Bible 103: How to Understand the Bible Properly
Why context matters, how interpretation works and how we can apply Scripture faithfully.
In Bible 101, we explored why we have different English Bible translations and why some passages are expressed differently. Then, in Bible 102, we looked at six examples where translation choices can influence our understanding of important theological questions.
But that raises another question. Even when we have a good Bible translation in front of us, how do we know we're understanding it properly? After all, two Christians can read exactly the same verse, in exactly the same translation, and come to quite different conclusions about what it means.
Sometimes these differences concern relatively minor matters. At other times, they affect our understanding of salvation, God's character, spiritual authority, marriage, the Holy Spirit or how we ought to live as Christians.
And occasionally, passages have been used to support teachings or practices that are difficult to justify when we examine their original context. This is particularly important to me because, as a young Christian, I encountered some far-reaching teachings that were based on questionable interpretations of Scripture. Unfortunately, some of those teachings caused real harm. So, in this final introductory article, I want to share some simple principles that can help us understand the Bible more faithfully.
Now, before we go any further, please don't think that understanding Scripture requires a theology degree, knowledge of ancient Greek or Hebrew, or a bookshelf full of commentaries. Those things can certainly help, but ordinary Christians have been reading, understanding and responding to God's Word for centuries.
The aim isn't to make Bible reading unnecessarily complicated. Quite the opposite. It's to help us read with greater confidence, recognise when something needs closer examination and avoid making the Bible say things it was never intended to say.
And I think that's an important part of healthy Christian discipleship.
1. What is biblical interpretation?
There's a theological word you might have heard before: hermeneutics. It sounds complicated, but it simply refers to the principles we use when interpreting and understanding something, particularly a written text.
In biblical studies, hermeneutics concerns how we understand the meaning of Scripture. And whether we realise it or not, we're already interpreting the Bible whenever we read it.
When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, for example, we need to understand what love means in that context. Does it mean approving of everything someone does? Does it mean allowing someone to continue harming us? Or is Jesus calling us to a particular way of responding to those who oppose us? How might those words have been understood by people living under Roman occupation, or by those facing personal hostility?
Likewise, when Paul gives instructions to a particular church, we need to consider whether he is addressing a specific problem, teaching a principle for all Christians or doing both.
These are questions of interpretation.
In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul encourages Timothy to handle the word of truth correctly. That instruction particularly concerns Timothy's responsibility as a Christian teacher, but it also provides a valuable principle for anyone who wants to understand Scripture faithfully.
If we believe Scripture is God's inspired Word, then surely we should take care to understand what it actually says, rather than simply what we would like it to say.
2. What did the writer actually mean and to whom?
I think this is probably the most important starting point. Before asking, "What does this Bible verse mean to me?", we should first ask, "What was the biblical writer communicating to the people he was addressing?"
That doesn't mean Scripture has nothing to say to us today. Of course it does. But the Bible wasn't originally written directly to twenty-first-century British Christians. Its books were written in particular historical circumstances, using languages, expressions and forms of communication that belonged to their original settings.
For example, Paul's letter to the Philippians was written to a real church, facing real circumstances, by an apostle who was experiencing imprisonment. We can learn so much from that letter. But we shouldn't forget who was writing, who was receiving it and why.
Another familiar example is Jeremiah 29:11, which is often quoted as a wonderful encouragement about God's plans to give His people hope and a future. And it certainly reveals something important about God's faithfulness.
But in its original setting, God was speaking through Jeremiah to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. They had been removed from their homeland and were being told that their exile would continue for many years. The promise concerned God's future restoration of His people, not an immediate guarantee that every individual believer would enjoy success, financial prosperity or freedom from suffering.
Does that mean the passage has nothing to teach us today? Absolutely not. It reminds us that God remained faithful to His covenant purposes even during a deeply difficult period in Israel's history. There is genuine encouragement in that. But we need to distinguish between what God specifically promised those exiles and the broader truths we can rightly learn about His character.
Understanding the original meaning doesn't make Scripture less relevant. It helps us apply it more responsibly.
