A common and valid question concerns keeping The Law. Jesus confronted religious people and he chided them for the way they treated the things of God. God had given his word to show us how to live and they turned it into legalistic, ceremonial tradition. What we call The Law was a very comprehensive user manual. God gave hundreds of instructions on how to handle the things of life that were very practical, such as kosher foods, women’s personal hygiene and bathing that is more than a matter of personal appearance, but something that might prevent the outbreak of certain diseases. We think nothing today of having pure reticulated water piped into our homes, but they did not! We have sewage treatment plants but they did not. The word of God even spoke of this:

You must have a designated area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement.  Deuteronomy 23:12-13

God’s word dealt with the preparation and consumption of food in practical terms, but such matters were turned into religious traditions by some people. Washing one’s hands for health’s sake devolved into ritualistic, ceremonial washing of hands by some people. God forbade eating pork, but He also specified many other meats and one very good reason was health. There was no refrigeration and people were unaware of such situations as tuberculosis in certain animal meats. They might not have known about Ciguatera poisoning in fish, so were forbidden by The Law not to eat certain marine life. God is very practical.

They were told not to eat the blood of animals, but certain religious groups forbid blood transfusions to save someone’s life. They have taken the word of God out of its true meaning to make it suit their opinions.
Some religious groups refuse to eat any meat whatsoever, but forget that God specifically told His people what was permissible food to eat, including meat! All they have to do is read Genesis nine and verse three or verse ten. Paul said:

...don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.
Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. 
Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,
“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”
Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.  These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.  Colossians 2:16-23

One specific qualification required to be a Priest in the Old Testament required marriage and the ability to become a father, but religious tradition of certain people say that one must be celibate.  That stand is contrary to nature and is disregarding the requirements of priesthood found in Leviticus 21:16-24. The New Testament clearly states that anyone who wanted to occupy the office of a pastor etc had to be the husband of one wife. See 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6.

Such twisting of the word of God has done much harm to the cause of Christ, but I want to touch on a more positive and uplifting topic by looking at the word Torah.

This is a Hebrew term, normally rendered as Law and that is the subject of much theological debate. There is a Greek word known as nómos and that, with the Hebrew tôrâ that some people think has been mistranslated to mean Law and it is there that the matter often rests. If this were true, then tôrâ would only refer to the Pentateuch, but tôrâ is much more than law.

It also relates to and contains revelation. Perhaps teaching or instruction would be a better translation.

Jesus was a teacher. When he taught, people marveled. When he spoke, people commented that they had never heard anyone speak like that. Listen to many modern sermons and compare. He quoted from the Law (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17)  but took it to a much higher level:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.  Matthew 5:21-22

He spoke about adultery in the same light in Matthew 5:27-28. Each time, Jesus brought light and truth into play.  He brought revelation. The problems we face is that theologians have basically reduced the spirit of the word to the letter of the law that does not give the life Jesus gave us.  Paul spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 where, when speaking of letters of recommendation from men, said that the only letters of recommendation required were the believers themselves— known by their fruit.

Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not!
The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.
Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.
We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ.
It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.  He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Jesus was a teacher and He is still teaching! We never stop learning. In what we call the Great Commission as seen in Matthew 28:19-20, He twice commanded us to teach—and to make disciples, not necessarily to build churches. This evokes two questions. (a) What do we teach and (b) How do we teach?

The latter may be simply answered by answering “Truth” and “Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”.

We can refer to the ministry of the Holy Spirit today and we see this in John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-16 when the Lord spoke of such matters. Many of Paul’s letters substantiate this.

If scriptures are God breathed, or given under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we should ask Him to reveal truth to us.

This is a sound foundation for all biblical study. Whilst we acknowledge our learning institutions and educators, including theologians, studies devoid of the Holy Spirit’s input may not always reveal truth.

