What Every Christian Should Know

Who was Malchus? If you grew up around the church, you might know the answer. Malchus was the servant of the high priest whose ear Peter cut off during the arrest of Jesus. For many of us, that question belonged to a familiar game: Bible Trivia.

I grew up playing games like that. We’d compete over names, numbers, and details. How many stones did David pick up? Which king was weighed in the balance and found wanting? Who was the wee little man who climbed up in a sycamore tree (for the Lord he wanted to see)? There’s nothing wrong with knowing those things. Familiarity with the Bible is a good thing.

But knowing Bible trivia isn’t the same thing as knowing the Bible. A person can remember scattered facts but still struggle to know what the Bible is, how it fits together, or what its message is. The Scripture isn’t given to us so we can win a game. It’s given so that we can read, meditate, understand, and be trained in righteousness and holiness.

With that in mind, there are certain things every Christian should know about the Bible — not obscure details or academic debates, but foundational truths that shape how we read, study, and receive God’s Word.

Every Christian should know the Bible’s divine authorship. The Bible was written by real men. They wrote in different places, over many centuries, and in different styles. But behind the many men who wrote is a single Author: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). Or, as the Apostle Peter said, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pt. 1:21).

The Bible isn’t a collection of human thoughts and experiences, it’s God own speech — his breathed-out Word. This is why the Bible is true. God cannot lie, and so every word is trustworthy. It’s also why the Bible has authority. God is God over all, and what he says is binding. And it’s why the Scriptures are unified. Though written by many authors, it’s not disjointed. All its parts fit together into a single whole.

If a Christian doesn’t know this, then the Bible becomes nothing but a product of man’s creativity — it may have good advice, inspirational stories, or moral instruction, but it can rise no higher than the men who wrote it.

Every Christian should know what the Bible primarily teaches. The Westminster Shorter Catechism gives a very simple answer: “The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” This captures the heart of the Bible’s message.

The message of the Bible isn’t about man’s seeking after God, but about God’s revealing himself to man. Beyond what creation can tell us, the Scriptures reveal the God who is, and all that he is — his justice, mercy, wisdom, truth, and power. In revealing who God is, the Bible also makes clear that we are obligated to him — both by creation and by redemption. 


Faith and obedience aren’t opposed to each other because right belief shapes faithful obedience, and true obedience flows out of right belief. When we read the Bible, the two most basic questions to always ask are: What does this passage teach me about God? And what does it teach me about how I should live before him?

Every Christian should know the different genres of the Bible. The parts of the Bible fit together as a whole, but the parts are also different. It’s not written in one way.

Scripture has many different kinds of writing. God hasn’t chosen to reveal his eternal truth in a single literary form. There’s law and history, poetry and prophecy, proverbs, parables, letters, and apocalyptic visions. This matters. We don’t read Psalms the same way we read Romans, and we don’t read history the way we read prophecy.

It’s so helpful to be familiar with these differences and recognize, at least generally, what they do. For example, narrative records real acts of God in history. Poetry expresses real truth in figurative language. Prophecy isn’t pre-recorded history. It uses imagery, symbolism, and metaphor communicates the acts and judgments of God in a sinful world.

Every Christian should know the covenant development of the Bible. From beginning to end, the Bible isn’t a collection of stand-alone events. Rather, it tells the story of God binding himself to his people by promise. The Bible is the record of God’s covenant dealing with humanity, and especially with his church.

This began in the Garden of Eden when God established a relationship with Adam where he promised life as a result of his obedience. When Adam fell, God was pleased to make another covenant. This is commonly called the covenant of grace. He promised that the seed of the woman would crush the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). That promise is the thread that runs through the entire Bible. God gradually moves the story of his covenant forward — through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally in Jesus Christ.

Every Christian should know the Christ-centeredness of the Bible. After his resurrection, Jesus walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Not recognizing who he was, the disciples were taught by Jesus from the Scriptures about himself. “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk 24:27). This reshapes how we read the entire Bible.

The Old Testament isn’t a historical record of Israel. It’s preparation for Christ. Its sacrifices point forward to his death. Its priests foreshadow his ministry. Its kings point to his reign. Its prophets anticipate his judgment and grace. Its promises find their fulfillment in him.

The New Testament continues this Christ-centeredness. The Gospels tell of his earthly ministry in his life, death, and resurrection. Acts announces the continuing work of Christ through the apostles to the nations. The epistles explain the meaning of his work and apply it to every day life. And Revelation shows his victorious return.

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible witnesses to Jesus Christ in his person and work.

Every Christian should know how the New Testament uses the Old Testament. It’s often said, “The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.” This is the basic way to appreciate the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.

The New Testament authors don’t treat the Old like something to be discarded, or a relic of the past. Rather, the writers are constantly quoting or alluding to the Old. They understood that the events they witnessed were fulfillment of what God had said long ago. They recognized that the doctrines they defended were contained in the faith of the patriarchs. And they knew the godliness they promoted was still the outworking of the moral law of God given in the Ten Commandments.

For this reason, the pages of the New Testament are saturated with the Old. When we see it used, we should develop the instinct to ask why and how the biblical author is doing so. After all, the New Testament is the very best commentary on the Old.

Every Christian should know the difference between command and promise. Throughout the Bible God speaks in two ways. He commands. And he promises.

His commands are given, in part, so that we can know our sinfulness. But they’re also given so we, as Christians, may know how to glorify him. He commands us to love. He commands that we believe, repent, forgive, pursue holiness, and worship him faithfully. These aren’t suggestions or good advice. God tells us how we should live.

But the Bible also makes promises — promises we can’t fulfill ourselves. God promises to give a new heart. He promises the indwelling of the Spirit. He promises to forgive sin. He promises resurrection, eternal life, and a new creation. He promises to give us everything that is needed for faith and godliness.

When we read the Bible we need to keep this in mind. Every command should drive us to his promises, and his promises should direct us back to his commands.

So, who was Malchus? He was the servant whose ear Peter cut off. That’s a useful fact to know. But if that’s all we know, we’ve missed the purpose of the Bible.

None of these are advanced insights. They are foundational for every believer — from our youngest children first learning Bible stories, to the saints who have read them for decades. The Scriptures aren’t given so we can have a knowledge of names, numbers and details. They’re given so that we might know and love the living God, understand his covenant relationship with us, behold the glory of his Son, and walk before him in faith and obedience. The Bible is God’s own speech, unified by an unfolding story and centered on Jesus Christ. Every Christian should know that.