The Easy Study Bible: Galatians through Philemon

The Easy Study Bible translation, is the result of my twenty-six years in the Gospel Ministry, and from being a high school English teacher before that.

Many times over my early years as a pastor, I would grow frustrated in my efforts to teach the Bible for understanding to church members who didn't understand the basics of Hebrew and Greek. True, some passages jump out at anyone reading them, no matter which translation they use. My goal has always been that all who read the Bible would not only understand it the way God intended for them to, but also to be able to apply each truth to their lives. That, I think, takes greater understanding.

When I began teaching a Pastor's Sunday School Class in the early 1990s, I searched for a way to help my class understand better. I felt this was important since the class started out as a New Members Class. Too many new Christians become frustrated at their first attempts to study the Bible.

Well, the answer came to me from my English teacher background. Do you remember when you had to diagram sentences in your English classes? Please don't run away screaming yet! I know. They were usually painful experiences. I felt the same way when I was a student.

If you can get past the painful memories, please think about the finished product. Once you diagramed a long complicated sentence, it became much more clear to you. You could understand what was modifying what, and what the action was and what or who was causing it. In other words, it made the sentence much more understandable.

That is what I began to do with the Bible passages we studied in that class. I took the principles of the sentence diagram and adjusted it to fit verses of the Bible. Immediately, the whole class began to gain a better understanding of each passage we studied.

Over the years since then, I have used this method constantly, not only in small group studies, but also in church Bible studies with great success.

One benefit that I didn't expect is that this method helps tremendously in sermon preparation. When I begin to prepare a sermon, I take the focal passage and diagram it. This allows me to see how the verses naturally (the way I think God intended) fall into separate thoughts. Many times, this process will give me all the points of the outline without trying to make the passage say what it does not say.

Now, let's look at this project. Do we need another translation of the Bible? In a word, No!

I have long admired the Wycliffe Bible Translators whose goal is to translate the Bible into every language of the world so all will have the opportunity to read God's message to them. I've also admired the Gideons International whose goal is to place a Bible in every hand in the world.

My goal is a combination of the goals of the Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Gideons International. I want to take God's word and make it easier for everyone to read and understand.

Now, here is why we need a new translation of the Bible. Simply put, the major Bible publishers do not seem to be interested in a Bible version which is diagramed. Therefore, to avoid infringing on any existing copyrights, I had to start with my own translation.

You will find The Easy Study Bible translation to be as close to literal as possible while still preserving proper English grammatical structure. This is important to me. I find that many of the modern translations, especially ones that are more literal, are clumsy at best and grammatically inaccurate at worst.

James Free!

In order to give everyone an opportunity to sample the Easy Study Bible before purchasing it, the book of James will be available in E-Book version free. It will be available on my webpage, and other online distributors.

The book of James will soon be included in a new release, which will also contain 1 Peter and 2 Peter.

I want to hear from you as you use the Easy Study Bible translation. If you have suggestions, corrections, or any comments, please email me at trennis@trenniskillian.com.

How to Use the Easy Study Bible

You may read the Easy Study Bible it the same way you would any other Bible. Each of the releases will have a paragraph version in the back of the book.

The Easy Study Bible is most effective when used as a study tool. This is where the structure of the diagram allows for better understanding of each passage that you study.

I will use James 4:7-8 to illustrate how to do several of the actions that were mentioned in the introduction.

⁷ Therefore,

submit to God.

Resist the devil,

and he will flee from you.

⁸ Draw near to God

and He will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands,

sinners,

and purify your hearts

you double-minded.

First, if I were writing a sermon on this passage, I can immediately see the perfect three-point sermon in it.

I. Submit to God

II. Resist the Devil

III. Draw Near to God

Notice how easy that was. Next I would flesh out point II. a little.

II. Resist the Devil

He will flee from you

Next, point III.

III. Draw Near to God

He will draw near to you

How do we do this?

Cleanse our hands

Purify our hearts

You can easily see how to continue from there.

Second, for those who want to get to the full meaning of the passage, they can easily answer the following questions from the diagram:

1. What is the subject of this passage?

Submission to God

2. How do we do this?

Resist the Devil

Draw near to God

3. What will be the result of this action?

The devil will flee from you.

God will draw near to you.

Do you get the idea? It's easy and fun to study the Bible, especially when you understand it better each time you do.

Try it out, and if you discover new and different ways to use the Easy Study Bible, please let me know so I can share them with others.

My webpage will have a whole section devoted to the Easy Study Bible, and one page will be dedicated to reader feedback. There will also be a page of Hints & Tips.

