Bible Study Advanced – Cross Reference Study
August 4, 2011 Leave a comment
As you progress in your study of scripture you will want to take passages and drill down further into what else the bible has to say on the subject and relative to the statements made within each verse. As indicated in the previous article if you are reading through the bible and memorizing scripture as you start to meditate on a particular set of verses, a passage, other statements from the Bible will come to mind setting limits and expanding the concept. But since most of us don’t have the entire bible memorized we can use some help. Some helpful tools are a good cross reference and a topical reference which may be used in a cross reference study.
The purpose of a cross reference study is to in a sense put a “face” to what has been written. To better understand what an author is saying we need to establish the foundation from which the author writes; who they are and how they view the world. Then as we look at what an author says we want to verify our understanding by looking for other statements made by the author that affirm the understanding we get from a particular statement they make. Next we look for clarification or further details that might fill in gaps in our understanding of what the author is trying to communicate. Finally we gather these ideas together, resolve differences in our understanding or expand that understanding to form a better more complete understanding. Let’s call this the FACTS of Bible Study.
- Foundation – the nature of the author, the text and the characters or subject being written about
- Affirmation – restatements in support of other statements
- Clarification – Statements on the same topic or point that add more detail or clarity
- Theses – Gather the facts; context, restatements and clarifications into summary points.
- Synthesis – combine these points into a more complete understanding resolving issues and expanding the picture the bible is painting.
A cross reference study endeavors to be fair to the author by avoiding the traps of taking statements out of context or jumping to conclusions about what the author is saying. One statement does not address all aspects of an issue and it is not fair to an author, in our case God, to assume that it does. One passage of scripture is generally not enough to form a consistent theology.
Any good study bible will have cross references either in the margin or the center column. Cross references are also available in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, TSK, available in desk reference form or on such sites as www.blb.org and www.studylight.org. Another option is the open bible website which has a topical and a cross reference database which brings together several different sources providing 340,000 cross references. The cross references are color coded by the degree to which they are similar to the original reference.
http://www.openbible.info/labs/cross-references/
Foundation References
The first thing to show is the nature of the characters the first of which is God and the bible. The table inserted below gives some key passages establishing the nature of God and the Bible. Next determine who was the author being lead by the Spirit and use a topical reference to search for verses about the author and note them. Identify the place and who is being written to and what is being written about and look these up in a topical reference and note them in a table similar to the one below.
| Natures | Reference |
| Nature of God | 1 John 1:5 ESV – This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. |
| James 1:17 ESV – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. | |
| Psalm 90:2 ESV – Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. | |
| John 4:24 ESV – God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” | |
| Colossians 1:17 ESV – And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. | |
| Romans 1:19-20 ESV – 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. | |
| Nature of Scripture | John 17:17 ESV – Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. |
| 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV – All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, | |
| Hebrews 4:12 ESV – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. |
Affirmation and Clarification References
Next break the passage down into sets of verses if possible or address each verse on its own. Determine if the cross reference is either supporting the understanding of the verse or if it is adding more detail to what the verse is talking about and note these separately. A three column table having the reference, topic or key words and a cross reference column can be used to capture these verses. An example is inserted below.
| Reference | Topic | Cross Reference |
| Genesis 1:1-2 | Situation – Heaven & Earth CreatedDark, Empty & Deep | John 1:1-3 ESV – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. |
| Psalm 33:6,9 ESV – 6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. … 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. | ||
| 2 Peter 3:5 ESV – 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, | ||
| Isaiah 40:22 ESV – It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; | ||
| Jeremiah 4:23 NASB – I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light. | ||
| Nehemiah 9:6 – “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. |
Finally, read through the cross references you have gathered. Then reread the passage and consider if what you believe a verse is saying is supported by the cross references gathered or if it is denied. Also as you read passages the combination of specific meaning or denotations form the explicit meaning of the verse but words and phrases also have connotations which lead to possible implied or implicit meanings. The implied meanings sometimes have significant implications and affects as connotations tend to hit us at a spiritual level but there is also the greatest danger for seeing a meaning which the Bible does not intend to convey. It is the cross references which can help validate implicit thoughts from a bible passage and either establish them or exclude them from our mind as we read and try hard to understand God’s word.
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