Is Jesus' Teaching in the Gospels and the Old Testament irrelevant To Us?-Defense of Scriptures series Part 2

Will start this off by posting a post by a mentor-Rev. Gideon Odoma(an experienced Christian Apologist). This means I would not need to write on the old testament being valid. Here goes


JESUS EVERYWHERE... THE GOSPEL IN EVERY BLOC
It is okay to say you cannot see or preach the Gospel from the 4 gospels and/or from the Old Testament But,Never say the Gospel is not there in the old Testament and in the 4 gospels.

Long before the New Testament was written, the followers of Jesus Christ preached the gospel and saw people come to the faith in their thousands, by the power of the Spirit — using the scriptures they had — which we now call the old Testament. Beginning from the day of Pentecost, the Apostles witnessed for Jesus using the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament).

To come up 2 millennia later and tell us the gospel is to be seen only in the epistles is inordinately audacious and enormously mistaken.

See:
Acts 17:2 And Paul, AS HIS MANNER WAS, went in unto them, and three sabbath days REASONED WITH THEM OUT OF THE SCRIPTURES (Old Testament),
3 Opening and alleging, that CHRIST MUST NEEDS HAVE SUFFERED, AND RISEN AGAIN FROM THE DEAD; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
It was the manner or custom of Paul to do what we are told he did in the passage above.

Acts 18: 28 For he (Apollos) mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, SHEWING BY THE SCRIPTURES THAT JESUS WAS CHRIST... (Scriptures here also means the Old Testament)

Acts 26:22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I (Paul) continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, SAYING NONE OTHER THINGS THAN THOSE WHICH THE PROPHETS AND MOSES DID SAY SHOULD COME: 23 THAT CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER, AND THAT HE SHOULD BE THE FIRST THAT SHOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD, AND SHOULD SHEW LIGHT UNTO THE PEOPLE, AND TO THE GENTILES.

These people had only the Old Testament scriptures and the Holy Spirit at the time, and they shone brilliantly with/in the gospel.True, it is not surprising that the earliest followers of Jesus preached the gospel using the Old Testament.

Consider Jesus' use of the Old Testament:

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he (Jesus) expounded unto them IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES THE THINGS CONCERNING HIMSELF. (Scriptures here obviously refers to the old Testament)

Jesus believed in the veracity of the Old Testament and it's relevance in the ministry of the gospel so much that He had to open the understanding of His disciples so they could understand the Old Testament. If the Old Testament are not crucial for understanding the gospel, Jesus would not do this, as we are clearly told here:

Luke24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED, WHICH WERE WRITTEN IN THE LAW OF MOSES, AND IN THE PROPHETS, AND IN THE PSALMS, CONCERNING ME.
45 Then OPENED HE THEIR UNDERSTANDING, THAT THEY MIGHT UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES,

Prior to this time, Jesus had charged the Jews:

John 5:39: SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES (Old Testament); for in them ye think ye have eternal life: AND THEY (the old Testament scriptures) ARE THEY WHICH TESTIFY OF ME.
The burden of all of scripture is to bear witness, to testify of Jesus.

If you can't see Jesus and His gospel in any bloc of Scriptures, it is due to your personal deficiency and/or incompetence. It is not because Jesus is not objectively there in every bloc of scripture. He is there!The scriptures, all of it, testify of Jesus.

If you see Jesus only in the epistles, fair. Better than to not see Him at all. But please, don't ever belittle or deny the power of the rest blocs of scripture as competent and proper locations for encountering Jesus and His gospel.

Is Jesus' Teaching in the Gospels and the Old Testament irrelevant To Us?- Part 1

Some have taken it upon themselves, in my opinion at least,  to put Jesus teachings on trial.

They have come to the conclusion that Jesus words and teachings were not directed to the new testament believer. Hailing the teachings of Paul in the Epistle and also giving approval to the teachings of Peter and John. Their judgement on this issue, is that the teachings of Jesus in the gospels should be viewed or validated from the lens of the revelations that Paul, Peter and John shared.

