The Bible is composed of 66 books written by 40 authors. So where does a new Christian begin when they start to read the Bible? Do they read it from Genesis to Revelation? What do pastors, theologians, Sunday school teachers, and even seminary professors recommend a new believer to start reading the Bible? Are there better places to start than others and some books to be avoided at first? Here are my recommendations for the best place to start reading the Bible for a new Christian and an unbeliever.
Where Not To Start
I have actually had non-believers ask me this more than new Christians and this is a great question. The Bible is not strictly written in chronological order. For example the book of Job belongs in the time frame of the book of Genesis. Some have tried to start at Genesis and begin through the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, then Deuteronomy, but when they get to certain sections of the Old Testament they can get bogged down in the lengthy genealogies. A good example is found in I Chronicles 9:11-12: “Azariah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the official in charge of the house of God; Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah; and Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer.” You get the idea.
Where to Start
Since the Old Testament foreshadows Jesus Christ and the New Testament is sharply focused on Jesus Christ, it makes good sense for a new Christian or a non-believer to start reading the Bible with any of the four gospels. My personal preference is the Gospel of John. He emphasizes the love of God as found in Jesus Christ and if you read the first chapter and first few verses of John, you will discover that it starts God’s plan for man even before the creation in Genesis One. Even the book of Mark is a great introduction to Jesus Christ. The gospel of Matthew is slightly more technical in the beginning but would be helpful for those who are Jewish since it emphasizes the historicity and Jewish lineage of Jesus Christ. The book of Luke is also more intricate since he was a physician. But any of the four gospels would be a great beginning point for a new Christian because they focus on the centrality of Jesus Christ which the entire Bible actually points toward since He is the sole means of redemption and salvation.
So begin by reading one or all of the gospels and then I would recommend Genesis. Genesis reveals God’s dealings with the nation of Israel and shows the origins of the people of God and deals with the fall of mankind and the consequences of disobedience. In actuality, the gospel is foreshadowed in Genesis and the Old Testament. When you read the New Testament book of Hebrews and then Genesis, you can see that Melchizedek the high priest and Jesus Christ were one and the same.
A Guide for New or Non-Believers
When believers and non-believers ask me where to begin to read the Bible, my recommendation is my own personal preference. Others may give you other books to start with in reading the Bible. I would recommend that they do not start in the book of Revelation or in Genesis and start reading it through from start to finish. For a seasoned Christian, reading through the Bible is an excellent learning tool but for a new believer, it can be cumbersome and confusing. Revelation is difficult to understand, so for a beginner to start out in that book is asking for confusion and mistranslation of the verses since much of it is written in symbolic language. Here is a preferred order for a new believer or a non-Christian who wants to start to read and understand the Bible:
John emphasises the love of God as found in Jesus Christ
The Gospel of John
The Gospel of Mark
I John
II John
III John
Genesis
Ephesians
Galatians
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Matthew
I Corinthians
II Corinthians
Romans
Psalms
Proverbs
Now where you go from there is wherever you like. I suggest that you repeat the four gospels at this point because you can never go wrong with the very teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. And the book of Mark, written by John Mark, is actually what can be termed as the gospel of Peter since most theologians agree that the Gospel of Mark is actually the work of Peter. The words represent Peter’s eyewitness accounts as transcribed by John Mark. Remember that John Mark was not an apostle and was never a witness to the living Christ while on earth or the resurrected Christ and that by definition is what makes one an apostle.
Where Biblical Knowledge Comes From
The most important element when reading the Bible is to not be in a hurry. Stop and meditate on the words. And pray for the Holy Spirit to open up the meanings and understanding of the Bible It is the Father that reveals spiritual knowledge through the Holy Spirit and He reveals these truths to those whom He calls. If you are wanting to read the Bible, believer or not, this may be strong evidence that God the Father is calling you (John 6:44). Spiritual truths are not actually acquired by human thought alone but as Jesus told Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven“ (Matt. 16:17). The point is that biblical knowledge is not gained by rote memorization or from academic head knowledge but by God the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said in John 16:13, “But when he, the [Holy] Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
Do You Have Other Suggestions or Questions?
Maybe you have some suggestions or question regarding the best place to start reading the Bible. Feel free to leave your comments below.
Sources
The Holy Bible, New International Version
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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How can i stop myself from recalling my wicked Past,.? Because it happens that sometimes when i’m reading the Bible, lots of things start to wander in my mind that I even forget that I’m reading the Holy words.
