How to Study Your Bible – Rule #4

To understand doctrine, bring all the scriptures together on the subject you wish to know; then let every word have its proper influence, and if you can form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in an error. -William Miller

It is becoming increasingly clear that most of us Christians are intimidated by the Bible and would rather watch a sermon on YouTube or read another person’s understanding of scripture, rather than diligently studying the Holy Scriptures for ourselves. While those things can be profitable for us, we must test and confirm everything that we hear and read from outside sources, to include our most trusted Pastors and theologians, using Scripture alone. Many have fallen to false teachings and false systems of worship because they refused to be students of God’s Word.

If only people knew how simple it is to understand their Bible. Remember, our God is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). He made His Word easy for us to understand with plenty of examples, stories, and figures to help us grasp these very deep and complex spiritual things. Satan is the one who aims to confuse and deceive by molesting God’s Word into something outside of human comprehension.

Don’t get me wrong, it takes time to read the Bible line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. However, we can build our understanding of God’s Word just like Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem…one stone at a time. All it takes is 20-30 minutes a day along with an open mind and heart that is ready to receive Christ through His Word.

We often hear the word “Doctrine” used in synonym with rules or what a church believes but in the Bible, “Doctrine” just means teaching or instruction. So when we read Jesus say “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me”, He is passing along teachings to us, from His Father (John 7:16).

So what is the Father, and His Son, trying to teach us through The Word? Well, the Bible can teach us many things and all are relevant for our life today and to fully comprehend a particular teaching or topic, we must put in the necessary time and effort. Miller suggests that we must read everything the Bible has to say about that topic and if there is harmony without contradiction, we cannot be wrong.

Some of your studies will only last for a few verses but others may take months or longer. I once heard about a Pastor studying and preaching from the book for Romans for 5 years! Don’t worry though, today we’ll be covering a short, yet very important study as our example.

The word “Godhead” is often used by Christendom to mean “trinity” or “God” but does the Bible agree?

In order to fully understand what this word means Biblically, we need to conduct a quick root word analysis. The word “Godhead” appears in the Bible three times, all in the New Testament. We can find the first appearance of this word in the book of Acts 17:29:

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” (KJV)

It seems like Paul could be using the word “Godhead” as a common noun here, rather than a proper noun. A proper noun identifies a specific person, place, or thing; whereas a common noun identifies a class of objects. Since “trinity” and “God” are proper nouns, this verse doesn’t appear to support the common usage of the word “Godhead” but is inconclusive when only using this verse.

The Greek word used for “Godhead” in Acts 17:29 is theios, which means divine nature or power. Since these are attributes of a person, rather than a specific person, this would make the word “Godhead” a common noun. We’re off to a great start but we need to find out what the rest of the Bible says about this word before we can be certain of its meaning.

Theios is used two other times in the Bible—perhaps these other examples will squash the theory of the “Godhead” being used as an attribute instead of person or people, however, there is also a chance these other verses will confirm it. Let’s find out!

In 2 Peter 1:3-4, the word “Godhead” is nowhere to be found but the root word Theios is present in other forms. In these two verses, we see “divine power” and “divine nature” being used instead of the word “Godhead”.

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Much like we saw in Act 17:29, these words are used as common nouns. Will Romans 1:20 keep this theme going or paint a different picture?

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

“Godhead” is being paired with a common noun (power), and knowing the definitions of this word, it would make sense that “Godhead” here means divine nature. While this is a different root word (theiotes), it is only a different variation of theios and means the exact same thing…divine power and nature.

This last one in Colossians 2:9 is a little unique because we’re seeing Jesus entered into the mix.

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”

Now going back to the common versus proper noun argument, can a person’s whole being dwell inside another person’s being? Of course not, so this verse must be saying that all of God’s divine nature or power dwells in Jesus. The Christian Standard Bible translators agree with this assessment:

"For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ,"

These five Bible verses provide clear enough evidence to support the understanding of the “Godhead” as being attributes of God rather than it being God, or even another name for God. The amazing lesson learned here is that He wants us to be partakers of the wonderful attributes of divine power and nature. So I leave you with this question…how do we become partakes of His divine nature and power?