www.trenniskillian.com

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Outlines

Outline of Galatians

Chapter One

Greeting 1-5

Departure from Grace 6-9

Grace Is Given by Divine Revelation 10-24

Chapter Two

Paul Defends His Teaching at Jerusalem 1-10

Freedom from the Law 11-21

Chapter Three

Justification through Faith 1-9

Law and Promise 10-18

Purpose of the Law 19-29

Chapter Four

Paul's Concern for the Galatians 8-20

Law and Grace Cannot Coexist 21-31

Chapter Five

Freedom of the Christian 1-15

The Spirit versus the Flesh 16-26

Chapter Six

Bear One Another's Burdens 1-5

Do Not Be Weary While Doing Good 6-10

Concluding Exhortation 11-18

Outline of Ephesians

Chapter One

Greeting 1-2

God's Rich Blessings 3-14

Prayer for Revelation 15-23

Chapter Two

From Death to Life 1-10

Unity in Christ 11-22

Chapter Three

Paul's Ministry to the Gentiles 1-13

Prayer for Spiritual Power 14-21

Chapter Four

Unity and Diversity 1-16

Living the New Life 17-32

Chapter Five

Light versus Darkness 6-14

Consistency in the Christian Life 15-21

Wives and Husbands 22-33

Chapter Six

Children and Parents 1-4

Slaves and Masters 5-9

Put on the Armor of God 10-21

Paul's Farewell 22-24

Outline of Philippians

Chapter One

Greeting 1-2

Thanksgiving and Prayer 3-11

Advancement of the Gospel 12-20

Living Is Christ 21-30

Chapter Two

Exhortation to Humility 1-4

Christ's Example of Humility 5-16

Paul's Example of Humility 17-18

Timothy's Example of Humility 19-24

Epaphroditus' Example of Humility 25-30

Chapter Three

Knowing Christ 1-11

Reach for God's Goal 12-21

Chapter Four

Good Advice 1-3

Peace with the Lord 4-9

Appreciation for Support 10-20

Final Greetings 21-23

Outline of Colossians

Chapter One

Greeting 1-2

Thanksgiving 3-8

Prayer for Spiritual Growth 9-14

Christ Is Preeminent 15-23

Paul's Ministry 24-29

Chapter Two

The Colossian Heresy 4-23

Chapter Three

The Life of the New Man 1-11

Christian Life 12-17

Christ in The Home 18-25

Chapter Four

Holiness in Public Life 2-6

Commendation of Tychicus 7-9

Greetings from Paul's Friends 10-18

Outline of 1 Thessalonians

Chapter One

Greeting 1

Thanksgiving 2-10

Chapter Two

Paul's Behavior 1-12

Opposition to the Message 13-16

Paul's Desire to See Them 17-20

Chapter Three

Anxiety in Athens 1-6

Encouraged by Timothy 7-10

Prayer for the Church 11-13

Chapter Four

Call for Sanctification 1-8

Brotherly Love 9-12

The Promise of Christ's Coming 13-18

Chapter Five

The Day of the Lord 1-11

Exhortations and Blessings 12-28

Outline of 2 Thessalonians

Chapter One

Greeting 1-2

God's Judgment and Glory 3-12

Chapter Two

Lawlessness 1-12

Stand Firm 13-17

Chapter Three

Request for Prayer 1-5

Warning against Irresponsible Behavior 6-15

Final Greetings 16-18

Outline of 1 Timothy

Chapter One

Greeting 1-2

False Teachings 3-11

Paul's Testimony 12-17

Fight the Good Fight 18-20

Chapter Two

Prayer 1-7

Men and Women 8-15

Chapter Three

Qualifications of Church Leaders 1-13

Godliness 14-16

Chapter Four

Demonic Influence 1-5

Jesus, the Good Servant 6-10

Ministry Instructions 11-16

Chapter Five

Support of Widows 3-16

Honoring Elders 17-25

Chapter Six

Honoring Masters 1-2

False Doctrine and Greed 3-10

Compete for the Faith 11-16

To the Rich 17-19

Be on Guard 20-21

Outline of 2 Timothy

Chapter One

Greeting 1-2

Thanksgiving 3-7

Do Not Be Ashamed of the Good News 8-18

Chapter Two

Be Strong in Grace 1-13

Be an Approved Worker 14-26

Chapter Three

Prediction of Difficult Times 1-9

The Sacred Scriptures 10-17

Chapter Four

Fulfill Your Ministry 1-8

Final Instructions 9-18

Final Greetings 19-22

Outline of Titus

Chapter One

Greeting 1-4

Titus' Ministry in Crete 5-16

Chapter Two

Sound Teaching 1-15

Chapter Three

Importance of Good Works 1-11

Closing 12-15

Outline of Philemon

Greetings 1-3

Philemon's Love and Faith 4-7

Appeal to Onesimus 8-22

Final Greetings 23-25

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The Easy Study Bible Diagram of Galatians

Chapter One

Greeting

¹ Paul,

an apostle,

not sent from men

nor by man,

but by Jesus Christ

and God the Father,

who raised Him from the dead,

² and all the brethren

who are with me:

To the churches of Galatia.

³ Grace

to you

and

peace

from God the Father

and our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴ who gave Himself

for our sins

to rescue us

from this present evil age,

according to the will of our God and Father,

⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Departure from Grace

⁶ I am amazed

that you are so quickly turning away

from Him who called you

by the grace of Christ,

and

to a different gospel;

⁷ which is really not another,

only there are some

who are disturbing you

and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁸ But even if we

or an angel from heaven

should preach

to you

a gospel other than what we have preached

to you,

let him be cursed.

⁹ As we have said before,

so I now say again,

if anyone preaches

to you

a gospel contrary to what you received,

let him be cursed.

Grace Is Given by Divine Revelation

¹⁰ For

am I now seeking the favor

of men,

or of God?