This happen almost everytime I open my Bible and at the end i find no single verse planted in my memory to keep me going, rather it keeps me starting because even the verses I one time read still seem strange to me,
What should I do Pastor?
Please help me even in players
for I am greatly troubled
Harold. Your previous comment was so precious. Thank you. First of all…I am overjoyed you are here. I can not thank God enough for bringing in His saints to learn more about Him.
To keep yourself from the past thoughts of your previous life, think of this. You can memorize or write out these Scriptures. 2 Cor 5:21, 1 John 1:9, John 10:28-29, John 6:37. Start with those four only and just read them and meditate on them. Also remember the Devil wants you to keep bringing up the past but God has buried your sins in the depths of the oceans and put up a sign that says, “no fishing!”
There is no where in the Bible where is says that He will not forgive anymore of our sins if we reach a certain limit but instead, if we confess our sins (plural) He is just and faithful to forgive us of ALL of ours sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The only sin God will not forgive is the one that we don’t ask forgiveness for. Since Jesus told Peter 7 times 70, how much more forgiving is an infinite God? Let feelings be pushed out of the way and all doubt removed and let God’s certain truth stand as a rock of ages. The difference between human feelings or doubt from the Devil and conviction from the Holy Spirit is that the Devil makes you want to believe you are beyond saving, but the Holy Spirit makes you want to come for cleansing to remove all doubt.
I urge you to read 1 John…all of it. Its a short book and I am preaching out of it right now just for the very purpose of reassuring people that they are saved and can not ever be lost again (John 6:37, John 10:28-29). Read these verses too and see how much you can trust God. Jesus can not lie! You must believe what He says. Your feelings are so untrustworthy, like mine, but God is full of truth and never errs and so we must believe Him even if our eyes or minds lies to us. The Devil makes us doubt but Jesus removes all fear and doubt.
Guilt verses Conviction
I have probably spoken with hundreds of people over my lifetime who struggle with guilt. And by “hundreds” I mean Christians. So many believers are living with guilt over their sins of the past and those that they still battle with, however there is a world of difference between human guilt and the conviction by the Holy Spirit.
Guilt is like Satan accusing the brethren before the throne of God, day and night (Rev 12:10). Even though we are forgiven we are naturally not perfect. Guilt says that we are worthless, hopeless, and have no chance to be saved. We have too much baggage to possibly be saved, even by God. Guilt says, “Who do you think you are! What makes you think that you are a Christian…just look at what you do?” Guilt takes us away from God.
Conviction is different. Conviction points us to God and of our need of forgiveness. When we sin, and we all do (1 John 1:8, 10), we feel God the Holy Spirit showing us that we need to go to God and ask for cleansing, which He promises to do (1 John 1:9). We are convicted about our sin but not about our relationship before God.
Do you have unnecessary guilt? Yes you likely do because we are all human and human feelings & emotions are highly unstable and not trustworthy however God’s grace is available to you. God has forgiven you…now you must learn to forgive yourself. Thank God for the conviction of the Holy Spirit this points us to our need to go to God. Guilt makes us feel afraid and unworthy to go to Him and run away from Him. Conviction makes us run TO God for a cleansing of our sin. Guilt wants to make us severe (cut off) the relationship with God…conviction makes us run into His presence for forgiveness. Guilt leads to condemnation…conviction leads to repentance. That’s a huge difference. If you know the difference, you would do well and have more peace of mind.
Thank you Stephanie for your comment and question. I would tell this man how you feel or have you done this already? Being honest is always better. Perhaps his culture may forbid mixed marriages of different nationalitites but if it is meant to be, nothing will prevent what is the will of God. If nothing changes after you have talked with him about how you feel, then take some time away and let him be by himself to see if indeed there are any feelings that he has for you that are more than sister-like love. Maybe this time away from you will really let him know just how much he does care. I hope this helps. I pray for you friend.
Hello, jack if possible can you delete my personal question.
Thanks again Stephanie
I will do just as you say Stephanie. Thank you my friend.
Pastor,
Tonight I fell to my knees and ask God to come into my life. I begged for forgivness of my past sins and to help me to resist temptations in the future. I told God how I knew that Christ was born of the Virgin, Suffered, died on the cross and was arisen. How do I know if God heard me and if He did that I am truly forgiven. I so want to be forgiven and have Christ come into my heart and guide me for the remainder of my days. I am willing to give up what ever is required from my Lord. I so want to be forgiving for my sixty years of sins.
