How to Apply a Bible Passage

Exegesis, Hermeneutics and Bible Interpretation

Introduction

Welcome to Lesson 7.1 of your free online Bible Interpretation Course.

In this lesson we want to give you a few principles for applying a particular passage of the Bible to a modern-context.

When we speak of applying a passage to a modern context we are perhaps most interested in applying it to our own lives first.

This is probably the reason most of us read the Bible so that we can glean some wisdom for living out our Christian faith in our world today.

Application does not need to wait until the end

I should mention at the outset that you do not have to go through this entire course before applying a passage to a modern context.  One of the reasons we place this step last is that most people want to jump right in and have the passage mean something without really trying to understand it on its own terms.

Thus, we give you several rules before we get to the application step so that you have a fairly good idea of what the passage originally meant.  Afterward, it’s much easier to apply it to a modern context.

What is the Universal Message

You may recall this chart from an earlier lesson.  It is also quite helpful in helping you to visualize what is taking place at the application stage.

Step 1 is known as exegesis, that is, trying to discern the original message to the original audience.  This is trying to listen to the Bible on its own terms and within its own culture. Many of the lessons in this course have been devised to help you get to the bottom of what the Bible author is trying to say.

Step 2 pulls you away from the individual stories of the Bible and from within a particular Bible custom to try to discern a “principle” or “universal message”.  For example, the instruction for head coverings in 1 Corinthians was meant to protect a woman’s virtue.  The head covering is cultural, a woman’s virtue has more universal application.

Step 3 is the final step.  Once you have derived a principle, how can that principle be applied in today’s culture.  If God forbade certain foods in Israel to protect his people’s holiness, how would God seek after his people’s holiness today?

We cannot circumvent this process

It is very important, as we have mentioned in other lessons, that we not try to circumvent this process.  Some Christian groups, for example, try to directly apply a command or prohibition from the Old Testament into our modern culture.

Thus, as Christians we are told that we must still keep the Sabbath, that we cannot eat pork, or that we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  I don’t believe this is good Bible interpretation.  We must first try to hear the Bible on its own terms and then make a proper translation / application into our own culture.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Bible Interpretation process is important, especially as we seek to bring the Bible into our modern world.  In order to do that we must take care of our exegesis first, then extract a principle if possible.  Only then will be in a position to make an application to our personal life or to the modern world.