Amazingly thorough collection maintained by Andy Naselli, Carson’s full-time research assistant.

Tony Reinke’s 15 Tools for Exegetical Research

1. Commentaries. What commentaries are available on my passage? I’ll begin with the most obvious. If you are a pastor you should have several biblical commentaries at hand. Technical exegetical commentaries are a great resource to better understand the original languages. Expositional and devotional commentaries will also help out. For example, on the epistle to the Ephesians I would consult Peter O’Brien (exegetical), Martyn Lloyd-Jones (expositional), and John Stott (devotional). BestCommentaries is an excellent website to find the best commentaries.
2. Grammar and syntax. What grammatical and syntactical particularities exist in my passage? I have just enough Greek to find my way around the more technical NT commentaries. But I have also discovered that Greek textbooks can provide a lot of help when studying a particular passage. Daniel Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics references thousands of NT passages, pointing to a host of grammatical anomalies that I might otherwise overlook.
3. Biblical theology. Where along the continuum of God’s unfolding plan of redemption does my passage sit? Very often in exegetical preparation I consult the scriptural indexes to the works of Geerhardus Vos, and especially his classic work Biblical Theology. Vos will help you see the development of Scripture. It’s rarely possible to understand a text of scripture without first understanding where it fits in the biblical storyline. This is the work of biblical theology.
4. Systematic theology. Does this passage play an important role in defining a particular doctrine? Consult the scriptural index in Calvin’s Institutes, Wayne Grudem, John Murray,Herman Bavinck, Concise Reformed Dogmatics, John Frame’s The Doctrine of God and The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Every couple of months or so I watch this video by Dr Derek Thomas to be reminded that when systematic theology is done well, you can preach it. Keep one eye on systematic theology as you study scripture verse by verse, and you may be surprised at how much doctrinal ground you can cover from the pulpit.
5. Creeds. Does my passage supply the biblical support for a particular doctrine defined and defended in the classic reformed confessions? Here I will consult the scriptural index of Reformed Confessions Harmonized by Beeke and Ferguson. I am surprised at the tonnage of biblical references underpinning the reformed confessions. Identify how your text has been used in church history. This discovery may shed light on the historical importance of your text, or open up new topical avenues for further study.
6. Apologetics. Does my passage help defend the Christian faith or the Church’s engagement of a fallen world? In seeking to engage non-Christian thought with scripture, it is useful to know which passages are most helpful in the dialogues and discussions. When studying a passage take a look at the scriptural index in books by guys like Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, and Scott Oliphint and check if your text has been used and how.
7. Biblical counseling. Does this passage play an important role in any of my biblical counseling resources? Consult the scriptural index in CCEF books along with an electronic search of the CD-Rom version of The Journal of Biblical Counseling 1977-2005. In my research I heavily weigh any references to my text in solid biblical counseling resources. Guys like Powlison, Paul and Tedd Tripp, and Jay Adams will hold your hand and help you understand certain texts in light of marriage, parenting, specific sin struggles, and idols of the heart.
8. Ethics. Does this passage play a role in the study of biblical ethics? Consult the index in Joachim Douma, John Frame’s Doctrine of the Christian Life, and John Murray’s Principles of Conduct. What contemporary ethical issues does this passage address? Euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research, divorce, capitol punishment, pornography, corporate greed, etc.
9. Spurgeon. What did Spurgeon say about this text? While Spurgeon is no model of careful exegesis, he is wise, applicable, cross-centered, and quotable. You can find a list of his sermons arranged by biblical text here. And you can buy the complete works of Spurgeon on CD-Rom for about $20. Apart from flowers for your wife, there is no better reason to slap down an Andrew Jackson.
10. The Puritans. Have any of the primary Puritan authors preached on this passage? Consult Robert P. Martin’s A Guide to the Puritans and the PCA website of Puritan resources. Because of their trusted exegetical integrity, and because their complete works include a detailed scriptural index, I will individually consult the Works of John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Thomas Manton. I consult about a dozen Puritans, a list of which can be found in my Puritan Study series I developed a while back.
11. Jonathan Edwards. Where has Edwards developed my text in his theology, books, and sermons? The new Works of Edwards Online website produced by Yale make a search of scriptural references a breeze (note the “Scripture Lookup” feature). And the resource is completely free. Try it for yourself.
12. Single-topic books. Is my text referenced in a topical book or monograph in my library? Here is where flipping through the scriptural index in any number of topical books will come in handy. Flip through the index in books by J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, John Piper, John MacArthur, Jerry Bridges, John Stott, etc. I think Knowing God by J.I. Packer could be quoted in half of all the sermons you could preach. Collect 10-30 topical books you really appreciate and use them in researching a particular text.
13. Audio messages. Are audio messages available from respected preachers on my text? A wonderful, but often-untapped resource for exegetical research, are the thousands of free MP3 audio files available online. The Gospel Coalition has a wonderful collection of sermons all organized by scripture reference. As you are likely aware men like John MacArthur and John Piper have produced a wealth of sermons that are easy to locate. Occasionally you will find some gems at SermonAudio or Monergism.
14. Christian classics. What did Augustine or Chrysostom say about my text? Check out the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website. You can run a nifty little scriptural passage search of all their resources here. Always worth a look.
15. Google. For fun, throw a “hail Mary” and run a search string on your particular passage. You will not always find exegetical gems—but sometimes you will. Google search your text, say, “John 1:1-18” and see what you find. Also try the same search string in Google Books. It’s impossible to know what you will find—or if what you find will be worthy of your time to read—but it’s worth a shot.

