BEFORE ANALYZING IT It is important to “image the whole, then execute the parts.” That is because a general survey study gives perspective and setting for the analysis of the small detailed parts The main purpose of this book is to lead the student in such a survey of the New Testament Values and procedures of survey study will be discussed in the next chapter C RECOGNIZE THE KEY REVEALED TRUTHS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT Key revealed truths underlie all the details of the whole New Testament text.41 You are on rm ground when you recognize those truths as you study a Bible passage Some of the main ones are discussed below.42 Redemption is the prominent subject of the New Testament revelation From beginning to end the whole Bible is the story of redemption — God’s work of bringing sinners back into fellowship with Him, through the death of His Son Christ is the Redeemer, and because He is the central gure of the New Testament, the prominence of redemption in its pages is natural The price of the sinner’s redemption was Christ’s death on the cross So the cross is prominent throughout the New Testament Of that cross Erich Sauer writes, The cross is … the central event of His work on earth It is the central act of God in the whole history of the universe It is the most marvellous revelation of the will of God to save, “so that each that believes in Him should not be lost but have eternal life” (John 3:16).43 Because redemption is the prominent subject of the New Testament, we may expect that each of its twenty-seven books contributes to this theme, in varying degrees, depending on the individual purpose of each book This also is saying that we are not to read into every passage the doctrine of redemption, when the doctrine is not there Sin is man’s basic, desperate problem Redemption is prominent in the New Testament because it is God’s merciful response to man’s basic problem, sin, whose wages are eternal death (Rom 6:23) So, just as we may expect to read much in the New Testament about salvation, we may expect to observe equivalent emphasis about sin For example, Romans 1:18—3:20 is abo u t sin; the following section, Romans 3:21—5:21 is about salvation It is because sin estranges man from God that He judges it as the arch-enemy it really is And that is why He gave His Son to die on the cross His death is the exact measure of the sins of mankind: “He died for all” (2 Cor 5:15) The human race has no hope outside God’s grace This truth is taught throughout the New Testament, just as it is prominent in the Old Testament Paul writes that sinners, because they are separate from Christ, have no hope and are “without God in the world” ... throughout the New Testament Of that cross Erich Sauer writes, The cross is … the central event of His work on earth It is the central act of God in the whole history of the universe It is the most... because He is the central gure of the New Testament, the prominence of redemption in its pages is natural The price of the sinner’s redemption was Christ’s death on the cross So the cross is prominent...New Testament revelation From beginning to end the whole Bible is the story of redemption — God’s work of bringing sinners back into fellowship with Him, through the death of His Son Christ is the