God authored the Bible using forty holy men to actually do the writing as they were moved by the Holy Spirt so that each and every word and punctuation mark in the Bible is just as God intended it to be. God doesn’t do fluff or filler in his writing. Take what God says in the Bible literally unless it’s obvious God is using symbolism, spiritualism or imagery like in the book of Revelation for instance. If God puts something in the Bible he has a good reason. It’s there for our edification. Believers should hang on every word from the mouth of God because the Bible is God’s wisdom. A good rule of thumb when reading the Bible is if it makes sense to you then seek no other sense. God isn’t trying to trick you. God wrote the Bible over a period of roughly 1500 years, from about 1400 BC when Moses wrote the book of Genesis to around 95 AD when the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation. There are 66 books in the Bible; 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, contains the history of God’s dealings with man and the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Genesis God created the world and in Revelation God brings 6,000 years of human history to a close with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ our Lord to save Israel from destruction. At that time Jesus will judge the nations for their sins against God. Jesus Christ our Lord will then establish his millennial kingdom and rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years before the new Jerusalem appears.
Genesis 2:7 – And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Psalm 8:3-4 – When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?
Deuteronomy 7:9 – Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Psalm 62:1-2 – Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
The Old Testament is Jesus prophesied and the New Testament is Jesus fulfilled. God gave us his word so that we might know him and accept his gracious gift of salvation unto eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The truth and wisdom of the Bible is self-evident. Evil men have been trying for 2000 years to disprove the Bible but all have failed to find any errors in it. As believers we are commanded by God to pray to God daily and to read the Bible daily because by praying we talk to God and reading our Bible is how God talks to us. We need this two-way communication between God and man to maintain a strong fellowship with the God who made us and loves us. When we read the Bible it keeps God at the forefront of our minds and when we study God’s word it keeps Jesus before our eyes. I’ve found that when I abide in God’s word daily it causes me to sin less and it helps me to keep Satan at arm’s length. As believers we’re to not only read the Bible, we’re to study it for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. The Bible contains 129 direct commandments from God that believers are to follow, although quite a few of them are redundant. You cannot obey God if you don’t know what God has commanded we do. You cannot please God without being in obedience to the commands in his word. Entry into heaven is gained by faith in Jesus but rewards from God are based on our obedience.
Deuteronomy 17:19 – And it (God’s law) shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.
Deuteronomy 4:2 – You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Deuteronomy 8:3 – Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
Psalm 119:97-99 – Oh, how I ove Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.
Let me share with you my experience studying God’s word. When I made the decision to read the entire Bible I started with the book of Genesis and read straight through to the book of Revelation. Looking back, I wouldn’t recommend that method to anyone else just starting out. While the entire Bible is important and should be read in its entirety, it’s also important to read with purpose and intent because some parts of the Bible are more important than others. Read the more important books of the Bible first and more often, especially for new believers just starting out on their walk with God. The Old Testament is good for learning about God’s wisdom, God’s dealings with man and as a historical reference point. Currently we live in the New Testament times under the blood covenant of Jesus Christ so our study of God’s word should start and end with the New Testament. We should spend roughly two thirds of our time studying the New Testament and one third of our time studying Old Testament scriptures. I recommend all believers read the entire Bible at least once a year and more often if time permits.
Psalm 19:7 – The law of the Lord is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Psalm 18:30 – As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Psalm 33:11 – The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.
Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.
Make sure you place a priority on reading the New Testament before reading the Old Testament. If you start with the Old Testament you might get bored and lose interest before you get the really good part of the Bible, which is the New Testament. I have to admit I cheat a little bit on my Old Testament reading. I love Genesis and Exodus but when I get to Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy they tend to be bit more dry and those books are laborious reading for me. I usually just read a summary of those books from my Bible handbook and Bible commentary at least every other year. Some Bible books are less important to me than others, although I realize every word in the Bible is important to God and there’s a message in every Bible story. On the other hand, I make it a point to read God’s books of wisdom literature from the Old Testament several times a year without fail (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, Psalms and Song of Solomon). In fact, the book of Proverbs is the distilled wisdom of God which a believer would be wise to read every day. There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs. If a believer read one chapter a day for a whole month and repeated that month after month and year after year can you imagine the wisdom of God that person would have gained over a period of years? Of course, it would take a lot of discipline. I’ve tried to do it but I haven’t been able to stick to it.
Psalm 1:1-2 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 112:1 – Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.
Proverbs 13:13 – He who despises the word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
Psalm 68:11 – The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those who proclaimed it.
