Scripture Study Rules

From the edified, shall truth come...

From the opening of that statement from the respected Elder Dallin Oaks, I write this page on scripture study. By direct spiritual experience, I testify that the Lord teaches through and by his Spirit, and that each of us have the opportunity to receive personal revelation from his Spirit, as it has always been. Yet, many continue to systematically deny, in some manner, this unlimited potential of learning the gospel.

The words of Elder Dallin Oaks confirm that scripture study is an important part of learning God's word. From the teachings by the Spirit, and confirmed by the authroities in this church, scripture study is intended to align our hearts and minds to the Spirit of God and his word. Unfortunately, the methods used by many are corrupt or lacking in such a manner, that they end up closing the door to the Lord. Speaking in general terms, in Christendom, despite the goodness that study is supposed to bring, there still exists diverse doctrines, contention and arguments with much self-righteousness. It is apparent that this diversity does not portray the "one mind" and "one spirit" we are supposed to gain from the study of God's word. In short, the false doctrines and diverse ideas do not come from the Lord's word, neither his Spirit. The study methods many practice have failed to edify them. (DC 50:12 - 23) – Why?

Whose Will is Studied?

Is it personal will that is studied? This is the study to satisfy personal opinion, personal beliefs and ways, personal issues and even contentions and argument. This would be a study to jusitfy your own counsel and is a sure course to self-justification of personally created beliefs. In this, where is the sincere seeking of the Lord's will and thoughts in study through inspiration? Where is the putting of oneself and personal will "second" (includes what belief is desired), to obtain the Lord's "higher" will and thoughts? (Isa.55:9) Again speaking in general terms, in Christiandom, we see so many people who are too quick to declare God's word, without first establishing his doctrine, through the Spirit, within them first. How people think that the Bible gives them automatic permission to declare the Lord's doctrine and word, where they have not obtained his word within them first (DC 11:21).

Whose will do you study
– has shown why we see quick and fast doctrines, contentious interpretations and argumentative ideas. The problem of poor study originates in people, not in the scriptures. A problem that stems from a failure to understand, that the Lord's doctrine represents eternal spiritual life (Alma 37:44) Since his word is eternal in nature, it would be expedient and prudent to say that no one can understand the Lord's doctrine right away. It will take time, much experience and tribulation (1 Thess.1:6) for anyone to fully understand his doctrine and how it applies, especially in harmony with other doctrines of the Lord within his gospel.

Whose will do you study
– reflects the state of mind and heart. How we choose to focus, by what we "place first" as important in our minds and hearts. It is a responsibility to ensure that we are mindful to our own intentions and desires. It is that state of mind and heart, which Jesus Christ portrayed in his words throughout the gospel. (1 Chr. 28:9 / Ps. 78:18 / Ps. 81:12 / Matt. 5:28). Look at the first commandment from God. IT states that we are to love him with all our hearts and minds (Matt 22:37,38).

The first commandment is one of commitment and responsibility. A commitment of the mind and heart to the sacrifice of the "self" to God, which refers to sacrifice of personal will. This is the meaning of the word "mind".

Jesus is the living example of a perfect obedient servant to the Father in heaven. He gave his example of "sacrifice of self-will" to the Father in John 5:30, "not my will" so sayeth Lord Jesus, who sacrificed his will by putting it second to the will of the Father in heaven. This is pure humbleness. Are you willing to follow and do his example? Putting our will second, when reading the scriptures, is the same as listening without preconceived ideas. Putting our will second, means that our personal agenda and ideas of what the scriptures say is placed aside to read openly the word of God, as would a child openly read or learn (Mosiah 3:19 / Matt. 18:3).

Good Study is the Same as Worship

Putting aside our personal ideas of things, which are worldly anyway, will lead to a focus of seeking to develop a "spiritual mind". (Alma 36:4 / DC 67:10).

It is wrong to worship personal beliefs. Rather we are to exercise our beliefs to worship the Lord wholeheartedly. This is without exception, to which I can say with conviction and witness to you. That even with all the years of experience I have had with the Spirit of the Lord, I still must pay attention to the state of mind and heart I have when I study. By that example, how much more must each of you pay attention to the state of mind and heart ye has also?

To worship in spirit and in truth, is to seek the spiritual meaning of the word (John 6:63). Worship is then to seek the spiritual context and meaning of what the Lord is saying throughout the scriptures. Spirit begets spirit, ways of the world begets only the world (John 3:6). To obtain a spiritual understanding of the word is to seek the spiritual meaning and this can only come through the Spirit of God. In other words, each of us can only gain a limited understanding of the gospel by our own measure and effort, the rest must come by inspiration and personal revelation from the Lord. (DC 76:114-116 / Isa. 28:9 / 2 Cor. 3:5 / Heb. 5:13) .

