3 Steps in Rightly Applying the Bible
By Michael Kelley
There are some parts of the Bible that are pretty easy to apply. Take, for example, Ephesians 4:29: No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. Pretty simple, right? We read it, we understand it, and we know immediately how to obey it in the context of our everyday lives.
But much of the Bible isn’t like that. We believe it’s God’s Word, and we want to do what it says, but many passages seem outdated and confusing. So we’re left with a sense of knowing we ought to do something with what we read but we can’t figure out exactly what that “something” is. How, then, should we approach the Bible, knowing that it’s true and trustworthy and then putting its direction into practice? There are three steps to doing so:
Zoom in, zoom out, and zoom back in.
When you come to the Bible, one of the most fundamental things you are trying to do is to answer this question: What did the text mean to the original audience? The reason that is a fundamental question is that the text can’t mean now what it didn’t mean then. So you are meant to try to understand how the specific people to whom the specific text was written on a specific occasion received this message. That’s zooming in.
But then you are meant to zoom out. To look at that original meaning, and try to isolate the theological principle that’s in the text. What you are doing is moving from a specific application to a specific people to a broader and more general theological principle that is applicable to all people at all times. It’s only then, when you have that theological principle (and there might be more than one of them), that you are ready to then put it into practice in your own context. That’s zooming back in.
Zoom in to find the original meaning. Zoom out to find the theological principle. Zoom back in to your context for the application.
Let me give a couple of examples to help illustrate this:
If you build a new house, make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it (Deut. 22:8).
That feels like a weird command that’s probably a bit outdated. We don’t have building codes that require railings on residential homes because most of us don’t spend a lot of time hanging out on our roofs. So you have to zoom in and try to find what it meant to an ancient Israelite. At that time, houses had flat roofs that served as an extra living room. People would use them for sleeping, working, and entertaining guests. So building a small wall prevented people from falling off of which there was a real danger.
Now zoom out a bit. That is the theological principle behind that? Well, it’s that human life is sacred, and you should value it. That’s why, in that context, God required His people to take that practical measure. Now that you have the principle, you can zoom back in. How is that theological principle applied in our context today? Well, one simple one would be that we perform background checks and put other safeguards in place for those working with minors.
Here’s another example. Paul is writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, and he gives him some advice: Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses (1 Tim. 5:23). That’s also a little weird. Paul isn’t a doctor; he’s a spiritual mentor. So does that mean that all of us should be taking a little wine along with our water? So you zoom in, and you ask how Timothy would have understood this, and you remember that Timothy was a young leader facing intense stress in his church, and he apparently suffered from chronic stomach issues. In the ancient world, water was frequently contaminated with bacteria, while the fermentation in wine acted as a purifier. So Paul’s advice to Timothy was about prioritizing his health so he could be effective in ministry.
Now zoom out. What’s the theological principle? The principle here is about stewardship of the physical body. That your body is a gift, and you have a responsibility to care for it. So now you can zoom back in and see what current practice is driven by that principle. And you find that you should keep an eye on your sleep, take some medicine, and exercise regularly. Doing those things is actually honoring the Lord.
If you want a helpful visual for this, think about three different points that form a triangle. The top of the triangle is the theological principle. The left side is the practice in the biblical text, and the right side is practice in your context. When you open the Bible, you travel along the line from your context to the Bible context. Then you zoom out, traveling up to the theological principle. Then you zoom back in to your own practice to apply that principle.
We zoom in and apply only when we understand. And we only understand when we zoom in and find out what the text once meant. Let’s be careful as we read the Bible to do these things. God’s Word is His revelation to us - let’s handle it wisely.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