The parable of the sower and the seed is a great example. In Mark chapter four, Jesus was teaching as per usual to a vast crowd of people. Whenever He taught, He usually amazed people, including the intellectual people and the religious leaders who had no real understanding. They had twisted the word of God to suit their own purposes. They had made their own traditions and He often chided them for their attitudes. Mark’s account says:

Once again Jesus went to teach the people on the shore of Lake Galilee and a massive crowd surrounded him. The crowd was so huge that he had to get into a boat and teach the people from there. He taught them many things by using parable to illustrate spiritual truths... Mark 4:1-2

Key points:

• A vast crowd was present. It included ordinary people, scoffers, causal observers, the curious—and religious people.
• His disciples and other followers were present. We think that He had the twelve but this is not true.
  Luke 6:13 reveals that He had many disciples and chose twelve from that group and called them Apostles.
  In Luke 10, He appointed an additional 70. In John 6:66, many of His followers abandoned him (we do not know the number). There were 120 people in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.
  Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that in excess of 500 brethren saw Him after His resurrection.
  Therefore, the twelve—and other followers (we do not know how many) were present when Jesus taught.
• No one understood Him. This included the disciples.
• In verse ten when Jesus was alone with the disciples and those other followers, they asked Him to explain the meaning.
• The following verses reveal that Jesus spoke to that group of His followers—but not to anyone else.
• In verse 14, Jesus said that the seed is the word of God. The entire parable is about the word.
• In verse 34, Jesus fully explained the entire meaning to the disciples and those other followers. No one else was there.

He stated that if we can understand that parable, we can understand every parable.

The account reveals that Jesus spoke to different kinds of people, using words like them, they, or you. Elsewhere as in Matthew chapter twenty-four where people look for “end time prophecies” error enters in when we do not take that into consideration. Jesus spoke to different people then and still speaks that way today.
Some of those prophecies have been fulfilled. Some refer to Israel alone, whilst others relate to different people.

The lesson to us is that proper understanding of scripture must determine (a) to whom is God speaking? (b) under what circumstances and conditions? (c) where? and (d) when? 1 Corinthians 10:32 reveals that God speaks to three different kinds of peoples—Jews who have a special covenant; The Church that has a different covenant and those who have neither. I have repeated this truth because it is often overlooked and it is one way God teaches us. There are several “laws” of biblical interpretation such as the “law of first mention” where something is seen for the first time and the “law of last mention” where this is the final say on a matter. Important matters that God definitely wants us to understand are often repeated and this is called the “law of much mention”.

Scripture must be revealed by Divine inspiration. We can never understand it by the natural faculties. The natural mind cannot comprehend such truth. In fact the natural mind is at enmity with God as seen in Romans 8:7 and is why we are told to “Renew our minds”.

The answer to this powerful and valid question depends on the student. We should consider that scriptures were written in different languages to our own native tongue, which for me is English. These languages were predominantly Hebrew with some Aramaic in the Old Testament and the New Testament was mostly in Greek. Jesus spoke of jots and tittles in the Law in Matthew 5:18. A jot is the letter iota in Greek and is the smallest— a simple and small letter. A tittle is a small line or minute hook at the end of the main strokes of a letter.
The Hebrew is similar. To illustrate, in Genesis 1, we see and God said...

The Hebrew word is ʾamar. Please note what looks like a comma in front of the “a”. Most of the Hebrew words have some kind of marking like that. The Hebrew language has multiple layers and by inserting one such mark or omitting it, the entire meaning can be altered.

Look at the word, word. It is recorded as dābār in some places and as dābar in others. I have highlighted the differences.

They both look alike, except that the second letter a in the latter does not have that marking above it.

This can often completely change the meaning. Another meaning for the same English word is Peh. This kind of thing occurs right throughout the bible. We can wonder what it is all about and think it does not matter much, but it can make a difference in our personal lives because we can think one way whilst God it thinking differently. We could be “claiming a promise” on something and wonder why it has “not happened”, or believe a certain way, thinking that God is speaking in a certain way about one thing, but He is talking of something else. We may think He is talking about the Church whereas He is talking about Israel and so on. This may affect us in different ways. We could get our doctrines and end time theologies out of balance as a result.

Additionally, there can often be a numerical component in scripture. For example the first Hebrew letter “a” or Aleph,  א= 1.

Beth,  ב= 2 and so on. Such numbers often have significance. The number 5 for example often speaks of the Grace of God.

The number 10 represents Divine order and the number 40 is often associated with probation or testing.

Another element is Gematria. This is complex and it is sometimes possible to add the numerical values of each letter in a word or paragraph and see a formula of some kind. The original languages often contain a “code” that does not always exist elsewhere.

Modern translators do not always factor in such elements and as a result, the version one chooses might not be “accurate”.

Many modern translations are denominationally based and some have been translated by people who are not even Christians.

