BASIC BIBLE STUDIES

# 005

 

The Value of the New Testament

 

In the opening verses of his account of the life of Christ, Luke wrote: "Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you have been instructed" (Luke 1:1-4).  This prologue to the Gospel of Luke provides us with an excellent statement regarding the value of the New Testament Scriptures.

 

Originally, the teaching of Christ was transmitted orally--first by Himself, then by those who heard Him (Hebrews 2:1-4).  Yet in time, Christ would be crucified for the sins of the world, be buried, resurrected, and ascend back to heaven.  His apostles would be the divinely inspired ambassadors to take His message into all the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark l6:15-16; John 13:20), but they too would eventually die.  How would future generations know what Christ and His apostles had taught?  Events and teaching transmitted orally from one generation to the next have a way of becoming corrupted with embellishments, additions, deletions, and changes.  A divinely inspired written record (authentic documentation of what actually happened and what actually was taught) is the means God chose to preserve His final covenant with man--His covenant communicated to the world by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2).

 

As noted in the opening words of his narrative, Luke wrote to a man by the name of Theophilus to assure him of the certainty of those things (the things concerning Christ and His teaching) in which Theophilus had been instructed.  Later, Luke wrote another document--Acts of the Apostles--to the same man and said: "The former treatise (referring to the Gospel of Luke, hf) I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach (Acts 1:1).

 

Similarly, near the end of his account of the life of Jesus, the apostle John wrote: "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book (the Gospel of John, hf); but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).

 

The apostle Paul wrote at least 13 (perhaps 14 [the author of the book of Hebrews is not definitely known]) of the 27 books constituting the New Testament Scriptures.  In his letter to the Ephesians he affirmed: "...how that by revelation He (Christ) made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in few words, by which when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ" (Ephesians 3:3-4).  He explains that the "mystery" was God's eternal purpose to bring believing Jews and Gentiles into the one spiritual body of Christ, the church (Ephesians 2:

11-22; Ephesians 3:1-12).

 

In his first letter to the church at Corinth Paul unequivocally declared: "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of God" (I Corinthians 14:37).  Earlier he had warned the Corinthians "not to think (go, American Standard Version) beyond what is written" (I Corinthians 4:6).  These statements emphasize the inviolable and authentic nature of the apostolic writings.

 

At the end of the New Testament the apostle John warned: "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.  And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18-29).  While this warning applied specifically to the book of Revelation, the principle of "not adding to or taking from" applies to all apostolic writing.

 

All of these statements are representative samplings of why God's new covenant/testament with mankind was put in writing.  Just as the Old Testament is an authentic record of God's covenant with ancient Israel mediated through Moses, so the New Testament is an authentic record of God's new covenant made with all mankind through Christ (Hebrews 9:15).

 

To summarize, the following points will help us to see the value of the New Testament.

 

1. In the New Testament we have a divinely inspired record of what Jesus did and taught.

 

2. In the New Testament we have a divinely inspired account of how the apostles of Christ carried out His orders to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

 

3. In the New Testament we have a divinely inspired account of how the church--the community of the redeemed--was established and how it spread throughout the first century world.

 

4. In the New Testament we have divinely inspired case studies of how people--both Jews and Gentiles--were/are converted to Christ, saved, and added to the church, the community of redeemed people.  (See, for example, Acts chapters 2, 8, 16, 22, etc.).

 

5. In the New Testament we have a divinely inspired record of how local churches (individual communities of the redeemed) were/are to be organized and how they were/are to function.

 

6. In the New Testament we have divinely inspired instructions of how Christians were/are to conduct themselves--how to worship, how to function in their homes, how to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

 

7. In short, in the New Testament we have authentic documentation of "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

 

If this essay has blessed you, feel free to forward it to others who may benefit from it.

 

Hugh Fulford