A few years back, I was visiting Midtown Baptist Temple while Pastor Sam Miles was preaching. I was seated behind Pastor Chris Best who had his Bible and a pencil in hand. Pastor Sam made a great point with multiple cross references. It was here that I saw Pastor Chris do something that made an impression on me: he took his pencil and wrote the point and references in his Bible. I have watched many pastors nod or say, “Amen, brother,” but it was refreshing to me to see a pastor gleaning from the message and using a “tried and true” method of cross-referencing. As a Millennial, that was good to see! (Yes, I am a Millennial, but just barely!)
We are in the middle of the digital age. We have embraced what began in the mid 70s, and now we don’t know life without the technology we have at our disposal. Our time is also referred to as the informational age. With the rise of technology and its ever increasing accessibility, we are consistently exposed to mass amounts of information. According to YouTube usage statistics, 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are watched a day! The result of this overload of neatly packaged information is that many of the younger generations (myself included) have been taught to regurgitate information instead of how to come to conclusions through investigation. We have been trained to pass tests, and, consequently, we don’t focus on the fundamental steps and inner workings of coming to a final decision. Therefore, we may know how or what to do, but we don’t know why we do what we do. Sadly, this regurgitation process has impacted Christianity in how we approach the Bible.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for so much of the biblical information out there — things like The Postscript, Theology Roundtable, this blog, Living Faith Books, and all the pastors in the fellowship who make their sermons available online. These are all great tools for spiritual growth and maturity. But how can we maximize those tools and our own personal study so that we are not simply regurgitating information? How can we take the information given to us, and then turn around and use that information to show someone what God says through his word, instead of saying, “Well, Trotter wrote...” or, “Morgan once said...”?
Godly pastors don’t preach so you quote them; they preach so you know what God says. The world is not looking for our opinion or what our pastors think. They don’t want regurgitated food; they want fresh bread from the Word of Life. To be able to provide fresh bread, we may have to go to an old "tried and true” practice: a return to physical cross-referencing. A cross reference is simply a note in a book which tells you that there is relevant or more detailed information in another part of the book. This is important in all Bible study because to make a point, we need more than one supporting piece of information. We need multiple witnesses, so to speak.
WHY IS PERSONAL CROSS-REFERENCING VALUABLE?
Because we can’t remember squat-diddly.
The word “remember” and its other forms show up in the Bible 214 times, and the word “forget” and its other forms are used 63 times. We have trouble remembering! We can be a forgetful people. Personal cross-referencing helps us not to forget all that God has taught us through our study and the preaching and teaching of our local churches.
Personal cross references become “stones of remembrance” (Joshua 4). My brain has only a certain level of capacity. Some of you out there can retain mass amounts of information, and more power to you. I may not know you, but I do know me… if I don’t write it down, I forget it with time. And then I have to study it out AGAIN! Talk about wasting precious time that I am supposed to be redeeming. Cross-referencing helps me redeem the time.
Personal cross-referencing also helps you communicate God’s words to others. Let me explain!
We do all this studying and research, we jot it down in a notebook, a program, or an app, and we come to some great conclusions, but it never makes it into our Bibles. Time marches on, and if you asked me about a verse or doctrine I studied three or four months ago (not to mention three or four years ago), I could recall the conclusion and maybe even a couple verses on a good day. However, if I have a system of cross-referencing in my Bible, I would just have to turn to the verse or doctrine in question, and there are all my cross references. So instead of saying things like, “Well, I know it's in here somewhere” or having to give you the CBV (the Code Blaise Version) because I can’t remember where the verse is, I can actually go grab my Bible and turn to the actual verses that prove the conclusion God has in his word.
This is valuable because those that I talk to then aren’t leaving the conversation with, “Well, Code said…” Hopefully, they are leaving the conversation saying, “God said…” I want God to be the one to convince someone, not me!
I am sure there are more reasons why personal cross-referencing is important, but those are the top two for me. If you are able to quickly reference what God had once taught you and then are able to effectively and biblically communicate the words of God to others, you are better equipped to do the mission.
HOW TO CROSS-REFERENCE
Cross-referencing Verses/Words
This is really effective when you are proving a doctrine or a definition of a certain word used throughout scripture. Some refer to this as a cross-referencing map. You start in one verse, follow the cross reference written in the margin, which takes you to another verse. In that margin is a note and/or a verse that leads you to another verse, and so on. These two below are great examples.
1. Salvation (Romans Road) - Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12; 6:23; 10:9-10, 13
2. Eternal Security (John’s Road) - John 3:15; 1 John 5:12-13; John 6:37; 10:27-29
At Downtown Baptist Temple, we make personal cross-referencing a part of our discipleship process. We do the lesson, and then once the lesson is complete, we teach how to cross-reference that lesson in your Bible. It’s a great place to start!
