When studying the Bible, it’s oh so important to first look at the original meaning of a text.

For example:
Suppose I said, “Love!”
You can imagine 50 different things I might mean:
Love each other.
A reminder to be kind-hearted.
You’re in trouble….you’d better remember to love.
Maybe I was whispering.
Am I speaking to a group? One person?
Maybe I’m talking to myself at a wedding.
What if “Love” was my husband’s nickname?
What if it was my dog’s?
So many different interpretations are possible!!
But I only intended one of them.

When God speaks in Scripture, He has one intended original purpose and when we study His word, we need to be diligent to find it. We look at original culture, original context, and original language to help us out.

We also need to know that just because God had one original intention does not mean that He didn’t intend countless other right applications. But, if we don’t start with the right intention, we can’t possible bridge to a right application.

For Example:
“Judas went and hung himself. “ – Matthew 27:5
“Go and do likewise” – Luke 10:37

God doesn’t mean go hang yourself, obviously, but students who skip over the work of finding correct intention, can’t possibly find correct application.

In our Digging Deeper study days, we will focus on
1) Finding the original intention
and then
2) Making right applications so that we can fully embrace God’s grace and truth into our everyday.

Dig In, friends!
It’s worth it!