Much of the world’s population understands the Bible to be a book for and understood only by Christians. When someone asks a Christian, “What is the Bible?” our response can point them to what the Bible is and why God gave it to us; that answer includes the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What Really Is the Bible?
The Bible is the divinely influenced and written (revealed) truth of and about God, His creation, and God’s redemptive plan for mankind through Jesus Christ (Genesis 1-3). It is God’s revelation of Himself to humanity, and it serves God’s glory alone.
To fully answer this question, we need to regard the Bible’s Author. Our triune-covenant Lord God is self-existent, autonomous, self-contained, and attests unto Himself. In addition, God is as the Bible describes Him—immutable (unchanging), impassable (He cannot suffer), eternal (everywhere in time), omnipresent (present everywhere), omnipotent (infinite in power), omniscient (all knowing), the source of truth and wisdom, holy, good, just, righteous, the source of love, gracious, merciful, and glorious. Pondering our awesome God as we investigate the Bible will help us gain a better understanding of its framework and of His purpose for giving it to us.
To further explain, the Bible (The Scriptures) is the inspired, unfailing Word of God in written form (1 Peter 1:19-21). It gives us a narrative of history from those who lived it. And because the Bible is the Word of God, it is wholly inerrant in everything included in it; it contains no mistakes nor contradictions. Not only does the Bible give us the history of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and the history of mankind, the Bible is also the authority for a Christian’s life and application (Hebrews 12:2; 2 Peter 1:3. It is the true foundation upon which Christians are to form their perceptions and actions.
Structure of the Bible
The Bible is a unified volume of sixty-six (66) books penned, under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit, by forty-four (44) human authors over the course of approximately 1,500 years. The Old Testament (Covenant) contains thirty-nine (39) books composed between 1400 and 400 B.C., and the New Testament (Covenant) contains twenty-seven (27) books written between A.D. 50 and A.D. 100.
The whole of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew (with the exception of some Aramaic in Daniel and Ezra, e.g.). The Old Testament is called the Tanak, an acronym formed by the first letters of the five Hebrew divisions of the Old Testament. The Tanak consists of the threefold division: Torah, Nevi‘im, and Ketuvim.
- The first five books of the Bible, penned by Moses, are called the Torah, which is the teaching of God’s law and grace. The Pentateuch is the Greek translation of these first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).
- The Prophets and prophetic history (Nevi‘im) includes:
“Former Prophets” (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Note that Samuel and Kings are each one book in the Hebrew Bible.)
“Latter prophets” which are broken up into:
Major prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
Minor prophets – Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
- The Writings (Ketuvim) make up the rest of the Old Testament
Poetry - Psalms, Proverbs, Job
Scrolls – Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther
Prophecy – Daniel
History – Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles
The New Testament, written in Koine Greek with some Aramaic, consists of:
- The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
- The Acts of the Apostles
- The Epistles (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude)
- The book of Revelation.
Themes and Messages of the Bible
God makes Himself known through the Person of the Messiah—the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor Chad Bird (2021), in his book, The Christ Key, tells us this about Christ in the Old Testament, “Everything in the Bible from Genesis to Malachi is, in one form or fashion, about Jesus the Messiah” (page 3). That the New Testament is also all about Jesus Christ is an unveiled continuation of the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament. Pastor Alistair Begg tells us, “We find Christ in all the Scriptures. In the Old Testament He is predicted, in the Gospels He is revealed, in Acts He is preached, in the epistles He is explained, and in Revelation He is expected.”
Therefore, the main, unchanging subject of the Bible is Jesus Christ, to which Jesus attests during His conversation with two disciples as they walked to Emmaus after Jesus’ resurrection. Scripture tells us, “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).
All the Bible’s themes conform (relate) to:
- The prophecies regarding the coming Messiah as foretold in the Old Testament (Revelation. 19:10b).
- His preincarnate appearances in the Old Testament (Christophanies).
- Jesus’ first advent.
- The establishment and growth of His church.
- The prophecies about His second advent as written in the New Testament.
In order to understand the New Testament, an understanding of the structure and message of the Old Testament is necessary. The first five books of the Bible establish the themes of the rest of Scripture, and every Holy Spirit-influenced and written passage builds upon what was written before. This is called intertextuality; every new component is relative to and interprets the former components.
There’s a reason Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy are three of the most quoted books in the New Testament. Pastor Bird tells us, “The Christ of Revelation is simply not understandable apart from Genesis through Deuteronomy” (ibid, page 10). When we consider the structure of the Bible and its intertextuality—we read it as an interconnected network that progressively creates the overarching narrative of the Bible.
