WELCOME TO THE NEW TESTAMENT A Survey - Jude …

1 WWEELLCCOOMMEE TTOO TTHHEE NNEEWW TTEESSTTAAMMEENNTT AA SSuurrvveeyy All Scripture quotations come from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Scripture quotations marked ANIV@ are taken from HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION7. Copyright 8 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.@ Scripture quotations marked ANASB@ are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE7, Copyright 8 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ** Any spelling, editorial, grammatical, or theological errors found herein are strictly the fault of the author. Copyright 8 James G. Arthur & Jude Ministries 1999, 2000 No portions hereof may be used in any Afor sale@ or commercial publication without the express written consent of the author. FREE USAGE INFORMATION OF THESE MATERIALS IS ALLOWED TO ANY CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION.

2 Table of Contents WELCOME .. Page -1- Covenants .. Page -4- Background and History .. Page -6- Fullness of Time .. Page -8- The Family of Herod .. Page -11- Religions Jewish and Others .. Page -12- Notes on Page -16- Canon .. Page -19- Translations .. Page -21- Purpose of the Page -25- The Synoptic Problem .. Page -26- It s All About Christ .. Page -29- Map of Palestine in the Time of Christ .. Page -35- Matthew .. Page -37- Page -45- Mark .. Page -51- Parables .. Page -60- Luke .. Page -66- John .. Page -74- Map of The World of Evangelism .. Page -84- Acts .. Page -86- Paul .. Page -96- A Comment or Two About Doctrine .. Page -103- Romans .. Page -106- First Page -114- Second Corinthians .. Page -123- Galatians .. Page -131- Ephesians .. Page -139- Page -147- Colossians .. Page -154- First Page -160- Second Thessalonians .. Page -166- 1 & 2 Timothy Titus .. Page -172- Philemon.

3 Page -182- Hebrews .. Page -189- James .. Page 196 First Peter .. Page 203 Second Page 211 Jude .. Page 217 1, 2, & 3 John .. Page 221 Revelation .. Page 230 iii 1 2 WELCOME to the New TESTAMENT Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 A New TESTAMENT Survey course is one which reviews the content, unity, and progression of the New TESTAMENT . Its purpose is to explore God s Word on a brief book-by-book basis to see how each fits into the overall plan of the New TESTAMENT . It is, thus, a Survey of the pages of the New TESTAMENT , just as a surveyor might explore a piece of real estate to determine its boundaries and makeup. George Washington surveyed much of the early frontier of America, particularly the Commonwealth of Virginia. He learned much about this great Commonwealth performing his surveys. May God richly bless you in this Survey of His Word.

4 This course needs to be distinguished from those taught in Bible colleges and seminaries which are referred to as Introductions. An Introduction course explores manuscript issues of each book. This type of course would look at the problems of authorship and the creation, transmission, and preservation of each book, as well as the theology of each book. This study you are about to embark upon may touch upon these issues, but a detailed discussion is not part of the intended subject matter. A comment or two about the materials for this course are in order. First, the prime course book is the Bible. It is suggested that you read much of each book the week prior to its study. But if you cannot, please do not allow this to keep you away. The concept of a Survey course assumes some knowledge of each part of the New TESTAMENT , but this knowledge need not be very deep for this course to be of benefit. 3 Secondly, I pray that these course materials will provide a quick, easy to read Survey work.

5 Again, it will be helpful, but not necessary, if you read this information in advance of each class. For those desiring further study, a bibliography will be attached at the end of these materials. It is not the intention to create a school type atmosphere as we perform our Survey . However, the more you read God s Word and the better prepared you are by reading the student materials, the more you will benefit from your attendance. To assist you in this, each week s lesson will end with a suggested key (memory) verse(s) and set of readings for the next week. You are encouraged to make use of your time by reading these materials. Jim Arthur Calvary Road Baptist Church August, 1999 4 What do you know about the Bible? What do you hope to learn from this course? Do you want to learn about history? Do you want to learn about the Bible? Do you want to learn about the beliefs and practices of the early church? 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new TESTAMENT , that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first TESTAMENT , they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