3. Context really does matter
We've probably all heard someone say that a Bible verse has been taken out of context. But what does that actually mean?
Put simply, it means reading a statement without giving sufficient attention to what surrounds it or the circumstances in which it was written. A related problem is called proof-texting, where someone uses an isolated Bible verse to support a particular belief or argument without properly considering its context.
Bible teacher Andrew Ollerton reminds readers of an old saying: "If you take a text out of context, you'll be left with a con".
Imagine receiving a message from someone saying, "I never want to see you again!" That sounds rather serious. But what if the complete sentence was, "I never want to see you again looking so exhausted, so please take some time to rest"?
Suddenly, the meaning changes. The words haven't changed, but the context helps us understand what the person intended. Bible passages work in much the same way.
Consider Philippians 4:13, where Paul speaks about being able to do all things through the one who strengthens him. It's a well-known verse, and I understand why Christians find it encouraging. But it doesn't mean that God has promised to make us successful at absolutely anything we attempt.
Read the surrounding verses. Paul has been describing his experience of having plenty and being in need. He has learned contentment in different circumstances, including hardship.
His confidence is that Christ strengthens him to remain faithful and content through these changing circumstances.
That's actually a wonderful promise, particularly when life is difficult. But it's not quite the same as suggesting that Christ guarantees every ambition or personal goal will succeed.
And here's something else worth remembering. Context isn't just the verse before and after. Sometimes we need to read the whole paragraph, chapter or even the entire letter to understand the author's argument.
This is particularly important when someone builds a major teaching around one isolated sentence. A verse may be completely genuine, correctly translated and still be seriously misunderstood when removed from its context.
4. What kind of writing are we reading?
Another important consideration is that the Bible contains several different kinds of writing.
These are often called literary genres.
We already understand this principle in everyday life. We don't read a poem in exactly the same way as a legal document, and we don't interpret a news report in the same way as a song. The Bible contains historical narratives, poetry, wisdom literature, prophecy, letters, laws, parables and apocalyptic writing, among other forms.
And each needs to be understood according to the way it communicates.
Poetry and imagery
The Psalms contain some beautiful expressions of God's character and His relationship with His people. But when a psalm speaks about God covering someone with His feathers, we don't assume that God literally has wings like a bird. We recognise the imagery as a way of expressing His protection and care.
Proverbs and wisdom
The book of Proverbs contains valuable principles for wise and godly living. But a proverb isn't always an unconditional promise that a particular outcome will happen in every circumstance. Proverbs are general wisdom describing how life normally works, but they are not hard and fast rules or guarantees.
For example, Proverbs 22:6 encourages the training of a child in the right way. It gives us an important principle about upbringing, but it shouldn't be used to guarantee that every child raised in a Christian home will make the same decisions as an adult.
Historical accounts
The book of Acts records many remarkable events in the early Church. We read about healings, the work of the Holy Spirit, preaching, generosity and the growth of Christian communities. But we need to distinguish between something the Bible describes and something it commands.
For example, Acts 2 describes believers sharing their possessions and supporting one another in extraordinary ways. That reveals something wonderful about their generosity and community life. But it doesn't automatically establish a rule that every Christian must sell everything they own or live under an identical economic arrangement.
The principles of love, unity and generosity remain important, even when the particular expression may differ.
Prophecy and apocalyptic writing
Books such as Daniel and Revelation use visions, imagery and symbolism that require particular care. We should respect the kind of writing we're reading rather than forcing every image into a literal interpretation or attaching it too confidently to the latest world events. It's also worth remembering that Revelation was written to real churches going through real situations around 2000 years ago.
None of this means that difficult passages can simply be dismissed as symbolic whenever we find them uncomfortable. It means we should pay careful attention to how the original writer intended the language to function, especially when interpreting visions and symbolism.
5. Understanding the historical and cultural background
Sometimes the Bible describes customs, circumstances or ways of thinking that aren't immediately familiar to us. And this can affect how we understand a passage.