In fact I read a part of an article by a man I respect(ed) in which he wrote on this issue(I have no way of verifying but I think he is the source of this position)

Read His words:

The Word alone, as unveiled in the Pauline Revelation is the only safe guide. Don't misunderstand me. You cannot be guided by the teachings of John the Baptist and of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels in regard to any experience, unless that teaching of the four Gospels is confirmed, explained, elucidated in the Pauline Revelation, or with Peter's and John's unveiling in their Epistles. In the four Gospels, Jesus is dealing almost exclusively with the Jews, the First Covenant people, who were natural men, spiritually dead. In the Pauline Revelation, He is dealing almost exclusively with the New Covenant people, the New Creation folks.

To say I disagree with this position will be an understatement. I find this position most revolting and had to send it to some other friends of mine in sincere hope, that I might have misunderstood his comments.

I was left shocked by it, and couldn't believe that this position was held by this man(whom I will choose not to name). I will, however, use his words above as the material for my post in defense of what Jesus taught and preached but I have only one question to ask, How do we as believers, come to put the words of a follower above the master himself? Has the disciple become greater than the master? Can the very word made flesh not speak to all of humanity? In Some of his statements, Jesus even "re-wrote" the law, He said it has been said but I say on to you. Statements that point to his Divinity but more on this later

Some others have advised that we throw away the old testament and the four gospels. Basically saying, that a new testament believer has nothing to learn from the old testament.

Today, I am at loss as to which issue I should address first or if I can handle the two topics in one post. Still undecided.

I can not give a short response to the two positions but will attempt a more robust response on these issues later. I know, I run the risk of making this post a long one so I will just drop this first and continue in another post. However, if you are unable to read my continuing post,

here is something to consider.

For those who say that Jesus preached the law:
 For the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. -John 1:17
The law and the prophets were UNTIL John(The baptist):...Luke 16:16 Jesus was after John the Baptist.

As for their take on the Old testament being invalid, I can only borrow the very words of Paul in 1 Timothy 3:16:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  

When Paul wrote this the scriptures he spoke about was the Torah,which is what we call the OLD TESTAMENT.

A detailed post will come later but I hope this gets us thinking a bit. 

Accessing the Light of Scriptures

I really don't know if bible study materials is the best way to go. I could keep the usual style of writing articles but I just thought I should try this.

Text: 1 Cor. 2 &3

Introduction

There is light that can be gained from the study of Scriptures. Ps. 119:105 and In continuation of our last week study on the Necessity of light, we this week focused on who we ought to be to  access the light of Scriptures.

Many times when we are taught how to study the BIble; greater emphasis is laid on the techniques/principles or materials needed for study of the Bible than on the person studying it.

 While having  the correct principles for Biblical interpretation is very important, it is of greater importance to first establish what kind of person we ought to be to accurately interprete or understand the Bible. 

*Points of Study*

1. There are 4 different sources of wisdom listed from 1 Corinthians 2. They are: Human Wisdom, Wisdom of this world, The wisdom of the Princes of this world and the Wisdom of God.

 2. To state clearly, who we are as we study the word, is more important than the principles we employ in its study. Luke 8:10.

Knowing Greek, Hebrew, the contextual meaning of a phrase and the historical setting of a scriptural truth is good but beyond all this, the individual who is studying the Bible is of greater importance.

4. The wrong man using the right principles to study will still not receive the right result. The Pharisees searched the scriptures, as well as the Berean Christians, but did not derive profit for the did not come to Jesus. John 5:39; Acts 17:11

5. There are 3 different kinds of people that we will consider in the study of Scriptures.

a. The Natural Man or unbeliever: 1 Cor. 2:14.

Characteristics of the natural man are: he is unregenerated, does not have the spirit of God and cannot understand the things of God.

b. Carnal Man: 1 Cor. 3:1; Heb. 5:11-14 characteristics: he has God's life or is born again. He is regenerated but does not walk according to God's Spirit. He is a Babe in Christ and can only take milk. Do not exercise themselves in the study of God's word.

Nb. Just as milk is first digested by the mother before being made available to the baby, so these receive revelation through others and are not able to gain more than the basic revelation from God's word.  

c. The Spiritual Man: Characteristics: he is regenerated. Walks by the spirit. He can access the full benefits of the word of God.

