A STUDY GUIDE TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

Posted by Mark Lindley on 21 August 2019 | Comments

The New Testament contains 27 books. The 27 books of the New Testament contain 260 chapters and, depending on the translation one may choose, about 7,959 verses. That is a lot of information to absorb, and it may seem overwhelming.

            However, there is an easy way to study the New Testament. There are four basic sections of the New Testament. When one sees the connection between the four sections, this greatly enhances one’s understanding. Here are the four sections of the New Testament:

            1) The Belief Section. This section contains four books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four books provide details of the life of Christ. These books record the birth of Christ, his ministry, miracles, death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. The primary purpose of this section is to persuade readers to believe in Christ (John 3:2, 16, 18; 5:24; 8:24; 20:30-31).

            2) The Unique Section. This section contains one book: Acts. This section is the “unique” section because it is the only book of the Bible that provides a historical record of a sinner becoming a Christian. During the historical period of Acts, sinners who were saved became members of the church (Acts 2:38-47), and were called Christians (Acts 11:26). Studying the conversion accounts of Acts, one can learn by historical example, how to become a Christian (Acts 2, 8, 9, 10, 16, 18, 19). These chapters reveal that one becomes a Christian by faith, repentance, confession, and baptism (each conversion ends with baptism).

            3) The How-to-Live Section. This section contains 21 books: Romans-Jude. This section reveals how one is to live as a Christian. Subjects such as worship, faithfulness, spiritual growth, dealing with temptation, roles of husbands and wives, church organization, death, and the hope of heaven are all addressed in this section (Ephesians 5:19; I Corinthians 11:23-29; II Peter 1:5-11; I Peter 3:1-7; I Timothy 3; II Corinthians 5:1-9). Bear in mind that this section is designed to teach how one is to live as a Christian; it is not designed to teach how one “becomes” a Christian.

            4) The Victory Section. This section contains one book: Revelation. This book teaches that Christians who remain faithful will enjoy eternal life in heaven (Revelation 2:10; 3:21; 21:1-4). In Christ, there is victory over the world, Satan, sin, and death!

            There is a logical connection between these four sections of the New Testament: 1) The Belief Section (Matthew-John) provides evidence to persuade readers to believe in Christ; 2) The Unique Section (Acts) shows how to “demonstrate” one’s faith by becoming a Christian; 3) The How-to-Live Section (Romans-Jude) shows how a Christian can remain faithful; 4) The Victory Section (Revelation) shows that faithful Christians can anticipate the joys of heaven. May these simple guidelines bless you in your study of God’s Word!