EQUIP - Foundations: How to Study

Acknowledgement, Preface, and Table of Contents

by Drue Freeman, MBL
Pastor, Trinity Bible Church
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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Acknowledgments

Equip has been developed under the direction of Village Ministries Imote areas of the world wireh the gospel of Jesus Christ. Often, the window of opportunity for missionary activity is open for only a brief period of time. Our organization’s goal has been to identify gifted men native to these areas and equip them to carry on the delivery of sound Bible teaching after foreign involvement is discontinued, thus "making disciples" in fulfillment of the Great Commission given to us by our Lord and Savior.

Equip was conceived as a way to extend the reach of VMI in providing Bible training materials to these parts of the world where this training was so desperately desired but not available. Through this ministry, VMI is able to efficiently and effectively support a rapidly growing number of indigenous pastors and teachers with sound Bible training and teaching materials.

There are many people we need to thank for their dedication and efforts in preparing this material. First and foremost, we acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ who in His grace has provided our so great salvation and everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet. 13).

Secondly, as with any effort of this nature, there are also many who selflessly offered of their time, talents and gifts in bringing this vision to reality. They are the invisible heroes.

Preface

Equip is a study program developed by VMI that was designed to assist the new student of the Word of God to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet 318)." Therefore, the emphasis throughout the Equip study program is not only to understand the significance and depth of God’s Word but also to aid the student in the development of his own spiritual life.

Equip is also designed so that it may easily be taught to others once the student has absorbed the principles into his own soul. It is a valuable tool for "making disciples" in fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt 2818-20).

The First Phase of our journey will cover the preparation that is necessary for the new student to explore the Bible. We call this Foundations, which denotes the importance of these basic principles.

The first segment of Foundations contains a basic introduction to the Bible, fifteen principles of interpretation, and how to prepare a Bible lesson. This is designed to teach the student how to "Study" the Scriptures and then to effectively teach others.

Segment Two contains a book-by-book "Survey" of God’s Word

Segment Three is an introduction to some of the basic doctrines of Scripture, the "System."

Equip will also assist the advanced student to more fully understand God’s Word. Care has been taken to challenge any student, no matter their level of knowledge, to further research the Holy Scriptures.

All Scripture quotations (unless indicated) are from The New American Standard Bible, as this translation follows more closely the original Greek and Hebrew languages used by the authors of Scripture.

Welcome to the excitement of God’s Word!


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section I INTRODUCTION

Lesson 1 Personal Preparation

Lesson 2 The Bible

Lesson 3 An Historical Overview

Lesson 4 A Chronological Overview

Lesson 5 Preparing to Study the Bible

Section II BASIC PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION

Lesson 1 Interpret Based on Divine Essence

Lesson 2 Interpret Christologically

Lesson 3 Interpret the Differences

Lesson 4 Interpret to Find Out How to Live

Lesson 5 Interpret From Primary Passages

Lesson 6 Interpret Based on Context

Lesson 7 Interpret Comparatively

Lesson 8 Interpret Harmoniously

Lesson 9 Interpret Literally

Lesson 10 Interpret Recognizing Human Volition

Lesson 11 Interpret Progressively

Lesson 12 Interpret Dispensationally

Lesson 13 Interpret Covenantally

Lesson 14 Interpret Specifically

Lesson 15...Interpret Prophecy Carefully

Section III IMPLEMENTATION

Lesson 1 Getting Familiar with the Book

Lesson 2 Make an Outline of the Book

Lesson 3 Narrow the Scope of Your Study

Lesson 4 Looking for the Relationships

Lesson 5 Analyzing the Remote Context

Lesson 6 Expanding Your Study

Lesson 7 Making the Points

Bibliography