Never Went To Sunday School

Martyn Jellett | Added: Jul 07, 2026 | Category: Reviews

This book is for those who never went to Sunday School – and for those who did – because much of what passes for ‘Christianity’ today is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you have ever opened the Bible and felt overwhelmed, you are not alone. The first time you open it, it can feel strange – unfamiliar names, ancient places, long lists, laws and stories that seem disconnected. Many people lose heart and quietly close it again, so they do not read on. This book is written to help you keep going.

My wife said something that encouraged me more than any compliment: this book helped her approach the Bible, and it gave her a genuine desire to read more – to follow the stories and characters for herself, and to see how they speak coherently of Jesus Christ. That is exactly what I want for you, too. The Bible becomes compelling – a real page-turning read – when you are given the context and the key. And the key is Christ.

So, I am asking you to do one thing as you read: keep your Bible open. Read the passages. Check everything. Do not take my word for it. This book is a guide, not an authority. The authority is Scripture.

One reason people get lost is that Scripture is so often taken out of context. When you rely on a vicar, priest, or religious system to do all the reading and interpreting for you, this is often where everything goes wrong. Some treat the Bible like a religious manual – ‘do this, do not do that’ – or reduce it to morals and life tips. Others, even sincere ones, read it but miss Christ, turning it into a ladder of self-effort: guilt for your failure, or false hope in your works. And sometimes it is handled through simplified paraphrases that blur what God has actually said. 

But the Bible is not an instruction manual on how to live well so that God will accept you. It is about one thing: Jesus Christ.

‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ (John 14:6)

That is why we are going to walk through every book of the Old Testament, but at speed – a short guide for an age of information overload. The aim is not to make you a scholar. The aim is to make the Scriptures more accessible, so that when you read the Bible at your leisure, it is no longer a fog of disconnected stories. You begin to see your Saviour in every chapter.

I will explain later why we start with the Old Testament, but the simple answer is this: the Bible is one book. Not an ‘old angry God’ in the Old Testament and a ‘kind God’ in the New. It is the same God throughout – holy, merciful and faithful to save sinners (you and me) – fulfilled in what Jesus Christ has done.

This is for the curious as much as for the convinced. For those who think Richard Dawkins, Prof. Brian Cox, or Ricky Gervais have said all that needs to be said about existence, reality or God. For those who assume the Bible is just fairy tales and moral lessons. It isn’t.

When I was young, I ran as far from Jesus Christ as I could. I hated being mocked for going to church, so I ran to hedonism instead. I’ve lived a life of contradiction, loving Christ on the one hand, and on the other being deeply sinful. As Don Fortner once said, ‘Whatever you’ve heard about me, it’s worse.’ And he was right about me, too.

Yet Jesus didn’t come for the well. He came for the sick.

God used my wife, who isn’t from a Christian background at all, to pull me back from complete ruin. Her love steadied me when I was determined to destroy myself. Without knowing it, she put the brakes on my life until I could pick up my Bible again.

Even now, I still sin in thought and deed, even while praying, and I will until the day I die. The Bible isn’t about self-improvement. If that were the message, it would be utterly hopeless. If God required me to ‘be good enough’, I would be damned already. And so would you, if you are honest with yourself.

We lust, we envy, we lie, we puff ourselves up, we think we are good. That is sin and we cannot stop sinning by our own strength.

Are we to carry on sinning then? God forbid. The difference for the saved sinner is this: the Holy Spirit convicts, corrects and brings us back to Christ. We don’t crawl to a priest; we cry out to the Lord Himself through the only acceptable sacrifice, Jesus Christ and His blood shed for us.

The wicked delight in sin or deny it. The self-righteous deny they are sinners at all. The little old lady in the pew who believes she is ‘good’ stands just as condemned as the prostitute and her customers. God hates self-righteousness precisely because it treats the death of His Son as unnecessary.

This book is also for anyone who has ever wondered why Jesus Christ alone is mocked, blasphemed, turned into a swear word, and dragged through the mud in films, comedy, music and culture. No one curses using Buddha’s name. No one cries ‘Oh Mohammed!’ when they hit their thumb. Why? Because the devil hates Christ.

The others are no threat to him.

All other religions ultimately preach the same thing: Do better. Try harder. Be moral. Fix yourself.

But the Bible says we are fallen, corrupt by nature, and incapable of pleasing God. Even the devout Muslim who avoids pork and alcohol still sins in thought and heart, just like every other human. If their god can ignore sin without payment, then he is not God at all. That spirit, the spirit of self-righteousness, is the same spirit that cast Satan from heaven.

Christianity alone reveals a Saviour who is God Almighty, who became man, not created, not made, but incarnate; humbling Himself to live as we do, yet without sin. Only He could bear the punishment we deserve and make His people righteous. He died, rose again, ascended, and will meet us face to face in the world to come, but only those who are His.

If you have no desire for Him, no belief in His Gospel, and no love for His Word, then He did not die for you. Hard words, but true. But, if you are seeking Him but not sure what to do or where to start, or struggling to make sense of life, be comforted. The only reason you are seeking Him, is because He is calling you.

Satan hates mankind; why do you think this fallen world is so cruel? He longs to drag as many as he can into his own eternal doom, because there is no salvation for fallen angels. They rebelled without a tempter. But we, Christ’s people, were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.

So, ask yourself something: Where would the devil work hardest to deceive?

Not among atheists, they already sleep. Not among the indifferent; they already drift. No, he works most fiercely inside churches, among people who are close to the truth.

He uses everything: media, schools, films, science-as-religion, celebrity culture, environmentalism, ancestor worship, spiritualism, children’s stories, even Christmas and Easter. Christmas has become a celebration of ‘Santa’, a man who rewards behaviour, telling children they are good, which is a lie. Easter has become bunnies and chocolate, drowning out the cross.

But Satan’s favourite pulpit is the church pew. His most effective lies are preached in churches that sound respectable, conservative, and evangelical. These churches aren’t openly wicked; they just twist the message ever so slightly:

A little effort required. A little righteousness needed from you to prepare you for heaven. A little help to get yourself over the line.

It is satanic because it denies the finished work of Christ. If you could contribute to your salvation, even one percent, why would Jesus need to die at all? John 19:30 and Galatians 2:21.

This is why Christianity seems bizarre or confusing to people who have only seen its counterfeits. The real Gospel is simple, sharp, and humbling:

You and I are sinners in need of a Saviour.

Christ is that Saviour.

We escape this dying world not through rituals, religion, or moral striving, but through Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

So, let’s be clear: this book is not here to debate God’s existence. Death does that well enough. Even the Freemasons talk about a ‘higher power’, though their rituals are occultic knowledge and anyone involved must repent and flee to Christ.

This book has one purpose: To give you the key that unlocks the Bible and the key is this: The whole Bible, every page, speaks of Jesus Christ.

Genesis to Revelation, every story, symbol, prophecy and sacrifice points to Him. These short chapters are here to help you see Him clearly.

If you seek Him, you will find Him.

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