The Bible has two main divisions. The first division is called the Old Testament. The second division is called the New Testament. The Old Testament includes the first 39 books of the Bible. It begins with Genesis and ends with the book of Malachi. The Old Testament tells the story of God’s dealings (working) with mankind from the beginning of the world until the birth of Jesus. Although we are not governed by the Old Testament today, it still has relevance and must be studied. (Romans 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:11)
The Bible has two main parts. The first part is called the Old Testament. The second part is the New Testament. The New Testament contains 27 books. It begins with Matthew and ends with Revelation. These books were written by eight men. These men wrote what God told them to write. The New Testament books were written in the Greek language. Later the New Testament books were translated into other languages. The New Testament is divided into 4 major sections. These sections are: The Gospels, History, Epistles, and Prophecy.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
This is the first verse in the Bible.
“What is God like?” “How can we know there is a God?” These are the most important questions anyone can ask. Nothing is of greater importance than the answers to these questions. The answer we give to these questions will determine (decide) how we live on the earth. The answers we give to these questions will determine where we will live after this life on this earth is over. Let us turn to the Bible, God’s Book, to learn the answers.
John says,
". . . sin is lawlessness" [breaking the law] (1 John 3:4). Again, he says that "All unrighteousness is sin . . ." (1 John 5:17).
Every nation has laws. When a person does not obey these laws, he has done wrong. God has laws which we are to obey. These laws are found in the Bible. When we do not obey God’s law, we sin. All grown people have sinned. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
We must always look out for sin. Sin is deceitful.
"But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13).
God hates sin. Let us, therefore, not be deceived by it.
The greatest person who has ever lived is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Son of God. The entire Bible tells about Jesus. The Old Testament has many prophecies of His coming. The first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell of His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection from the dead. The rest of the New Testament books tell about:
The importance of faith is stated for us in the book of Hebrews.
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
We are then told that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). No man has ever seen heaven. Yet by faith we are sure that there is such a place and we hope to go there when we die. Many things that we do in life show some kind of faith. A person takes aspirin where he has a headache. Why? Because he believes the aspirin will get rid of the headache. When a person plants maize, he believes that it will grow. Children have faith in their parents. They believe their parents when their parents tell them something.
"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30,31).
God has commanded all men to repent. On the Last Day everyone who has ever lived will appear before Christ in judgment. If we have failed to obey God’s command to repent of our sins, we will be lost forever. Therefore, it is very important that we learn the meaning of repentance.
A person must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God before he can become a Christian. This confession is necessary to salvation.
"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:9,10).
If a person will not confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, then he cannot become a Christian. In the book of Acts, we have an example of a man confessing Christ before being baptized.
"Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:35-37).
After the eunuch made the confession, Philip baptized him. No one can become a Christian if he is not willing to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
