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Archive for the ‘Bible’ Category

Bible Basics (Part 2)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Law, Old Testament, tagged , , on May 16, 2010|

As I outlined in the last post, the Bible has 2 Testaments (Old Testament and New Testament), and each testament is divided into books, and the books are further grouped together with other books of similar purpose, content and/or authorship.

By way of review, the groupings of the  books of the Old Testament are:

  • The Law
  • The History
  • The poetry and wisdom books
  • The Major Prophets
  • The Minor Prophets

The Books of  the Law include:

  • Genesis    (Covers the beginnings of man:  his creation, the fall, judgment by flood, judgment at the tower of babel, lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph)
  • Exodus  (Life and Ministry of Moses, Deliverance from Egypt, Delivery of the Law, specifications for and building of the Tabernacle, and  the wilderness experience for the Israelites)
  • Leviticus  (Laws of sacrifice, Laws of sanctification)
  • Numbers  (Wanderings of the Israelites)
  • Deuteronomy  (Recap of the law and promises of God)

The books of the law cover the time from creation through the death of Moses in approximately 1406 B.C.

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Bible Basics (Part 1)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, tagged , , on May 13, 2010|

The Bible is neatly (but not evenly) divided into to “Testaments”, the Old Testament and the New Testament.  As you might know, a “testament” , means a covenant or set of promises from God to man.   To simplify, the Bible is a 2-part set of promises from God to mankind.  The first covenant or testament is the Old Testament.  The second covenant or testament is the New Testament.

The two testaments are  further divided into books, and the total number of books in the Bible is 66.  The total number of authors is believed to be 40.  The authorship of some books is not entirely clear from the historical and other evidence.   The books in the Old Testament are further divided into 5 groupings:

  • The Books of the Law
  • The Books of the History
  • The Poetry and Wisdom books
  • The Major Prophets
  • The Minor Prophets

The purpose and subject matter of each group of books is different from that of the other groups.  Within a group, each book may be different either in its focus, audience and/or purpose.  Together; however, the books comprise one coherent message.  That is the beauty of it.  Learning about any particular book of the Bible is great, but learning how that book then fits into the bigger message and points to the way of salvation can be even more exciting and can bring deeper understanding of God and a greater closeness to Him.

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What does Biblical forgiveness look like?

Posted in Bible, Forgiveness, God, tagged , , , on January 1, 2010|

God’s forgiveness of my sin (and your sin) is definitely a clear example of what biblical forgiveness looks like.  God does not forgive my sins because He has to or needs to but because He wants to.  God has provided a way (Jesus), so He can forgive my sins and redeem me from the curse (death) of them.  His forgiveness of my sins is not something that I have earned or that I deserve, and so it will be with those whom I forgive.  They will not have to do anything to earn it, they will likely not deserve it, but I must forgive them as God has forgiven me.

God forgives sin because it is part of His nature to be merciful.  He forgives the sins of those who have repented of their sins, applied the adequate sacrifice (the blood of Jesus) to their sin and submitted to the Lordship of Jesus.  I forgive because I am a bond servant of Christ, and His spirit dwells within me and compels me to be like Him, to show mercy as He shows mercy.  And so I must forgive those who trespass against me, against my loved ones.

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