Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: New to the Bible – Bible Structure
Post Topic: NT Letters
Post in Thread: #9
Previous: NT Church History
Next: NT Prophecy
Scripture: Romans through Jude;
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Key Verses:
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Note on this post
This post fits within a continuing series meant for readers who are less familiar with Scripture. Unlike most Burning Bush blogs, this series is designed to explore the organizational structure of the Bible more than a particular topic. The same introductory overview is included in each post in case someone jumps into the middle of the series.
Books of the Bible – Overview
Imagine two bookshelves – one with 39 books, and one with 27 books. The shelves have dividers between groups of books. Each group belongs to its own genre. There’s a group of historical fiction, a group of thrillers, a group of how-to books, biographies, etc.
Now imagine that the top shelf is the Old Testament and the bottom shelf is the New Testament. The genres, or categories, of each testament, is what we’re going to discuss.
NT Letters
The Letters in the New Testament are just what they sound like. They’re letters from church leaders and apostles sent directly to churches or to individuals on a broad range of topics. These letters are a good place to correlate other scriptures that you are studying. They are also a good place to gain understanding as to the challenges facing any new organization, but especially the fledgling church in the midst of the Roman empire.
When studying a particular letter, it is important to determine the following for context:
- Author – who wrote the letter, and where were they? Were they on a journey? In prison?
- Recipient – who was the letter written to? Gentile or Jew? These two groups would have different mindsets and knowledge of Old Testament writings.
- Purpose – was the letter written to encourage? To teach? To correct? Or a combination?
Observations
- 13 of the letters have been attributed to the apostle Paul
- Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
- These letters cover a variety of topics, exhorting believers to remain pure in Christ and to remain diligent in their study of Scripture
- Hebrews is written by an unknown author to the Jewish converts to encourage them to continue in their faith in Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament promises
- The letter from James, the brother of Jesus, is written to the Jews as well. It encourages readers to live out our faith so that our works demonstrate what we believe.
- 1st and 2nd Peter were written to churches to encourage them in their faith during tribulation and to encourage them to watch for false teaching.
- The three letters of John were written to churches who were struggling with members leading others astray. John encourages remaining strong in the light of Jesus’ teachings and rejecting those who spoke contrary to the eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life.
- Jude was likely written by another brother of Jesus. Jude writes to warn Christians about false teachers who are trying to convince them that being saved by grace gives them license to sin.
Interpretation
Takeaways
- Letters written to Jews were often to remind them, or make the case, that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan laid out in the Old Testament.
- Many letters warn against false teaching based partially on the teachings of Christ. Our main verse, 2 Timothy 3:16, teaches that all Scripture is inspired by God.
- The letters strike a balance between faith and works. Faith is the only requirement for salvation, but works is the embodiment of faith.
- The letters highlight the real issues that everyday, frail humans face.
- They don’t hide the fact that there was splintering within the church.
- They don’t hide the fact that troubles are real, even for believers.
- Galatians was written to legalistic believers, encouraging them to embrace grace. Corinthians, on the other hand, was written to denounce the rationalization of hedonistic sin within the church. It is important to associate the right letter with the intended audience, but today we can learn from all of the letters. The Bible is balanced.
Correlation
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 – The prophets didn’t make up their own prophecies. Just like all scripture, their teachings were inspired by God, and carried by the Holy Spirit.
- John 5:39 – Jesus himself declared that the Scriptures that the Pharisees studied so diligently testified about Him.
- Acts 17:11 – The Bereans were commended for diligently studying Scripture to verify that Paul’s teachings were true.
Application
Generic Applications
- We shouldn’t put Jesus in a box. We need to study all of Scripture to understand him. Let’s not mold Jesus to who we want Him to be, but accept all of his teachings.
Personalize it
- Are there parts of God’s Word or of Jesus’ teaching that I twist to rationalize my own wishes?
- In what way do my actions reflect my faith? I can be encouraged by those successes.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.