The Doctrine of the Apostles

Where is the teaching about the church?

Many feel that the New Testament does not state so much and so explicitly how it should function within the church. God leaves us a lot of room, they say, to arrange it as we see fit. Well, for many things in daily life we ​​may decide for ourselves, but the question of how things should go in God's house is certainly not the case!

But then when you read the New Testament to see what it says about the Church, the house of God, it's not easy to get a consistent picture of it. Much is said about what it is not and about all kinds of negative things and strange teachings; things you should keep away from. It does not produce a complete picture against which to test church practice today.

The Old Testament

What we then do not take into account is the Old Testament. Without understanding some essentials of the Old Testament, we will not get there. We must realize that both the Lord Jesus and the Apostles have given their teaching from the Old Testament, 'the Scriptures'. They did not have a written New Testament. The Lord Jesus and the disciples were Jews; they knew the scriptures and what they have taught is interpretation of the Old Testament.

The Lord Jesus was in the temple daily teaching (Mark 14:49). He himself explained that everything that happened to Him was prophesied in the scriptures (Matthew 21:42; 26:54,56). He explained to the Emmaus travelers what was written about Him in all Scripture. He started with the books of Moses and all the prophets and at one point 'the penny dropped'. Then they understood how to read the scriptures, even though they had not yet indwelled the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:27,32,45). Only then did they understand things that they could not grasp before.

Before He went back to Heaven, the Lord Jesus taught the Apostles for 40 days about 'the things concerning the kingdom of God' (Acts 1:3). Undoubtedly, He again made full use of the Old Testament and gave this – in addition to the knowledge they already had of the Old Testament – ​​with the assignments that they had to perform as apostles after the ascension of their Lord (Acts 1:2).

The Lord Jesus did not tell them everything, as He had already said before His crucifixion. “I still have much to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. But when He comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:12-15). So the Lord Jesus left things open until the time when the Holy Spirit would be poured out. Because it wasn't until they received the Holy Ghost that they could understand those things. The Holy Spirit would teach them further in the Old Testament and its interpretation when the Lord Jesus was no longer with them.

The Doctrine of the Apostles

Everything the apostles taught as teaching is referred to right in the beginning of the church as 'teaching of the apostles' (see Acts 2:41-42). It was nothing but the Old Testament and what the Lord Jesus had explained to them about Himself and the interpretation and application of the Scriptures for their time.

In addition, when it comes to the Church of the Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul has received a special commission from the Lord to reveal the 'mysteries'.[1] to announce. Things that were previously unknown and could not be found in Scripture (the Old Testament). Those mysteries were revealed to him and he had to pass them on (1 Corinthians 2:7;2:10;4:1). He undoubtedly taught them to the believers and they are also explained in his writings. When Paul arrives in Thessalonica, he goes to the synagogue of the Jews and talks with them from the Scriptures for three Sabbaths (Acts 17:1ff). That was the basis for what he learned. He does the same afterwards in Berea, and there "they received the word with great eagerness, and daily searched the scriptures whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). What Paul taught is called “the Word” and equated with the Word of God. This is also evident from the fact that the Bereans, what Paul taught, tested against the Scriptures, the Old Testament! They actually examined in the Old Testament whether Paul was explaining the Scriptures correctly!

Especially Paul has made it clear in his teaching that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is really distinct and different from Israel, the earthly people of God. In the letter to the Ephesians he writes wonderful and important things about this. The Church is, as Paul puts it, the house of God

“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, of which Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, well put together, rises up into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the ghost" (Ephesians 2:20-22).

In other words, the prophets (of the Old Testament, the scriptures) taught about Christ and the apostles built on that. So that common teaching is the basis for what we need to know about the house of God, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ!

The foundation

If you talk to Christians today about the Church and then quote from the Old Testament, you can easily be accused: 'That's the Old Testament! Surely that doesn't apply to today!'. But that this is a serious misconception, we hope to have made clear above: you cannot speak meaningfully about the Church if you do not include the Old Testament, the Scriptures. Just as the Lord Jesus and the apostles did. It is also a starting point for the continuation of our argument.

The apostles laid a foundation for the 'building of the Church'. That foundation is Christ, says Paul (1 Corinthians 3:11). But the one who builds on that, let's just say everyone who makes an effort for the Church of the Lord and wants to contribute a 'small stone' to it, must be aware of how he is building on it. Then we must try to understand together what the apostles laid as a foundation.

Footnote

[1] See about mysteries among others http://www.oudesporen.nl/Download/HB475.pdf