Wolf
Wolf, I am overjoyed that you have repented and confessed to God your sins and put your trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. For those who believe in Him, they will be saved at His second coming…in fact, they already are saved (John 3:16-17). John 5:24 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” The fact is eternal life is a present possession as 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” Notice John says we KNOW. I praise God that He has brought you into the Kingdom of Heaven and you will be with Him forever, from now, until eternity…without end. Amen.
Jack,
I have a question regarding my fiance and I, as we are preparing to get married in October this year. We met in college and fell in love, and we are both Christians and were saved before meeting. We had sex at the beginning of our relationship, and then we felt terrible about our decisions and sin, and decided to stop until we were married. We have graduated and moved from college and now live together in an apartment, but have kept our promise to not engage in sex until marriage. We just want to stay together and not be apart. I want to know your thoughts on what our decisions early on in our relationship might have an effect in our marriage or the future, even though we have asked forgiveness for what we have done? We wish we could go back and change, and we feel terrible about that. And we have had negative feedback from our family about us living together, but we assure them that that we are not having sex and are trying to follow God’s plan for our lives. I would really appreciate any feedback, as this has really been bothering us for quite some time. We have a great relationship and love each other so much, and we knew that long ago. We couldn’t imagine a life without each other. We stopped having sex because we knew it was a sin and we love each other too much to ever jeopardize our relationship. Thank you for any comments and thoughts!
Hello Vince and thank you for your comment and question. I believe that your family is right and they are along the same lines as what God may believe too that living together without being married is wrong. First off, the temptation to have sex is too great living together and also, the laws of most states say that if a couple lives together for a certain amount of time they are what is called “a common law marriage” and so I believe it is wrong. Why can’t you wait until October? If you are so sure you’re meant for each other then there is no risk is there if you both live separately. What if you had a daughter or son and they decided to live together with another of the opposite sex. How would you feel? Since you both love one another so much and can’t imagine living life without each other then why not wait to live together after you are married in October.
I know you won’t like the answer but if you ask your pastor (if you have a church home that is) I believe he and almost any other pastor or priest would agree that this is sin and God will not bless this situation and the temptation to have sex living together is too great. I don’t recommend it and clearly God is not going to bless this situation at all and is not pleased.
Thank Jack, and that is the main issue we have had with family members. They believe that the sexual temptation is too strong, but we have done so for awhile now and we have become very frustrated with everyone accusing us of doing something we chose not to do. Financially it would be extemely difficult to live separately, and we still feel in our hearts that we are honoring our committment to wait for sex until marriage. Sex is the last thing we are concerned with in our relationship, it is an easy sacrifice for us. We have searched the bible and did not find anything concerning living together, only sex before marriage. I know you will still probably not agree, but we have felt very strongly about our decisions and feel in our hearts we are living in a way pleasing to God and have been stressed out having to convince others we are living a certain way and they do not believe us at our word, which really bothers me. I hope I am making sense a little more. Thanks again for any feedback!
I am not accusing you Vince and I am sorry others will but we are commanded to abstain from every appearance of evil Paul wrote. That is, even if it is clean living, we should not appear to be living in sin and appearances of evil create a stumbling block for non-believers as well as new Christians. Your argument from the Bible being silent does not work sir and I am sorry if I offend you…I don’t mean to. The Bible doesn’t say anything about abortion or pedophilia either but we know this is sin. I am telling you from experience that God is not pleased and will not bless this situation. If you are worried about finances and use that reason to justify the means, then you are putting your own needs ahead of God. Have you spoken with your pastor or any pastor or priest? I suggest you do and see if they wouldn’t agree. I beg you not to do this for both of yours sakes. You say you “you feel in your heart we are a living in a way pleasing to God” but our feelings are not truth and we can’t use our feelings to condone our behavior.