Andy Naselli posted about the master Scripture index that he created for the New Studies in Biblical Theology series edited by D. A. Carson. It’s an amazing resource. Wow.

Whatever the case, it’s both biblical, practical and beneficial. Here is an example Partner Booklet from Jonathan Dodson at Austin City Life.

Here are my notes and an audio recording from my sermon on Romans 7:18-25 that I preached on May 24, 2009 at Briarwood Baptist Church. All Bible passages are from the English Standard Version

Audio

Download Audio

Notes

Romans 7:18-25

¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law (principle) that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

We can’t do good

• Romans 7:18, 7:24a
  • 7:18  ”nothing good dwells in me” & ”not the ability to carry it out”
  • 7:24 “Wretched man that I am!”
• Romans 3:10-11
  • None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
  • cited from Psalm 14:1-3 (and Psalm 53:1-3)
    • The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. ²The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. ³ They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
• Reformed Theology refers to the concept of Total Depravity (it’s the T in TULIP). The concept behind Total Depravity is not that we are as bad as we can be, but that we have an inability to do true good.
• True good is that which is done to the glory of God, not the notoriety of self, and is done with joy. Mowing my neighbor’s lawn while he’s on vacation is truly good if, and only if, I don’t expect him to mow mine while I’m out of town AND if I am able to doing it with joy. If I expect reciprocation, or if I mow his lawn grudgingly, then its not truly good act because I am being selfish about it.
• People who do not see God as the ultimate object of all that they do cannot do true good. They can do good (like idea of common grace, Matthew 5:45 “he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous^“)

Even when we want to do good, we don’t

• 7:19 & 7:20
  • 7:19 For I do not do the good I want,
  • 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want,
• When we want to do good, what is the motivation? Can good be done by those without pure motivations and a pure heart?
• Why don’t we? Momentary lapses, don’t know how, old habits
• It takes practice to do good
• One of the most difficult things is when you fail. This can be disheartening, especially for new Christians, who have this new life. They can feel like they haven’t “really” been regenerated because they quickly fall back into their old ways. While that may be the case for some, for others the reason they stumble is that the one who was working to keep them separated from God has redoubled his efforts now that the people have committed to follow Christ. We fail because Satan fights us

We don’t do good because Satan battles us

• 7:19-24
  • 7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
  • 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
  • 7:21 So I find it to be a law (principle) that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
  • 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
  • 7:24 Who will deliver me from this body of death?
• This is a very important point to remember. Often, people think that the reason that they can’t do good is that they aren’t actually a Christian or they’re weak or they’ve spent so much of their life doing wrong that they can’t do right.
• The fact is that Satan is actively battling against you to keep you away from Christ. Satan knows that if he can distract you or shame you or beat you down, that you are less likely to seek refuge and strength in our true comforter, Jesus Christ.
• Talk about current unwillingness to see Satan as active in world

How do we overcome Satan? Our deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord

