INTRODUCTION In this lesson we present a step-by-step process for completing a deeper study of individual words in a passage. This is probably the hardest rule to apply since the amount of work involved may feel like you are completing a small college assignment. However the payoff is immense, so stick with it. STEPS FOR COMPLETING A DEEPER STUDY OF WORDS After choosing the important terms you would like to study more closely (see previous lesson), use the following steps: Step #1 - Find other passages in the same Testament which use the same word. The easiest way to find these terms is through the use of an online Bible concordance (we ll explain this step later). Step #2 Restate the main idea of the passages where your term appears. Don't spend a lot of time analyzing the verses. You want to briefly restate the idea in the passage in your own words. The value of this exercise comes by recognizing the patterns in all of the verses. Step #3 Organize and summarize your observations. What patterns or ideas are communicated by your word in the different passages? How do your findings add to or clarify your passage? EXAMPLE OF USING RULE #4 Allow me to demonstrate this step in detail using the term in 1 Corinthians 6:18 that is translated as sexual immorality in the NIV. 1
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Step #1 - Find other passages in the same Testament which use the same word. Using an online Bible concordance (later in this lesson), I am able to isolate all of the passages in the New Testament that use the word porneia. These include: Matthew 5:32, 15:19, 19:9; Mark 7:21; John 8:41, Acts 15:20, 29, 21:25; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:13, 7:2; 2 Corinthians 12:21, Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Revelation 2:21, 9:21, 14:8, 17:2, 17:4, 18:3, 19:2. Step #2 Restate the main idea of the passages where your term appears. Take some time to read each of these verses. Notice the different ways in which our term porneia is translated (italics). Restate the main idea in your own words. I have illustrated this step using different unique verses. Where ideas are restated I include only the citations: VERSES WITH PORNEIA IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Matt. 5:32 - But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Translated as sexual immorality and noted as a reason for divorce (see also Matt 19:9) Matt 15:19 - For out of the heart come evil thoughts murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Part of an extensive list of heart sins including murder, adultery, stealing and lying (see also Mark 7:21; 2 Cor 12:21, Gal 5:19, Eph 5:3; Col 3:5; Rev 9:21) John 8:41 - You are doing the works of your own father. We are not illegitimate children, they protested. The only Father we have is God himself. 2
Pharisees protest that they are not spiritual children born of sexual immorality. NIV translates as illegitimate. Acts 15:20 - Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. The Jerusalem council decree asked the Gentiles to abstain from idolatry, sexual immorality, meat of strangled animals and blood (see also Acts 15:29, 21:25). 1 Cor 5:1 - It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father s wife. Describes the man who is sleeping with his mother-in-law. 1 Cor 6:13 - You say, Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both. The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Describes the solicitation of a prostitute. 1 Cor 7:2 - But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. In order not to commit porneia, it is better to be married. 1Th. 4:3 - It is God s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality. God s will is that his people should avoid sexual immorality. Col 3:5 - Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Part of a list of illicit acts which are compared to idolatry. Rev. 2:21 - I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 3
Here John describes the church at Thyatira as being involved with Jezebel s immorality. Rev. 19:2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants. Babylon is described as a seductress, with wine and riches, who causes the immorality of the earth (see also Rev 14:8, 17:2, 17:4, 18:3). Step #3 Organize and summarize your observations. 1) Our term porneia describes a wide variety of illicit actions, from a man sleeping with his mother-in-law to solicitation of prostitutes. In the divorce passages, porneia likely refers to adultery. The best translation is sexual immorality but it includes all sexual activity that falls outside the bounds of Christian sexual ethics. 2) One particular verse compared sexual immorality to idolatry (Col 3:5). This is a pretty significant find. It suggests that the sexual act has a spiritual dimension and that it is not merely a biological act. 3) Another pattern is that porneia is typically found among a list of vices that includes lying, stealing, adultery, murder, theft, greed, debauchery, lust, evil desires, sensuality, impurity and even witchcraft. In other words, porneia never appears in good company and it is likely that where you have the one, you have many of the others. 4) Finally, there is a metaphorical use of Babylon, that is compared to a seductress offering wine and riches in order to make the world drink of her immorality. 4
In Revelation, Babylon is a world system that opposes the things of God and persecutes his people. Participating in that system is seen as drinking of the world s immoralities, which brings judgment (the same goes for the use of Jezebel in Revelation 2:21). USING AN ONLINE BIBLE CONCORDANCE INTRODUCTION In this lesson I want to demonstrate the use of an online Bible concordance. In simple terms, a Bible concordance allows you to look-up every occurrence of a word in the Old Testament or New Testament. This is a critical part of Rule #4 Word Up in which we go deeper into a term by seeing how it is used in other parts of the Bible. STRONG'S CONCORDANCE The most well-known Bible concordance is the one that was developed by James Strong. The beauty of Strong's concordance is that each word in English is tied to its original Greek or Hebrew origin by means of a unique number. This means you can use Greek and Hebrew in your word study, without having any knowledge of those languages. STEPS FOR USING A CONCORDANCE There are many websites that allow you to perform a search on a passage using the Strong's Bible Concordance. I prefer to use the Blue Letter Bible site, but any good and reputable site will do. Step #1 Type in the passage that you are interested in studying in the search box. Type in your passage and the Bible version you want to use. Only the KJV and NASB have Strong s numbers attached. Once you press enter, your selected text will appear on the screen. 5
Check the box next to Strong's and your passage will appear with a numbered code next to each word. This is your Strong's number. If you don t see the Strong s box, make sure you have NASB or KJV chosen as your version. In our example, we are studying the term sexual immorality in 6:18. Its Strong's number is G4202. Press that number and you will receive all the verses in the New Testament that use the exact same term: Once you have a list of Bible verses for your word, you are now free to continue with Rule #4 in order to complete the word study process. Blessings as you continue to go deeper into God s word. 6