The New Testament Made Easy: A 60-Day Bible Study to Grow Your Faith

By Zach Windahl

A Straightforward Overview of the Entire New Testament

Studying the Bible can be overwhelming, and many resources overcomplicate the process. Author and Bible teacher Zach Windahl offers a simple, streamlined approach that takes you through every book of the New Testament in 60 days. With handy overviews and daily entries that contain a breakdown of passages to read, thoughtful teaching points, and personal application questions--all organized in an eye-catching design--this book will help you

· see the big-picture story of the entire Bible
· learn to engage with Scripture confidently
· cultivate a deeper relationship with God

Not only will you come away with a better understanding of Jesus and His heart for you, but you will also discover a better sense of meaning and purpose for your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9781493449750

Zach Windahl

Author and entrepreneur Zach Windahl has helped hundreds of thousands of people better understand the Bible and grow closer to God. He is the founder of The Brand Sunday and the author of several books, including The Bible Study for Kids, The New Testament Made Easy, and See the Good. Zach lives in Orlando, Florida, with his wife, Gisela, and their dog, Nyla. Learn more at ZachWindahl.com.

Book preview

Also by Zach Windahl

The Bible Study

The Bible Study: Youth Edition

The Bible Study for Kids

Launch with God

See the Good

See the Good Journal

© 2024 by Zach Windahl

Published by Bethany House Publishers

Minneapolis, Minnesota

BethanyHouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-4975-0

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016

Scripture quotations labeled MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture quotations labeled NASB are taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

This book contains original material as well as excerpts from The Bible Study: Part Two: New Testament by Zach Windahl, published by The Brand Sunday, 2017; Sunday School: The Basics by Zach Windahl, published by The Brand Sunday, 2020; and The Bible Study: Youth Edition by Zach Windahl, published by The Brand Sunday, 2019.

Cover design by Katlyn Hovland

Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.

