Original Instructions

Feature 1 – January 2020 — Grace & Truth Magazine

Original Instructions

A friend of mine works for a business that makes and sells manufacturing equipment. Other companies buy their machinery for use in various types of production. One aspect of my friend’s job is to oversee the installation of new equipment. This process includes careful, detailed training for the workers who will operate the machinery. It sometimes happens that issues with the equipment arise later on, prompting the need to understand what went wrong. Often it turns out that the problems are directly related to a failure in following the original training.

This experience illustrates the deeper spiritual reality for the Church. The Lord Jesus had promised, “I will build My church” (Mt. 16:18 NKJV). That process began on the day of Pentecost, spoken of in Acts 2 when about 3,000 people believed the gospel message and were united by the Holy Spirit into one new entity – the Church, the body of Christ on earth.

But how would this new entity operate? It would be necessary to provide clear instruction in the truths that would characterize the Christian era, and this the Lord did through the apostles. Their unique, foundational role provided us with “the apostles’ doctrine” (v.42), which established believers individually and guided them collectively in the Christian faith. Following these doctrines would lead to good Christian practices, and referring back to them would correct any operational failures, so to speak, which could arise due to their neglect.

The Apostles’ Role
The term “apostle” simply means someone who is “sent out,” but the Lord Jesus used this term for a very specific group of people. Although many people followed Him and could be considered His disciples, He chose twelve men to be His apostles (Lk. 6:13). They became known as “the Twelve” and were His closest followers. These men walked with Him through every city and village, and later they received His power and authority when He sent them to preach (8:1, 9:1-2).

After the Lord’s ascension to heaven, the apostles understood that they had ongoing responsibilities. This is clear from the way Peter spoke in Acts 1 about Judas, even before the formation of the Church. Although Judas was in reality the son of destruction, as the Lord described him (Jn. 17:12), Peter said Judas had originally been “numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry,” which included a position of oversight (Acts 1:17,20,25). The Lord had appointed the apostles to a ministry of authority and care, and they were right to exercise it.

Then in the early days of the Church the apostles continued to be used in this aspect of leadership. They displayed acts of power and gave testimony to the resurrection of Christ, received money that was to be distributed to needy saints, and exercised discernment about spiritual service and other questions. However, when certain day-to-day financial matters became more complex, those responsibilities were given to others because the apostles recognized that their primary tasks had to remain focused on prayer and teaching the Word of God (6:1-4).

In this context of prayer and instruction, the apostles themselves are described as foundational gifts to the Church, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20, 4:11). Therefore, when we refer to that body of teaching called “the apostles’ doctrine,” we are talking about the faith once delivered to the saints – the essential, authoritative, unchanging teachings which comprise the foundations of orthodox Christianity. There are no apostles for such a role today nor are any needed, because the apostles’ doctrine is now contained in the New Testament. It has been preserved in a trustworthy, reliable and authoritative form for us.

For our further confidence in this point it may be noted that skeptics often try to undermine the Christian faith by calling into question the reliability of the Bible. Contrary to their claims, there were no dramatic votes in the 3rd or 4th centuries about which parts of the Bible should be accepted. Already in the 1st and 2nd centuries there was a recognition of which writings were considered scripturally authoritative and which should be rejected. Moreover, the number of New Testament manuscripts far surpasses any other text from the ancient world, and these support the view that Christian doctrine has remained unchanged since the beginning.

Therefore we know what the apostles’ doctrine was! It is contained in the open Bibles on our shelves and in our hands. May it find a resting place in our hearts and be displayed in our lives as well.

The Apostles’ Doctrine
In a sense, therefore, the entire New Testament may be considered the exposition of the apostles’ doctrine. Yet it is helpful to look more closely at some of the specific doctrines which characterize the New Testament period. Because they are unique to the era of the Church, it was necessary that these truths would be revealed to the apostles, who then explicitly and authoritatively taught them to the followers of Christ. Here are a few to consider.

• Christianity depends on faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul summarized these essential truths in 1 Corinthians 15:1-7. He then indicated this message was cohesively proclaimed by all the apostles (vv.9-11), adding, “whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” Their message was unified, with no prearranged agreements or discussions of any sort. Paul’s conversion to Christianity was likely two years or more after the formation of the Church, yet he did not sit at the feet of Peter, James and John in order to learn the facts. Instead, he received direct revelations from Jesus Christ about the gospel; and the message Paul preached in Damascus, long before he ever met another apostle, was the same gospel which others preached in Jerusalem (Gal. 1:11,15-17). By contrast, false apostles preached a different message about Jesus and a different set of facts about the gospel (2 Cor. 11:4,13), and were therefore condemned and rejected in the strongest terms (Gal. 1:8; Rev. 2:2).

