One of the purposes of this blog is to provide accurate information about the Bible in an easy-to-understand format.
The following are links to the posts in the Bible Basics – Old Testament Overview series:
Archive for the ‘Bible Basics’ Category
Bible Basics – Old Testament overview
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Deuteronomy, Genesis, God, Knowing God, Law, Leviticus, Old Testament, tagged Bible Basics, Bible Study, Book of Chronicles, Book of Kings, Book of Samuel, Deuteronomy, Divisions of Old Testament, Esther, Exodus, Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Leviticus, Nehemiah, Numbers, Old Testament, Old Testament Overview, Proverbs, Psalms, Ruth, the Pentateuch on August 7, 2011|
Born of the Spirit?
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Born of the Spirit, Devotional, God, salvation, tagged Born of the Spirit, God, Holy Spirit, New Creation, salvation on May 18, 2011|
The expression “born of the Spirit” is used by the Apostle John in Chapter 3 of his gospel. Being born of the Spirit means to become a new creation by the spiritual washing or purification of the soul, by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at Salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
As a result:
- What was before (the old life) is gone
- The past does not control the future
- All things have become new (they are not what they were)
- All things are now of God (God is ruling my life, so everything is subject to Him)
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Gospel of John (Introduction)
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Gospels, John, New Testament, tagged Gospel of John, John on March 9, 2011|
As we begin our study in the gospel of John, it is important to consider the context of this gospel and how it fits with the other eye-witness accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus.
First, let us consider where we find the Book of John in the Bible.
The Bible is divided into to sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Each Testament is divided into further sections. The Old Testament has five sections: the books of the law, the books of history, the books of poetry and wisdom, the major prophets and the minor prophets.
Similarly, the New Testament can be divided into five sections: gospels, history, Pauline epistles, general epistles and the book of Prophecy.
The book of John is found in the first of the five sections of the New Testament. It is one of four gospels, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The author of the book is, not surprisingly, John. What may be surprising or confusing, as I have found from teaching the ladies in the jail, is who this “John” is. He is NOT John the Baptist. John the Baptist was not a major play in the ministry of Jesus. His own words describe what happened to his ministry when Jesus showed up on the scene, “He must increase and I must decrease.” That is exactly what happened.
John, the author of the Gospel of John, was an apostle and a disciple of Jesus. He was very young at the time Jesus was alive, and he lived to a very old age. He is also the author of four other books found in the New Testament: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and the book of Revelation.
In our next post, we’ll consider how the gospel of John fits into the four-gospel picture of the life of Christ.
Lessons from the Book of Job
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Devotional, God, Job, Old Testament, tagged Bible, Bible Study, Book of Job, God, Old Testament on August 13, 2010|
The benefit of reading through the Bible each year from cover to cover is that every year, you must read the book of Job. It is 37 chapters of men’s wisdom followed by 5 chapters of God’s.
When I read Job, I learn things about myself:
- I am like Job’s friends, spending too much time trying to figure why another person faces severe or repeated suffering and trials. I look for hidden sin in their lives. I usually fail to consider the universal truth that God’s ways are far past my finding out or understanding. How can finite man understand infinite God?
- I am like Job. I tend to think God is dealing unjustly with me. I accuse God of being far from me, not remembering me, or forsaking me. I am prone to think of God as a mere man, like me, capable of error, neglect, thoughtlessness. I imagine He might need my insight, my vision, or my plans.
- I am so relieved to hear from God. After 37 chapters of the ramblings of those not much brighter than me, when I read the words, “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,” it makes my heart quicken. His truth washes over me, verse after verse confronting me with my impotency and my insignificance in stark contrast to His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence.
Like Job, my only response to the awesome power and knowledge of God is to mumble with my face in dirt, “I am vile . . . I have nothing to say.”
More on Job tomorrow . . .
Names of God
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, God, Names of God, tagged Bible, Names of God on August 7, 2010| 1 Comment »
I found a cool site that has some great information about the names of God. Check out the link below:
Study of Ruth – Join Us Online
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, History, Old Testament, Ruth, Ruth, tagged Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, History, Old Testament, Ruth on July 13, 2010|
Attached is the first worksheet for our study of the book of Ruth. Feel free to join us in the virtual Bible study as we go through the Book of Ruth chapter by chapter and verse by verse. The remaining worksheet pages along with study notes from our teaching will be available by password, so contact me to get your password, so you can follow along.
Take time now to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God.
