Four Essential Questions for Becoming Gospel Fluent | Studying God’s Word
Last week we looked at four essential questions that can help us learn how to know the gospel, apply the gospel, and speak the gospel. The four questions again:
Who is God?
What has he done?
Who are we?
What do we do?
When applied to our study of scripture and our lives, these four questions help shape us to become gospel-fluent people who think, feel, and respond to everything in life in light of what has been accomplished in the person and work of Jesus.
I want to consider those four questions and why they benefit us as we study scripture and apply gospel truths to our lives. I’ve been using these four questions in my study of God’s word for several years, and I’ve found that they help me to understand God’s good word and help me think through what it means to live out the truth of scripture with my head, heart, and hands. Or in other words, these questions help me grow in knowledge, belief, and obedience—head, heart, and hands!
How do I study the Bible by asking these four questions? Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
First, we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak through his word. His job is to guide us into all truth and glorify Jesus. We won’t understand God’s word without God’s help. I love what Jesus says about the Spirit in John 16:13-14:
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
Secondly, depending on the passage, a study Bible can help provide background information on your reading. We always need to read the “text in context”—meaning, we want to read the passage in light of the language of that day, the history, culture, and literary structure of the passage we are reading.
Think of it this way: listening to what the Spirit was saying to the church long ago before we think of what the Spirit is saying to the church here and now is essential. Both are super important for us as we seek the Spirit’s help in understanding the Bible. We must be good listeners of God’s word as we read God’s word. So, we need the Spirit’s help. Commentaries can also be helpful, but most provide too much information and could be distracting.
Let’s see how these four questions can help us study scripture by looking at 1 Corinthians 1:1-10.
(NOTE: this blog post is a bit long because I want you to see how all four questions are applied. Take some time with it over the next several days).
1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
Let’s ask our first question and work it out in this passage. Who is God? Here we want to think through this passage and look for what it says about the character and nature of God.
The Bible is God’s story—Father, Son, Spirit—so we begin by asking how God’s character and nature are revealed in our reading. The story is about him! Look for specific references to his attributes: holiness, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, unchanging, compassionate, gracious, patient, loving, kind, good, gentle, etc. In narrative passages of scripture, look for implied references to his attributes. What does the story reveal about God’s character and nature as Father, Son, and Spirit?
Back to the 1 Corinthians passage. Who is God? What does this passage reveal about God’s character and nature as Father, Son, and Spirit? Here are a few things I noticed:
v.1 – Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
Who is God? He is the one who calls people for his purpose and glory. God calls Paul to do his work. He’s called or commissioned to be an apostle and a missionary.
v.3 – Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is God? He is our peace-giver and grace-giver. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
v. 9 – God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Who is God? He is faithful! He is the One who calls people into fellowship with Christ.
Ok, see where this is going? You could find more in this 1 Corinthians passage, but I want you to get the idea.
Let’s ask the second question: What has God done? What does the text say about the work of God? God’s work throughout human history is diverse and magnificent, right? All of it is worth proclaiming. However, the person and work of Jesus are revealed on every page of the Bible. Remember that passage in Luke 24:27 where Jesus walks with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus? Luke tells us:
27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Jesus is the hero and the main character. The Spirit does not want us to miss Jesus!
As we ask this question, we’re looking for references to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, either through foreshadowing (saving Noah in the flood, redeeming Israel from slavery in Egypt, King David as a man after God’s own heart), through prophecy (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53), or through the New Testament story of Jesus’ earthly life and the establishment of his church.
Back to our 1 Corinthians passage. What has God done?
v.4 – I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
What has God done? God has given his people grace in Christ Jesus.
v. 8 – He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What has God done? Our salvation is sure because of what God has done in Christ to bring us to Himself. Because of this, he will sustain us to the end! We will stand guiltless on the day of Christ’s return. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Jude 24).
What has God done? You can also reframe this to say, what is God now doing because of Christ? He’s keeping us in Christ and firm in our discipleship journey as we walk in faith and obedience.
v. 9 – God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
What has God done? He has called us into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Got it? Again, you could find more verses in this 1 Corinthians passage that can answer that second question. Take time with these verses and see if you find what God has explicitly done in and through Jesus.
Here’s our third question: Who are we? When we ask this question, we want to know what the text says about our true identity. God has always been working to save “a people for his own possession.” (1 Peter 2:9). As you read through the Bible, note the things that are true of God’s people, the things that are true of you because you believe and follow Jesus.
Let’s ask this question in light of our 1 Corinthians passage. Who are we in light of what God has done? What is true of us?
v.2 – To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
Who are we? We are sanctified (made holy/set apart). We are saints, God’s holy people, with all those who believe in Christ as Lord. We are family!
v.5 – For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge.
Who are we? God enriches us in all speech and all knowledge. It’s his gift to us. We have an abundance of God’s spiritual gifts as we learn to speak the gospel and grow in God’s grace and knowledge of the gospel.
Our last question: What do we do? In light of all of this, how does it change how we live? When reading the Bible, we almost always ask, “How does this apply to my life?” But rightly motivated, gospel-centered action flows out of an understanding of who God is, what he’s done, and who we are in light of God’s character and work. Rather than starting with this question, end with it. And then, take action!
So, through that lens, let’s look again at 1 Corinthians and ask: What do we do?
v. 7 – Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
In eager anticipation for Christ’s return, we are to use our spiritual gifts now to edify and build up the body as we wait for Jesus to return. God’s given us all we need to live on his mission of helping people find and follow him.
v.8 – He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ok, this may initially seem tricky in asking what we do. But think this through. If God keeps us firm until the end, so we will be blameless on the day of Jesus, how should we live? In freedom, joy, and thankfulness, because we know that we will stand guiltless before the Lord because of Jesus!
v. 10 – I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
What do we do? We seek to be united in the same mind and judgment as other followers of Jesus. That doesn’t mean we’ll all agree on every issue, right? But we see here that we are to seek unity among the body of Christ, striving in God’s power to see that the gospel guides us in our thinking, speaking, and unity.
Paul scratches the surface here of what he’ll unfold in the following verses and chapters of 1 Corinthians of why living this way is so important. You should keep going in this chapter!
Alright, so there you go. Four essential questions can help us study God’s word, can help ground us in the gospel, and can allow us to apply gospel truths to our lives—head, heart, and hands. Try this method of study for several weeks and see how it goes. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
-Wade