6 16 For where a TESTAMENT is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a TESTAMENT is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Hebrews 9:15-17 5 Covenants The Bible, if you think about it carefully, really teaches us only two things. First, the Bible teaches us How to Find God. Second, the Bible teaches us How to Live once we have found Him. The Old TESTAMENT is primarily the story of man s efforts at attempting to find God. It is true the occasional Old TESTAMENT hero discovers true fellowship with God. Such a hero is, however, the exception to the rule. The Old TESTAMENT is primarily about the relationship between God and the Nation of Israel. As God deals with the Nation, the Old TESTAMENT reflects a group of people who never grasp this concept of true fellowship for any length of time. As a result, the Nation walks without the power and wisdom and peace which only come from true fellowship with God.

7 The entire relationship of the Nation of Israel with God is initially based upon the Abrahamic Covenant. This unconditional promise is made by God to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. There are several promises contained in this covenant. Some are to Abraham personally, others to his offspring. Note especially three of these. _ First is the promise of the people and land. This is reflected in more detail in the Palestinian Covenant given in Deut 30. This is a promise to the Nation of Israel and has not yet been fulfilled. _ Second is the promise of a king. This is given in greater detail in the Davidic Covenant found in 2 Sam 7:5-16. This promise also has not yet been fulfilled in an earthly sense. _ Third is the promise of peace with God and blessings on the Gentiles. This covenant is reflected in the New Covenant stated in Jeremiah 31:31-34. This is the condition of God s law being written on the heart of the God s people. This is the promise which flows to the Gentiles and is currently found in God s people, the Church of Jesus Christ.

8 It has not been fulfilled in so far as the Jewish Nation is concerned. 6 Note that there is no mention in the Abrahamic covenant of the law (Exod 20:1-17). The giving of the law is called the Mosaic covenant and is not part of the blessings seen in the New Covenant when God s law is written on the hearts of the people and not on tablets of stone. The above diagram shows the relationship of the Nation of Israel, the Church and the covenants in picture form. The Old TESTAMENT , then, is the ground of preparation for the coming of Christ. What needs to be gleaned from all of this is the place of the New TESTAMENT in this scheme. If the Bible teaches man how to find God and then how to live, where does the New TESTAMENT fit? Moses / LawDavidic Covenant2 Sam 7 Palestinian Covenant Deut 30 AbrahamicCovenantGen 12 New CovenantJer 31 Church Kingdom 7 The Greek word translated TESTAMENT may also be translated covenant. In other words, the title of the second part of God s Holy Book could be called the New Covenant.

9 This is because Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the requirements set forth in the Old TESTAMENT as being necessary to find God. Fulfillment becomes a major theme of the New TESTAMENT . Indeed, for our purposes, the New TESTAMENT is the fulfillment and answer of the first question, namely, HOW TO FIND GOD. Then, as if this is not enough, the New TESTAMENT continues on to teach us HOW TO LIVE as part of God s family. 8 This is possible because all of Scripture is about or points to Jesus Christ. Since the New TESTAMENT is about Jesus, God come to earth as man, it is easy to see how the New TESTAMENT is designed to answer the two questions necessary for man to have a proper relationship with God. Just as it was necessary for God to come to earth to bring man back into fellowship with Him, so, too, is it necessary for God to provide each succeeding generation with this same information. The prophets are gone. They have been replaced by the New TESTAMENT .

10 Background and History Abraham lived around 2,100 His great-grandson Joseph lived around 1,900 to 1850 It was at this time that the Nation of Israel moved to Egypt. The great Exodus under Moses occurred around 1,450 From then until 721 , the history of the Nation is a series of spiritual ups and downs mostly downs! In response to a complete lack of faith on the part of Israel, God sent the Assyrian nation against the ten Northern tribes. The Assyrians carried the Northern tribes into captivity in about 721 Later, God allowed the Babylonians to conquer the Assyrians. Then, in the period of 605-to-586 , the Babylonians made a series of invasions against the remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, carrying them into captivity. In the process, the Jewish Temple was destroyed. This is the story of 2 Kings 25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel. In 539 , the Persians under Cyrus defeated the Babylonians. Cyrus issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Palestine.