Explore the Bible: Acts 2:41-42

There are many functions that are carried out by a church that is following Jesus Christ. You can find many lists of what these functions are, as classified by whomever is making the list. If you read enough church studies literature, you see that these lists tend to emphasize the same few functions, although they may use different terminology for them.

When we look at Acts 2:41-47, we see a number of these functions practiced by the very first “church” (even before they called themselves a church). Fellowship, worship (including Communion), prayer, ministry, and evangelism were all practiced by the first believers. Some of these practices continued in their Jewish tradition, since the followers of Jesus would have still considered themselves Jews at this point. Others were new practices instituted by the Lord Himself, or encouraged by the situation of these new believers.

I find it interesting that the first function, however, is devotion to the apostles’ teaching. In the first days of the church, there would be little understanding of just what had happened to convince the disciples that Jesus was the promised Messiah. The early followers of Jesus were Jews, and knew to at least some degree what the Scriptures taught. Their Bible was what we call the Old Testament, for the New Testament was years away from being written. I believe that the apostles did with the Jewish Scriptures just what Jesus had done on the road to Emmaus, opening the Scriptures and showing how they spoke of Him.

The apostles could add another element to their teaching. They had travelled with Jesus, sat at His feet, seen His great miracles, and ultimately witnessed His death, resurrection, and ascension. They could give eyewitness testimony to the life, ministry, and Passion of Jesus. Even at this early date, their stories and teaching probably started to take on the form that would later be written in the Gospels as they taught the life of Christ over and over as new converts joined the church.

We do not have the apostles around to teach us about Jesus in person anymore. Yet we still have their teaching available through the inspired writings they gave us through the Holy Spirit. This is vitally important, because without this teaching we would know little to nothing about Jesus. One hymn tells us that “the Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord,” but without the Gospel accounts left by the apostles and their associates we would not know the truth about Him, nor would we know what He had done to save us.

A healthy church will balance all of the functions laid out for us in Scripture, but without a devotion to the truth taught in God’s Word we will simply be a group that is busy doing things without understanding why we do them. All that we do must be founded on truth-ultimately the essential truth of the Triune Godhead, but a truth that is mediated to us through the inspired Word given to us by God. May everything we do as Christians and as churches be built on this God-given foundation so we may honor our Lord and see His truth in action through us.

Explore the Bible: Matthew 13:10-17

Jesus used many parables in His teaching, and Matthew 13 has several of them. After He gave the parable of the sower, His disciples were curious as to why Jesus used parables. His answer was that those who had spiritual insight would understand the point of the parable, while those who refused to listen would hear the story but miss the point. He quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 to explain this principle.

The passage Jesus quotes is from the call of Isaiah in chapter 6. Isaiah has his vision of the Lord in the temple, and answers God’s call for someone to go and speak for Him. Even as He commissions Isaiah, the Lord warns him that people will refuse to listen to what he has to say, and will reject his call to return to the Lord. Jesus recognizes that people in His own time were in the same position as those of Isaiah’s time, and that many simply refused to listen to or understand what He had to say.

This refusal to heed the word of Christ goes beyond a few parables taught in the first century. Today there are many who attend churches and who know what the Bible says, but who refuse to accept that it is God’s Word. While there are certainly parts of the Bible that are hard to understand and require some significant study, much of its message is straightforward. The gospel is clearly spelled out, and the way to heaven through Jesus is stated many times in very plain language.

So how do people miss it? Many really don’t. They understand exactly what the Bible teaches, and their human nature rebels against the thought of it truth. They want to believe that they can make themselves right with God, and that there are other ways to heaven. They see the Bible as infringing on their freedom and hopelessly narrow-minded, not a message that fits the world of our day as they see it. It isn’t a question of intellect, but of will.

As we continue to study God’s Word, we have to constantly search our own hearts to see if we are open to hear what the Holy Spirit has to teach us or if we want to make the Bible fit what we already believe. Jesus’ own disciples took years to begin to figure out just what He meant by His teaching, and the gospels make it clear that when He died they didn’t yet comprehend what happened. It took years (and the Spirit!) to open their eyes fully to the full truth of His teaching.

We should be ready to allow as much time as it takes for the lessons of Scripture to find a home in our hearts. You may find that over time you see parts of the Bible more clearly, and maybe you even have to change your mind to match the truth. Some sections you may never fully grasp, and some truths of Scripture are simply beyond our finite human minds. (Just how does the Trinity work, anyway?) The rest of our lives, and indeed all of eternity, await our continued searching of the Scriptures to more fully understand the mind of God.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 21: Matthew 5:1-12

If we look at the way Jesus taught during His time here on earth, we find that it is very different from the way teachers work today. As a teacher myself, I know there is a lot of pressure on those who work in schools to get their students through a set block of material. There is a test coming, and we have to have our students ready. We can’t spend as much time as we’d like to keep covering a subject as thoroughly as we’d like.

Jesus used the rabbinic model that was common in first century Judaism. While there were many books written in that era, rabbis focused on oral teaching that was repeated until their students learned it. Learning from a rabbi required a commitment of time and effort from a student. Many rabbis traveled, so their students had to travel with them. A rabbinic student had a hunger for knowledge and truth.

We see Jesus repeating teaching in the gospels. One of the large blocks of teaching that is repeated is some of the material from the Sermon on the Mount. We find it in Matthew 5-7 and some of it in Luke 6. Each of these passages is slightly different, which suggests that Jesus would match His teaching to specific audiences even while keeping the underlying truths intact. From what we see in the gospels, and what we know about Jewish teaching in His time, we are sure Jesus reinforced His teaching by repeating ideas and stories throughout His ministry.