Contents

Cover

Half Title Page

Also by Zach Windahl

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction

Basics of Christianity

Big-Picture Story of the Bible

Key Figures in the New Testament

60-Day Goals

Gospel of Matthew

Day 1: Read Matthew 1–4

Day 2: Read Matthew 5–8

Day 3: Read Matthew 9–12

Day 4: Read Matthew 13–15

Day 5: Read Matthew 16–20

Day 6: Read Matthew 21–24

Day 7: Read Matthew 25–28

Gospel of Mark

Day 8: Read Mark 1–4

Day 9: Read Mark 5–7

Day 10: Read Mark 8–10

Day 11: Read Mark 11–13

Day 12: Read Mark 14–16

Gospel of Luke

Day 13: Read Luke 1–3

Day 14: Read Luke 4–6

Day 15: Read Luke 7–9

Day 16: Read Luke 10–12

Day 17: Read Luke 13–16

Day 18: Read Luke 17–20

Day 19: Read Luke 21–24

Gospel of John

Day 20: Read John 1–4

Day 21: Read John 5–7

Day 22: Read John 8–10

Day 23: Read John 11–13

Day 24: Read John 14–17

Day 25: Read John 18–21

Acts

Day 26: Read Acts 1–4

Day 27: Read Acts 5–7

Day 28: Read Acts 8–11

Day 29: Read Acts 12–14

Day 30: Read Acts 15–18

Day 31: Read Acts 19–23

Day 32: Read Acts 24–28

Bonus: Paul’s Missionary Journeys

Romans

Day 33: Read Romans 1–5

Day 34: Read Romans 6–10

Day 35: Read Romans 11–16

1 Corinthians

Day 36: Read 1 Corinthians 1–5

Day 37: Read 1 Corinthians 6–11

Day 38: Read 1 Corinthians 12–16

Bonus: Understanding Spiritual Gifts

2 Corinthians

Day 39: Read 2 Corinthians 1–4

Day 40: Read 2 Corinthians 5–9

Day 41: Read 2 Corinthians 10–13

Galatians

Day 42: Read Galatians 1–6

Ephesians

Day 43: Read Ephesians 1–6

Philippians

Day 44: Read Philippians 1–4

Colossians

Day 45

1 and 2 Thessalonians

Day 46: Read 1 Thessalonians 1–5 and 2 Thessalonians 1–3

1 and 2 Timothy

Day 47: Read 1 Timothy 1–6 and 2 Timothy 1–4

Titus

Philemon

Day 48

Hebrews

Day 49: Read Hebrews 1–3

Day 50: Read Hebrews 4–8

Day 51: Read Hebrews 9–13

James

Day 52: Read James 1–5

1 Peter

Day 53: Read 1 Peter 1–5

2 Peter

Day 54: Read 2 Peter 1–3

1, 2, and 3 John

Day 55: Read 1 John 1–5, 2 John 1, and 3 John 1

Jude

Revelation

Day 56: Read Jude and Revelation 1–4

Day 57: Read Revelation 5–9

Day 58: Read Revelation 10–14

Day 59: Read Revelation 15–18

Day 60: Read Revelation 19–22

Congratulations!

60-Day Reflection

How to Share the Gospel

Trivia Questions and Answers

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Back Cover

Introduction

I know that God aligned our paths on purpose, and I couldn’t be more excited about what He is going to do in your life during this sixty-day journey together through the New Testament.

My prayer is not only for you to have a better understanding of the Word, but also that you will find a better sense of meaning for your life and really understand the heart of our Father. He loves you so much and is delighted that you want to spend time getting to know Him through Scripture.

The focus of this study is to hold your hand as you read the New Testament from Matthew through Revelation. All you need is a Bible and this workbook. The content is intended for anyone who wants to understand the New Testament better. No matter your age or the depth of your relationship with Jesus, I believe you will learn something new in these sixty days.

Before fully diving into the books of the New Testament, we will begin by looking at the basics of Christianity, the big-picture story of the entire Bible, and an overview of the New Testament.

Every day you will be assigned to read three to six chapters from the Bible, depending on their size. Don’t worry, I spaced them out so that the reading is manageable. Once you have read the text, you will spend fifteen to thirty minutes journaling your responses to the questions for the day. At the end of each week, there will be a recap to see how you are feeling.

One final note: Just like you, I want to know the truth, so I spend a lot of my time soaking in the Word of God and researching views of scholarly believers around the world. I love studying, really. It brings me to life. With that said, this study is a compilation of material I have gathered over the last few years and translated into modern terms to help better your understanding (and mine) of the text. While many of the details are not agreed upon by all scholars and Bible students, such as the dates of writing of a particular book or even the details of an author, what I have included here is a reflection of my intensive study. By no means am I an expert or a scholar. I just love helping people further their faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

That’s it! That’s all I’ve got for you. Enjoy!

Zach

Basics of Christianity

Before we get started, we need to build the foundation of our faith. The following seven pillars are the starting point for understanding the Bible and growing in your relationship with God, whether you recently accepted Jesus as your Savior or have been practicing Christianity your entire life.

God the Father and what it means to be a child of God.

Jesus Christ and how He saved you and me.

The Holy Spirit and the power we are given.

The Bible and the story of humanity as a whole.

Prayer and how we communicate with God.

Grace and the favor that is placed upon us.

Community and the importance of doing life with others.

GOD THE FATHER

Also known as Lord God, YHWH, Abba, Elohim, Jehovah, Ancient of Days, Most High, El-Shaddai, Adonai

Who Is God the Father?

First things first. To understand who God is, you need to understand that He consists of three equal persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. There is nothing in our reality that we can compare it to, which makes understanding the three-part nature of God fairly difficult. Many theologians have tried to break it down into analogies, such as water, ice, and mist, or all the pieces of an egg: shell, yolk, and egg white. All of which have their own purpose separately as well as their purpose together. Our God, the one true God, is Three in One.

The initial person of the Trinity is God the Father. We see God the Father predominantly in the first section of the Bible, called the Old Testament, where we begin to understand the nature of God. We see him as holy, faithful, just, and all-knowing, and as a protector, friend, provider; He is a true father figure to His children, pouring out unconditional love on them.

What Does That Mean for Me?

God the Father loves His Son, Jesus, more than anything in the world. Since we have accepted Jesus into our lives and we are now viewed through the lens of Jesus (which we will look at next), God the Father loves us