Think about Paul's discussion of food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8. We may not regularly encounter meat offered in pagan temples in Britain today, but living in a multi-faith society can still raise questions about food with religious associations, such as halal or kosher meat. These aren't necessarily equivalent to the pagan sacrifices Paul was addressing, so we need to be careful about drawing direct comparisons.
For believers living in ancient Corinth, however, meat could be closely connected with pagan temple worship and social gatherings. This raised serious questions about idolatry, Christian freedom, conscience and relationships with other believers.
Without understanding that background, we might miss much of what Paul was addressing. Yet the passage still teaches important principles about Christian freedom, knowledge, love and taking care not to harm another believer's conscience.
Similarly, when reading biblical instructions about marriage, slavery, household responsibilities or church leadership, we need to recognise the social and historical circumstances in which those instructions were given.
But we should be careful here, too. Historical context isn't an excuse to dismiss a command simply because it doesn't fit our modern preferences. Sometimes the Bible challenges the surrounding culture. Sometimes it addresses believers living within that culture. And sometimes it establishes principles that have implications far beyond the immediate circumstances.
The challenge is to work out which is happening. Good interpretation takes the historical setting seriously without allowing culture, ancient or modern, to become more authoritative than Scripture itself.
6. Do we draw meaning out of Scripture or read our ideas into it?
There are two more theological words that are particularly useful here: exegesis and eisegesis. They are used quite often in theological settings and they sound similar, but they describe two very different approaches.
Exegesis means drawing out the meaning of a passage through careful attention to its wording, context and intended message.
Eisegesis means reading our own ideas or assumptions into a passage, making it support something we already believe or want it to say.
Now, I think we all need to be a little humble here. None of us approaches Scripture completely free from assumptions. Our experiences, church backgrounds, traditions, personalities and previous teaching can all influence what we notice.
That's not automatically wrong. But it does mean we need to remain willing to have our understanding challenged.
Consider Romans 6:14, where Paul says that believers are not under the law but under grace.
Someone could take that sentence on its own and conclude that, because we're under grace, it doesn't particularly matter how we live. But the very next verse addresses that misunderstanding. Paul asks whether we should continue sinning because we are under grace, and firmly rejects the idea.
Grace isn't presented as permission to live however we please. Rather, throughout Romans 6, Paul explains how our new relationship with Christ changes the way we respond to sin.
That's why reading the surrounding argument matters. The danger with eisegesis is that we can find ourselves using Scripture to confirm our beliefs rather than allowing Scripture to examine them.
And this becomes particularly serious when Bible passages are used to justify harmful behaviour, unquestioning obedience, spiritual control or practices that contradict the wider teaching of Christ.
For example, as we explored in Bible 102, Hebrews 13:17 genuinely teaches an appropriate response to spiritual leadership. But removing that instruction from the wider biblical teaching about accountable, servant-hearted leadership can produce a very different understanding of spiritual authority.
We should neither explain away a difficult command nor turn it into something more absolute than Scripture itself requires. The question is not simply, "Can I find a verse that supports my position?" but, "Does this position faithfully reflect what Scripture actually teaches?"
7. Let Scripture help us understand Scripture
One of the most valuable principles in biblical interpretation is to consider how a passage fits within the wider teaching of the Bible.
Christians believe that, although Scripture was written by different human authors across many centuries, it forms a unified witness to God's purposes, character and work of redemption.
That doesn't mean every passage says exactly the same thing or that we should ignore the distinctive contribution of each biblical writer. But it does mean that when interpreting a difficult passage, we should consider what the rest of Scripture teaches about the same subject.
For example, if someone interprets a verse in a way that portrays God as arbitrary, cruel or fundamentally unlike the God revealed through Jesus Christ, we should examine that interpretation carefully.
At the same time, we mustn't simply ignore passages about God's holiness, judgement or commands because they challenge our preferred understanding of His love.
We need to allow the whole of Scripture to inform our theology.
The Old Testament contains God's covenant dealings with Israel, while the New Testament describes the fulfilment of God's redemptive purposes through Jesus Christ and the establishment of the new covenant.