As Elder Dallin Oaks stated about receiving inspiration and revelation,

This establishes that scripture reading can involve the Spirit of the Lord. We cannot obtain anything greater than our own measure, alone, without help and revelation from the Lord.

A person can perceive spiritual truth, by studying, experiencing and learning the spirit of the word from the Lord. In doing so will give him or her the ability to spiritually discern others. This is God's way to protect us from misleading doctrines and false preaching. (1 Cor. 2:14) . To learn by the Spirit, to obtain understanding of the spirit of the word, is what will lead us to eternal life, any other way (being of the world) leads to death (Prov 14:12 / John 6:68 / Rom 8:6). This certainly leads credence to the scripture that says we cannot be saved in ignorance (DC 131:6). Which leads me to say that those who sincerely seek his spiritual knowledge, gained in a spiritual manner (not by the letter) will gain eternal life, exaltation and salvation, because salvation into eternal life is spiritual, not temporal. (2 Nephi 2:7). This requires us to have the ability to say that Jesus is Lord, but none can truly say it and live by it, except by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3).

With that, here are the basic rules of good scriptural study.

Rules For Good Scriptural Study

Faith

Faith is always at the forefront in all things with God. A question I sometimes pose to show the importance of this spiritual truth is, "What would you do if all the scriptures in the world were taken away and you had none to read?" Remember Adam and Eve. They began with faith and worship. Faith is of the heart first, it is not of anything else. If there is no faith in your heart, then you have nothing (1 Nep.15:11 / DC 18:19 / 2 Tim. 2:22), even if you memorized the scriptures word for word.

Having a faith that is first to the Lord, not to others. One cannot develop faith by leaning on others or seeking others first. We seek certain others second to the Lord. No one can develop your faith, such is solely between the person and the Lord. The truth of this comes directly from Joseph Wirthlin, who tells us that faith is not in men, but in God.

Does this deny the words and counsel of the prophet or any of the general authority of the church?

Nay, it does not. For the Lord gives wisdom to those who seek his counsel. Wisdom of the Lord says that we are to put him first and learn the proper relationship between ourselves and the prophet and authorities of the church. A relationship that obeys those in authority of the Lord's church, while keeping the Lord as first and foremost in mind and heart.

Faith is also knowing that the Lord will answer, and accepting that he will answer when he deems it expedient for you. This patient waiting is also faith, where there is a willingness to receive his (Lord's) chastening, proving and reproving by the Lord before your prayer is answered (Ps. 11:5). If you have not been tried in your faith (1 Peter 1:7), then it is time to question your faith to the Lord and see where your focus (heart and mind) truly sits.

The words of Moroni are clear,

Quietness / Stillness

Be quiet, be still and choose a quiet time, if needed find a quiet place separate from all else. There is reason for the Lord to tell us "Be still and ye shall know me" (Ps. 46:10 / Ecc. 3:7 / DC 101:16).

To be quiet includes tempering yourself, especially when in anger and contention (Alma 20:17 / Mosiah 2:32). It serves not to seek God with anger, because be assured, you will not know the real reason for your anger as God sees it. To seek God with anger and need to establish oneself as right against another (self-righteousness), is a sin (1 John 5:17). But, to seek God to help you resolve your anger, that is not only righteous, it is wise and obedient to the words of Jesus Christ (Matt. 23:26).

Humbleness & Sincerity

Humbleness is defined as,

How better can it be defined? Search the scriptures with the key word of humble and humbleness. See how important it is to God, and to you. Approach the Lord in humbleness of heart and mind, with the belief that we are nothing compared to the Lord (Alma 26:12 / John 5:30).

Sincerity is akin to honesty, sureness, good faith and good will. It is equally important in how we establish and set ourselves with sincerity before we study with God (DC 5:24 / Titus 2:7). Are you sincere to forgo your own ideas and learn anew? Are you sincere to learn the thoughts of God, knowing full well that your thoughts and ways are not his? Are you willing to accept that your beliefs will change because of the inspirations and influence of the Spirit of the Lord? (Isa. 55:9). Questions to seriously ponder with yourself.

Prayer

As it was described in the Bible dictionary,

Putting together a quiet nature, humbleness and sincerity, a person can pray for wisdom, guidance, and even confirmation of things. (DC 5:24). Prayer is therefore, communication between you and God, a necessary tool for your spiritual growth change and relationship with God.

