themes of the books of the bible
Have you ever opened the Bible and thought to yourself, “there is so much information, it’s hard to grasp a lot of what each of the Books are about. It’s overwhelming!?” The following list of themes of the Books of the Bible helps put messages of God's Word in a simplified outline...
themes of the books of the Bible: Encouraging Messages from the new testament
The following are the 27 books of the New Testament and the one encouraging message or theme in each…
1. Matthew
Theme: The Kingdom of Heaven
The New Testament starts with the inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven, foundational among the themes of the Books of the Bible.
Encouragement: Based on chapter 6 and verse 33, the Lord encourages us to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and then God will provide for us what we need. Matthew implies this message throughout his Gospel.
2. Mark
Theme: Christ-like Service and Sacrifice
Encouragement: The Gospel of Mark written to a Gentile and Roman audience reveals Christ to us as a servant and encourages us to place our identity in Him.
3. Luke
Theme: The mission of Christ to set the captives free (4:18)
Encouragement: Luke portrays Christ as the Son of Man and seeks to demonstrate His humanity. Still, the belief is in the divinity of Jesus, but Luke wanted his audience, the Gentiles, to see the human (though still perfect) side of Jesus, which is encouraging and relatable.
4. John
Theme: Life in the light of Christ
Encouragement: To live your life in Christ, the encouragement from the Gospel of John is first to believe (among John’s favorite words) and then to abide or remain attached to Christ, the vine (John 15).
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:31).
5. Acts
Theme: The movement of the Holy Spirit through His church
God gives the power of His Holy Spirit to help the Church be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Encouragement: Luke wrote Acts to record the spread of Christianity. He also introduced the pattern of church life and missionary work. The encouragement for us is to rely on the power of His Spirit to do the work He has called us to do.
6. Romans
Theme: The power of the Gospel is for those who believe (based on Romans 1:16)
Encouragement: Paul’s letter to the Romans is the Book of doctrine. The purpose is instructions in the doctrine of the Christian faith. You’ll find many practical applications to your life.
7. 1 Corinthians
Theme: Unity in Christ
Encouragement: Christians should pursue unity within the body of Christ and exercise the gifts God has given them to build up the church, while relying on God’s wisdom. Pray about what God has given to you as spiritual gifts and use them to build up His church for His glory.
8. 11 Corinthians
Theme: Freedom in Christ
Encouragement: The Lord’s Spirit is at work in us to give us life in Him and transform us into His image.
9. Galatians
Theme: Living and walking in the Holy Spirit as a result of the believer's justification in Christ
Among the themes of the Books of the Bible, living in Christ and by the power of His Holy Spirit is a common thread.
Encouragement: If one feels trapped by sinful habits, Galatians 5 teaches us that walking by the Spirit blocks those patterns. What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? I like to think of this spiritual walk in terms of physical walking—step by step and moment by moment. Walking by the Spirit entails…Reading and meditating on His Word, prayer, confession, etc.
10. Ephesians
Theme: God’s great power in us
Encouragement: The message is to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith and to strengthen us in our inner beings. May we pray and seek the Lord on that as was the Apostle Paul’s desire expressed in this letter.
11. Philippians
Theme: Joy in the Lord
For any student of the Bible, it’s not hard to figure this message out of Philippians is joy in the Lord. That joy comes through:
• Standing firm in and growing in Christ and the Gospel
• Being humble, likeminded, and unified in Christ with other believers
• Seeking to gain Christ and considering earthly gains as loss for the sake of Christ
• Prayer and thanksgiving as wells as contentment (Chapter 4)
Encouragement: The Apostle Paul’s prayer offers the encouragement that: that the love of each Christian as well as knowledge, discernment, and depth of insight may abound more and more (v. 9-10). Also from Philippians 1:6, God will bring His work in our lives to completion.
