Purpose: To help you get a solid biblical teaching from the New Testament and for you to be a mature self-feeder.

Familiarize
You need to get comfortable and know some general facts about the New Testament.

• Read the New Testament.
• Identify the key passages location.
• Begin to understand the purpose of each book.

Gospel

• “Gospel” meaning “good news”
• Covers the life of Christ. Arranged in both a chronological and topical form.
• Writers are writing to different audiences for the purpose of telling the story of Jesus, showing Him to be the Son of God, and revealing His message.
• Literary forms used in the gospels (i.e., communication forms that Jesus utilized)
  • Exaggeration/hyperbole
  • Metaphor & simile
  • Narrative irony
  • Rhetorical questions
  • Parable 

Acts (History)

• Sequel to the Gospel of Luke
• Acts is a God-centered historical story. One could say that as Jesus is the main character of the Gospels and the Holy Spirit is the main character in Acts.
• Main themes
  • The Holy Spirit
  • The sovereignty of God as He continues to work out his plan of salvation in the world
  • The birth and explosive growth of the Church
  • Prayer
  • Suffering that came along with following Christ and witnessing
  • Gentiles - salvation is open to the entire world, not just the Jews
  • Witness - people communicating what they saw regarding the resurrection of Jesus
  •Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
• Although it is historical, it is most faithful to interpret Acts with a “descriptive and prescriptive” approach
  One way to know the difference is to see what is supported in the rest of biblical writing and experience in the New Testament.

The Epistles

• Letters were a way to “pastor from a distance.” They were viewed as an authoritative substitute for the actual presence of the author.
• Letters are situational, meaning that they were written to a specific church dealing with specific issues (doctrinal issues, life style issues, etc.) 1 Corinthians is a perfect example.
• All letters were written to a Christian audience
• Regarding interpretation, it is very beneficial to think in paragraphs vs individual verses. Letters utilize a lot of content to expound a doctrinal truth.
• Use The Interpretive Journey’s two principles:
  1. Understand the whole passage and context.
  2. What does the rest of the Bible say about the issue?

Revelation
Revelation suggests that something that was once hidden is now revealed or on display.

Think about this issue of revelation: it was hidden or covered.

Be careful when someone is dogmatic on their interpretations. God does hide things.