Basic Biblical Principles 2

   The bible is divided, of course, into the Old Testament and the New Testament. These are further divided into books, chapters and verses. It is important to remember that the chapter and verse divisions are creations of man and not inspired by God. The original manuscripts did not contain any paragraph divisions or even any punctuation. Therefore in studying the bible, we need to be careful in not assigning any significance to chapter and verse divisions. In fact each verse should be studied in the context of the verses surrounding it and not taken as a stand alone thought.

   Three historical ages are covered by the bible. The Patriarchal Age began in Genesis and continued until the Law was given in Exodus. The Mosaical Age began with the Law and ended sometime between Jesus death on the cross and the Day of Pentecost, when Jesus ascended into heaven. The Christian Age begin on the Day of Pentecost, when the apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit and Peter preached the first Gospel sermon. This means that the events described in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) occurred in the Mosaical Age, while people were still under the Law.

   If we do not understand when the Christian Age began, it can lead to confusion. For example, some people claim that baptism is not necessary, because the thief on the cross was not baptized, yet was saved. (See Luke 23:39-43) Baptism was not necessary for the thief on the cross for the simple reason that he lived and died under the Mosaical Law. The Mosaical Law did not require baptism. We live under the Christian Age, which does require us to be baptized. (Acts 2:38 and many other verses) Since we live in the Christian Age, we are subject to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and not the Law of Moses. So do we have to obey the Ten Commandments? With one exception, yes, because nine of the ten are reiterated or expanded upon in the New Testament. The only exception is number four: remember the Sabbath.

   I firmly believe that we are lucky to live in the Christian Age, because in this age we can truly be free from the bondage of sin. We have much more freedom of worship than was allowed under the Mosaical Law. But, we must remember that with freedom comes responsibility. We can no longer worship by rote. We must worship with our hearts, minds, and souls.

Steve Truman