible to our own lives? We generally apply the Bible gift today
through five ways:
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1. Direct commands
The most obvious passages for personal application are
those in which God gives direct commands. For example,
Jesus’s command to “love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you” (Matt 5:43) is not an optional
requirement. When we find such clear, direct commands
in Scripture we know they are intended to directly
“rescript” our lives.

2. General truths
Scripture frequently provides general truths that are
broadly applicable to a variety of situations, and then
leaves it to us to discern how they should be applied. In
Matthew 22:21, Jesus says to give back to “Caesar what is
Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Rather than giving us
a list of what belongs to God and what is due the
government, Jesus expects us to use godly wisdom to
apply this general rule and work out the details for
ourselves.

3. Direct analogy
There are many issues of controversy and concern in the modern age that are not directly
mentioned in the Bible. In some circumstances, though, we can personally apply Biblical
principles to situations that are similar to those mentioned in the Bible.
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(http://int.sagepub.com/content/24/4/430.full.pdf),” James Gustafson states the resources to strengthen the
commonly accepted method of scriptural analogy: global church. Make a year-end
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Those actions of persons and groups are to be judged morally wrong which are
similar to actions that are judged to be wrong or against God's will under similar DONATE
circumstances in Scripture, or are discordant with actions judged to be right or in
accord with God's will in Scripture.
(For an example of how to apply direct analogies, see this article
(https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-recreational-marijuana-use-a-sin).)

4. Indirect analogy
We apply Scripture through indirect analogy when a passage teaches us by example rather
than through a stated rule. This is the old-fashioned “Sunday school morality” in which we
look to the Old Testament narratives to learn how we should or should not act. For
example, in the story of the attempted seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife, we learn to
flee from sexual sin and adultery (Gen 39:7-12).

We must be careful, though, not to think the personal application that can derived from
such stories is the primary purpose of the narrative. Although Joseph’s actions were a
godly example, they resulted in his being thrown in prison — a situation that God used to
carry out his larger purposes. Whenever we apply the Bible indirectly, we need to keep in
mind the key truth that the while the Bible is for us it is not about us, but about God.

5. Indirect extension
The vast majority of Scripture is composed of neither direct commands nor generally
applicable truths. Take, for instance, the various lists of names and genealogies found in the
Old Testament. How do we apply those passages to our own lives? As Powlison says,

In one sense, such passages apply exactly because they are not about you.
Understood rightly, such passages give a changed perspective. They locate you on a
bigger stage. They teach you to notice God and other people in their own right. x
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They call you to understand yourself within a story—many stories—bigger than your
personal history and immediate concerns. They locate you within a community far resources to strengthen the
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are always in God’s presence, under his eye, and part of his program. gift today

The “endurance” and “encouragement” Paul refers to comes from reading the Old
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Testament and understanding that we are part of God’s story. We can see the promises
God made to his people, see how he was always faithful, and be encouraged to endure
knowing that he will likewise always be faithful to us.

Application Is for Spiritual Formation

Whether directly or indirectly, by analogy or by extension, the entire Bible is personally
applicable to our lives. How it applies may not always seem obvious, of course. But if we
seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Father will not only open our eyes so that we may
reapply his Word, he will use it to rescript our lives to make us more like his Son.

Editors’ note: This is an except from Joe Carter’s new work, the NIV Lifehacks Bible:
Practical Tools for Successful Spiritual Habits (https://www.amazon.com/NIV-Lifehacks-
Bible-Hardcover-Successful/dp/0310434092?tag=thegospcoal-20) (Zondervan, 2016).

Joe Carter is an editor for The Gospel Coalition, author of The Life and Faith
Field Guide for Parents, the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible, and the co-author
of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest
Communicator. He serves as an elder at Grace Hill Church in Herndon,
Virginia. You can follow him on Twitter.

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The Myth of Moral
Superiority
When You’re No ‘Better’ than Your Agnostic Friend
JUNE 6, 2016 | Jen Pollock Michel

CHRISTIAN LIVING
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After one of my children suffered the first of a series of panic attacks, Lisa was the first resources to strengthen the
person I called. As an emergency room doctor, who has practiced calm in a thousand global church. Make a year-end
crises, she could be counted on for steady, soothing rationality. As a sufferer of diagnosed gift today
anxiety, as well as a mother to two anxious children, she could offer practical advice. But
most importantly, as my friend, she could be trusted. DONATE
Lisa, however, is not a Christian. I do not hide from her that I am a follower of Jesus, and
she does not hide from me her self-assured agnosticism. And though our religious beliefs
differ, many of our personal values don’t. We are raising our children to be honest, self-
sacrificing, and kind. We prize the flourishing of our families over material success. We
believe in contributing to the common good in our school community, neighborhood, and
city.

In fact, though I might wish to say that I enjoyed a moral “edge” over Lisa because of my
Christian faith, I can’t. Lisa is a lovely human being. In many ways, I want to be like her.