Our focus should be on the New Testament because it’s the time in which we live. I break the 27 books of the New Testament into four categories for my reading. I break the New Testament into the following:
1. The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
2.The Acts of the Apostles
3.The 21 epistles, or letter, from the Apostles of Christ.
4.The book of Revelation
The gospels are the heart of all the scriptures and should be read as often as possible. You can make any division you want when it comes to studying the New Testament but my division works for me. The Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke cover the life and times of Jesus and are very similar in the information they provide so I like to start with them but I also like to break them up by reading other New Testament books in between. This reinforces the gospel message of Christ in my mind as I read each of the four gospels. I always start my New Testament reading with the gospel of Matthew because God placed it first in the New Testament canon. After all, Jesus is the prophesied Messiah sent by God to save his people; the Jew first and then the Gentile. The Jewish authorities rejected Jesus so the Lord turned to the Gentiles to establish his church. However, the Jews remain God’s chosen people whom he will save on the last day. Matthew is a Jew writing his gospel to a Jewish audience to convict them of their sin of rejecting their Messiah, the Savior. It’s just common sense that the gospel of Matthew is the first book in the New Testament, even though it wasn’t the first gospel written. I’ll read Matthew first and then read the book of Acts to refresh my memory about the history of the early church. Then I’ll read the book of Mark, the first gospel written, and follow that up by reading the 21 epistles. Then I’ll read the gospels of Luke and John together because they are so different and they complement each other. The gospel of John doesn’t address the life of Jesus because it had already been covered in sufficient detail in the other three gospels. The gospel of John was written well after the other three gospels to point out the divinity and office of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 37:5-6 – Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass, He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday sun.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 – Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.
1 Chronicles 22:19 – Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
Psalm 105:1 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!
You might ask do we really need four gospels to share the “good news” of Jesus Christ coming from heaven to redeem man by his sacrificial death on the cross? The answer is yes we do. Each gospel writer saw the life of Jesus from slightly different perspectives and they all had different target audiences. Each gospel provided something unique not found in the other gospels so that when we view all the gospels together it gives us a more complete picture of the life and ministry of the man Jesus Christ who was both man and God. In ancient times there was no pen and paper available to the common man; no written documents of any kind to read. Only a very few wealthy people could read or write and the society in Israel at that time was generally poor, They depended on an oral tradition where everything was memorized and everything had to be proven by personal testimony. According to Jewish law, the truth of any matter required the testimony of two or three witnesses. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John God provided three Jewish witnesses to give their testimony that Jesus Christ was the prophesied Messiah, the Son of God, sent to save men from their sins. The truth of God was thereby established by the requirements of Jewish law. The Gentiles only needed one testimony to convince them that Jesus was God in the flesh so the gospel of Luke was sufficient for that purpose.
Psalm 119:2 – Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!
Psalm 33:20 – Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Jeremiah 33:3 – Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
God appointed the Apostle Paul to share the mysteries of God with the Gentiles so it’s no surprise Paul wrote the first 14 epistles of the New Testament (including Hebrews), which I refer to as the major epistles. Titus and Philemon are very short New Testament books written by Paul but I still consider them major epistles because Paul wrote them. The last seven letters in the New Testament I refer to as the minor epistles. It’s as though God is giving a cameo appearance to other apostles he loves. We have two epistles from two of Jesus’ brothers, James and Jude, bracketing two epistles from Peter and three from John; two Apostles from Jesus’ inner circle. Peter was the main apostle and John was the apostle whom God loved the most. The minor epistles are small books that usually stress a single theme believers should follow. The book of James encourages believers to live their faith by doing good works. The book of Jude encourages believers to fight for their faith and to study God’s word. In the book of 1st Peter believers are reminded they will be persecuted for their faith but they must continue to live in obedience to God, with humility, as they wait for heaven. Believers must continue to do good works (i.e., witness for Christ). 2nd Peter stresses believers should study God’s word so as to not be fooled by false teachers. 1st John says to love God and one another. 2nd John says to obey God’s commands and defend Jesus. 3rd John says to share the gospel with all nonbelievers.
