How to Get The Most from God's Word

by John F. MacArthur Jr.

"God's Word is powerful and active, and now you can learn to effectively apply its valuable teachings and principles to your own life... with insights and wisdom from the name you can trust-- John MacArthur, Jr."

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Reference, Christian Living

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 1997

About the author

John F. MacArthur, Jr. was a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award-winning MacArthur Study Bible. MacArthur was a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California beginning in 1969, as well as President of The Master’s College (and the related Master’s Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at how to study the Bible.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does somethings very well, and other things that just didn't fit.

The first third of this book is pretty basic. A ten minute run through of the inerrancy, sufficiency, and reliability of scripture just isn't going to cut it. It is too simple for someone still questioning and coming to this book with those types of questions. Many of his answers are subjective (the fact that the Word changes people) and aren't going to change any minds or really convince anyone. Muslims and Mormons would say the same thing. And it is unnecessary (at least 8 chapters are unnecessary) for someone who knows this stuff. This information was not the reason I picked up this book. F.F. Bruce, Norm Geissler, Wayne Grudem have all written tombs that cover this and MacArthur isn't able to do it justice here. It becomes more of a trap where we can pick on his subjective terminology, or that fact that he says the canon was "chosen." (He does correct it to discovered eventually, but he says it more than I thought he would.

I am completely sold on the Bible, and I was looking for insights into how to study the Bible, not why I should study the Bible. That being said, this section was more purpose-filled and and had some good reminders that we all need to be aware of.

In fact, in section about finding the Lord's Will is a masterpiece that could have saved me hours of reading in the past.

How to find God's will:
1. Be Saved
2. Be Spirit-Filled
3. Be Sanctified
4. Be Submissive
5. Be Willing to suffer

After that, do what you want because He is in control.

That was beautiful. So simple and easy, clear and understandable.

Also, his chapter on producing fruit was amazing.

How we produce fruit:
1. Become more like Christ
2. Praise God through worship
3. Do good works
4. Be open to natural witnessing opportunities.

Again, this is stuff I've read for hours trying to discern that he answers in about 5 pages.

Then, when MacArthur gets into actual Bible interpretation the master is at work. WOW! His discussion on the sword in the armor of God, his look at the temptation of Christ. WOW!

I want to go buy the MacArthur Study Bible (which this is basically an advertisement for)

His last two chapters are finally what I was looking for. How does MacArthur study his Bible. At this point, it was a cherry on top. I was already grateful and happy to have spent some time in the mind of John MacArthur. I really enjoyed this little book.

[Josh Goossen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book I think is a great read. Simple to understand, and proves a point: Reading God's Word is for every believer and you don't need to be a scholar in order to understand. It helps you walk through each aspect of studying God's Word, but most importantly, talks about how reading the Bible is more about how it is able to change US, as opposed to simply filling our heads with knowledge.

Now, the reason I didn't give it 5 stars is simple. I love John Macarthur, but the end of each chapter there was a pitch for his study bible more than others. I think it is a great study bible, but I would love to know what other resources were available at the time of writing, that would be useful in studying. Finally, the last reason it didn't get 5 stars, is because it needs to be updated. It referred to the future of "THE CD!!!" and "You'll be able to fit the library of congress on something the size of a sugar cube!" - We are well past the CD, and now have MicroSD cards able to hold 2TB.

[Daniely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno, no da muchos ejercicios prácticos, estaba esperándolos desde el principio por el título del libro, pero eso no significa que fuera malo.

"La Biblia afirma que es viva y poderosa. Esta es una declaración tremenda. No existe otro libro que esté vivo. Algunos libros cambiar nuestra manera de pensar, Pero este es el único libro que puede cambiar su naturaleza."

[Valerie Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great read that explains the "technicalities" of the Word very simply. this is great for the non-seminarian.

[Tim Duff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on studying in the Bible.

[Mary Lou · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't find this one at all helpful. MacArthur does a lot of promoting his other book.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a new believer. It really helped and clarified a lot of foundational issues in reading God's Word. One helpful suggestions I quickly picked up was to read a book (or portion) of the Bible again and again for 30 days and then switch up. So, he recommended 1 John (which has five chapters). I really devoured 1 John and I still feel its impact on my life ten years later.