• The deity and humanity of Jesus Christ must be maintained. The apostle John especially emphasized this crucial point in various ways. The summary of his gospel declares that readers ought to believe that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn. 20:31). Similar points are made in his letters: “Jesus is the Son of God” (1 Jn. 4:15), “Jesus is the Christ” (5:1), and “this is the true God and eternal life” (v.20). John referred to “the doctrine of Christ” (2 Jn. 1:9), a settled body of truth which had already been delivered to the saints. By those teachings they could assess the reliability of anyone who came to instruct them further. Already at that time there were many false teachers with an antichrist message which had to be rejected (1 Jn. 4:1-3; 2 Jn. 7-11).

• The Church is a new entity composed of both Jews and Gentiles. Ephesians 3, among other passages, emphasizes this important doctrine. Paul received a specific revelation from God to explain that “the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body” (v.6) and the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (v.8) should be preached to them. The unity of the Church was a brand new way for the multifaceted wisdom of God to be displayed (vv.6,8,10), having many aspects. Paul indicated that this mystery was also revealed to other apostles (v.5). For example, the apostle Peter learned this truth through his experience with the Gentile soldier Cornelius, as seen in Acts 10. However, the writings of Paul provide the bulk of our understanding about the facts and functions of the Church.

Related to this point is the revealed mystery that “blindness in part has happened to Israel” (Rom. 11:25). The Church is God’s new construction and His place of testimony on earth during this time, while Israel as a nation is temporarily blind as to their Messiah. However, Christians should not despise Israel! Soon enough the times of Gentile empires will come to an end. God’s Old Testament promises to Israel, which might seem now to be languishing like forgotten history, will all be fulfilled. The Church is God’s main line of testimony now, but He has not forgotten His earthly people. In the future, Israel as a nation will once again be made God’s people (v.26). Although the Church is a beautifully unique display of God’s grace, the Church is not Israel! That nation remains a key part of God’s future plans for this world.

• The coming of the Lord has vital, energizing implications for the Christian faith. While on earth the Lord Jesus had already promised the apostles that He would come again (Jn. 14:3), so this was part of the Christian message from the beginning. But Paul, by “the word of the Lord,” explained that the dead in Christ will be raised (1 Th. 4:15-16). He also described the additional mystery that the bodies of all believers will be changed (1 Cor. 15:51-57). Moreover, Peter wrote that the “power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” was part of the message which the apostles had made known (2 Pet. 1:16) – a message which had been confirmed by the revelation of the glorified Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. These points emphasize that the message of Christ’s private coming for His people as well as His appearing in majestic glory were part of the apostles’ doctrine. As a result, Christians in every era have been eagerly looking for His arrival while serving Him faithfully (1 Cor. 15:58; 1 Th. 1:9-10; Phil. 3:20-21).

• The Lord’s Supper should be regularly observed. The simplicity of this doctrine seems to contrast in a surprising way with the broad statements of the Christian faith. Should this little remembrance really stand alongside truths about Christ’s person, His work and His Church? It may seem outclassed by those momentous truths, yet the Lord’s Supper is second to no doctrine in its impact on the devotion of our hearts. How cold we would become spiritually if we did not maintain the remembrance of the Lord Jesus! Paul received a direct revelation that this memorial, observed since the first days of the Church, should be kept regularly and often (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Applying The Truth
These are only a few examples of the doctrine which God gave to the apostles for establishing Christians in their faith. It was understood that the apostles were transmitting the truth in an authoritative and reliable way, and God Himself was the source of their teachings. Paul affirmed that believers had received doctrines, ordinances, traditions and indeed the whole counsel of God (Rom. 6:17; 1 Cor. 11:2; 2 Th. 2:15; Acts 20:27).

When new Christians needed to be established at Antioch (see Acts 11), there was no mysterious process involved. The method was plain: Barnabas and Paul (both called apostles in Acts 14:14), met with the believers there for a whole year, teaching them the truth. Today we must do the same if we desire to see Christians established. The apostles’ doctrine, now contained in the Word of God, must be taught with patience, persistence and power.

By Stephen Campbell