How to Use the Scripture Outlining Method

Hello and welcome! We will be posting links to the podcast, as well as show notes and links we discuss on the show. The following is an outline of how to use the Scripture Outlining Method we use to study the Bible and goes along with Episode 1 of the podcast.

Scripture Outlining is a method of Bible study which allows the user to prepare an application based lesson on any passage of Scripture in the Bible.  There are six steps to the Scripture Outlining method:

1. Prayer - that the Holy Spirit would reveal what He wants us to learn.
2. Content - paraphrase of what the passage is saying.
3. Major Divisions - Divide the passage into 2, 3 or 4 divisions.
4. Subject Sentence - A factual summary of the entire passage (10 words or less).
5. Aim - The main point of the passage.
6. Applications - Create an open-ended application question for each major division.

Step 1:  Prayer

1. What tools do you need to use the Scripture Outlining method of Bible study?
1. The great thing about this method is that it’s just you, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  Because of this, it is really important to start the process with prayer.
2. What should you be asking for in your prayer?
1. Understanding
2. Illumination
3. Application - causes change and is relevant to your class.
3. What makes the Bible so special with regard to application to our lives?
1. While Scripture is unchanging – our life circumstance never stays the same; for this reason, God’s Word is always fresh, new, and its application is never ending.   

Step 2:  Content

1. What's the goal of creating your content?
1. Read it
1. With no distractions.
2. Read it again but use a different translation.
3. Maybe even several different translations.
4. Look for repeated words, phrases, facts, emphasis. This will help you below.
5. Important to use a translation (We like the NKJV, HCSB or the NIV) and not a paraphrase (like The Message or The Living Bible) as you would essentially be creating a paraphrase of a paraphrase.
2. Break passage down verse by verse (10-20 sections) regardless of the length of the passage.
3. Paraphrase in your own words what the verse(s) are saying
1. Generally 1-3 verse groupings.
2. Really depends on the number of verses in the passage
3. Concise & Clear.  Don't try to catch every detail.
4. Phrase or sentence should be shorter then the verses you are combining i.e. if you combine 4 sentences then 1 sentence might be good.  However if you are just paraphrasing 1 or 2 sentences then you might only have a phrase or even a single word.

Step 3:  Major Divisions

1. What are the Major divisions?
1. The Major Divisions are groups of verses that make up a common section.  
1. Look for common words or phrases in your content
2. Look for common themes in your content.
3. Identify the people or groups of people in the content.
4. When doing this, you want to give each division a single concise sentence title.  
5. Most of the time, you will have anywhere from 2 to 4 divisions with 3 being optimal for presenting the material to your class.  
6. When making the divisions think of them in terms of a title.
7. Concise - Can be a complete sentence, but in general the shorter the better.
8. Think of it in terms of an outline.  These are the major heading of an outline.
9. Does not need to include every detail of the section, rather it summarizes the section.  Don’t try and fit it all in - make it natural

Step 4:  Subject Sentence

1. What is the Subject Sentence?
1. This is a factual, concise sentence that encapsulates the entire passage.  
2. It should consist of 10 words or less – which can be challenging.  It is really important to try to stay within this limit as it will help you clarify in your mind the facts of the passage.  
3. The subject sentence is not a sentence about the lesson or moral of the passage.
4. Keep it factual – a good rule of thumb is that a reader should be able to go the passage in the Bible based only on what you write in the sentence.
5. Hint: Make sure the specific words of your subject sentence relate to the specific words in the text.  The text might be scriptural but I think the key is to not go beyond what the words of the text are.
2. Why do a subject sentence?
1. Helps you to distill the facts down so you really get a clear view of WHAT the passage is saying.
2. Ensures that you are thinking of the passage in terms of the detail as well as a whole unit.
3. In a nutshell - its clarifying!

Step 5:  The Aim

1. What is the aim?
1. Over arching point or theme of the passage.  
2. During the process of using this method on a passage, you may see several over-arching themes; the Aim is simply whichever of these you think is the most important for the passage.
3. It can be a call to action, in fact – your aim should always “cause” you to understand the concept more clearly.
4. I always start my aim out with:  This passage causes me to understand that::
5. You can have several aims when you do Scripture Outlining.  If fact, I try to come up with at least one for each Major Division.  I call these “sub-aims” principles.

Step 6:  Applications

1. What is the purpose of studying the Bible?
2. What good is Bible study if you don’t apply it?
1. James 1:22 says “Be doers of the word and not hearers only”.  
3. With this in mind, go back to your Major Divisions and pull out 2 or 3 application questions from each section.
1. These questions should be open ended – requiring more than a one word answer.
1. Generally should avoid “Yes/No” Questions.
   Who, what, when where why & how questions are what you are looking for.
2. Sometimes the questions are meant to be quite convicting.  This is really the heart of your Scripture Outlining.
4. I find that going back to my content can produce a lot of probing questions as I re-read it.

So there you have it – 6 steps to the Scripture Outlining method  At first you might find the process a bit daunting, but with time, you will find no more rewarding process in studying the Bible.