This affects how we understand and apply biblical laws, sacrifices, priesthood, worship and many other subjects. We shouldn't simply take a command given to ancient Israel and assume that its application to Christians today is identical. Nor should we assume that the Old Testament has become irrelevant.
Jesus and the apostles repeatedly drew upon the Old Testament to explain God's purposes, and Christians continue to learn from its teaching.
Of course, comparing Scripture with Scripture also needs care. It's possible to collect several verses on a subject while ignoring the context of every one of them! I've read books and encountered ministry teaching where this seems to have happened. The aim isn't to gather as many supporting references as possible. It's to understand how the different passages relate to one another within the Bible's wider message.
8. What about the Holy Spirit helping us understand Scripture?
This is particularly important to me because I believe that knowing God is about more than simply acquiring biblical information. Christians aren't called merely to become experts in religious literature. We're called into a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
And Scripture itself teaches that the Holy Spirit helps believers understand, receive and respond to God's truth.
In Luke 24:45, we read that Jesus opened the disciples' minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Paul also speaks about the Spirit helping believers recognise what God has freely given us (1 Corinthians 2:12). And in Psalm 119:18, the psalmist asks God to open his eyes to see wonderful things in His law.
So I think prayer should have a prominent place in our Bible reading. It's entirely appropriate to ask God for understanding, wisdom, humility and a willingness to respond to what He reveals.
But there's an important distinction I want to make. The Holy Spirit helping us understand Scripture isn't the same as giving us permission to make Scripture mean whatever we personally sense it means. I have encountered approaches to hearing God where a personal impression, an inward feeling or a supposed revelation has sometimes been treated as though it settles the meaning of a biblical passage. I think we need to be careful with that.
The Spirit who inspired Scripture doesn't need to contradict or bypass Scripture in order to help us understand it. He can illuminate what we're reading, convict us, bring truth to our attention and help us recognise its relevance to our lives. But we should still examine the passage, consider its context and remain willing to learn from other mature Christians and reliable scholarship.
Sometimes we may experience a verse as particularly meaningful or personally encouraging. That's not necessarily a problem. However, a personal application shouldn't be confused with the original meaning of the text. And the fact that someone sincerely believes the Holy Spirit has shown them something doesn't automatically establish that their interpretation is correct.
That's why humility, discernment and a willingness to be corrected are so important.
For me, sound biblical interpretation and dependence on the Holy Spirit aren't competing approaches. We can prayerfully depend upon the Spirit while carefully studying the Word He inspired.
9. Understanding what Scripture meant and how it applies today
This brings us to one of the most practical parts of Bible study.
Once we've made a reasonable and prayerful effort to understand what a passage originally meant, we can begin asking how it applies to our lives today. And these aren't always exactly the same question.
The original meaning of a passage is rooted in what the biblical writer was communicating. But that message may have principles and implications that apply to many different situations. Consider Philippians 4:13 again. Paul's original circumstances involved learning contentment through changing situations, including hardship. That doesn't mean the verse applies only to imprisoned apostles!
A Christian facing illness, financial difficulty, disappointment or another challenging circumstance may rightly find encouragement in Paul's testimony. We can learn that Christ strengthens His people to remain faithful and content even when circumstances are difficult.
That's a genuine application flowing from the passage.
But using the same verse to guarantee that we'll win a sporting competition, obtain a particular job or achieve every ambition would require us to make a claim Paul wasn't making. The distinction matters.
Another example is Jesus washing His disciples' feet in John 13. The original account describes something Jesus actually did for His disciples. But the passage also teaches a principle of humble, loving service that Christians are called to demonstrate.
We may not all express that principle through the exact same cultural practice, but we should certainly take seriously the kind of love and humility Jesus was demonstrating.
The same applies to 1 Thessalonians 5:26 and several of Paul's other letters where he encourages Christians to "greet all God's people with a holy kiss". It's probably not appropriate to kiss every Christian you meet here in Britain today! But the underlying principle of offering a warm and genuine welcome can still apply, perhaps through a friendly handshake or a hug, where appropriate.
So, when studying Scripture, I find it helpful to distinguish three things:
Meaning: What was the biblical writer communicating?