Bible Basics – Quiz 1 (Key)
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Books of the Bible, Old Testament, tagged Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Old Testament on June 29, 2010|
If you were brave enough to take the Bible Basics – Quiz 1 yesterday, here is the key:
1. Old Testament & New Testament
2. Law, History, Wisdom & Poetry, Major Prophets, & Minor Prophets
3. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy
4. 66
5. 39
6. It has one coherent message of God’s plan for salvation.
7. Hebrew
8. 2/3
9. Numbers
10. Proverbs
Bible Basics – Quiz 1
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Books of the Bible, Old Testament, Uncategorized, tagged Bible Basics, Bible Quiz, Books of the Bible, Old Testament on June 28, 2010|
You probably saw it coming. Teachers have a deep-seated need to give quizzes and tests. Here is your first quiz on Bible basics. You don’t have to send me your score, but try to take the test first without looking at the earlier blog posts just to see how you can do. I will post answers tomorrow, so you can get that reinforcement you need.
1. What are the two major divisions of the Bible?
2. What are the divisions of the Old Testament?
3. What are the books of the Law?
4. How many books are there in the Bible?
5. How many books are in the Old Testament?
6. What is true of the Bible despite its many different books written by different authors at different times?
7. In what language was the Old Testament written?
8. What fractional part of the Bible does the Old Testament make up?
9. What book in the Old Testament talks about the wanderings of the Israelites?
10. What book in the Old Testament is sometimes called the book of wisdom?
Answers will be in tomorrow’s post.
Bible Basics – New Testament (General Epistles and Revelation)
Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, General Epistles, Hebrews, James, New Testament, Revelation, tagged Bible Study, Books of the Bible, General Epistles, New Testament, Revelation on June 22, 2010|
The Bible, as we have discussed is divided into two parts: Old Testament and New Testament. There are 66 books in the Bible with 40 different authors, but one consistent message – God’s plan to save sinful man. In the New Testament, there are 27 books which are divided into the following sections: Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), Early Church History (Acts), Letters from Paul (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon), General Epistles (Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, & 3 John and Jude), and Revelation.
The Epistles are listed below each with a brief description or its content or focus.
Hebrews (Illustrates the superiority of Christ over the old covenant. The author of Hebrews is unknown, but many believe it was Paul. The audience was the Hebrew believers.)
James (Anyone who has studied the book of James knows that it pulls no punches. In this epistle to the Jewish believers, James lays out clearly what it means to live a life of faith and to evaluate one’s own faith honestly in light of scripture.)
1 Peter (Letter from Peter to all Christians that discusses the issues of holiness, submission and suffering.)
2 Peter (Letter from Peter to all Christians to warn against the danger of false teachers and exhorts the believers to grow in the true knowledge of Christ.)
1 John (Letter from John to all Christians. The key themes found in this book are love in Christ and fellowship with God.)
2 John (Letter from John to the Elect Lady while John was in Ephesus. The letter reminds the reader to walk in love and beware of false teachers.)
3 John (Letter from John to Gaius. The letter thanks Gaius for his support of the gospel and criticizes Diotrephes for his pride.)
Jude (The final letter in the General Epistles written by Jude to all Christians. The letter warns against heresy and false teachers and exhorts believers to contend earnestly for the faith.)
The final book of the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Revelation (This books includes things which have been, which are and which are yet to be. It gives hope to those who suffer persecution and provides a vision of Christ’s return. It also gives good insights and images of what it is like in heaven.)
2Tim 3:14-17 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!
Bible Basics – New Testament (Paul’s Epistles – Part 2)
Posted in Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, New Testament, Paul's Epistles, tagged Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, New Testament, Paul's Epistles on June 17, 2010|
In the last post, we began the discussion of Paul’s Epistles. There were too many to do all in one post, so here’s the rest of the group with a brief description of the highlights of each:
1 Thessalonians (Written during Paul’s second missionary journey to the church in Thessalonica. One of the main themes is an exhortation to holiness for believers in light of the LORD’s imminent return.)
2 Thessalonians (Also written during Paul’s second missionary journey and to the church in Thessalonica. Christ’s return is a theme as is encouragement of believers.)
1 Timothy (The first of the “pastoral” epistles, those letter written by Paul to individuals who were pastors of churches. This letter is written to Timothy during Paul’s first imprisonment. It is a guide to leadership of a church and it addresses the issues of false teachers, public prayer, the role of women, and the qualifications for elders and deacons.)
2 Timothy (The second of the “pastoral” epistles, this is also written to Timothy, but it is written during Paul’s second imprisonment, near the time of his death. Its purpose is to encourage Timothy in his ministry to be faithful even through adversity and hardships.)
Titus (This is the third of the “pastoral epistles”, and it was written to Titus while Paul was in prison in Rome. It gives the qualifications for elders and gives Titus instructions for dealing with different groups in the church.)
Philemon (This is a letter from Paul to Philemon, a believer, regarding his runaway slave, Onesimus. Paul asks Philemon to forgive Onesimus and receive him for Paul’s sake.)
Rooted and Grounded 