• How does this deliverance come?
  • We see evidence of a changed heart
  • 7:22 “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,”
  • Reference to Psalm 1:1-2
    • ¹ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; ² but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
  • I am longer “doing”, which is an external action, but it is central to me “in my inner being”.
  • Note in v22 that my “members” have another law. That which is part of your inner being is more “you” than something on the fringe. Wouldn’t you say that your soul is more uniquely you than your fingers? A change, a newness of life has come
• 7:24 asks “Who will deliver me?” I am unable to deliver myself. Someone with greater power must deliver me, must take the action that saves me from “this body of death”
• 7:25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
• Our first response to the deliverance is thankfulness, being grateful to God, recognizing that only He has the power to deliver us
• We see how God worked through Jesus Christ our Lord. The mediatorial role of Christ is needed. This is the gospel, that God, through Christ, allows us to satisfy the requirements of His righteous law
• Notice use of “serve” in 7:25. Contrast that with “do” in all the other verses
  • The passage starts with “doing”, which is very me-oriented. It ends with us “serving”, which implies there is something or someone in authority over us. That authority must be God. We all serve and make idols out of things. The challenge is to ensure that we are serving God, and not our job, our family, our hobbies, our ministry.
• Look to Romans 8: 1-11
  • ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
• 7:23 vs. 8:2
  • “another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” vs “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”
• What now dwells within me?
  • 7:18 “nothing good dwells in me”
  • 7:20 “but sin that dwells within me”
  • 7:23 “law of sin that dwells in my members”
  • 8:9 “if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you”
  • 8:10 “But if Christ is in you”
  • 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”
• Glimpse of Trinity in our newness
  • God “who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”
  • We also can have Christ in us (8:10)
• This gets to the heart of the Gospel, God “sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh” (8:3) “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (8:4) and He “will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (8:11)

From The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

From The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

(Notes are my own, so forgive any sloppiness)

When I went to the 9Marks Weekender and heard about Capital Hill’s children’s ministry, called Praise Factory, Julie and I were really impressed. Praise Factory has now been released online for, almost, free. It’s available at http://www.praisefactory.org

Praise Factory isn’t silly games to tell kids not to lie. It has systematic theology at it’s heart

Systematic theology is (the) organizing principle of each curriculum in the Praise Factory family of curriculum (Teach, Take & Tell, Big Questions and Answers for little people, and The Praise Factory). This organization shows up as 16 big questions and answers that are categories found in systematic theology.

A systematic theology is an ordered study of who God is, who He has made us to be, His plans for us and this world, His work of salvation for His people, and the things of the world to come. It gives children an opportunity to consider the magnificent way that God has ordered all things to His glory; and, equips them with a strong foundation of God’s Truth to grow and live for Him in this world, with an eye of hope and joy towards the next.

Philosophy of Praise Factory

The philosophy behind Praise Factory isn’t putting a big show, but Two Dead Men and a Diamond

Dead Man #1: Martin Luther

The first dead man is Martin Luther. Martin Luther spoke of theology not being just dry, heady stuff, made only for the scholar, but the foundation of how men live and die. Look at your life and see if this is not so: what you think about God, His character, His plans for this world and us; and the things of the world to come affect how you respond to life each day.

This is why children care about theology, too-even if they have never realized it. The lens through which they see and understand their lives and the world around them is also tied to their understanding of God and His plans. God made children-like us-to know Him and understand life through His truth and character.

Kids care about theology, but they also care how they learn theology. That comes to the second dead man: John Bunyan.

Dead Man #2: John Bunyan

John Bunyan spoke of the gates to the heart: the eye gate, the ear gate and such. Kids are full of gates–perhaps far more than John Bunyan had in mind! They are people on the move, both inside and out. They learn by doing, interacting, experiencing, as well as listening. All these provide gates to their minds and their heart. Praise Factory incorporates thoughtful questions and projects into everything from games to crafts to songs and sign language to drama and even story-related snacks. These do not act as filler, but as the actual gate to the heart and mind.

Praise Factory seeks to employ the energy of the children to reach their hearts and minds with God’s truth through these many activities; and not just truth through only one side, but from many facets. And that comes to the diamond.

