II. Study by Paragraph
A. Adopt a system of paragraphing, either your own, or that of a modern translation. You will benefit far more from the study if you do your own paragraphing.
B. The best Bible to use for this study is one which has only the text, not annotated and paragraphed and outlined at the start (as a Scofield Reference Bible is, for example). In other words, use a plain text Bible.
C. Read the Bible chapter and divide it into paragraphs. The paragraphs will be thought-units or subjects expressed in one to several sentences in the text. This kind of close reading of the text to discern its structure helps in understanding the text.
D. Title each paragraph in three words or less. Occasionally a title might require as many as five words, but almost never more. Your titles should be distinctive, appropriate, brief, and original.
E. Chart your results. Only by committing your study to paper will you really fully engage in the process and preserve your results. A simple chart can be drawn on loose leaf paper, or in a lined notebook set aside for Bible study. Above the chart write the book name followed by the words “Analysis by Paragraph,” since this is the step in Bible study being recorded. Draw two horizontal lines one space below, one on the next line down, and the other on the next line below that. Then draw a vertical line at the left extending down the page as far as needed to accommodate the number of lines needed to record your results. About a half inch to the right of that left vertical line draw another vertical line to form a left column to be headed “Chapter Number.” The next column may be a narrow column to record the paragraph number. The third column needs to be a bit wider to record the verses that define the paragraph, headed “verses.” There will remain a much wider fourth column at the right labeled “Title” to record the titles you devise for the paragraphs.
I am unable to reproduce such a chart here using the keyboard, so I will display a partial example I have done in outline form.
II Peter, Analysis by Paragraph
Chapter 1.
1. verses 1-4. Power for purity.
2. verses 5-9. Qualities yielding fruitfulness.
3. verses 10-11. Confirm your calling.
4. verses 12-15. Remember these things.
5. verses 16-18. Visual credentials: eye witnesses
6. verses 19-21. Written credentials: God’s Word
Chapter 2.
7. verses 1-3. False prophets–field, future
8. verses 4-9. God’s past judgments, warning
9. verses 10-16. Prophets for price.
10. verses 17-19.
In actual practice I have not gone through very many Bible books using this process. I recall working through the first 8 or so chapters of the book of Acts with a neighbor friend who was ahead of me in high school. We attended the same Methodist Youth Fellowship at nearby Thoburn Methodist Church at the time. It was an exciting day of mutual Bible study I will never forget.
In the Vacation Bible School class on How to Study the Bible taught by Miss Ellen Groh (a student at the Detroit Bible College) at Highland Park Baptist Church, where I was taught how to do this kind of Bible study, we went through the book of 2 Timothy using this process.
Working independently, no two persons will arrive at exactly the same results. That sameness is not the goal. The goal is to get into a book of the Bible deeply enough to make it a part of your thinking and experience. Engaging in a study like this will help you remember more vividly what you have studied!
hello jerry really enjoyed your comments on studying the bible chapter by chapter,paragraph. i have been blessed by this type of study to.
hello jerry, i have been blessed by writing favorite verses on 3/5 cards and looking them up in crgb as i looked up all the cross refs on that particular verse it locked in my heart. writing vs out and memorizing them is a great spiritual blessing. i know you wrote out over 200 vs out and memorized them when you were a new believer i believe. praise the lord jerry for his word! jer 15/16 psm 119/97, psm 119/18 open thou mine eyes ,that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law!!! ken
Jerry I need Help. I am getting discouraged about the usefuness of your work. I guess I do not really understand how it works. I am not making any progress with my new creation study. I went to the keyword phrase ‘a new’. Mk. 2:22 points to new wine and new wine skins and I can see the corollation. Mk. 2:22 has an * by it. I want to put a study together but am struggling. The word new in Mk. 2:22 is the same as in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Do I just look at the astriked verses. I ought to be able to pit together a short or exhaustive study correct? I just purchased a NCRG for my friend and I want him to be able to use it. I have to stick with electronic software I am visually impaired and cannot do paper. Please help.
Dear Brad,
At the main reference point, Mark 2:22, in the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, my note explains that kainos, the Greek word for “new” that appears in 2 Corinthians 5:17, means “new in quality.”
That new quality is imparted by the Holy Spirit, and is made manifest by the fruit of the Spirit that Paul discusses, defines, and enumerates as to the components made manifest that he lists in Galatians 5:22, 23–
Remember that the asterisked verses are my judgment as to which verses of those given are the clearest and most understandable by a person new to using cross references.
For the Sunday school teacher presenting verses for a lesson during Sunday school where time is limited, those asterisked verses indicate which passages are most relevant and which passages may be omitted when time is limited. Of course, all listed references are relevant, but some passages are much more clearly relevant than others, and in the New Treasury I have marked those with an asterisk.
I have not placed the asterisk symbol in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible. The only symbol I retained was the “+” symbol, which means “find more here.” That, of course, is a very important symbol, without which the cross references as I have carefully assembled them would be much harder to access.
Once when I was leading a Bible study and had only my copy of Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible with me, I nearly panicked when I suddenly realized there were to asterisks to guide me as to which out of a long listing of cross references were the most relevant. I had to go by memory instead.
Remember that a person who is truly born again by the Spirit of God is a new creature. The Holy Spirit will produce the fruit of the Spirit in their life as a result of the regenerative change that has taken place. They will not be the same person they were. Though spiritual growth does take time, that growth will begin to show itself in an altogether new interest in spiritual things like Bible study, Bible reading, prayer, and sharing their faith with others.
A new disciple must be a learner. Some individuals can do well by being self-taught and self-motivated as they study God’s Word, the Bible. But most new believers need to be taught by others. They need to find fellowship where others are committed to spiritual growth and genuine Christian fellowship.
If you follow through with a careful study of the step by step directions I wrote for you yesterday about how to use the features in the New Treasury, I think you will garner as much truth about your chosen subject of study as can be found anywhere, and it will be all directly from Scripture.
You are doing remarkably well in learning how to use the New Treasury. Compared to a fully sighted person, you must work much harder to accomplish what you set out to do in creating a Bible study to inform yourself and share with others. May the Lord continue to bless your efforts.
I have devised a simplified outline to create a Bible study from any verse or combination of verses using either the New Treasury or the Cross Reference Guide. It has worked well for me. I shared it with a pastor in Colorado who has used it to create a discipleship manual for his church. He tells me he likes my approach of using just the Bible itself much better than his denomination’s literature, which while good does not get into the Bible as much as my method.
Thank you for asking such good questions. I am sure others may have the same questions but were afraid to ask!