Jack,
Thank you for your advice, i really do appreciate it. And yes I have spoken with my pastor some but not in depth about our living situation. Could you elaborate a little more about what the bible says about living together? It is just hard for us to understand what is wrong about our living together. When you talk about how we should appear to be living in sin, it is just confusing to us how we are responsible for others judgment on us. I am just trying to make sense so you can see how we feel exactly, and I want to understand your thoughts more. Thanks
Thank you Vince. I would indeed talk to your pastor and go as a couple to him and not just yourself. I can not show you in Scripture every thing in the Bible that is sin because the Bible gives clear principles about living the Christian faith and just because the Bible does not single out every thing that is sin does not mean that is isn’t. As I said before, neither is pedophilia or abortion mentioned but we know its sin. Perhaps it isn’t in the Bible because it is obvious that a man and a woman are to join together but not outside of marriage. When you share a home for a period of time, many states classify this as common law marriage so the state itself sees you as this. Do you file as a couple on for taxes?
Please talk to your pastor. 1 Thess 5:22 says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” and this gives the appearance of evil, no doubt, even if nothing is happening. I would also turn to Ephesians chapter 5, where Paul indicates that the relationship of a husband and wife is designed to be a picture of Christ and His bride, the church. God takes our conduct in marriage very seriously because it reflects on Him. When God entered into relationship with man, He did so by means of covenants He made with them. So do men and women as couples.
As a long time marriage counselor, let me show you the statistics (even though you may reason “well, that’s not going to happen to us…” but please consider):
1. Those who live together before marriage are least likely to marry each other. Forty percent of couples who live together will end their relationships before marriage.
2. Those who live together before marriage have higher separation and divorce rates. The Journal of Marriage and Family reported marriages that are preceded by living together have 50 percent higher disruption rates than marriage without premarital cohabitation. The Universities of Chicago and Michigan reported that those who cohabit before marriage have substantially higher divorce rates than those who do not; the recorded differentials range from 50 to 100 percent.Researchers from Yale University, Columbia University and the Institute for Resource Development at Westinghouse revealed the divorce rates of women who cohabit are nearly 80 percent higher than the rates of those who do not. The University of Wisconsin at Madisonresearchers report that cohabitors perceived greater likelihood of divorce than couples who did not cohabit before marriage and the longer couples live together outside of marriage, the higher likelihood of divorce.
3. Those who live together before marriage have unhappier marriages. A review of 10 cohabitation studies found that those who cohabit prior to marriage show a significantly lower marital quality and have significantly higher risk of marital dissolution at any given duration. Couples who lived together before marriage also separated more often, sought counseling more often and regarded marriage as a less important part of their life than those who did not live together before marriage.
This is more serious than you believe. Share these thoughts with your wife and pastor when you speak to him and see what he says. For more on these cold, hard facts, I beg you to read “The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates Marriage” by Bumpass, Sweet and Cherlin, Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (1991) 913-927
Hi Jack!
I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I’m looking for a guide book or Bible companion book to help me make more sense of all the genealogies and names I find in the books of Kings and Chronicles. I really want to digest it and learn all I can from it, but it is just so difficult to keep up with all the names!
Thanks in advance,
Andrew
Andrew, thank you sir for your question. I must admit that I usually skip over the genealogies because they can bog me down. They are there as historical references to prove the lineage of Jesus Christ and His authenticity of being of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as in the line of David. I like the ESV Study Bibles called the Reformation Study Bible and the MacArthur Study Bible because the notes give us good information on the lineages without having to go thru them all. I also own a Chronological Bible which puts the Bible in time sequence. Don’t worry about skipping the lineages because they can sometimes slow down our study. I am not saying that they are not important. I also have An Introduction to the New Testament and An Introduction to the Old Testament that I use to supplement my reading and study of the Word. I am glad you have a hunger for the Word of God. That is a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is working in you sir.
Thanks Jack!
I do have a hunger for God’s Word. In particular, I enjoy arguing doctrine and correcting faulty interpretation, but sometimes I wonder if I’m really just in love with thinking that I’m right. I’d like to think I can be open minded and willing to admit when I’m wrong. I’ve never been through formal schooling such as seminary, I don’t even have a high school diploma. When I got saved in Feb 2002 I started getting on my knees every night and praying for discernment and understanding from God, reading His Word every day. I can’t recite scripture, can’t recall chapter and verse very well, but I believe I understand the teachings of God’s Word pretty well. I desire to know the truth and to know that I know it. I want to be sure. So I find I’m always going back over doctrines and checking myself on them. God provided me with the discernment and understanding I so craved, and still crave to this day.
I often listen to Christian talk radio and find myself marveling at how much knowledge some of the hosts have! Then I think, I really don’t know much of anything!
