1.  Bible was written by different authors, different periods, languages, geographical locations  It wasn’t written directly to us  Translation differences & other religious books  Traditions & lifestyles – then and now  Denominationalism/creeds/doctrine  Order of Bible books (O.T. before N.T.)  Many different terms that mean the same or almost the same thing

2.  God chose the Jews as His people and most of the Bible is about the Jews  Abraham was chosen by God as the father of the Jews  God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his Seed  His grandson Jacob (Israel) was the father of the 12 tribes of Israel (the Jews)  The Jews were given the law of Moses, which regulated their lives (circumcision, animal sacrifices, the priesthood, Sabbath worship, Jewish festivals)  God blessed the Jews when they obeyed Him, and He punished them when they were disobedient

3.  Genealogy was an extremely important part of the Jewish tradition. The Bible contains many lists of Jewish ancestry.  They were proud of their roots and looked down on Gentile nations.  Both testaments speak of a time when Jerusalem would be destroyed and the Jews would no longer be God’s chosen people.  The Jews (who didn’t accept Christ) wrongly thought they could be justified by the Law of Moses even after Christ died for them.  Jerusalem was destroyed ~70 AD

4. JEWSGENTILES  Israelites  Hebrews  Circumcision  Tribes  Greeks  Uncircumcision  Strangers  Foreigners  Aliens  The Church  Jerusalem above  Members of the house of God CHRISTIANS

5.  Set the Jews apart from the Gentiles  The 10 commandments were for the Jews (Ex 34:27-28)  Following any of the Law as a requirement for salvation necessitates following all of it – which would include animal sacrifices, the priesthood, Sabbath worship, Jewish festivals, etc. (Gal 3:10)  Christians were never under the 10 commandments and would be cursed if they held to just that part of the law.

6.  Jesus tells Christians to love God and our neighbor (Mat 22:37-39), which is consistent with most of the 10 commandments  Just because we don’t kill, steal, covet, etc. doesn’t mean that we are keeping the 10 commandments  God never told Christians to keep the Sabbath and He didn’t change the Sabbath day  The 1 st day of the week (Sunday) and the 7 th day of the week (Saturday or Sabbath) are different (Mat 28:1)

7.  Abolished the law  Removed the barrier  Established His new covenant  Under the new covenant  Jew and Gentile can have peace  Jesus is the mediator (the torn veil)  We are saved by grace through obedient faith (Col 2:8)

9. OLD COVENANTNEW COVENANT  Works  Bondage (physical Jerusalem)  Ministry of Death  Copy  Shadow  Faith  Freedom (Jerusalem above)  Spirit of Life  True  Substance CHAPTER Rom 9 Gal 4 2 Cor 3 Heb 9 Col 2

11.  Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come to the apostles  Teach and remind them of all things (John 14:26)  Testify of Jesus and be His witness (John 15:26)  He will convict the world of sin (John 16:8)  To the Jews first, then to Gentiles  Starting at Jerusalem  Then Judea and Samaria  The rest of the earth

12.  Apostles are baptized with the Holy Spirit  Peter speaks first gospel sermon and tells the Jews that they killed the Christ  They believe and ask what they should do  He tells them to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit  Church is established with 3000 baptized believers  They continued in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

13.  What the Gospel is  The Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ (1 Cor 15:1-4)  What the Gospel does  Saves us – if we obey it (1 Cor 15:1-4)  Eternal destruction – if we don’t obey it (2 Thes 1:8- 9)  How we obey it  Jesus died – so we should die to our sins (repentance)  Jesus was buried – so we should be buried (baptism)  Jesus was resurrected – we should be raised as a new person