I know of one version that was compiled by New Age people.

Therefore if any student of scripture who wants to know truth, I believe it is best to avoid some of the modern versions.

I possess a 27inch Apple computer on which I have installed an immense library and cannot fit all translations on the screen.

I only open 28 versions including original language versions as a result and can compare each translation for study purposes.

My personal preference is the King James Version because of the links in it to study resources such as Strong’s numbers.

Your choice depends on your needs and requirements, but I suggest using more than one translation and compare each one and avoid “easy to read” versions if possible. If you have any doubt, ask the Holy spirit about it.

At this point, I recommend to everyone to always put things to the test. No matter who is speaking (including myself), always check to see if they are speaking truth. This is a principle seen in Acts 17:11 and in 1 John 4.

There are several ways to study the bible and many excellent bible study aids such as commentaries, but despite the qualifications of the authors, they are often someone’s personal opinion. I rarely avail myself of them now because I prefer to allow God to talk to me out of the pages.

The scriptures guide, lead, teach, convict, reprove, inspire encourage us in our own personal walk with God. Your needs are different to mine as are your talents and abilities and calling in God, so where you start depends on those things, but there are several common principles. Start with a simple prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you—to teach you and to reveal things to you that He wants you to see. The word of God is “living”, so do not pre-empt anything.

Many folk rely on the prescribed teaching of the day according to a calendar and that is good, but it does not always allow any flexibility, or permit The Teacher to speak to you.

In some Jewish practice, Torah study often takes on a ritualized role similar to that of some kinds of prayer. Every day has a set reading and format. Often times in a specific place known as the beit midrash, or “house of study” that is a designated room set aside to facilitate this.

Torah study may begin with the recitation of a prayer thanking God for “Commanding us to occupy ourselves with the words of Torah” and another asking God to “enable us and our descendants to enjoy knowledge of God through the study of Torah”. Jewish study focuses not on simple absorption of material, but on a dialogue among students and between students and text. In other words, they discuss what passage of scripture is being studied. The text is read aloud.

This is a good place to deviate slightly, but still in the context of bible study as it is a powerful principle.

When Moses died, Joshua took over leadership and the first thing God said to him was to study Torah for the simple reason of assuring success. Everyone wants to succeed in life somehow, so the principles remain the same. When Jesus was tempted, He always responded by speaking a specific word of God—”It is written”...

Whenever we face a situation whereby we need something, be it assurance, guidance and direction, avoid falling into the snares of the devil, the tool that God gave us is His word. It has to be a “revealed word” and by that, I mean something that the Holy Spirit has shown us personally. We can then start speaking that specific word... and God said... to achieve the desired outcome as seen here:

Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them.
Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go.
Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed.
Haven’t I ordered you, ‘Be strong, be bold’? So don’t be afraid or downhearted, because Adonai your God is with you wherever you go.  Emphasis mine

The word meditate is hagah that does not merely mean to “meditate” in the literal sense, usually in silence, but something powerful. It means to study, to imagine, to mutter, to devise and to roar or growl as a lion does over its pray. By speaking the creative word of God into the atmosphere, that “special passage” given to us releases what it is designed to accomplish.

It has to be vocal.
Another word to consider is observe in the authorized version. It is shamar that means to keep, to wait, to restrain, to preserve and protect, and relates to the activities of a watchman. There is more to it than that of course, but it reveals that bible study is more than “reading the book”.

The traditional mode of Jewish study maintains an emphasis on dialogue. Jews often study in havruta that means people pair off and ask questions of each other. The idea is in trying to understand the plain meaning of the text (p’shat) asking what the text is trying to say in its original context; what the individual words mean or why certain words and phrases are used rather than others and so on. They ask why the text speak as it does; how they relate to the text and in what ways does the text reflect or conflict with their own beliefs and values. They admit that asking these types of questions may rarely lead to a definitive resolution, but will certainly contribute to a deeper understanding of the texts at hand—and of one’s companions in study.

A born again believer does not need to ask such questions—if the Teacher is permitted to become personally involved.

We can “pair up with Him” like the Jewish havruta inviting Him to reveal p’shat to us.

