The Natural Divisions of the Bible
III. The Natural Divisions of the Bible
A. The Old Testament
1. It's purpose is to lead to the coming of Christ
2. The Messianic thread of hope runs through the entire
Old Testament
3. The Prophetic hope of the coming Messiah can be read
through the Old Testament and lead one to find the
Messiah of promise
B. The Gospels
1. Their purpose is to lead a person to believe that Jesus
is the Christ
2. The Gospels reveal Christ to us
3. The four books in this division are Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John and may be considered as biographies of the life of Christ
4. The first Gospel, Matthew, begins with the birth of Christ
5. There is enough evidence in these four accounts to convince
a person that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Old
Testament
6. Matthew makes his appeal that Jesus is the Christ and makes
extensive use of Old Testament prophecy to confirm his claim
7. Mark, the shortest of the Gospels, begins with the ministry of
John as Jesus comes from Nazareth in Galilee to be immersed
in the Jordon River
8. Luke, who also wrote the book of Acts, addresses his treatise
to his friend, Theophilus, 'so that he might know the exact truth
about the things' he had been taught [Luke 1:1-4]
9. John in his Gospel gives sufficient proof that Jesus is the Christ
and states that more proof could have been given if that had
been necessary [John 20:30-31]
C. The Acts of the Apostles
1. The book of Acts tells a person how to become a Christian
2. This book appears in the Bible in the logical order
3. When a person believes that Jesus is the Christ, he will want
to become a follower of Christ
4. This book tells the reader exactly how to become a Christian
5. Acts gives specific examples of the different steps of salvation
6. It is the only book in the Bible that tells a person how to
become a Christian
a) Acts 2 - The first gospel sermon answering the question,
'Brethren, what shall we do?'
b) Acts 8 - The message proclaimed to those of Samaria
as well as one from Ethiopia
c) Acts 9, 22, & 26 - The three accounts detailing the
conversion of Saul, who later would be known as
the Apostle Paul
d) Acts 16 - The gospel is received by Lydia and her household
as well as a jailor from Philippi along with his household
D. The Letters or Epistles
1. This grouping contains the New Testament books from Romans
through Jude
2. These writings teach a person how to live the Christian life
3. If one becomes a Christian, as the early believers did in Acts,
then he will want to know how to live faithfully for Christ
4. These books provide sufficient instruction for Godly living
5. The Epistles can be summarized by II Peter 1:1-11
E. The Revelation to John
1. The purpose of this book is to encourage the Christian to be
faithful to Christ unto death
2. There are times when the Christian way is hard, dark and
discouraging
3. There is rest for the weary, joy for the sorrowing, peace for the
persecuted and a reward for the faithful at the end of life
4. The Christian must endeavor to be true to God at all times
until time ends
5. The Christian will have aches, pains, heartaches and troubles,
but he should take courage in the fact that God is with him
and will never leave or forsake him
6.. The Christian who remains faithful unto death has an eternal
home with God reserved not only for him but for all who are
overcomers to the very end