Training · Grasping God's Word
How to read paragraphs
Observation one level up: how sentences within a paragraph are built to work together.
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What patterns should you look for when observing a whole paragraph?
General and specific statements, questions and answers, dialogue, purpose and result, means, conditions, the actions of God and people, and emotional terms and tone.
The sentence checklist tells you what is in each line. The paragraph checklist tells you how the lines are arranged, which is often where the argument lives.
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What is the general-to-specific pattern in a paragraph?
A broad statement followed by the particulars that fill it out, or the reverse.
In Galatians 5:22-23 "the fruit of the Spirit" is general; love, joy, peace and the rest are the specifics. Spotting the pattern tells you the list is unpacking one thing, not naming nine separate things.
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How are questions and answers used to structure a paragraph?
The writer raises a question — often an objection — and then answers it, so the paragraph is organised around the question.
Romans 6 opens with "Should we keep on sinning so that grace increases?" and the chapter answers it. If you do not see the question, you will not see why the answer says what it says.
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Which words signal a purpose or result statement in a passage?
Phrases like "so that", "in order that", and "that".
These tell you why something was done or what it produces. Ephesians 2:10 says we were created in Christ "for good works", so the works are the purpose of the salvation, not the means of it — the verse right after 2:8-9 depends on exactly that distinction.
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What is a statement of means in a passage, and how do you spot one?
A statement of how something is accomplished, often signalled by "by" or "through".
Romans 8:13 says that "by the Spirit" you put to death the deeds of the body. Missing the means turns the verse into self-improvement; seeing it tells you who supplies the power.
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How should you read an "if... then" statement in Scripture?
The "if" is the condition and the "then" is the result that depends on it. Identify both, and what has to be true for the result to follow.
In 1 John 1:9 the forgiveness is attached to confession. Reading the result without its condition, or the condition without its result, gives you half a sentence.
But if we admit our wrongs, he's faithful and fair - he'll forgive us and clean us up from everything that's not right.
1 John 1:9 -
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Why notice emotional words and tone in a passage?
Because the writer's feelings are part of what he is communicating, and they tell you how urgent or personal the point is.
Paul opens Galatians 3 with "You foolish Galatians!" That is not a calm lecture. Reading the letter as if it were misses how serious he thinks the situation is.
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Why track what God does and what people do in a paragraph?
Because many passages depend on who is acting, and misreading it puts the weight on the wrong person.
Philippians 2:12-13 tells believers to work out their salvation, and in the same breath says it is God who works in them. Keep both actors in view and the passage says something neither half says alone.
So, my dear friends, just like you've always listened and followed - keep it up, not just when I'm around but even more now that I'm not. Work out what it means to be saved, with real seriousness and respect.
Because it's God who's working in you, giving you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:12-13 -
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What should you ask about dialogue in a passage?
Who is speaking, to whom, where, and why — and how each speaker's words move the conversation.
In John 3 Nicodemus comes at night, calls Jesus a teacher, and keeps taking his words literally. The shape of the conversation shows his confusion as clearly as anything Jesus says about it.