New Testament

The last words God ever wrote to man are recorded on

the pages of the NT.
A broad knowledge of the Bible is an integral part of basic
Christian education. Bible survey is fundamental to all
Bible study. In order to comprehend any part of doctrine
of the Scriptures, a knowledge of what they teach as a
whole is essential. Each book is a part of that whole, and
can be fully understood only when it is seen in relation to
the entire stream of divine revelation that begins with
Genesis and ends with the Apocalypse.
The message of the NT can best be
understood when there is some
understanding of the world into
which it first came - the literary,
political, social, economic, and
religious backgrounds of the first
century are the context for the
revelation of God in Christ.
However, man’s relation to God is ever the
same, and the eternal God is unchanging in
His attitude to man. Therefore, the vitality of
the word of God has an eternal quality which
transcends local conditions of space, time, and
society. Once the meaning of the words of
Scripture is correctly understood, the words
are as true today as they ever were and still
convey the living gospel of the eternal God to
the thirsty souls of sinning men.
Of all the books on earth, the NT is
the most wonderful in its matter and
meaning and message. The ideas and
ideals it contains have a moral and
spiritual explosiveness which makes
new men, and shakes whole nations,
and wakes new eras, and will even yet
issue in a new world.
Why Study the New Testament?
The historical reason is that in the NT is an
explanation for the phenomenon of Christianity.
The cultural reason is that the influence of the
NT has permeated Western and increasingly,
global civilisation to such an extent that one
cannot be well-educated without knowing what
the NT says.
The theological reason is that the NT consists
of divinely inspired accounts and
interpretations of Jesus’ redemptive mission
in the world. It forms the standard of belief
and practice for the church.
The devotional reason is that the Holy Spirit
uses the NT to bring people into a living and
growing personal relation with God through
His Son Jesus Christ.
The New Testament and the Old
In the OT we have an interpretation of human
need; and the NT is a revelation of Divine
supply. In the Old we have unveilings of the
human heart. In the New we have the unveiling
of the heart of God, and the way in which He
has answered humanity’s need in Christ.
G. Campbell Morgan
In the OT God had given a partial revelation of Himself,
having spoken through prophets and angels, but the full
and final revelation came by His Son Jesus (Heb 1:1-2a, 3;
cf. John 19:30).
However, the NT was never intended to replace the OT.
Rather it is:
◦ the sequel to the OT’s origins,
◦ heir of its promises,
◦ fruit of its seed,
◦ the peak of its mountain.
The ministry of Christ would be an enigma
without the OT. The Christ of the NT is the
fulfilment of the OT. The OT is a book of:

◦unexplained ceremonies,
◦unachieved purposes,
◦unappeased longings,
◦unfulfilled prophecies.
In the OT Christ is In the NT Christ is
the: the:
Christ of prophecy Christ of history

super-hope super-fact

expectancy experience

prevision provision
Two Covenants
The OT Covenant The NT Covenant
Of law. Of grace.
The agreement God made with man about The agreement God made with man about his
salvation before Christ came. salvation after Christ came.
God forgave sins provisionally by virtue of A full remission of sin by virtue of Christ’s
animal sacrifices. vicarious death and bodily resurrection.

Preparative. Executive.
Tells us what not to do. Tells us what Christ can and will do for us.

Holds in bondage. Brings into freedom.

Involves a curse. Imparts a blessing.
Emphasis is on doing. Emphasis is on being.
Creates expectation. Brings to realisation.
Man seeks God. God seeks man.
Man is condemned as a sinner. Man is delivered from his sin.
God says ‘you cannot’. Christ says ‘I can’.
   