Principle: What truth, instruction or understanding emerges from the passage?
Application: How should that truth affect the way I think, believe and live today?
Not every passage contains a direct command to obey. Sometimes it reveals something about God, encourages faith, warns us against error or helps us understand His redemptive purposes. And sometimes the appropriate response is simply worship, gratitude or greater trust in Him.
The point is that our application should flow from a responsible understanding of Scripture, not replace it.
Five simple questions to ask when reading the Bible
I appreciate that we've covered quite a lot, so I want to finish with something practical.
You don't need to remember every theological term we've discussed. But the next time you're reading a passage and want to understand it more carefully, try asking yourself these five questions.
1. Who was speaking or writing, and to whom?
Was this instruction given to Israel, a particular individual, a local church, the apostles or believers more generally? What was happening at the time?
2. What does the surrounding passage actually say?
Read before and after the verse. Look for the author's main point and consider whether you've understood the statement within that wider argument.
3. What kind of writing am I reading?
Is it history, poetry, a proverb, prophecy, a parable or a letter? Should the language be understood literally, figuratively or as a mixture of both?
4. How does this fit with the rest of Scripture?
What do other biblical passages teach about this subject? Does my interpretation fit with the wider message of Scripture, particularly the revelation of God through Jesus Christ?
5. What did this mean originally, and how should I respond today?
What truth was being communicated to the original readers or listeners? And what would it look like to understand, believe or apply that truth faithfully in my own circumstances?
You may find that most of the time these questions are relatively straightforward. At other times, particularly when dealing with a disputed passage or an important theological question, it may be worth comparing another translation or consulting a reliable study Bible or commentary.
I use Logos Bible-study software and occasionally examine the Hebrew and Greek where it helps clarify a question. But please don't think that those resources are essential for every Christian or every Bible reading. Usually, the best thing we can do is simply read a passage carefully, lean on the Holy Spirit as we prayerfully consider what it says and take time to reflect upon it.
And don't feel that you have to work everything out on your own. Good Bible study can also involve learning from other Christians, asking questions of leaders and benefiting from reliable teaching. The aim isn't to become independent of everyone else's understanding, but to become increasingly capable of examining what we're taught in the light of Scripture.
And sometimes, after careful study, we may still find that faithful Christians disagree about the most likely interpretation. We don't always have to force certainty where the evidence leaves room for genuine discussion. In the meantime, there are plenty of other biblical encouragements, commands and principles we can be putting into practice.
Finally, reading the Bible is about knowing God
I don't want this article to leave anyone thinking that Bible reading needs to become an academic exercise. That's not my intention at all.
Scripture is more than a subject to be studied. Through it, we encounter God's revelation of Himself, His character, His purposes and, above all, His Son, Jesus Christ.
But because Scripture matters so much, how we understand it also matters. Good interpretation helps protect us from misunderstanding God's character, building doctrines upon isolated expressions or allowing someone else's personal interpretation to become an unquestionable authority over our lives.
It can also protect us from reading only the passages we find comfortable while avoiding the ones that challenge us.
And, importantly, it should help us grow in humility. None of us has a perfect understanding of every passage. We bring our backgrounds, experiences and assumptions to the Bible, and occasionally we may discover that something we believed for years needs reconsidering.
I don't think that should frighten us.
Being willing to examine our understanding isn't a sign that we're losing confidence in Scripture. It may actually be evidence that we're taking Scripture more seriously and showing we're willing to grow. After all, our confidence should be in God and His Word, not in our own ability to interpret every passage perfectly.
I want to understand Scripture as faithfully as I can, but I also want that understanding to shape my relationship with God and the way I treat other people.
Because the goal isn't simply to know more Bible verses, win theological arguments or impress anyone with our knowledge of Greek. It's to know God more deeply, become more like Christ and live in faithful response to what He has revealed.
So before asking what a passage means to me, I want to understand what it was intended to communicate. And having understood it, I want to allow it to challenge, encourage and shape the way I live, for Jesus' sake.
I think that's a good foundation for anyone who wants to take God's Word seriously.
© 2026 Darren Roy
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