NTQ – Basic New Testament Questions

[NOTE: After initial conversations with various interested people in our city, I wanted to give them further Bible explanations. So I wrote and printed some notes for them. Those notes were the beginnings of these posts.]

NTQ1 “Christians”?

Life can be very enjoyable and so much fun! Yet it goes up and down and we all try to cope. Everyone has their own story. Being a “Christian” is one way that people respond.

In the most recent (2021) Australian Census, 43.9% of the population ticked the “Christian” box. Why? What did they mean? People give different answers, even church-goers.

But “Christian” beliefs have at times been misunderstood or distorted, then applied quite incorrectly. So some people have feared or avoided anything “Christian”.

Yet to get “Christian” beliefs right is possible. It is not complicated, although deeply challenging (see this reference from the Bible – Romans 10:8,9-10). But does it matter?

These beliefs reveal the true meaning of life. They “save” people from the consequences of not finding this meaning. So really understanding what a “Christian” is, does matter! But it only becomes clear when applied personally (see “About Jeff Stacey and this website” above as an example).

What follows is my best attempt to briefly describe and explain from the Bible what “Christian” means, and its significance.

NTQ2 Why the Bible?

The word “Christian” originally came from the Bible Acts 11:26b, meaning “Christ’s ones” or, His followers.

The Bible is the primary source for Christians, because they believe it was all inspired by God. It is their “Scripture” which teaches them the truth about God and how to live their lives in His ways 2Timothy 3:16.

The Bible is a collection of 66 separate ‘books’, written by at least 40 authors over about 1500 years. There are still more than 5000 ancient, quite accurate copies of parts or all of the original manuscripts (this is massively more, and also mostly earlier, than for any other ancient literature).

The Bible is in two sections. The first section is the “Old Testament” (OT), containing 39 books and is about 75% of the whole Bible. It is a record of God’s involvement in the history of the world since its creation by Him, from about 4000 to 400 years BC (BC means Before Christ was born). It mostly focusses on the Israelite peoples, as the nation initially chosen by God to make Himself known. It also has many predictions (“prophecies”) about the future, especially the coming of the “Messiah” (Jesus Christ).

The second section is the “New Testament” (NT), containing 27 books. It has four eyewitness-based accounts of the life, teachings and influences of Jesus Christ. Then follows a narrative of the early geographical spread of Christianity, together with letters written to various scattered groups of Christians (“churches”) until about 90 years after the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Bible has been translated into most of the world’s languages. The quotations used here come from two recent English versions, the New Living Translation (NLT) and the New International Version (NIV).

Many experts (including some non-Christians) agree that the Bible is factually based on historical people and events. However, it is a record of history as seen from God’s point of view. It’s His-story”!

NTQ3 What does the Bible say about God and people?

The Bible sets out what God is like, His intentions for the world and its people, and what stage in history this has reached. Briefly, it goes like this:

There is only one God. He is infinite and absolutely perfect. He created the universe, including planet Earth and its people. He keeps it all going for His purposes. He is all-powerful and nothing is unknown to Him.
God’s primary purpose in all of His creation is to express His infinite nature – to show what He is really like [see Era 1 section 1A3, and Era 5 section 5A3]. He especially intends to make Himself known TO people, and even THROUGH them as they respond to Him.
In the beginning, God’s creation was all perfect Genesis 1:31a. Yet He allowed the first person freedom to choose how he would respond to God. But this was with a command and a dire warning Genesis 2:16-17.
Later that man and his wife chose to disobey this command Genesis 3:6. God then acted on His warning Genesis 3:7-24.
Ever since, no-one has fully “followed the Maker’s instructions”. So God sees all people as imperfect, not doing what He intended. The result is that all people have been alienated from God and are mostly spoiling His creation.
This is still the basic situation today (except for what God has done, through Jesus Christ, to overcome it!)

NTQ4 Surely this all raises some logical, unanswerable questions about God and people?!

Because God is perfect, how could He ever have anything to do with imperfect people without polluting His own perfection? Is this a permanent barrier between people and God? If so, how could He make Himself known TO them?

Since God also has total knowledge and power, how could people ignore or disobey Him and get away with it? Won’t He just have to reject them all? Is that unavoidable?

If all people are imperfect, how could God ever express His own nature and make Himself known THROUGH them?

Why did God let it all come to this? It all looks out of control, hopeless, and impossible to fix!

So all people have huge, terrible problems about God. Yet how could He overcome these without compromising Himself?

Is there any way that people can be OK with God?

Surely, only God could know how to fix all this!

NTQ5 What is God’s answer to all these profound questions and problems?

The New Testament addresses all these issues by answering five basic questions, as follows:

A. Who was Jesus Christ and why is He significant?

B. What is a “Christian”?

C. How to become a Christian?

D. How to live as a Christian?

E. What if a person is not a Christian?

The following notes summarise the Bible’s answers to these five questions.

Continue to NTA