There are several ways to approach bible study, each of which has relative merit. They are:

• Topical Study. This method selects a subject and traces it through the Scriptures.
• Biographical Study. This method selects various biblical characters and studies what is revealed about them.
• Book Study. This method select a book and ascertains its authorship, to whom it was addressed, the circumstances under which it was written, its purpose and its main teachings.
• Chapter, passage and verse study. This is similar to the above, but restricts itself to a given portion of scripture.

Another way that I believe is best is to allow the Holy Spirit to “lead us” in what to study. That way, He can reveal things that He deems appropriate. I’ve found that the words He reveals remain in our spirit man.

Speak the text. God’s word is creative and by saying it out loud, we are affirming what God said—to Him and to ourselves.

The original language such as Hebrew, does not have the chapter and verse separation we do. One account is often intertwined with others to make a composite picture whereby one event leads into another. Often times when we see a colon like this :

It means that something is connected to that—flowing from one thing to another seamlessly. The full account should thus be read in its entirety to get the total picture. It could be one verse, a paragraph or several chapters.
Whichever method meets your requirements, study at your own pace and level and try not to read too much at once if you cannot digest it.

I learned speed reading, with the intention of reading the entire bible in six months until the Lord told me to stop that. He said that I was merely “scanning” the pages and I was. I was not getting any understanding.

We do not have to “perform”. It is better to remain on a certain word or passage until proper understanding arrives.

Allow the Spirit of Truth to guide you. This is where Logos and Rhema come in. Often times the words are used interchangeably and so some folk deny the Teacher’s role in our lives, saying that we cannot receive direct private revelation in the bible.

There is no new revelation as such because the word of God is complete, but we just might not “see it yet”. It’s hidden in plain sight.

There are ways to determine the authenticity and accuracy, one of which is to relate to original languages as much as possible to see if the modern version being used has altered the meanings (omitting those little squiggles for example). You need not be a theologian if you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you.

If possible, check your version against an original just to check it out and if it does not “sit right” it often is not right.

When I was studying for a doctorate, the Lord started talking to me asking me if I would like Him to start teaching me.

He explained that I was being “stamped in their cookie cutter mould”. I said yes to that , but He kept asking me the same question until, exasperated, I asked Him why—and He said, “Because you listen”.  Listening (without interrupting) is a major factor in ascertaining truth. When we allow the Lord to speak to us out of His word, which He does, it is an amazing thing. He can tell us to “read this” so this is one of the keys to getting truth. Listen to God’s voice. Jesus said in John 10:16, 27 that His sheep hear His voice.  It is not always easy, but everyone can do it. We may have to train our spirit, or “renew our minds” and the bible tells us to do that.

...be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2

This does require self discipline and can consume some time. It works because the Teacher is waiting to be put to work.

Some people oppose such principles denying that God can and does open things up to us and others get out on extremes and create pure fantasy. Adding things that just are not there lead to all kinds of problems and false cults. Discovering lost gospels or other books is a risky venture and if you are in doubt, simply hold that thing up to the Lord and ask Him if it is real or false.

If you are one of His sheep, you have the right, ability and the responsibility to do so and expect an answer. Your inner witness in the spirit—not in your mind, will give you the answer.

Many people refer to the words Logos and Rhema and they both refer to the word of God.

In simple terms, Logos relates to the literal words that we could describe as the mere paper and ink. It seems that this is the area in which most Christians function and that is perfectly acceptable. I believe that theological studies, all good and necessary operate in this realm. The focus is on the form, the tense, construction and mood of certain words. This is where we see terms like exegesis, homiletics, hermeneutics, apologetics etcetera and are valid principles of bible study—but...

The Scribes, Pharisees and teachers of the Law mentioned in scriptures could determine the correct parsing of a passage, determining if a colon or a comma should be used, but Jesus disliked that approach. Saul of Tarsus had studied with the best scholars of the day, but he as with others like him, including scholars of our day, had no revelation!

Possessing a knowledge of the bible and being able to quote scripture is not necessarily a good thing. God’s word of course has great power and authority, more so than we often realize, but we can forget that anyone can read a bible, but not be in relationship with God. According to the Genesis account the serpent was able to quote part of God’s word to Eve and when he tempted Jesus, again made quotations to scripture. The difference is a lack of “revelation knowledge”.

Paul discovered a range of issues in the Corinthian church that are the seem in the modern day church and addressed them.