It has been said that we are to pray unceasingly (Thess. 5:17). This refers to be diligent and consistent in the practice of prayer, not necessarily an unending single prayer. We are to learn to make prayer a daily habit, as a daily exercise and use of faith, which is to put our faith to work (Alma 34:17). Prayer must also be with real sincere intent, else it profits nothing (Moro. 7:6,9)

In the general Christian community, some have claimed that there is no need to pray about the written word of God, because it is questioning his word. Then allow me to correct that false percept. Prayer is not to question God, it is to question, learn and edify you. A couple of scriptures speak clearly of the need for us to pray about what we study to seek the Holy Spirit for counsel - Prov. 3:5 / 1 Cor.2:14 and 2 Nephi 32: 8

To deny prayer to God for any reason is the same as claiming you are of equal mind and spirit to God, or stating that God and his Spirit have no place in your life or claiming that your personal interpretation of he scriptures is equal or better than God himself or his Holy Ghost. Any such statement or variation or denial is the work of Satan not of God (2 Nephi 32:8). To such people, do not listen.

Seek the Spirit

The Holy Spirit of the Lord is the spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel, and might, the spirit of knowledge and of fear (humbleness) of the Lord (Isa. 11:2 / 2 Nephi 21:2). To have the Spirit leading, teaching, inspiring, there is no comparison or match. To experience the peace and wisdom from the Holy Spirit of God brings the scriptures alive. This bears testimony to the words of Christ in John 6:63. To seek the Spirit with your study, is the same as worshipping the Lord because you are asking him to teach and show you what his written word means in a spiritual way, just as he commanded in John 4:23-24. Since the words of God are spiritual first, (DC 29:32,35) then no one can study the spiritual words and meaning within the gospel, unless they also make the study as a worship in spirit and in truth. God tells us to seek his will and his teaching by his Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13 / Alma 13:28). To ignore his Spirit, is to ignore the Lord. The Holy Ghost is the only access we have to the Lord. Without access to the Holy Ghost, or if we exclude the Holy Ghost as crucial to our study, we then open ourselves to seducing spirits (1 Tim. 4:1), which also refers to the ways and wisdom's of the world. It is no wonder that God made it clear that we need instruction (Prov. 1:7 / Prov. 15:32). Although we have the written word, we still cannot learn to discern his spiritual words in the scriptures without the teachings from his Holy Ghost. This is because, us mortals in the flesh, really have no spiritual power by ourselves (1 Cor. 2:13 / John 8:28).

To receive the Holy Spirit, a person must remain faithful, sincere, obedient, with a broken heart and contrite spirit (see above). It is only by that measure, a person can keep him/herself pure enough to allow the Holy Ghost to enter them. Also to remember that residence of the Lord's Spirit within us is not continual because of the flesh (Gen. 6:3). Constant vigilance to keep oneself clean before God is imperative. This includes keeping tabs on the mortal impurities of mind and heart that range from greed, selfishness, pride, contention, lust and so on (DC 121:37).

Patience

Does this word speak volumes? Applying this word to the process of scriptural study says that God will give to the faithful, in his own time, not in ours. This includes any person who is not of this Church and prays to confirm if this is the Lord's chosen Church. Why do I say this? It is because of direct spiritual experiences in my own life. It took five years before I was ready to receive the Lord's church, and I was not asking about his church, only seeking him. So how much more important is it to have patience? It may be that another may need to be patient for several months, or a year, or more before his or her prayer is answered. It is by the Lord's determination, not yours or mine. Yet the Lord may deem it expedient to answer the prayer right away. No one can tell the timing of the Lord, but the Lord himself.

Responsibility

How responsible are you? Do you show spiritual common sense, even the wisdom of holding your tongue? (Job 6:24 / Proverbs 10:31 / James 3:5). How much spiritual knowledge will the Lord give to a person who treats it with disrespect, taking glory unto himself, calling himself akin to a prophet or teacher, using against others or other denominations, or seeking to argue and contend? How much? - None.

There is a time and season for all things, a time you may contend for the faith, but...when you are in study, ensure there is no contention, for a contentious mind and heart does not receive the Spirit, but only his own spirit and the spirit of man (3 Nephi 11:29).

Scripture study requires a responsibility to hold the word, to nurture it in good inner fertile ground. To keep oneself from arguments and contention. To speak peace and to uphold God's spiritual laws. Responsibility also applies to how much will the person live the word he or she receives, to be a good example and to lead oneself to sanctification, which also means not to sin and to continually repent (to seek change) of your worldly mind and heart.

With responsibility is also faith. One cannot be truly faithful and be irresponsible to the commandments and laws of God at the same time. The two, faith and responsibility, are inseparable. Under this heading of responsibility, I include the requirement of obedience to the God's spiritual laws & commandments.

In Closing

From the words of Dalin Oaks,

Go now and study.

Amen

References

• Oaks, Dallin H., "Scripture Reading and Revelation", Ensign, Jan. 1995, 7
• Wirthlin, Joseph B., "Shall He Find Faith on the Earth?", Ensign, Nov. 2002, 82
• Guide to the Scriptures - "Humble"
• Bible Dictionary, "Prayer"