12. Colossians
Theme: Focusing on Christ
Encouragement: God through the Apostle Paul instructs us to set our minds on things (3:2) above and not on earthly things, which is the key to growth in the Christian walk indicated by the verses that follow. The church holds together in Christ, who is the head. Christ’s death and shed blood of Christ reconcile humans with God.
13. 1 Thessalonians
Theme: Living to please God more and more
Encouragement: 1 Thessalonians was written to encourage a young church and to inspire Christian growth, so they would be blameless and holy in the presence of God when Jesus returns. Among the encouragements include the being ready for the Lord’s return and how believers are not appointed to God’s wrath.
“…and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:10).
The context is basically Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, thanking God for the church of the Thessalonians—how they turned from idols and followed God. This Book is an encouragement for us to do the same.
14. 11 Thessalonians
Theme: Perseverance and standing firm in the faith to the end
Among the themes of the Books of the Bible, this concept is especially prevalent in the New Testament. The reason has to do with the church facing persecution and prophetic warnings of how bad it will get prior to Jesus' return.
Encouragement: At the time II Thessalonians was written, persecution was rampant. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to comfort the church in the midst of that. His purpose in writing specifically was to explain the coming of Christ and the day of the Lord.
15. 1 Timothy
Theme: Church order, care ministry, and sound doctrine
Encouragement: The word from Paul to Timothy and one that can apply to us is…not to neglect our gifts for serving the Lord and helping those in need.
16. 2 Timothy
Theme: Living as a soldier for Christ
Encouragement: The writer of II Timothy encourages believers to be bold for Christ (1:7) and to keep the faith (v. 13-14) and to endure adversity and suffering for the sake of Christ (2:4-6).
17. Titus
Theme: Church order
Encouragement: Maintaining healthy congregations
18. Philemon
Theme: Brotherly kindness
Encouragement: Maintaining healthy Christian fellowship
19. Hebrews
Theme: The superiority of Christ
Encouragement: Hebrews calls us to take our faith seriously and to follow the example of the saints who have gone before us (Chapter 11).
20. James
Theme: Humbly enduring trials with God’s wisdom produces maturity.
Encouragement: This letter encourages us put our faith in action, not just in express it in terms of words or beliefs.
23. 1 John
Theme: Loving one another
Encouragement: God lives in us as we love Him and one another. Part of that love for God is not going on sinning and making sure we confess our sins regularly.
24. 2 John
Theme: obedience to Christ, which involves love and truth
Encouragement: Speaking of love and truth, we are called to hold on to sound doctrine while walking in God’s love for one another. Strive for balance not being so focused on doctrine that love is diminished. The same is true for only applying the concept of love, which then leads to allowing deception into the church.
25. 3 John
Theme: hospitality
Encouragement: to continue to be faithful in doing good works
26. Jude
Theme: Contending for the faith
Encouragement: The message is to persevere in the faith and stay in the love of God in the midst of evil.
27. Revelation
Theme: God's justice, victory, and glory
The glory of Jesus Christ is revealed, His justice carried out, and His Kingdom established in the new heavens and earth.
Encouragement: The author of Revelation wrote the Book in coded form to show what is to take place in the future. The encouragement for us is that even though it looks like the world is in a hopeless state now, God will fix everything judging evil and restoring creation to its originally intended perfect state.
Revelation Simplified...
The Book of Revelation, for many people, is a hard Book to read and grasp because of all the symbolism and so forth. My dad has written a very extensive blog post series on Revelation and does a great job helping the reader understand the material.
For an in-depth simplified study on the Book of Revelation, check out my dad, Lou Ciccanti's blog:
REVELATION SIMPLIFIED Bible Study: January 2020 (breadoflifeministriesassoc.blogspot.com)
Another page on the themes of the Books of the Bible will cover the Old Testament. I'm in the process of putting that information together.
One tool you can use for in-depth study of the themes of the Bible is Logos Bible Software:
Get the Free Logos Bible Study Platform
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For an overview of the entire Bible, which helps you see and understand its message as a whole, see my page: