Part 1
Step1 : “Grasping the text in their town” or “Reading in context”
The Bible was written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit in a certain time and place and oftentimes to a certain people. If we want to learn to love God the best we can, it is helpful to learn to read the Bible in it’s context before thinking about “today.” We can start that journey by looking at certain features in the sentences. So far we have covered 6 different features. The last is to look for conjunctions (and, but, for..), verbs, and pronouns.
Example – These are basic grammar but they are obviously important towards understanding any sentence. Sometimes, the meaning is obvious but sometimes if we focus on a specific conjunction or verb tense (Greek has many) we can uncover things we may have missed.
Basic Example Passages:
Romans 6:23 (the “but” in this verse in incredibly important!)
Ephesians 4:2-3 (these verbs give a command)
Resources:
“Grasping God's Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible” by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays