Careful Bible study begins by understanding what God communicated before deciding how to apply it. Four questions can help: Who is speaking? To whom? On what authority and under what covenant or circumstances? For what time, purpose, and situation? These are practical study questions, not an inspired list formally identified in Scripture as the four rules of Bible study.
The questions work together. They help us recognize the difference between God’s command and a recorded human claim, between a national promise and a personal application, and between a historical event and a continuing obligation. Their purpose is to slow us down long enough to hear the passage accurately.
1. Who Is Speaking?
Identify both the writer of the book and the speaker within the passage. A biblical author can accurately record the words of God, a faithful servant, a mistaken believer, an enemy, or Satan. The inspiration of the account guarantees its truthfulness as Scripture; it does not mean God endorses every claim made by every character.
Job’s friends offer explanations of his suffering, but God’s later rebuke prevents us from treating all their speeches as His verdict. Their statements require evaluation in light of the whole book. Quoting an isolated sentence as divine counsel can reverse the lesson the inspired account communicates.
- Job 42:7 My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends – God explicitly corrects the friends, so their speeches cannot be assumed to express His judgment accurately.
- Genesis 3:4 Ye shall not surely die – Scripture truthfully records the serpent’s false denial of God’s warning; the denial itself is not biblical doctrine.
The same care applies to the disciples’ misunderstandings and to arguments made by Jesus’ opponents. Before repeating a statement as instruction, identify who said it, whether it is affirmed or corrected, and what role it plays in the account. A verse’s location in the Bible does not erase its speaker or narrative setting.
2. To Whom Is It Being Spoken?
Identify the original recipients. God addresses humanity generally in some passages, Israel or Judah in others, and particular churches or individuals elsewhere. Audience does not make the rest of Scripture irrelevant to us. It establishes the first step in understanding what was communicated and how we may rightly learn from it.
Jeremiah 29 addresses exiles taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. Its promises belong to that historical setting and to God’s covenant purposes for His people. Reading Jeremiah 29:11 as a guarantee of immediate personal advancement overlooks both the recipients and the prolonged exile described in the letter.
- Jeremiah 29:10 after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon – The promised visitation belongs to a specified period in the exiles’ history.
- Romans 15:4 written for our learning – Earlier Scripture instructs believers and cultivates hope, even when they are not its original addressees.
The appropriate application is confidence in God’s demonstrated faithfulness, together with obedience to what He has commanded us. The inappropriate application claims another audience’s specific circumstances as a promise of our preferred outcome. Christians can learn from Israel’s experience without becoming the original recipients of every national covenant promise.
This dispensational distinction preserves Israel’s continuing place in God’s purposes and the Church’s identity as Christ’s body, beginning at Pentecost. It does not divide Scripture into useful and useless books. Nor does it remove most of the New Testament from instruction for Christians. All Scripture belongs in the believer’s study, with its audience and place in God’s unfolding revelation respected.
3. On What Authority and Under What Covenant or Circumstances?
This question does not rank inspired books by degrees of authority. It asks what kind of claim the passage contains and what establishes its force. Is it a divine command, apostolic instruction, a human proposal, a Mosaic covenant requirement, or the narration of an event? A faithfully recorded human proposal is not automatically a command for the Church.
The Mosaic sacrifices illustrate the importance of covenant setting. They were genuinely commanded by God, but Hebrews explains their relationship to Christ’s completed sacrifice. Christians honor those passages by understanding their purpose and fulfillment, rather than resuming the sacrificial system as though Christ had not come.
- Hebrews 10:10 the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all – Christ’s sufficient sacrifice governs how believers understand the earlier offerings.
- Romans 4:3 Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness – Distinct administrations in biblical history do not establish different ways of salvation; justification has always been by grace through faith in God’s revealed provision.
Care is also needed with Paul’s distinction in 1 Corinthians 7 between a command of the Lord and instruction he gives as an apostle. When he says that he speaks rather than the Lord in verse 12, he addresses a situation for which he is not citing a direct command from Jesus’ earthly ministry. He is not marking that portion of the inspired letter as optional, uninspired advice.
