The Chain Reference Bible Marking Plan

This easy-to-use Bible marking plan will place a wealth of Bible knowledge at your fingertips-either to share with others or for your own personal study and enrichment. By following these simple instructions you can follow key subjects throughout the Bible, learning what God’s Word has to say about each important topic. You will be comparing text with text, just as the Bible itself suggests we should do in order to understand God’s message. Your Bible will become an encyclopedia of biblical information connected into a series of fascinating Bible studies.

Here’s how to go about it.

1.      Copy the Bible Study Index onto a blank page at the back of your Bible. For each lesson, write the lesson title, the code for that lesson, and the “key text.” Use only one line per lesson for recording this information; the result should look the same as the Index. This will provide the starting point for each of the thirty-one Bible lessons.

2.      Next, mark your Bible with the chain-reference texts for each lesson, using the outline provided in this study. For example, Lesson 1-How to understand the Bible-begins with the key text: John 17:17. Turn to this text in your Bible. Use the appropriate colored pencil and a ruler to draw a vertical line beside this verse in the margin of your Bible. Then lightly highlight the text, or key phrases, with your colored pencil. (As you go through Lesson 1, you will mark each verse in the lesson in the same way and with the same color.)

3.      Next, write in the margin beside John 17:17 the code for Lesson 1 and the next text in that verse. For example, you should write 2UB 2 Timothy 2:15. This will tell you the next text to look up as you follow Lesson 1.

4.      Now turn to 2 Timothy 2:15 and mark it the same way you have marked John 17:17. In the margin, you will draw a vertical line in the color and write, 3UB Isaiah 28:9,10. This will tell you the third text in the lesson.

5.      Continue in this way through Lesson 1, marking each text in the lesson. Beside the last text in Lesson 1, write: UB-End.

6.      Mark each of the thirty-one lessons in the same way, using the appropriate color for each lesson.

7.      Sometimes, a lesson will contain other Bible references in addition to the main texts to help fill out the point being made. You can include these texts in your marking plan as follows:  

a.    In the margin beside the main text to which the additional text refers, write an asterisk (*).

b.    At the bottom of the page in your Bible, write an asterisk like a footnote and list the additional text(s). When studying this lesson, you’ll be able to go to this cross-referenced text and then go back to the main text to which it refers to continue the study.

c.    If you use the same page again for other lessons, use two asterisks (**) to show which texts go with that lesson.

Note: Use colored pencils when marking texts-rather than a felt marking pen or ink-since these can bleed through the paper. I suggest using eight colors to add interest and to be able to easily follow individual lessons. If you follow this eight- color marking system, you will be able to identify easily the general category into which a particular lesson fits.

 

1. RED for the plan of salvation, restoration, and related subjects. Red signifies the innocent blood of Jesus, shed for the sinner.
2. YELLOW for lessons related to the second coming of Christ. Yellow stands for the brilliance and glory of His appearing.
3. ORANGE for the sanctuary, the 2,300-day prophecy, judgment, and other subjects relating to the sanctuary. Orange reminds us of the gold of the sanctuary.
4. GREEN for Bible prophecy and the Spirit of Prophecy.
5. BLUE for the Ten Commandments, Christian standards, and obedience. Blue symbolizes integrity and consistency.
6. PURPLE for the origin of sin, Satan, man’s apostasy, the antichrist, etc. Christ was mocked with a purple robe by His enemies.
7. BROWN for death, hell, the soul, and related subjects. Brown symbolizes the color of dust.
8. BLACK for miscellaneous subjects, promises, and general topics.

 

Contents

1. How to Understand the Bible
2. The Origin of Sin
3. Steps to Christ
4. Christ’s Coming
5. Signs of the Times
6. The Millennium
7. Heaven
8. Hellfire
9. Life after Death
10. Angels
11. The Law of God (Ten Commandments)
12. Law and Grace
13. Once Saved, Always Saved
14. The Bible Sabbath
15. Sunday in the Bible
16. The Change of the Sabbath
17. How to Keep the Sabbath
18. Tithing
19. Healthful Living
20. Right Standards
21. The Sanctuary
22. The 2,300-Day Prophecy
23. The Judgment
24. Baptism
25. The Communion Service
26. The Remnant Church
27. God’s Gathering Call
28. The Three Angel’s Message
29. The Spirit of Prophecy
30. The Seven Last Plagues
31. The Unpardonable Sin

 

Bible Study Index

 

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