To fully understand the Bible, it is necessary to know a few basic facts about it. First let us look at the four divisions of the New Testament:
I. The Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
These biographies of Jesus Christ were written by four witnesses of Jesus’ ministry. They record the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The four writers recorded some of the same happenings, but they recorded many that are individual to each book as well.
II. Acts (Actions of the Apostles)
The history of the early churches recorded in the book of Acts — events leading up to the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the first preached message of the church age and several examples of churches being established.
III. The Epistles
The books of Romans through Jude are letters written by the apostles and other leaders to churches and people who had already received the salvation experience. They explain how to grow in God, they warn of false prophets and they discuss the resolution of problems in the church.
IV. Revelation
This is a book of prophecy written in symbolic form. For example, in one place a pale horse represents death; in another, a woman represents a false church. This book is hard to understand without first studying the rest of the Bible. A new convert would be advised to begin Bible study with the book of Acts or one of the Gospels.
The Importance of the Word
In order please God, we must obey His word. We can only obey the Word of God if we have first studied it so that we know what it says, because the Word of God is of utmost importance.
Matthew 15:8-9 — This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
People in today’s society boldly proclaim that they will worship God anyway they see fit and God will have to accept whatever worship they give him. So it was in the days of Jesus, and here we find His response to this attitude. “in vain” means literally “to no effect”.
In the days of Adam, Cain tried to worship God in a way other than offering a blood sacrifice, which God specified, and his offering was rejected (Genesis 4:1-7). It was true in the time of Jesus, and it is still true today: we must worship God in the manner He specifies.
John 17:17-20 — Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. And I sanctify Myself for their sakes, so that they also might be sanctified in truth. And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word
Here Jesus specifies that we are to believe on Him through the apostles’ words. Where do we find their words? In the Bible.
In a confusing world where everyone preaches something different, how do we know what the truth is? God’s word is truth!
I Peter 1:22-25 — Purifying your souls in the obedience of the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers, love one another fervently out of a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the living Word of God, and abiding forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of men as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls out, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the Word preached as gospel to you.
We find in this passage of scripture that we purify our souls by obeying the truth, and we are born again by the Word. The Word, preached to us by the Gospel, shows us how to be born again.
John 4:23-24 — But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.
To be a true worshiper of God, we must worship Him both in Spirit and in truth. As we have seen, God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Along with the true teachings of the Bible, we must also have the Spirit. Likewise, we must not settle for just having the Spirit; we need to have the true teachings of the Word.