The Bible is one book.
Several telling signs attest to this unity.
(1) From Genesis onward the Bible bears witness to one God. Wherever He speaks or acts He is consistent with Himself, and with the total revelation concerning Him.
(2) The Bible forms one continuous story—the account of God’s dealing with the human race.
(3) The Bible advances the most unlikely predictions concerning the future, and then gives the record of their fulfillment at the appropriate time.
(4) The Bible is a progressive unfolding of truth. God does not give all the information He will give on a subject at one particular point. (It is also important to remember that God has not told us all there is to know about Himself and His purposes with men and women, only what we need to know.) To stimulate our interest and to thwart the casual, God has given His revelation in parts over time. A helpful statement of this principle is found in Hebrews 1:1–2: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son . . . .”
(5) The Bible presents a single way of access to God. All of biblical history up to the Cross anticipates the great act of God to provide a way for sinners to come into His presence. The remainder of the New Testament records views that act in retrospect, delineating the account of those subsequently living under it. The means of access to God (substitutionary death of a sacrifice) and the sole channel for obtaining that access (faith) are presented uniformly in Scripture, without a suggestion of any other possible way.
(6) From beginning to end the Bible has one great theme: the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All Scripture is rightly related initially to Him. Revelation 19:10 reminds us of this when it states: “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” The predictive words of the Old and New Testaments have Jesus Christ as their focus: they are testimonies about Him.
(7) The doctrines of the Bible are harmonious, even though they were penned by some forty-four writers over more than sixteen centuries. The constant quotation of the Old Testament by writers of the New Testament attests to this. For example, the fact that Paul could adduce Genesis 2:24 to advance his argument in Ephesians 5:31 shows that he believed his words were in keeping with those of Moses.
The Bible is a book composed of books.
Each of the sixty-six books is complete in itself and has its own theme and analysis. It is of great importance that each book be studied in the light of its distinctive themes. Genesis, for instance, is the book of beginnings—the seed-plot of the whole Bible. Matthew is the Gospel book that portrays the Lord Jesus Christ as the King presented to Israel, as opposed, for instance, to John, which stresses His acts as the Son of God, that is, as Deity. (Scofield notes)
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