Organization by Books
Surprisingly, the general categories of the books of the New Testament can be related directly to their Old Testament counterparts as they appear, left to right, in the Bible:
| Old Testament | New Testament |
| The (Old) Law (Genesis - Deuteronomy) | The (New) Law (Matthew - John) |
| The History of God's People (Joshua - Esther) | The History of the Church (Acts) |
| Commentary or "Journal Books (Job - Song of Solomon) | Commentary or "Journal" Books (Romans - Jude) |
| Prophets (Isaiah - Malachi) | Prophets (Revelation) |
The fact that they provide a different emphasis in each area (e.g. 17 Old Testament prophetic books vs. 1 in the New Testament, 5 “journal” books vs. 21, etc.) is itself an indication of the completely different results of the Old Covenant vs. the New ushered into history through the First Coming of Jesus.
The theme of the entire Bible is God’s plan of salvation for man. The Old Testament documents man’s inability to live according to the original promises or “covenant” (what the translated word “testament” actually means) and concludes with God’s promise to reconcile man through a new covenant initiated through His Messiah. The New Testament provides the Gospel through Christ which initiates the “New Covenant”. Whereas the Old Testament shows the people (Israel) called by God to have failed in their relationship with Him and documents their repeated falling away and bearing God’s judgments for their sin, the New Testament is open-ended, conveying the continued success of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit to bring God’s plan of salvation continued success to this very day.
