Simple guide for a safe reading of God's Word

1. The Bible is God's Word. God is the hero of the story - namely Jesus. If Jesus isn't the hero of the story, and somebody else is - you probably got the interpretation messed up somewhere. For example: When we read the Old Testament Laws, a general flow of logic would look like this:
a) God is Uber Holy
b) the commandments are good but I am wicked
c) God save me

A not so good flow is like:
a) OT Law is so holy
b) I shall attempt to obey it and be a noble Christian

2. The Bible is a book. There is a continuity to it. Whenever we read a passage, look verses top and below it - it should help you to understand what the middle is saying. Look up other passages that look like it, it should help you clarify certain things.

3. The Bible is consistent. If you come up to a wild conclusion that contradicts with other thoughts you know, it is worth re-examining.

4. The Bible is firstly about God, His Dealings with mankind, His instructions. It would be helpful to keep these 3 things when we use the Bible for application.
a) God - how does God's heart tell us about our heart and how it ought to be like?
b) His dealings - What does His dealings reveal about Him, and what then should our response be?
c) Instructions - What should we do, and how are these instructions consistent with His Character and His dealings in the past

A danger we can face is to misapply God's character to our character, His dealings to become our dealings, and instructions to be obeyed legalistically.

5. The Bible is a living historical document. It is living. It is historical. Careful not to read narrative as an instruction. Jesus walking on water does not mean that we should step out of a boat in the middle of the ocean. It is a historical narrative - it tells us more about Jesus than about us. It is living in the sense that it does very active work in us as the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts in a very "present" way.

6. Application of the Bible starts from the heart and the mind - then to the hand. Jesus is not legalistic. If Jesus has very difficult disciplines, there is a much tougher heart and mind behind it all - look for it in His words.

7. Jesus is the Fulfillment of the OT. While certain things in the OT doesn't look like it is relevant about Jesus fulfilling them - generally most of them are fulfilled in Jesus. Unclean food in the OT is the reception of Gentiles in Acts, Sabbath is fulfilled in Heb 3-4, Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb, the King, The Prophet, The High Priest, The Judge, The Second Adam. Look out for them, and the Bible makes more sense.