15 New Testament Words of Life

A New Testament Theology for Real Life

By: Nijay K. Gupta, Paula Gooder - introduction

Narrated by: Jakob Lewis, Jude Mason

The New Testament is made up of words--about 138,000 words. Put together, these words express the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. They also told early believers what living for Jesus Christ looked like and called them to faithful living.

In 15 New Testament Words of Life, New Testament expert Nijay Gupta explores the most important words found in the New Testament. He makes their meaning clear so that these words can become--once again--life giving words for modern Christians as they were for early Jesus-followers. For those first readers of the New Testament who chose to follow Jesus, these words were words of life and they can be again for Jesus-followers in the modern world.

For many Christians, these "weighty words" of the New Testament have become stale from over exposure (e.g., "love") or their life-giving meaning is fuzzy and unclear because they are not words that frequent our everyday conversation (e.g., "holiness"). In 15 New Testament Words of Life, readers will learn what these important words meant to the earliest Christian readers and how we can capture the transformative power of these 15 words today and live faithfully for Christ in God's world.

Bible references, suggested reading, and a bibliography are included in the audiobook companion PDF download.

Inspirational, Non- inclusive Racial Bias

I am a Christian who is black. All of the author’s stories and examples of historical and contemporary persons, except one, are introduced without a”race” label. The “black” maid for the white family (in the movie, The Help) is used as an example of God’s affirmations to us. To tag her race and no one else’s is insensitive and shows the author’s racial bias. It is past time to get a grip.

Very insight overview of NT spirituality

This book is an insightful overview of NT spirituality. Gupta does a great job introducing spiritual concepts in creative ways, using modern stories and metaphors. For example, he introduces the topic of salvation by telling the story of shipwrecked teenagers, and how their rescue lead to an ongoing relationship with their recuser that changed the trajectory of their lives. The way Gupta explains these concepts is corrective. It addresses the superficial and unhelpful views of spirituality that are so common. Part of this correction is his focus on showing the continuity between both testaments on each word discussed. The story of Israel reveals so much about who God is and how to live faithfully, and Christ is not doing less than fulfilling and continuing that story. So, including an OT context for each word enriches the discussion. Also, I like how the focus-texts function as windows into the theme/theology of the book the text is found in. So reviewing these words really is a good way to get an overview of what the NT is focused on: thriving, life with God, transformation, practicing your faith, having integrity. I am still thinking about the chapter on peace as it relates to social media usage. His view of scripture is about embodiment, not just mental affirmations, making the book both informative and practical. My only criticism is that I wanted something to draw it all together into a unified idea or message. Basically, the book is missing a concluding chapter. But to his credit, the introduction is very good: Jesus has “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). And that is how we should view the Bible. It is full of words for real life; teachings that lead to human flourishing in every aspect of our lives. Gupta writes: “The stuff most prized in life- beauty, justice, goodness- this is the stuff that fills the onionskin pages of the Bible.” If we don’t understand the language of the Bible deeply (eg what does righteousness mean?) and put it into practice, then we will wrestle with the temptation of treating pundits, influencers, and “intellectuals” as more wise in the ways of modern living than the ancient words of the Bible. I think that is the inherent challenge behind Gupta’s book, and he did a great job of choosing a great list of 15 words that paint a vibrant picture of life with God.