The Goal: Faithful Study

The Bible is the most influential book in history, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood.

In our modern world, we often approach Scripture looking for instant inspiration—a "tweetable" verse to get us through the day. While the Bible is inspiring, reading it this way often leads to confusion. We find ourselves asking, "Why is this God so angry?" or "Does this ancient rule apply to me?" or "This seems to contradict itself."

Kingdom of God Now is dedicated to a different approach.

Our goal is a faithful study of the Bible. We believe that we must be faithful to the text's true meaning before we can apply it to our lives. We cannot truly live out the Scriptures until we understand what they actually say.

To do that, we use three essential tools: Exegesis, Hermeneutics, and The Lens of Christ.

Tool 1: Exegesis (The Foundation)

Pronounced: ek-suh-JEE-sis

Most of us accidentally practice something called Eisegesis (reading into the text). This happens when we bring our modern baggage, politics, and assumptions to the Bible and try to force it to fit our worldview.

Exegesis is the exact opposite. It comes from a Greek word meaning "to lead out."

Think of Exegesis as respectful listening. Before we ask what a verse means to us, we must do the hard work of immersing ourselves in their world. We are trying to hear the text exactly as the original audience heard it. To do this, we investigate:

• The Historical Setting: What was happening politically and geographically? (Are we in the Roman Empire? The Babylonian Exile? A fishing village in Galilee?)
• The Cultural Customs: What were the social rules of that time regarding family, honor, hospitality, or law?
• The Occasion: What specific situation caused this text to be written? Was it to correct an error, encourage a suffering group, or provide legal instruction?
• The Original Hearing: How would a Hebrew shepherd or a Greek city-dweller have understood these specific words and metaphors?

We refuse to make the Bible say what we want it to say. We strive to discover what it actually says in its original context.

Tool 2: Hermeneutics (The Bridge)

Pronounced: her-muh-NOO-tiks

Once Exegesis tells us what the text meant then, we still have a problem: We don't live in ancient Israel or Rome. We live in the modern world.

Hermeneutics is the art of building a bridge between their world and ours. It is the disciplined process of filtering out what is cultural so we can apply what is eternal. To do this faithfully, we use specific filters:

1. Cultural Expression vs. Universal Principle Some commands in the Bible are tied to specific cultural expressions (like Paul telling the Corinthians to "greet one another with a holy kiss"). Hermeneutics helps us strip away the cultural packaging (the kiss) to find the universal principle (warm, family-like affection) so we can obey the heart of the command today—perhaps with a handshake or a hug.

2. Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Just because the Bible describes an event doesn't mean it prescribes it for us to follow.

• Descriptive: The Bible describes King Solomon having hundreds of wives. That is a historical fact, not a moral command.
• Prescriptive: The Bible prescribes that a marriage is between one man and one woman (Gen 2:24). Hermeneutics teaches us to tell the difference so we don't turn historical events into behavior mandates.

3. The Theological Filter We ask: How does the New Covenant change this Old Covenant law? We don't sacrifice animals today not because we ignore the Old Testament, but because Hermeneutics teaches us that Jesus is the final sacrifice who fulfilled that specific law.

The Goal: We do not use Hermeneutics to find "loopholes" to avoid obeying God. We use it to ensure our obedience is accurate. We want to apply the Timeless Truth, not cultural expressions.

Tool 3: The Lens (Jesus as the Center)

Finally, and most importantly, we read all Scripture through the Lens of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 24, Jesus walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and explained to them "what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." He taught them that the Bible is not a collection of disconnected stories; it is a single, unified narrative pointing to Him.

We believe that every page of the Bible ultimately leads us to the Cross and the Kingdom:

• In the Old Testament: We see Him in shadows, types, and promises. The Law reveals our need for Him; the Prophets predict His coming; the Kings foreshadow His reign.
• In the New Testament: We see the shadow become Substance. The types are fulfilled, and the Kingdom arrives in the person of Jesus.

We do not just study the Bible to learn about history; we study it to behold Him.

The Power: Word & Spirit

Finally, we believe that faithful Bible study is not just an intellectual exercise; it is a spiritual encounter. We hold to the "Empowered Evangelical" view—we are people of the Word and people of the Spirit.

We Believe in the Trinity We hold to the orthodox Christian belief in one God eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is Active "Now" We reject the idea that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (healing, prophecy, deliverance) retired with the Apostles. Nowhere does Scripture state that the Holy Spirit ceased His work of setting captives free or healing the sick.

Furthermore, the Bible demonstrates that the power of the Spirit was never restricted to the Apostles alone; God worked signs and wonders through deacons and ordinary believers throughout the New Testament. This reality continued in the early church and persists throughout history. The God who acted in the book of Acts is the same God acting today.We believe the Holy Spirit is the active, empowering presence of God who brings the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven into our present moment.

• In History: The Spirit has been moving powerfully from the early church through every great awakening in history.
• In Us: Just as we were once active participants in the Kingdom of Darkness, we are now called to be even more active agents in the Kingdom of God.

We do not study the Bible just to fill our heads with facts. We study to be equipped by the Spirit to "do the stuff"—to pray for the sick, welcome the broken, and live out the Kingdom of God now.

Why This Matters

When we skip these steps, we drift into error. But when we do the work, the fog clears. We stop being confused by ancient customs and start seeing the timeless heart of God.

This site is a collection of that faithful study. Each chapter analysis is designed to move you from History (The Context) to Theology (The Truth) to Application (The Kingdom of God today).