The two covenants are interdependent;
each is incomplete without the other.
The Old Covenant would be:
◦a lock without a key,
◦a track without a goal,
◦a story without a plot,
◦a promise without a fulfilment,
◦a germ without a development.
The New Covenant would be:
◦an end without a beginning,
◦a fulfilment without a promise,
◦a supply without a need,
◦a superstructure without a foundation,
◦a consummation without a
commencement.
The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in
the New revealed.
The New is in the Old contained; the Old is in
the New explained.
The New is in the Old enfolded; the Old is in
the New unfolded.
The New is in the Old latent; the Old is in the
New patent.
A fundamental distinction between the
two covenants is that:
the Old is embodied in a Nation, and
the New, in a Church.
the Nation was exclusive (Deut 7:6-
8; Ps 135:4; Amos 3:2); and the
Church is inclusive (Gal 3:28; Rom
10:12; Rev 7:9).
The New Testament as a
Whole
The NT is an anthology of 27 books
which forms part two of the Bible
but has only one-third the bulk of
the OT.
The OT covers thousands of years of history,
the NT only one century, the first century AD.
This was a crucial era during which:
◦the fulfilment of messianic prophecy began,
◦the divine outworking of human salvation
reached a climax in the coming of God’s son,
and
◦the new people of God, the church, came into
existence.
The NT was written:
to reveal the character and teachings of Jesus Christ,
the mediator of the New Covenant.
by at least eight men:
◦ four, Matthew, John, Peter and Paul, were apostles;
two, Mark and Luke, were companions of the
apostles; and
two, James and Jude, were brothers of Jesus.
The New Testament Books
The order of the NT books follows a certain logic and
developed as a matter of Christian tradition.
However that order is no accident of chance. It is a
reasonable inference that if God has expressed
Himself in such a written revelation by means of
supernatural inspiration, and guarded it through the
centuries by providential preservation, He should
shape and control its finalised integration.
The ordering of the NT books can be justified or
explained in a variety of ways. For example:

◦ Doctrine is grounded in fact, so the historical books

(Gospels and Acts) precede the epistles (where doctrine is
prominent).
◦ Revelation stands last because it is mainly about the end
times.
◦ Acts is the extension and fulfilment of the gospels, the
proof that what Christ said and did was true and effective.
The NT books can be divided into the
following groupings:
1. The Gospels and the Acts
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts.
The only historical books of the NT and
the foundation to all that follows.
The four Gospels are the very crux of the Bible. They
are the historical focus of OT prophecy, and the
factual basis of NT theology. They are not the
terminus of OT prophecy, much of which runs on into
times even yet future; but they are the main-line
junction, on which all OT branch-lines converge. All
lines now become one main line in the historical
Jesus of Nazareth.

p5:101, Explore the Book, J. Sidlow Baxter

The Christian Church Epistles

Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galations, Ephesians,

Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians.
After Acts is a series of letters. The first 9 are grouped
together:
they are all by Paul;
they are mainly doctrinal teaching and instructing in
Christian truth and practice;
they are all addressed to Christian assemblies or churches.
3. The Pastoral Epistles
I and II Timothy, Titus,
Philemon.
Letters by Paul not addressed
to churches but to individuals.
4. The Hebrew Christian Epistles
Hebrews, James, I and II Peter, I II and III
John, Jude and Revelation.
Letters not addressed to local Christian
churches but distinctively Hebrew in their
primary adaptation and application.
Design Plus Development
There is an orderly unfolding movement
observable in the NT - a “progress of doctrine”.
Besides design there is development. Besides
pattern there is progress. This is a progress not
due to any chronological progress in the
ordering of books, but to a sequence of
revelational truth.
For example in the Gospels:
Matthew, Luke and Mark describe the visible aspects of
Christ’s life, while John shows the inward mystery and
majesty of his life.
Matthew leads the gospels for his speciality is the
linking of the Gospel with the Hebrew Scriptures,
introducing the NT as the fulfilment of the Old.
Mark and Luke are next showing that the Gospel is not
merely a development in the Jewish faith but from it.
Recognising revelational progress in
the NT gives greater insight when
interpreting Scripture. It has been
said that the foundations of Christian
doctrine lie less in single texts than in
“the combination and convergence”
of the Scriptures in their progressive
totality.
 Gospels Acts and Revelation
Epistles
Past Present Future
Christ as Prophet Christ as Priest Christ as King
Setting: Israel Setting: Church Setting: Universe
Founder of Fundamentals of Fulfilment of
Christianity Christianity Christianity

Introduction Application Realisation

The Christ The Church The Consummation