Cross-referencing Topics
Sometimes, some information is too much to just put in the margin, but you want it in your Bible so you don’t forget. That is what you can use a blank page for (more on that in the next section). In my Bible, I’ve got a list of the responsibilities of a husband and a wife. (I learned these from Mark Trotter, but since I have the verse references, I can rely on God’s word as the authority.) Here are those references:
7 Responsibilities of a Husband...
Responsibility #1 To LOVE her - Eph 5:23, 25-33
Responsibility #2 To KNOW her - 1 Peter 3:7
Responsibility #3 To DWELL with her - 1 Peter 3:7
Responsibility #4 To HONOR her - 1 Peter 3:7
Responsibility #5 To PROVIDE for her - 1 Timothy 5:8
Responsibility #6 To TEACH her - 1 Cor 14:35
Responsibility #7 To PROTECT her - Eph 5:23; Matt 12:29; 1 Peter 2:21-3:1; Col 3:13
7 Responsibilities of a Wife...
Responsibility #1 To RESPECT him - Eph 5:33
Responsibility #2 To be her HUSBAND’S LOVING COMPANION - Gen 2:18; Titus 2:4
Responsibility #3 To SUBMIT to her HUSBAND as she does to CHRIST - Eph 5:22
Responsibility #4 To SUBMIT to her HUSBAND as the CHURCH does to CHRIST - Eph 5:24
Responsibility #5 To SUBMIT to her HUSBAND as it is FIT IN THE LORD - Col 3:18
Responsibility #6 To SUBMIT to her HUSBAND as SARAH did to ABRAHAM - 1 Peter 3:1-6
Responsibility #7 To HELP her HUSBAND - Gen 2:18
Because God’s word is alive, there’s no end to the value you can get out of making personal cross references in your Bible. It will make you a better Bible student, and help God’s word come alive to you in such a special way. In case you aren’t sure where to start, however, let’s get into some things that help make personal cross-referencing effective.
THE PRACTICAL STUFF
The Tools
1. A Wide Margin Bible
Before we enter the process of cross-referencing, it would do you well to get a wide margin Bible. This is the rub with those who have embraced the digital age. We like our writing tablets and Bible programs. The excuses are many and have some validity; however, there is something to having the printed Bible before you when showing someone a biblical truth, instead of having to look up verses on the fly. It’s also repeatable! Each program or app will have a learning curve. Putting cross references in your Bible is quick, simple, and you can make it personal with notes about what God is teaching you.
I personally like the wide margin Bible from Bearing Precious Seed. It’s $50, has great margins, and tons of blank pages. It’s a great beginner Bible to get over the thought of making a mistake in your margins. My bride loves the Cambridge Bibles, and they also have great margins and a lot of blank pages in the back. I highly recommend getting a Bible with blank pages! I’ll explain why later.
2. A Straight Edge
This is helpful to make your notes more readable. It could be an old credit card, an old hallmark card from your mom, or a ruler. They make rulers that are only 6 inches which are really convenient.
3. Writing Utensils
I prefer to use a mechanical pencil, specifically the Zebra M-301 MO 0.5mm. The lead doesn’t smudge or fade, and I can write very small with them. Pens seem to bleed through the pages, and also don’t erase. White out just becomes a mess. But find what works for you.
I also recommend a highlighting system if you’re up for it. I personally use Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils.
Blank Pages
Like I mentioned above, blank/notes pages in your Bible are very valuable. A great way to use them is to list out various Bible topics and all of the relevant cross references. Here are the topics I have on my blank pages:
The Front Blank Pages
Prayer
Bible Quotes
Kingdom of God/Kingdom of Heaven
Dispensations
The Back Blank Pages
The Second Coming of Christ
Cost of Discipleship/Discipleship
God (Theology Proper - the doctrine of God)
Jesus Christ (Christology - the doctrine of Christ)
Holy Spirit (Pneumatology - the doctrine of the Holy Spirit)
The Bible (Bibliology - the doctrine of the Bible)
Sin (Hamartiology - the doctrine of sin)
Stewardship
Fellowship
The mysteries
How to Study the Bible
Marriage/Family
Biblical Counseling Principles
Biblical Leadership Principles
Major Issues
Church History
The Tabernacle/Temple/Universe
Hell
The Devil
Cults
The Sevens
If you’ve got a Bible with note pages like this, it can be a huge asset to your studies and your discipleship relationships to have important topics like these listed in your Bible for easy access.
I’d wager that you’ll do yourself more harm not writing a single thing in your Bible because you don’t want to make a mistake than making notes on everything you can and making a mistake here and there. As you mature in Christ, there will be things you have to erase or that will make you wonder why you put that in there. It’s going to happen! Just accept it. Once you have accepted it, take this next Sunday’s message, review the notes and the verses, and transfer them into your Bible. You won’t regret doing so years from now, but you will if you never do it!
Code Blaise is the lead pastor at Downtown Baptist Temple in Ocala, FL.