The Diamond

The Puritans loved to hold up God’s truth and reflect upon it from different perspectives to appreciate the breadth of its beauty and its applications upon our lives, much like holding a diamond up to the light, turning it in your hand and appreciating the beauty of its many facets. In the two preschool curriculum (Teach, Take and Tell and Big Questions and Answers for little people), the children are first shown the basic beauties of the diamond. They see God’s truth is many-sided and yet fits together into God’s One Big Plan of displaying and glorifying Himself in this world in marvelous and merciful ways. In Praise Factory, the elementary school curriculum, the children are invited to explore the greater intricacies of God’s truth. They learn three different truths are presented that reflect upon the same Big Idea concept: one from the Old Testament, the New Testament and church history/missions, in hopes that the children will see different facets of how God has acted faithfully and steadfastly, yet in many different ways throughout the ages.

Two dead men and a diamond! That sums it up!

Praise Factory’s Spiral of Truth

The Praise Factory family of curriculum is based upon a spiral of truth in the form of 16 big questions and answers.

These 16 big questions and answers are major biblical truths, common to a systematic theology and which provide the framework on which all of the concepts learned in all three Praise Factory curriculums hang.

Twelve of these big questions and answers are introduced from the beginning, in the Teach, Take and Tell curriculum for 2′s and 3′s; and then carry on through the other two curriculums (Big Questions and Answers for little people; The Praise Factory) Four additional big questions and answers are added to these in the elementary school curriculum (The Praise Factory).

This looks like a great curriculum.

Based on this post by Jonathan Dodson, Tim Chester’s You Can Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behaviour and Negative Emotions sounds like a great small group/missional community resource. It goes on the list of resources to get.

Dodson writes that You Can Change helps us “to believe what is true, to live in the pattern of grace” because

1. It is about Gospel-centered change: “The secret of gospel change is being convinced that Jesus is the good life and fountain of all joy.”
2. It heads off Gospel-distorting approaches to change: 1) Proving ourselves to God 2) Proving ourselves to others 3) Proving ourselves to ourselves.
3. Personal Change Project: Every chapter includes Reflection Questions for discussion and a Personal Change Project that helps us identify an area of sin in which we need gospel-centered change. This a powerful process.
4. Ten Key Questions: Each chapter raises an important question that leads us through the process of gospel-centered change. See Table of Contents here.
5. It emphasizes Faith and Repentance as key to change: “We begin the Christian life in faith and repentance, and we continue the Christian life in faith and repentance.”
6. Chapter 7 changed me on the spot: “If you let any of those gods down, they will beat you up. If you live for people’s approval or your career or possessions or control or anything else and you don’t make it or your mess up, then you’ll be left feeling afraid, downcast or biter. But when you let Christ down, he loves you still. He doesn’t beat you up; he dies for you.”

From Jonathan Dodson, of Austin City Life, posted on his blog Church Planting Novice

We just finished a class called Interpreting Scripture and Culture in a church that is very unchurched. The goal was for people to learn how to read their Bibles well, while also reading their culture well. In short, we are trying to plant a self-theologizing church.

It was a six week course that laid out a Trinitarian, Christ-centered approach to interpretation, followed by five weeks focusing on genres. This method taught them to depend on the Spirit, begin with the Text, move to Theology, and end up at Culture/Life.

Here is the syllabus for the course. I drew from various resources, many of which are just rolling around in my head, but the actual books and articles I returned to included:

Biblical Interpretation

• How to Read the Bible as Literature – Ryken provides a literary perspective that is typically neglected by hermeneutics books. He helps every genre come to life, to activate our imaginations, to enter the world of the text with intrigue and anticipation.
• A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible – Stein has decades of experience and offers a basic, accessible approach to reading the genres of the Bible well.

Cultural Interpretation

• Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Smith
• Is There Meaning in this Text? Vanhoozer
• v.Culture Dodson
• Counsel Ephesians – Powlinson’s article, now in Seeing With New Eyes, is marvelous. It is a tour through exgesis, biblical and systematic theology, ending up at practical theology. Although it assumes a certain level of knowledge of hermeneutics, its worth reading several times.

Pointers

Although it was a small class, we all learned a great deal, worshiped during our study, and grew in our understanding. Here are a few things I learned:

• Don’t call it Interpreting Scripture and Culture and people will be less intimidated. Call it Reading Bible and Culture Well or something.
• Use Fee & Stuart’s Reading the Bible for All It’s Worth for required reading again. It was well received.
• Continue to insist on homework and have the students run the last class.