I want to have that much knowledge of God’s Word! That’s what impels me to seek greater understanding of the goings on in the Old Testament. Folks like David Jerimiah, Chuck Swindoll, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley and Hank Hanegraaf have all inspired me to want to know the Bible as well as I can. For all this talk of desiring to know God’s Word to the fullest I can, I find that I struggle even to make it to church. I don’t have many friends, just two or three and none of them are Christians. Up to now, I feel like I have not truly been living for Christ. I feel like I have not been of much use to God. I know for sure there have been times when He has sent people my way and I did my best to be accurate and true with His Word when dealing with/helping those people, but I wish I was more greatly used. I think perhaps because I allow myself to be influenced too much by the world that my capacity is diminished… maybe kind of like Lot with all of his worldly friends.
Well, this was not really the topic I had in mind when I started, but thank you so much for your guidance for studying the Word of Truth. May God bless your richly with mercy and goodness!
Andrew
Thanks Andrew for such an honest comment and I think it is good to expose false doctrines for we are commanded to do so in the Bible. These teachers, “David Jerimiah, Chuck Swindoll, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley and Hank Hanegraaf” are excellent sources for the truth and you will find much growth in listening to them. I also like Chip Ingram, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and others.
I pray God will use you in a powerful way for His glory for that’s what its all about my good friend. Your comments are an encouragement to me.
Hello Pastor Jack,
I was recently baptized and I’m starting to think I wasn’t quite ready spiritually for the journey. I have already back-slided and I was so ashamed i almost cried. I know that God is a forgiving one but i also know that i should have avoided the temptations and been strong enough in my faith to say no. I told a minister in my church and she scolded me. Which made me feel even worse.
Also I don’t know how to pray. I know it sounds weird but im serious. Every time i start praying i feel like an idiot that doesn’t know how to do it properly. I always get side tracked or forget what I’m praying about mid-sentence. I know its because I’m still a baby of Christ but still. It’s been weighing heavy on my mind.
I would just like to know if you can give me any scriptures that i can use for reference regarding my first problem and what you think I can do about my lack of interest when it comes to my religion. Anything you suggest will be valued.
Even if you don’t respond I still thank you for taking the time out to post the order of the bible to read. I tried to read from genesis and stopped halfway. Too much of the son of .. , son of .. son of .. from the land of to the son of stuff for me to actually enjoy it.
Anyways, Thanks in advance again for your response. Greatly appreciated.
Nashyla.
Thank you Nashyla for your comment. Don’t worry about the so and so was son of…and son of…just skip that part. It’s not necessary to get bogged down on those…but the gospel of John, and 1, 2, and 3rd John are great for new believers or old. The good news is that you are in the Bible and reading it daily and this will renew your mind (Romans 12:1-2) because there is power in the Word of God.
For more on how to pray, check this out. It is a Scriptural based article called How Should I Pray? at:
http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/how-should-i-pray-a-biblical-analysis/
Am realy in love with this media keep it up & may God increase u with unction tu function in diz roll remain bless.
Hi jack!
I loved this article but if you don’t mind replying, I have a question. I’m a teen girl and I recently noticed that I haven’t been going to church recently, I sort just kind of forgot about God. But tonight just kind of changed me. I feel as if God told me to come to him and to love him. I reached for my bible and I did not know where to start. To be honest, the bible is very confusing for me. Where do I start to read in the bible for a teen girl who doesn’t necessarily understand everything in the bible?
Reagan, and thank you for your comment. Please re-read this article because it gives you a list to begin with which is:
The Gospel of John
The Gospel of Mark
I John
II John
III John
Genesis
Ephesians
Galatians
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Matthew
I Corinthians
II Corinthians
Romans
Psalms
Proverbs
Also, if you are wanting to get closer to God, you must be in the Body of Christ the church for that is where Jesus is and He is the Head of the Church. There are no lone ranger, solitary, single Christians anywhere in the Bible so you are being disobedient as Hebrews 10:25 says, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” You need a Bible teacher, a pastor, and other Christians. Just read Romans chapter 12 and I Cor chapter 13 and see if you can do this by yourself. Impossible.
Thank you so much!
Thank you Nousernameavalible for your question. Which other gospels do you mean my friend? The gospel of Judas or of Mary? Could you be specific about these other “twelve gospels?”
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