Never Read a Bible Verse
Go to SPACE instead
Greg Koukl has some advice for Christians: “Never read a Bible verse.”
Don’t worry: He’s not a heretic claiming people should not read their Bible. Koukl is a lifelong believer, Bible teacher and radio/podcast host. What he means is: Never read a Bible verse. That is, always read more than one verse, so you’re careful not to misinterpret what you’re reading.
A classic example is Jeremiah 29:11. Christians love to claim this verse. They put in on posters, t-shirts and pillows.
Not so fast, says Koukl. Check out his five-minute explanation of why claiming this verse for ourselves is a mistake.
The SPACE Method
Our version of Koukl’s “never read a Bible verse” is what we call the SPACE method. It’s an acronym that reminds us to consider three important things before attempting the fourth thing.
SP – Speaker
A – Audience
C – Context
E – Explanation
In other words, before launching into an explanation or interpretation of a Bible verse or passage, it’s critical to consider:
Who is speaking, and to whom
What was happening at the time
The theme and message of the verses leading up to the scripture reading
Now here’s a morsel of meat for you to chew on this week during your devotional time: The Bible was not written to us.
When you apply the SPACE method, you quickly realize this. The Old Testament was written to Jews under the Law. We’re under Grace. The New Testament begins with the gospels, which tell the story of Jesus’s ministry. And who was His audience?
Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep.” (Matthew 10:5, NLT)
Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.” (Matthew 15:12, NLT)
Even the epistles, which make up much of the New Testament, had a very different audience than Christians today. These letters were written to recent Jewish converts who clung to Jewish traditions and ways of thinking and/or Gentiles who were former pagans living under Roman imperial rule. These were not modern people who grew up in a Western democracy founded in Christian ideals.
No, the Bible was not written to us. But it was written for us. Even the Old Testament. As the Apostle Paul writes regarding God’s judgment of the Israelites:
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (1 Corinthians 10:11, NASB)
The ‘not to but for’ distinction may seem like a small thing at first, but it can be a big thing when trying to interpret the Word of God correctly. Our advice: Before you study the Bible, go to SPACE — and carefully consider the SPeaker, Audience and Context of the reading before attempting an Explanation.
That’s all for this week. Next week, we’ll have a new 20-Minute Bible Study to share with you. Until then, may “the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