When ‘Wretch’ Doesn’t Seem to Fit

After I became a Christian in high

school, it seemed easy to assume
the moral superiority of Christians.
Christian teenagers (at least the
serious ones) didn’t smoke, drink,
or have sex before they were
married. As an adult, however, the
lines blur. The categories fail. Many
of my non-Christian friends and
neighbors don’t easily fit the snarly,
selfish caricatures of the godless.
They are good neighbors and good
parents. In Lisa’s case, they are
great neighbors and admirable x
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And this evident morality leaves me a little stumped in terms of evangelism. What does global
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look like to share the gospel with friends who fail the obvious narrative of “wretch,” a term
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with which converted slavetrader John Newton described himself? If I am the student—and
my non-Christian friend sometimes the teacher—have I failed my heavenly assignment from DONATE
God? Shouldn’t I be better than them?
On (Not) Being Good
There is an obvious theological answer to these questions: “None is righteous,” the apostle
Paul writes in Romans 3:10. Even the most morally upright person, Christian or non-
Christian, falls short of God’s glory. In fact, the gospel exposes the depths of my depravity
—that of all the pedophiles and pornographers, drunks and derelicts, I am chief sinner
among them (c.f. 1 Tim. 1:15). And maybe this is the biggest difference between Lisa and
me: not that I outperform her in virtue, but that I outrank her—by virtue of gospel self-
awareness—in vice.

The gospel doesn’t make me better. But it does make me eager to admit my debts and
deficits, grateful to receive God’s good gifts from whomever’s hand they come.

On Agreement (and Disagreement)

Without an addiction or adultery to abandon, Lisa is not the ideal candidate for a tent
revival meeting. She is just the kind of “good” secular person Charles Taylor describes in his
introduction to A Secular Age (https://www.amazon.com/SECULAR-AGE-Charles-TAYLOR-
ebook/dp/B002KFZLK2/?tag=thegospcoal-20). She’s among those who “strive to live
happily with spouse and children, while practicing a vocation which they find fulfilling, and
also which constitutes an obvious contribution to human welfare.” As Taylor illustrates,
modern secularism is not always explicitly amoral or immoral. It can actually be deeply
principled. What makes Lisa’s morality different from mine (and other Christians’) is its final
reference point: her morality is a “self-sufficing humanism . . . accepting no final goals
beyond human flourishing, nor any allegiance to anything else beyond this flourishing.”
Unlike me, her moral dictum is not, “Thy will be done.” Instead, Lisa obeys a self-derived, x
self-defined law: “Let humans flourish.” Help TGC continue supplying free
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A short example to illustrate: last year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled to legalize
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physician-assisted death, and Lisa strongly favors the policy change. With human
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flourishing as the ultimate moral good, she sees no reason to prolong the suffering of the
terminally ill, who wish to die. I, on the other hand, do not support physician-assisted death,
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even while I do not want human beings to suffer (and simultaneously pray for improved
access to palliative care). My desires for human flourishing are constrained by divine
prohibition: “Thou shalt not kill.”

Lisa and I deeply disagree about what constitutes the “right” in terms of physician-assisted
death. But we are strongly agreed that the right should be sought. To understand the role
of Lisa’s moral conscience, even in deriving an opinion anathema to Christian faith,
chastens my impulse to see her “secularism” as simply pragmatic or, worse, unscrupulous.

Freedom of Confession
Several weeks ago, we came to the corporate and private confession of sin in our Sunday
liturgy, and our pastor began his introduction with a wink: “It is the practice of Christians
throughout the centuries to publicly and privately confess their sins to God—which might
seem strange, considering that we are better than everyone else.” The congregation
nervously laughed, recognizing their hubris in his humor.

Confession, in the middle of church, is one way we learn to think rightly of ourselves. We
don’t have to be better than our non-Christian neighbors and family, friends and colleagues.
We just have to be the forgiven and the faithful, willing to proclaim the gospel even to the
“good” people who earnestly strive to follow their moral code. Confession also reminds us
that sin is not just “wrongdoing”: it is “right-doing” borne from a crooked conscience
subject to treasonous desires and misguided judgment. We confess our sin because, in
good conscience, we are capable of doing great evil.

Confession, as a gospel act, reminds us that Christianity isn’t an improved-upon morality to

peddle but a call to follow Jesus of Nazareth, whom the church throughout history has
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witnessed as the crucified, the resurrected, and the returning. That call is both an
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acceptance and an abandonment. As C. S. Lewis explains in Mere Christianity
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ebook/dp/B002BD2UR0/?tag=thegospcoal-20), “Fallen man is not simply an imperfect
creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.” To be a
Christian is to relinquish self-will and moral self-confidence. DONATE
As Christians, we confess our sins and receive the amazing grace that saves the wretch—as
well as the respectable.

Jen Pollock Michel lives in Toronto with her family. She’s the author of Surprised
by Paradox: The Promise of ‘And’ in an Either-or World (IVP,
forthcoming), Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home (IVP, 2017),
and Teach Us to Want: Longing, Ambition and the Life of Faith (IVP,
2014). You can follow her on Twitter.

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