THE BIBLE IS A LIBRARY
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  Section:  The Bible > A Library > Two Testaments

When you first go to a library,  it can look a bit confusing. There are so many books you hardly knew where to start! But if you ask the librarian for help you, will be told where to find the sections which will help you best.

The Bible is a Library!

We usually think of the Bible as one book, but it is actually made up of 66 books. The word 'Bible' comes from a Greek word which mean 'books' or 'library'. Just as our libraries are divided into sections for different subjects, so the Bible is divided up.

TWO MAIN SECTIONS

There are 2 main sections in the Bible, called The Old Testament and The New Testament.
The word 'Testament' means promise, contract or agreement.

• The Old Testament

The Old Testament is made up of 39 books. These are the writings of the Jewish people, and it contains the promises or contract made by God with this nation.
If they kept the laws that He had given them and worshipped only Him, He would take care of them forever.
He promised that one day He would send someone from Heaven to take the punishment for their sin. His title was MESSIAH.
Then Jesus came. He was God's special person from heaven. He died to take the punishment for the sin of everyone - not only the Jewish people, but everyone in the whole world.  We know this because of what the Bible says in Ephesians 3:6  : 

'Through the gospel the Gentiles (non-Jews) are heirs together with Israel (the Jews), members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus.'

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• The New Testament

After He died, Jesus came alive again and went to heaven. Books were written about what had happened to Jesus, and later, what happened to the people who believed in Him.
These books were called The New Testament, because this was all about new promises and a new contract that God had made.

What was this new contract?

This agreement was not only for the Jews, but for everyone who believed. Unlike the Old Testament, the agreement did not depend on keeping the Law (although that was still a good thing to do).
It depended on a person being so sorry for the bad things they had done that they didn't want to do them again.  This is what the Bible calls "repenting".
It depended on them asking Jesus to forgive them and be their Special Friend and Leader.

There are many verses in the New Testament that tell about this new promise and agreement between God and us. Here is one: 'Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out' (Acts 3:19).

If you would like to know more about how to have Jesus as your Special Friend and Leader, click here.

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