Lesson 2 | The Context of Cfs
What We’ve Learned
In the last two lessons, you have learned how to sail in exploration around the Scriptures and then return to the port of your focus passage. Just as a sailor could spend a lifetime doing so through all the oceans, seas, and rivers of our world and never see it all, so you now have horizons opened up before you. The voyages will not all be easy, but each will hold its own wonders—so sail on!
What We Now Know
Understanding the context of a cross-reference is important because the cross-reference will only be as helpful as it is rightly understood. In particular, we are to consider the context of each type of cross-reference as follows:
See what the parallel account of your passage says with the aim:
- To keep yourself from wrong inferences
- To get help in understanding each book’s purpose and message
Original language cross-references aid us with both clarity and context. So we ask what each cross-reference tells us about:
- The meaning of the words or phrases used in our passage of focus
- The truths being communicated in our passage of focus
Simply get your bearings with respect to this type of cross-reference and return to your passage of study (for now).
Look to gain Bible-wide context of your passage by asking what each cross-reference tells us about:
- The truths being communicated in our passage of focus
What We Don’t Know
No matter how much time you spend examining the context of a cross-reference, you will never know that context perfectly. As mentioned at the start of this lesson, this is important to remember. And as a result, the goal changes. Instead of “figuring it out” and checking it off, the aim becomes building your knowledge of God (and your love for God and others; see 1 Cor 8:1) upon the knowledge you possessed before that day’s study began.
If you ever have difficulty with any of the concepts in this course, please reach out to your coach! He is available not only to give you feedback on your assignments but also to have up to two video calls with you per month.