Chapter 39 - Apostolic Teaching

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“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15-16)

Understanding the church from a New Testament perspective requires time, effort and dependence. It is not the result of self-dependent study. The Bible is not a textbook. It is the living word of God. Therefore, the proper interpretation of the Bible obligates dependence on the Spirit of God.

The independent, fleshly effort of mankind is without the capacity to interpret divine truth. By the Spirit, it necessitates radical, dependent faith in both Jesus Christ, the living “Word of God,” and the words of the Holy Bible, the written word of God.

The Holy Bible proclaims to be Scripture. Translated from the Greek word graphe (graf-ay’), the English word “scripture” means “holy writings.”

The New Testament refers to the Old Testament as “Scripture” 51 times. It also refers to itself as “Scripture.” In writing to Timothy, Paul acknowledged the writing of Luke as equivalent to Scripture. (1 Timothy 5:18) In addition, the Apostle Peter referred to the writing of Paul as Scripture. (2 Peter 3:15-16)

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Accurately Handling the Word of Truth - Part One

While the Scriptures were written for the benefit of all mankind, they were specifically addressed to two audiences. About one-fifth of the Bible was written to the New Testament church. The other four-fifths were written to the nation of Israel.

The Jewish Scriptures are not prescriptive for New Testament church practice. Therefore, any attempt to prescribe conduct from them for the church constitutes a serious hermeneutical error. It will lead to the deviation of church practice and, ultimately, spiritual fruitlessness. Fundamentally, it obligates the grace-based New Testament church to fulfill the constitutional law of the ancient nation of Israel. It is an endeavor that even Israel could not adequately satisfy.

While not all Scripture applies directly to the church, all Scripture is beneficial for the church. For example, the Old Testament provides general revelation about God and His eternal plan that is beneficial for all mankind. It transcends audience and time.

In contrast, the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and the Epistles were written directly for the benefit of the New Testament church. Generally speaking, the Gospels are foundational for church practice, the Book of Acts is descriptive of church practice, and the Epistles are prescriptive for church practice.

Divine Origin and Inspiration

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments originate from God. Their divine origination and inspiration are supported internally by unity of composition, narrative events, prophetic content, and direct proclamation. It is corroborated externally by history and archaeology.

The composition of the Bible provides significant evidence of its divine origin and inspiration. It is diverse in content and yet remains one cohesive document. The Bible is a collection of 66 different books written in three different languages on three different continents by 40 different authors over nearly 1600 years. The 66 books include several different styles of literature, including legal, historical narrative, poetic, prophetic, gospel narrative, and epistolary. Regardless of its diverse content, the Bible presents one consistent theme and message revealed progressively from beginning to end without contradiction.

The divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are also evidenced by the events narrated within its pages. Many of the events are communicated from an eternal perspective. Therefore, they could not have been written by man alone. For example, the events describe the existence of God in eternity before the creation of the world and His continued intervention from eternity afterward.

The divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are further evidenced through its prophetic content. Nearly one-third of the Bible is comprised of literature that is prophetic. Although written in the past, its prophecies have never failed to reveal future events consistently and accurately. Literature that is perfectly accurate in foretelling future events requires divine inspiration.

Beyond its unity of composition, narrative, and prophetic content, the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are evidenced through direct proclamation. Using phrases such as “Thus says the Lord” and “God said,” it directly quotes God 459 times.

Moreover, the human authors of the Bible often claim divine origination and inspiration. (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:15-16, etc.) Further, the Bible reveals many instances in which God directly speaks through human beings. (cf. 1 Kings 14:18; 2 Samuel 23:2; 24:11-12; 1 Kings 22:24; 2 Chronicles 20: 14-15; Zechariah 7:7; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Peter 3:16)

Lastly, the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are corroborated by the external evidence of history and archaeology. The historical perseverance of the Bible cannot be ignored. It has existed for thousands of years and remains the bestselling book of all time. Additionally, the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible have been gradually but consistently verified by archeological discovery.

Much more than simply a book of religious musings, the Holy Bible is specific communication from the living (zoe) God to humanity. Its divine origin and inspiration are evidenced internally by unity of composition, narrative events, prophetic content, and direct proclamation and confirmed externally by both historical record and archeological discovery.

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Spiritual

The Word of God revealed in the Bible consists of divinely inspired writings that are spiritual in nature. “God is Spirit.” (John 4:24) Therefore, His inspired writings must be spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:14) Spiritual appraisement occurs only by illumination graciously provided by the Spirit of God indwelling the New Testament church. Concordant with the will of God, it is received through faith alone.

Living Word

The divinely originated and inspired words of God written in the Bible describe Jesus Christ as the living (zoe) “Word of God”. He was sent to earth in human flesh to communicate the will of the Father to mankind.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” (John 1:1-3)

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth…” (John 1:14)

“….His name is called the Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13)

Written Word

Jesus Christ, the living (zoe) “Word of God,” communicated the will of the Father on earth by teaching, personal ministry, and through His role in the fulfillment of the Eternal Covenant. It was witnessed by the apostles. In addition, the will of the Father was directly communicated to them and recorded by them. The “holy writings” were then passed down from the apostles to faithful men and eventually into the written form recognized as the New Testament.

The written Word of God was ultimately designed to lead to the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ. He is revealed through apostolic teaching and personally experienced through the practice of apostolic tradition. Both are communicated in the pages of the New Testament and equally important to the health of the church.

© 2023 James Hiatt

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