In our churches today, people aren’t going to spend their lives following a pastor or teacher around day to day. However, we have many ways to study sound Biblical teaching that we can expose ourselves to the truth every day. Modern churches and technology give us the Bible, study helps, and the chance to study with qualified teachers. We have more resources than any rabbi ever had.

This blessing comes with a caution. We can use the wide variety of Bible studies and helps to keep moving from passage to passage and idea to idea without taking the time to allow each teaching to sink in and take root in our hearts. We can also rely on easy access to teachers and helps in such a way that we aren’t truly learning what the Bible teaches, expecting to just look it up. Our goal must still be to get the Word into our minds, hearts, and lives.

Jesus is the greatest teacher of all time, and the Word allows us to learn from Him. While we aren’t rabbinic students, we still need to commit to studying the Word He gave us and putting what we learn into practice in our life. When we make this commitment, we will see our lives transform to become more like our Teacher and Lord. 

30 Days in the Bible, Day 20: Ephesians 4:11-16

When we look at what the Bible says about teachers, we generally focus on the requirements and responsibilities of the teacher. That is incredibly important, especially in our fast-moving media age, but there is one other aspect we should also examine. We not only want to know the qualifications of a teacher, but what they seek to achieve by their teaching.

Ephesians 4:11-16 gives us insight into what we should expect solid Bible teaching to accomplish in peoples’ lives and in the church. If we have godly and qualified teachers bringing out the truth of God’s Word to the members of the church, we ought to expect to see certain changes in those lives and those churches. (By the way, this is also true for apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors, all of whom have a singular charge given here.)

Those who sit under teaching consistent with the Word should themselves become equipped to live the Christian life. If the members of a church are not becoming more like Jesus Christ, or if they are not developing in their ministry and service to others, the teaching misses the point. The goal of teachers in the church is to increase the number of Christians who are actively living out their faith day to day.

Note that this specifically includes becoming equipped to serve. Every Christian has been gifted by the Holy Spirit for service. We each have our own ministry within the church; this passage mentions only a few. (You can go to Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 for more.) However, you can’t just dive in to every possible kind of service that is needed in the church. Teachers help us learn about our gifts and how we can develop and use them for the glory of Jesus.

The church and its members should be built up by sound teaching. If teachers or teachings result in people separating from each other or in churches dividing, there is something wrong with the teacher, the teaching, or both. The goal is to help Christians grow in their life with Christ, and good teachers will assist their students in doing this.

The next goal seems impossible in our world: to bring the church together in unity. This ties in to building up the church. There are so many denominations and churches around that we start to ask which one is the true church. What we ought to be working toward as Christians is showing the world our common Savior and His sacrificial work on our behalf. We will one day all be united when we see Jesus face to face. Until then, good teaching should seek to proclaim the truth of the Word, and look forward to the day when we are all one in the presence of our Lord.

Good Biblical teaching also keeps us from pursuing false teaching. Almost any teaching can sound good if you listen to a teacher who is persuasive and points you to a selected number of passages in the Bible. We need teachers who will proclaim the whole Word of God, so that we may know the truth that God reveals in that Word. Since we’re human, we may not all agree on every point of doctrine, but we should know the central truths of Scripture and be able to detect when someone is straying from them.

The final goal of sound teaching mentioned here is spiritual maturity. As Christians, we want to help each other grow to be more like Christ. That may require correction, which must be done in love and with a goal of helping each other on our path toward full maturity. We won’t reach that final goal until we get to eternity, but we should see ourselves and our fellow Christians getting more and more like Him. Teachers who keep us focused on Jesus and on the Word will help us to grow like this as we journey toward heaven.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 12: Joshua 1:1-9

The book of Joshua might have the most abruptly discouraging opening of any book in the Bible. Not only does it tell us that Moses is dead, that’s the first thing God says to Joshua in the book. Joshua had been trained and commissioned to replace Moses, so he knew this day would come. Moses had almost certainly informed him that he would not be returning from Mt. Nebo. The Lord told Joshua that Moses had died, since no one ever saw Moses’ body.

Yet even as prepared as he was, the reality of becoming Israel’s leader still might have given Joshua some second thoughts. Three times the Lord tells him to be courageous, and He adds a “do not be afraid” for good measure. Joshua had shown himself to be a man of courage during the journey to Canaan, but the Lord still reminded him to have courage as he took Israel into the land.

Certainly that courage came from knowing that the Lord was with him and with Israel, but God gave Joshua another source of courage and confidence. The Law that the Lord had given to Israel through Moses was intended to guide the nation and its leaders as they went forward in following God. Joshua was to constantly be reading, studying, and living the Word of God as the leader of Israel, and in that Word he would find the Lord speaking to him.

In addition to meditating on the Word, which we looked at yesterday, Joshua was to keep the Book of the Law “on his lips.” Whatever he said to Israel and its leaders, whatever judgments he made, whatever directions and orders he gave to the people, they were to be steeped in God’s Word. Although Joshua would speak with his own voice, he was to reflect what God had already said in his words.

A good preacher or Bible teacher will express God’s Word constantly. They won’t simply reflect the words of the passage they are addressing at the moment, but recall other parts of Scripture that bear on their teaching and its application to life. Not only that, but when they give advice or address an issue, it will be apparent that their words aren’t just founded on their own ideas or even a theological or philosophical system, but on the Bible.

We live in a world that wants to tune out Jesus and His Word. In order to engage with ideas and teachings that oppose the Lord’s will, we must be prepared to use the Word as the solid foundation for what we say. When we rely on the Word, and on the Holy Spirit as He guides us in knowing, understanding, and using the Word, we will have confidence and courage as we face the challenges of our society and culture today.