The Bible’s themes revolve around the covenants God establishes. Covenant theology (the study of God through His covenants) is a structure God reveals in the Bible through which we comprehend and interpret it. God works through His structure of covenants to complete the salvation of humanity. The three central covenants in Scripture are those of redemption (unconditional), works (conditional), and grace (unconditional). They are—all three—about Christ. As Pastor Justin Perdue explains, “A simple way, I think to understand covenant theology is this: Jesus Christ fulfills the covenant of works in the covenant of grace in order to accomplish the covenant of redemption. So Jesus fulfills all of God's conditions and requirements for righteousness and forgiveness and the like, it is counted to His people by grace, through faith, that's the covenant of grace, in order that they might be saved, that’s the covenant of redemption.”
Why the Bible Matters
The answer we gave above is true, the Bible is for Christians, as every answer we need to live this life may be found in it. This doesn’t mean the Bible has a direct answer for questions like, “Should I marry this person?”, but what it has and provides are principles by which to live. Christians also have the Holy Spirit to help them understand the Bible and God’s will for them (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). Apart from Christ’s regenerative work in a person, an unbeliever (someone who doesn’t profess Christ as their Savior and Lord) cannot understand the Bible or its message (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The Bible will forever be relevant and it will forever be true (John 14:6; 17:17). You can read so many portions of Scripture and thank God that what He says meets everyone where they are, no matter the circumstances.
Nineteenth-century Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote a short novel titled, Where Love Is, There God Is Also. The main character, Martuin Avdyeitch, is mourning the deaths of his wife and little child, and has no hope. A Christian friend visits and reminds him of God and tells him, “'Christ has taught us how to live for God. You know how to read? Buy a Testament, and read it; there you will learn how to live for God. Everything is explained there.’
And these words kindled a fire in Avdyeitch's heart. And he went that very same day, bought a New Testament in large print, and began to read.”
For Christians, the Bible helps continue God’s work of sanctification because it’s God’s Word doing what only it can do in us—growing us in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
The Bible tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
The Bible gives us our most sacred and important truth, the gospel. The gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'but the righteous will live by faith'” (Romans 1:16-17). Later, the Apostle Paul writes, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Both of these passages beckon to those of no faith in Christ to come and read the powerful Word of God so they may be saved. When a pastor preaches from the Bible or when a Bible teacher reads the Scriptures to others, or even when we share the gospel with others, it’s the Lord working through His very word to call people to Himself and to equip the saints.
How to Start Reading the Bible
The Bible is certainly daunting to an unbeliever, but it need not seem so to a new Christian. Remember, God didn’t give us His Word to confuse us (1 Corinthians 14:33); He gave it as a revelation of Himself, history, and His redemptive plan for humanity. We also have the Holy Spirit to help us (1 Corinthians 2:1-16) and to bring glory to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:24).
As far as what Bible version to read, prayerfully choose one that is as close to the original language as possible yet still retains readability. The favorite Bible translations of many include the ESV (English Standard Version), the NKJV (New King James Version, which uses modern-day language), the CSB (Christian Standard Bible), and the NASB 1995 (New American Standard Bible). Whether or not you use a study Bible (A Bible with explanatory notes) depends upon your preference, but any of these translations will provide great notes in their study Bible to help you understand more of Scripture.
Some people say to start with the gospel of John, but since the Bible is one narrative, why not start at the beginning? Genesis 1:1 begins God’s history with the creation of the heavens and the earth and living beings, and the reader will understand the New Testament better with knowledge of the Old Testament. After all, since Christ is the epicenter and cornerstone of all history, we will “see” Him in the pages of the Old Testament. Because Jesus so permeates the Old Testament, we can say, “Show me Jesus” when we read it. Either way, Bible reading plans abound, which will give you a solid yearly path to follow, often with daily readings that include portions of the Old and New Testaments.
It's good and right to have a mature Christian mentor alongside the teaching from your church’s pastor and Sunday school. The Bible instructs older (spiritually mature) women to teach the younger women (Titus 2:3-5). And we have the pastoral letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus to show us how older, mature Christian men should instruct and encourage the younger men.
Another aid for helping a new believer read and better understand the Bible are devotionals. These are topical books that delve into the truths of the Bible. Some good devotionals include:
- The daily devotionals found on BibleStudyTools.com and Crosswalk.com.
- New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp
- Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
- Things Unseen by Sinclair Ferguson
- The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett
- Praying the Attributes of God by Rosemary Jensen
You will find every time you read through the Bible that something “new” will stand out to you. That’s the Lord Jesus growing you in the grace and knowledge of Himself (2 Peter 3:18). The Bible tells us it is living and active (Hebrews 4:12); it will never seem old or outdated to you because it’s God’s living Word. Another thought before we go: as you pray before you read the Bible, join your heart in praise to our sovereign God through a hymn or two of worship. Two that will enhance your worshipful attitude toward immersing yourself in God’s Word are Speak, O Lord and Sing to Jesus.
I’m praying for you to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18) as you read the Bible.
Photo credit: Unsplash
