Approaching the Bible for the first time can be intimidating.

Where should you begin?

John Goldingay’s reliable and clear guide to exploring the Bible places the biblical books in their times and settings, and then lays out a memorable pattern for understanding the Bible as the story of God and his people, the word of God to his people, and the people s response to God.

Richard Bauckham explains how the book’s imagery conveyed meaning in its original context and how the book’s theology is inseparable from its literary structure and composition.

Revelation is seen to offer a theocentric vision of the coming of God’s universal kingdom, in the context of the late first-century world dominated by Roman power and ideology.

It calls on Christians to confront the political idolatries of the time and to participate in God’s purpose of gathering all the nations into his kingdom. Once Revelation is properly grounded in its original context it is seen to transcend that context and speak to the contemporary church.

This study concludes by highlighting Revelation’s continuing relevance for today.

How can Jesus’ followers grow in grace and godliness?

In this follow-up to Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, Ortlund explains that sanctification does not happen by doing more or becoming better, but by going deeper into the gospel truths that washed over us when we were first united with Christ.

144 pages, hardcover from Crossway.