Lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my! Is that the way you look at your Bible? Until recently that is the way I looked at mine. However, now, it seems pretty simple. What you are about to learn will help you greatly, to see things as God meant for them to be seen. The Bible can be broken down into three simple categories, the law, the prophets, and God. What do these have to do with the gospel? The answer is everything!

The law is composed of the ten commandments and various ceremonial ordinances. The prophets are simply the lives of various prophets and the things that they have seen in revelation. And God is the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That seems pretty simple, right? The law, the prophets, and God are in the Bible to explain to you one thing and one thing only - the good news of the gospel. Let us take a closer look, shall we?

Let us start with the law. A list of do's and don'ts that even God said we cannot keep. Jeremiah 13:23. That is what the bottom line of the law is. The statement I am about to make is going to cause you to desire to throw this book in the trash, but hear me out. Jesus did not keep the law. He was a man and Jesus says about Himself, "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself." "Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God." -John 8:28; Mark 10:18. Only by the power of the Father in Jesus could He do anything, and only by the power of Jesus living in us can we do anything. "I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." -John 14:20. The Father in Jesus and Jesus in us by the Holy Spirit is the only way any man can keep the law. That is what the law is for, to show us our great need that God has provided. This is the gospel.

What about prophecy? What does it have to do with the gospel? Prophecy reveals the future, which we can do nothing about. Right? So why did God think it so important to tell us about the future that we can do nothing about? Prophecy reveals the end of sinners and we are all sinners. We deserve death. Prophecy shows us our need of a Saviour to avoid this death. That is what prophecy was written for, to show us our great need. It also reveals that God has provided us with a Saviour. This is the gospel.

God is in the Bible as the only hope for mankind. It tells about His great love, mercy, and grace. Knowing about God gives us hope and is the only cure for the sin problem. We are not to worry about sins, but separation from God because we want things our way, which is the one and only true sin. We are to work on the relationship and when the sin (singular) is gone so will be the sins (plural). This is the gospel.

The Bible is basically a love story. The law and the prophets reveal our problem and God reveals our cure. The Bible is totally and only the gospel expounded.

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by Debra A. Snipes
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