We need to look at the first few chapters in which he addressed the very issues of which I speak. He wrote:

As for me, brothers, when I arrived among you, it was not with surpassing eloquence or wisdom that I came announcing to you the previously concealed truth about God; for I had decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Yeshua the Messiah, and even him only as someone who had been executed on a stake as a criminal.
Also I myself was with you as somebody weak, nervous and shaking all over from fear; and neither the delivery nor the content of my message relied on compelling words of “wisdom” but on a demonstration of the power of the Spirit, so that your trust might not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.
Yet there is a wisdom that we are speaking to those who are mature enough for it. But it is not the wisdom of this world or of this world’s leaders, who are in the process of passing away. On the contrary, we are communicating a secret wisdom from God which has been hidden until now but which, before history began, God had decreed would bring us glory.
Not one of this world’s leaders has understood it; because if they had, they would not have executed the Lord from whom this glory flows. But, as the Tanakh says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one’s heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”
It is to us, however, that God has revealed these things. How? Through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes all things, even the profoundest depths of God.
For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him?
So too no one knows the inner workings of God except God’s Spirit.
Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us. These are the things we are talking about when we avoid the manner of speaking that human wisdom would dictate and instead use a manner of speaking taught by the Spirit, by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit. Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God—to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.
But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate him. For who has known the mind of Adonai?  Who will counsel him?
But we have the mind of the Messiah.  1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Please take note of my emphasis.

Now that such revelation knowledge is available to us, we can tap into the resources of God via the conduit of the Holy Spirit and this is an area that we may regard as the Rhema of the word. There are times when we need a “special word from God” that seems to be custom made for us on a given occasion or when we are reading a bible and the words seem to “leap out of the page at us”. We could have read the bible many times previously and know that we have read that certain passage, but it appears as if we have never read that part before.

This is often described as the Rhema word. That is when the Holy Spirit “breathes” on that passage and it becomes “alive”.

He is talking directly to us then and it is as if He is telling us, “read this” and when we do, it has real significance. From personal experience, such a passage is lodged inside us and we do not need to “memorize it”—it’s “there”.

If anything, it verifies that scriptures are God breathed. The Holy Spirit can show you something that is already there, set forever, but hidden from natural faculties until such time He reveals it. Imagine being in a darkened room with an object in the middle and not able to see it until such time you turn the light on. That object was always there, but you just did not see it! If the Logos is in the room, it is in the room, but you cannot see it if we call that Rhema “until the light goes on”.

It is still God’s word and always will be, but when understanding comes, it makes a world of difference.

This is the problem with most of our training institutions.

What they teach may indeed be “scriptural”—but if they are devoid of such revelation, they are devoid of the revelation of God;s word that the Holy Spirit provides

This is not as simple to answer as one would think. John said:

...there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.  John 21:25 see also John 20:30

It is not that there are things not recorded for us, or we should not know them, but that we cannot really handle everything there is about God. Our finite minds cannot comprehend everything that exists.

Imagine for a moment how an Old Testament prophet would have described a nuclear submarine or an A380 airplane.

When I lived on Mount Tamborine, I had “fourth watch” prayer each day, waking at 4AM. I could see the lights of cars driving along the valley roads and asked the Lord how such a prophet would have described that. He said, “Like ants with torches”.

For such reasons, I recommend any student of God’s word to search out the key Christian doctrines without bias with the intention of gaining understanding and growing to full maturity. It is one thing to “know about” the doctrines, but not know them and understand them and thus grow to maturity.

as newborn babes, desire the unadulterated milk of the Word, in order that you grow by it. 1 Peter 2:2

When we are born again, we are like newborn babies, dependent on our mothers until such time as we must start eating solids for ourselves. We must grow. The writer to the book of Hebrews speaks on such lines, saying we must move on to full maturity:

We have much to say about this topic although it is difficult to explain, because you have become too dull and sluggish to understand. For you should already be professors instructing others by now; but instead, you need to be taught from the beginning the basics of God’s prophetic oracles!
You’re like children still needing milk and not yet ready to digest solid food. For every spiritual infant who lives on milk is not yet pierced by the revelation of righteousness.
But solid food is for the mature, whose spiritual senses perceive heavenly matters. And they have been adequately trained by what they’ve experienced to emerge with understanding of the difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful.
Hebrews 5:11-14

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.  Hebrews 6:1-3

Emphasis mine