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Titus 2:7 – In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 – I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Revelation 1:3 – Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
I find the placement of the New Testament books perfect. Matthew was the only disciple who could read and write because he was a tax collector. Matthew was a Jew writing his gospel to a Jewish audience letting them know they had rejected the Messiah. Jesus Christ was and still is a Jewish rabbi sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven as our mediator. Jesus was rejected by Israel as the prophesied Messiah so it’s fitting that the New Testament start with Matthew, although it wasn’t the first gospel written. Mark’s gospel was the testimony of the Apostle Peter, who couldn’t read or write. As his disciple Mark often heard Peter preach the gospel in Rome and he wrote down Peter’s words. Mark gave his written testimony of what Peter preached as a record of what the apostle said. Likewise Luke was also was a disciple; but of the Apostle Paul. Luke was a great historian and a keen investigator. Luke was like the Sherlock Holmes of his day. Luke knew all of the apostles personally and the church fathers as well. Luke’s familiarity with the early church leaders allowed him to interview them all as part of his inquiries into the truth of God, which he used to compile his gospel.
Luke was a physician and a Gentile so his gospel was intended for a Gentile audience because Gentiles wouldn’t believe anything written by a Jew, and vice versa. As a third party observer, and a good historian to boot, it was only fitting that Luke also write the history of the early church which is the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Luke and Acts were actually one large continuous work that was broken up later to create two separate books. Luke and Acts are the two largest books of the New Testament. Since these works were written on scrolls it took up a whole scroll for Luke and also a whole scroll for Acts so their division was a natural break point in the scriptures and kept that way by the church fathers when the New Testament canon was finalized. Only Luke and Acts were written by a Gentile. All the other books of the New Testament were written by Jewish writers.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 – For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.
Philippians 2:9-11 – Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on the earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Any believer worth their salt should be able to list the New Testament books in the order they occur and generally know why they are in that order. I know I can because I study the Bible for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. It’s my continual search for the truth of God while trying to maintain my fellowship with the Lord. Our knowledge of God isn’t just given to us. We have to make an effort to find God and know him and our search is never-ending. I find most people are just too lazy to learn about religion. They want to be spoon fed their faith and have God served up for them on a platter for easy consumption because it’s too much bother to do it themselves. It’s too much hard work. Your walk with God is personal and you must do it yourself. Nobody is going to carry you to heaven. I can point the way to God because of my study of God’s word but you must do the walking and the talking with the Lord yourself. We are in the end times so the soon return of Jesus is palpable. That’s why my favorite book in the New Testament is the book of Revelation, because it’s the only book that hasn’t been fulfilled yet but it will be very soon. Proverbs is my favorite Old Testament book because it’s God’s distilled wisdom which we all need. The book of Revelation is the culmination of God’s salvation plan for man and the end of the world as we know it. It’s the revelation of Jesus Christ at his Second Coming to the earth by settling his foot down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. It’s where Jesus ascended to heaven and where he’ll return because he said he would and God cannot lie. Jesus is God in the flesh! Jesus will then save Israel from destruction and judge the nations for their sins against God. The whole world will be watching on cable TV as Jesus Christ descends from heaven with the shout of an archangel. Everyone will then bow before Jesus because he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. As believers we’re the adopted son and daughters of Almighty God
Galatians 3:28-29 – There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heir according to the promise.
Galatians 3:26 – For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).
2 Corinthians 13:1 – By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.
In every book of the Bible God speaks plainly and literally, with the exception of the book of Revelation where God uses symbolism, spiritualization and imagery to hide his truth from the nonbeliever while revealing himself to the believer who is spiritually aware of God and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation is the only book in the entire Bible where God promises a blessing for all who read it or hear it, whether it’s one verse or the entire book. Just imagine that! If you want a blessing from God every day just read from the book of Revelation every day. God does this to stress the importance of reading the book of Revelation so that believers know what’s coming and can prepare for it. You should be reading the book of Revelation more than any other book in the Bible to keep your eyes focused on the return of Jesus which will happen soon. Read the entire book of Revelation at least two to three times a year and even more often is better still. As believers we need to be able to read the signs of the end times which are upon us so we know what we must do. All believers must continue to witness for Christ while there is still time to save some for the kingdom of God because each soul that God has made is priceless in God’s eyes. We please God when we work his harvest field. We are to love what God loves and hate what God hates. If you do this you’ll be pleasing in God’s sight and your fellowship with the Lord will be strong. As believers most of us will have already been raptured to heaven because we will meet Jesus in the air seven years before his Second Coming. Believers will be with Jesus in heaven during the seven year tribulation period just before the Secon Coming. But at the Second Coming believers will accompany Jesus on his return to earth. We’ll be in our glorified bodies and from the air we’ll see the glorious Second Coming take place below us in Jerusalem. Praise God for his mercy and grace!
Colossians 1:16 – For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Galatians 4:4-5 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 – But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.