Tracing God's Story: New TestamentSample

The Letters (part 2)

Eight more letters, not written by Paul, are simply referred to as the general epistles. You have the book of James, which was written by James, the brother of Jesus. This is not the same James who was one of the original twelve apostles. This James actually did not believe that his earthly brother was the Messiah until after His resurrection. After coming to this realization, he went on to not only become an apostle but also a preacher and author who was eventually killed for his faith.

Next come the books of 1st and 2nd Peter, written by Peter, the apostle and close friend of Jesus. Then you have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. These letters were written by the apostle John, who was the same man who wrote the gospel of John and then the Book of Revelation. You have Jude. Jude was also written by a family member of Jesus, another of His brothers. The last letter in this section is the book of Hebrews.

I saved it for last because there is a debate over its author. The letter is anonymous; some theologians attribute it to Paul, some to Barnabas or Apollos, names you will hear as you read through the New Testament. There is even an argument that it was written by an early Christian bishop who was ordained by Peter. It is a unique book with much we can learn from.

The letters are not arranged in our Bibles in chronological order. They are not in alphabetical order or even in topical order. They are first divided by author. Paul's, who are first, are organized by their audience, first the churches and then the individuals. Within these categories, they are organized according to, surprisingly, their length. There are a few little exceptions that we can't fully explain, but we can fully trust that God has a perfect plan for how these letters were put into the Bible.

The epistles are a very important part of the Bible. You must remember that the people living during this time and the churches they started did not have Bibles to read. They desired to follow and worship Jesus but did not truly understand how. These letters were written to help them grasp what it meant to be a Christian and gave them advice on how to live godly lives. Some topics covered include marriage and divorce, spiritual gifts, works versus grace, speaking in tongues, parenting, appointing leaders, and how to love genuinely.

As you can see, this is valuable information for anyone trying to live a godly life. As Paul beautifully puts it in his letter to the Colossians, "My goal is that through this study of the epistles, you may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding so that you may know the mystery." I hope the information shared today helps you grasp how interesting the Bible is so that you develop a passion for reading it.

I pray that as you dig into scripture, God speaks to you in exciting new ways, and your spirit begins coming to life.