If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:31-32

 As the commemoration of the Reformation approaches, I sit here in Wittenberg with the bells of the city church where Luther preached over two thousand sermons ringing through the cold autumn air. It is a wonderful privilege to be in this significant place at this time of year when we give thanks to God for His preservation of the gospel through the faithful service of Luther and many others.

I have to confess that it is easy to be overwhelmed by the history and romanticism of this place, not to mention the encouragement that comes from being together with our dear friends from the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and leaders from their sister churches across the world. But the Reformation is not primarily lived out by basking in the past or in these blessed experiences in evocative settings. The Reformation was and continues to be lived out as the comfort of the gospel is proclaimed to troubled consciences, so that we might live and die with confidence in Christ and all He has done for us.

Luther and the reformers recognised that in the face of our own sin and the attacks of the devil, God has provided His Holy Word to provide us this comfort and confidence, and enables us to read and digest the Word for just this purpose. This was revolutionary at the time of the Reformation as most people didn’t have access to the Scriptures and even if they did, they were taught that it was all too difficult and unclear for the ordinary lay person to understand and that the Word needed to be mediated through the teaching of the Roman Church and her clergy.

As the scales fell from Luther’s eyes and he came to properly understand from Scripture that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, he realised it was the Roman Church that was obscuring the Scriptures and in so doing, they were robbing the church of the Bible’s central teaching on justification. Reading the Scriptures with fresh eyes, filled with the wonder of a God who loved him so much that He sent His one and only Son to die in His place, Luther came to understand that God’s Word is not only clear in its simple and intended sense, but that it is all a Christian needs to know to receive God’s gifts won for them by Christ Himself.

There are several methods and plans for Bible reading. We are encouraged to read God’s Word regularly, to feed and drink from the Source of Life. We are nurtured and strengthened in faith, and the Holy Spirit causes us to grow in our Christian life and witness to stand on God’s truth and share it. We need to be reminded always that tools are just tools. These are useful as long as they bring us into God’s Word. Jesus says: “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

Methods of Bible Reading

There is not just one way of studying God’s Word. Methods vary greatly. Some people choose to simply read portions of Scripture regularly; some take notes about the reading; others write down personal applications and prayers related to the day’s reading; and still others develop a more comprehensive practice as they survey the contextual, exegetical, and doctrinal elements involving the text.

… There are many right ways to study Scripture. But there is also a wrong way. The wrong way is to approach the Bible without reverence and humility, relying more on your own understanding than on the power of the Word itself. The wrong way is when you distort God’s Word - for example, by taking a historical prophecy and assuming it’s personally about you. The wrong way is when you try to make Scripture say more or less than what it actually says—when you force it to accommodate to your worldview. God’s Word says what it says. It cannot be changed, added to, or subtracted from. It is God Himself speaking to us. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).