The book of Romans is the first epistle (letter) we come to in the New Testament. It was from the apostle Paul (1:11) to the church at Rome (1:7), but was recorded by a scribe named Tertius (16:22).

At the time of writing, Paul desired to visit the church in Rome, but hadn’t had the opportunity yet (1:10; 15:22-24). He was in Corinth when the book was written, shortly before going to Jerusalem with the gift to minister to the needy saints in Judea (15:25-26). After arriving in Jerusalem Paul was arrested and spent more than two years in custody (Acts 21:30-33; 24:27). Eventually he would appeal to Caesar and thus be taken to Rome as a prisoner (Acts 25:10-12; 28:16).

The full name of the book is “The Acts of the Apostles,” though we typically refer to it as “Acts.” This book is the continuation of Luke’s writing (Acts 1:1; cf. Luke 1:3). In the first record, he wrote about the life and deeds of the Messiah, finishing just before His ascension. In the book of Acts, Luke picks up where he left off and proceeds to tell about the beginning of the church “…in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This phrase (from 1:8) reveals how the gospel would spread to the whole world.

John is the fourth and final gospel account. The author is the apostle John, a former fisherman along with James, his brother, working on the boat of Zebedee, their father. He was part of the inner circle of Jesus’ friends (Peter, James, and John), in fact, he described himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7, 20). In addition to the gospel account, he wrote 4 other books: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and the Revelation.

Luke is the third of the four gospel accounts. The author is the only gospel writer (in fact, the only New Testament writer) who is not Jewish. A statement by Paul in Colossians 4:10-14 identifies Luke as a Gentile (presumed to be Greek) and a physician.

Mark is the second and shortest of the four gospel accounts. The author’s given name is John, though we typically refer to him by his surname, Mark. He lived with his mother, Mary, in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12), but left to join Paul on his first missionary journey (Acts 12:25; 13:13). Paul was upset that John Mark turned back before the first journey was ended, and thus refused to take him on his second journey (Acts 15:37). Instead, John Mark went on a second journey with his cousin Barnabas (Acts 15:39; Colossians 4:10). About 10 years later, we find that Paul considered John Mark to be a fellow worker (Philemon 1:24) and eventually sought to have him by his side at Rome (2 Timothy 4:11).

Matthew is the first and longest of the four gospel accounts. The author was Jewish by birth and called to be an apostle of Christ (Matthew 10:1-4). His Greek name is Matthew, his Hebrew name is Levi. Matthew worked as a tax collector for the Roman government among his own people until Jesus called him to be a disciple (Matthew 9:9).