When I came into contact with the dear people who lead me to Christ, they told me to:
- Give my heart to Jesus.
- Read the New Testament.
- Rejoice in Jesus.
I understood that it was God’s desire and I did it.
Yet one aspect puzzled me. Why did God think it wise or necessary to put 66 books in the Bible? Why not just one short condensed Gospel:
- I sinned against God.
- I ask forgives from Jesus. He will forgive me.
- The end result is the hope to be with Him eternally in joy and peace.
Isn’t that sufficient? The message of the Bible is that Jesus came to save sinners. A condensed version of the 66 books would have been fine (according to my reasoning).
As I grew in faith with time, I understood better. What follows in the next blogs are some of the compelling evidences the Holy Spirit gave me to make sure I do not stand ashamed before Him one day.
The first clue is that Jesus said,
‘Now this is eternal life: that they [Jesus’ followers] may know you [God the Father], the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ John 17:3
I understood that Jesus said eternal life is combined with knowledge of God. The Old Testament is filled with information about God. There we read who He is, how He created the Jewish nation and cared for them, His attributes (especially in the Psalms), et cetera. The New Testament mainly concentrates on Jesus. To get to know God better the Holy Spirit guided me to investigate the Old Testament Scriptures.
That gave me the first reason why God included 66 books in the Bible – so that I could know Him much, much better.