There are three critical questions you must ask and answer any time you read, and especially, when you study the Bible:

1. The Statement: What does it say?
2. The Setting: What did it mean to the people of its day?
3. The Significance: What is the message for people today?

Tips to help answer the three critical questions:

1. The Statement: What does it say? (Read the passage.)
   • Focus on the Content of the study passage.
   • Are there any words you don’t know or passages you don’t understand?
   • Write down your questions in a notebook*. Include the Bible reference and the word(s)/passage you need clarified, then watch for answers as you study the passage. Leave space between your questions for the answers as you find them.
   • If there are any questions left that you weren’t able to answer, bring them to the Bible study gathering so we can work on them together.
2. The Setting: What did it mean to the people of its day? (Relate to the passage.)
   • Focus on the Context of the study passage.
   • What are the historical, cultural, theological and literary factors that affect the message or your understanding of the passage?
   • Write down your questions in a notebook. Include the Bible reference and the terminology you want to know about, then watch for answers as you study the passage. Leave space between your questions for the answer as you find them.
   • This part of the study is often hard to find within the study passage. It usually requires some investigation using cross references to other places in the Bible, dictionaries, commentaries, etc. If you have any Bible study resources, use them, otherwise ⤵︎
   • If there are any questions left that you weren’t able to answer, bring them to the Bible study gathering so we can work on them together.
3. The Significance: What is the message for people today? (Respond to the passage.)
   • Focus on the Communiqué of the study passage.
   • What does or doesn’t God want you to know, feel, think, say or do in light of this passage?
   • This requires repeated, prayerful reading of the passage, review of your notes from the first two steps above, and prayerfully meditate on what you read and learned.
   • Write down your observations and conclusions in a notebook. Include the Bible references and your own, personal thoughts.
   • Once you have identified a proper response to the study passage, do it!
   • Yes, we can work on these together at the Bible study gathering too.

* Notebook: By writing down your questions, answers and other observations as you study, you will remember the information better. Also, the next time you read or study the passage, you can refer to your notes and take your study deeper without having to start over from scratch.