- 1 Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord – Paul supplies apostolic instruction concerning marriages involving an unbelieving spouse; the distinction concerns the source of the instruction being cited, not a denial of inspiration.
Asking about authority therefore requires reading closely. We must neither elevate a character’s opinion into divine law nor downgrade inspired apostolic teaching because its wording is initially unfamiliar. [Tips on Rightly Dividing the Bible: 4 simple rules for better understanding]
4. For What Time, Purpose, and Situation?
Some instructions concern a particular mission or stage of biblical history. Others establish continuing obligations. Prophecy may describe an event already fulfilled or one still future, and a passage may explain what happened without commanding its repetition. We determine these distinctions from the text and related revelation, rather than from whether an instruction is convenient.
In Matthew 10, Jesus sends the Twelve on a mission directed to Israel and restricts their route. After His resurrection, He commissions discipleship among all nations. Ignoring this development could turn an earlier mission restriction into a permanent prohibition against Gentile evangelism.
- Matthew 10:5 Go not into the way of the Gentiles – This restriction belongs to the particular mission Jesus gives the Twelve in that setting.
- Matthew 28:19 teach all nations – The risen Lord’s commission establishes the worldwide reach of the disciples’ mission.
- 2 Timothy 4:13 The cloke that I left at Troas – Paul’s request to Timothy is a real instruction to a particular person, not a requirement that every Christian retrieve a cloak from Troas.
We can learn care for others and practical faithfulness from Paul’s request without making his circumstances a universal command. Similarly, a church practice reported in Acts must be considered alongside the reason for the event and the apostles’ teaching before it is made mandatory. Historical description can teach doctrine, but repetition requires textual warrant.
The same care applies to prophecy. Future promises should not be declared fulfilled merely because a symbolic application is appealing. A grammatical-historical reading recognizes biblical imagery while preserving what God promises, including Israel’s future restoration and Christ’s earthly kingdom.
- A Brief History of God’s Progressive Revelation
- Eternal covenant promises for Israel from the Bible
- A brief history of the future
Keep the Four Questions Inside the Larger Context
The four questions are a starting point rather than a substitute for reading. Examine what comes before and after the passage, how the paragraph advances the book’s argument, and which literary form the author uses. Narrative, law, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, Gospels, and letters communicate through different conventions. Recognizing those conventions helps us take each text according to its natural sense.
- Luke 24:27 the things concerning himself – Jesus explains the Scriptures in relation to His person and work, demonstrating their coherent witness without licensing invented symbolism.
Notice ordinary grammatical features such as pronouns, commands, conditions, reasons, and contrasts. Ask where the passage belongs in biblical history: before the law, under the Mosaic covenant, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, in the Church’s beginning and growth, or in a promised future fulfillment. Compare other passages only after understanding the passage in front of you.
Philippians 4:10-13 illustrates how these habits work together. Paul speaks to the Philippian church about their renewed concern for him and his learned contentment. The passage is apostolic testimony within a letter, addressing both abundance and deprivation. The application is dependence on Christ amid changing circumstances, rather than a promise that every ambition will succeed.
Likewise, read David and Goliath first as the history of God’s deliverance and David’s place in Israel’s unfolding story. Then derive applications supported by that history. Trusting God follows from the account; assigning a secret spiritual discipline to each stone does not.
Finish by Responding to What You Have Understood
After answering the four questions, summarize the paragraph’s meaning in a sentence or two. Identify what it reveals about God, humanity, salvation, or faithful conduct. Then state an application that follows from that meaning, noting any original circumstances that should not be transferred directly to your situation.
- 2 Timothy 3:17 throughly furnished unto all good works – Scripture equips God’s servant for faithful action, so accurate understanding should lead toward obedience.
If an important detail remains uncertain, acknowledge it and continue studying. A reliable translation, careful cross-references, and a responsible commentary can help, but they should keep directing attention back to Scripture. Prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit belongs with this work; illumination does not excuse carelessness.
The purpose of exegesis is to hear God’s Word accurately and respond faithfully. These questions serve that purpose by making us attentive readers before we become confident interpreters.
Continue with The Green Flags of Faithful Doctrine from Exegesis, or return to the series index.