The Bible, the most published, sold, given away, personally owned, outlawed, read, neglected, loved, hated, praised, despised, book ever to have existed. Esteemed as the very words of God, renounced as merely the work of men, cherished as truth, scorned as fable. The studies in this volume are written to let the Bible speak for itself to clear away all the contradictions and debates. It is a book written for the common man conveying the unleavened common faith. This book explains what each of us must bring to the study of God's word if we desire that it open itself to us. Further, it demonstrates how and why the Scriptures are written the way they are. The Bible contains all that God has done, is doing, and will do."Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7The greatest indignity perpetrated against our Creator is not to seek to know and understand Him. Join me on a guided tour of God's word.

In this book you will find seven studies that every Christian should be aware of and conversant in, written in a manner designed to be as easily understood as possible letting the Bible speak for itself. Its purpose is to help those who desire to understand God's word do so and be able to help others do so. The first study, "The Seven Precepts to Understanding the Bible," gives you seven biblical principles if understood and adhered to will bring order and discernment to allow one to correctly interpret the teachings and doctrines of Scripture. These precepts act as a guide to meditation and limits to the imagination in studying the Scriptures. The second, "Precepts of the Bible," apply the seven precepts to build the guiding principles of God's word that all doctrine must be built upon. Any teaching that is not in line with the precepts of the Bible is incorrect. In the following studies we use the precepts establish and cover several controversial doctrinal topics; predestination, the foreknowledge of God, dispensational salvation and our liberty in Christ Jesus.

In the course of my studies, I have found that there are seven biblical precepts which constitute a framework for biblical comprehension. These seven precepts if understood and adhered to will bring order and discernment to allow one to correctly interpret the principles, teachings and doctrines of Scripture. They act as a guide to meditation and limits to the imagination in studying the Scriptures. I firmly believe that an understanding of these seven precepts and faithfully keeping them as a guide is the secret to unlocking the meaning and wonder of the Bible. These seven precepts are not esoteric, not difficult to grasp in and of themselves and it is quite comforting to have such guides.

The Bible is both simple and complicated and is meant to be, however, it is not as difficult as some would like us to believe. Certain things such as God's plan of salvation and how to live godly are presented in a simple easily understood manner. Then there are other issues that cannot be correctly comprehended with out diligent study and a working knowledge of the whole Bible. It may only take a few passages of Scripture to present salvation, but has aptly been said, "It takes a whole Bible to make a Whole Christian." The studies in this series "Understanding the Bible" attempt to let the Bible speak for itself and are designed to build upon one another; first developing some of the general truths, principles or precepts of the Scriptures then applying them to various questions.