The Word Study

The Word Study is more than going to a dictionary and defining a word. It is the method of scholarship that puts the student on the pathway of developing the habits of reflective thinking and deductive reasoning derived from Scripture. The Word Study places the truths of God's Word at the center of all learning, which illuminates the understanding and consecrates the mind. Every home should have a Webster's 1828 Dictionary for student homework and adult Bible study.

Benefits Derived from the Word Study:

  1. Builds vocabulary
  2. Increases reading comprehension and verbal scores
  3. Establishes precise word usage in written and oral communication
  4. Cultivates the habit of critical thinking
  5. Produces deductive reasoning skills (cause to effect)
  6. Sharpens discernment of truth from error
  7. Inculcates lifetime habits of scholarship and aids in establishing a Biblical worldview

The Word Study reveals the Biblical meanings of words and God's principles of knowledge and wisdom for application in every aspect of life through the four steps of learning:

Research:

  1. The word is defined and recorded from Webster's 1828 Dictionary.
  2. Key words within the definition are underlined and also defined.
  3. Each word is researched from Strong's Bible Concordance and the references that give relevancy to the definition are written out.

Reason:

  1. Definition of the assigned word is written by the student in his own words.
  2. Biblical principles are then deduced and recorded from the study.

Relate:

    The student writes out the application of the definition and deduced principles as they relate to the purpose of the study and to his own life.

Record:

    The student's written work, filed appropriately in his notebook, is a permanent record of learning and is easily appropriated for future study.

The Model Word Study

The word is defined and key words in the definition are underlined:
heritage, noun [Fr. from the root of heir.]

  1. Inheritance; an estate that passes from an ancestor to an heir descent or course of law; that which is inherited.
  2. In Scripture, the saints or people of God are called His heritage, as being claimed by Him, and the objects of His special care. [1 Peter 5]

Key words within the definition are defined:

heir, noun.

  1. The man who succeeds, or is to succeed another in the possession of lands, by descent.
  2. One who inherits or takes from an ancestor.
  3. One who succeeds to the estate of a former possessor. [Jeremiah 49; Micah 1]
  4. One who is entitled to possess. In Scripture, saints are called heirs of the promise, heirs of righteousness, heirs of salvation, etc., by virtue of the death of Christ and of God's gracious promises.

Relevant Scriptures are recorded:

  1. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; Thou dost support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. [Psalm 16:5-6]
  2. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord. [Psalm 127:3]
  3. And He gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to Israel His peoples. [Psalm 135:12]
  4. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. [Psalm 119:111]
  5. And the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also be glorified with him. [Romans 8:16-17]
  6. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [Titus 5:7]

Personal definitions written by the student require that the student "relate" the word to his life: "A heritage is property that passes from an ancestor to an heir. God called Israel His inheritance or heritage. In the New Testament God's people are His heritage. We are called His children, thus His heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ."

Biblical principles deduced from the study enable the student to "take possession" of the word:

  1. Eternal life through grace is my heritage as a Christian.
  2. God's Word is also my heritage.
  3. As a Christian, I am God's heir and a joint-heir with Christ and, therefore, should govern myself accordingly.
  4. As an American Christian, I enjoy the heritage of Christian traditions and a system of law based upon the Bible as my inheritance from my earthly Christian ancestors that provides freedom to live as a child of God and exercise my God-given rights in my daily life.
  5. I should guard and nurture my Christian heritage above all other possessions.
  6. I have a responsibility to share the Gospel, leading others to their eternal inheritance as a child of God.

Written record of the study and reflective reasoning is filed in the student's three-ring binder for future reference and use.