Prayer Point.

1. May God give us the right kind of heart to accept the word and profit maximally from God's word.

Next week we will seek to explore in detail the various kinds of men

IN DEFENCE OF THE VALIDITY OF SCRIPTURES

We were in a group on Facebook and some one made a post below:

"In summary, fixation on the bible can make that bible a distraction for any child of God who is mature. The word of God in the bible has led us to the WORD of God who dwells within us. If the bible will drown out the WORD within, then a mature Christian should discard the bible and follow the WORD within. Discard the Bible as a mature Christian and follow the Spirit as the bible is irrelevant and a distraction"

When this was posted "all hell was let loose".

Brethren started turning PLOWSHARES into SWORDS and PRUNINGHOOKS into SPEARS . Some brought out machine guns, some den guns "Chaka Bula" other pulled out catapult. Any weapon possible was drawn out. Some could not handle it they took to a retreat to go and pray and fast and study in the day of battle. Some who had no weapons and ammunition went to go and borrow from Fathers of Old :Martin Luther them, Charles Spurgeon, Tyndale, Wycliffe etc Some sat back to watch this drama unfold before their eyes with popcorn and drinks by the side, while some simply clicked the exit button and left the group.

The debate continued for close to a week.

THEN all of a sudden out of nowhere Someone for the very first time of our being held ransom dropped a TOMAHAWK MISSILE that settled it.

Read his comment below and Praise God for this gift given to us on this day. 

"This is a logical fallacy, and you know it. It is called a false dichotomy. You make it look like the (mature) Christian has to choose between 2 options when in fact there are more than 2 options. You make it look like it is either 

1. the bible 

or 

2. the spirit.  

Well, there are more than those 2 options:

3. THE BIBLE & THE SPIRIT.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. He used the scripture in His engagement with the tempter. Are we to assume it was not the Spirit that animated those words of the scriptures in His spirit at that moment? Why didn't he use His direct access to the Father to get a response for the tempter. Why take the pains of saying "IT IS WRITTEN "? Why didn't He just use the scripture without the "it is written" bit?  

The Apostles in acts 6 said "we will give ourselves CONTINUALLY to PRAYER and to the STUDY OF THE WORD." You have found a new truth they never knew. Yea!!

Turn it on its head. 
Colour it.
Embellish it.
Reword it.
Spice it. 
And temper it all you want.

So long as the grain of your position is that at some point (of maturity) a Christian can discard the Bible for the Spirit, you will be taking a position alien to that of Jesus, the first Apostle's, the patristic fathers and the Christian community through the centuries. 
 
You are all on your OWN (OYO) all by your self.

And what will be next to be discarded (by the mature) after the bible? 

It is a brave new world!
                                       - Gideon Odoma​

THE NECESSITY OF LIGHT-BIBLE STUDY

Text: Gen. 1:4; 2 Sam. 22:29; Ps. 28:9; Job 29:1-4

Introduction

Why was it important for God to have light before He could begin creation? We know that it is an established  fact that He knows what is in darkness (Dan. 2:22). Darkness and Light are the same to Him(Ps. 139:11-12). Yet in creation; He first commanded light to emerge out of darkness. 

Outline 

1.  There are various sources of light by which men may walk. - Rev. 22:5

2. In the tabernacle there was Sunlight ( natural or Human wisdom) that provided illumination for those in the outer court. In the Holy place there was the lampstand( written word) that provided illumination while in the most Holy place, the presence of God provided light.

3. The light by which a man walks determines his discernment and judgement of issues.

4. Every man must come under the light  of life- John 1:4-5. 

5. Things come under judgement as there true nature is  revealed under the brilliance of the light of God. When men's life come under this light we will discover our true state like Isaiah did in Isa. 6:1-2

6. Light is that which reveals the true nature of a thing. Without the true light, our judgements of matters will not be accurate.

7. When God sort a help meet for Adam, He presented Adam first with all the animals to see what he would call them. It took the light within Adam for him to discern the true nature of each animal before him and he also named his wife after awaken from a deep sleep, this meant his mind was unfruitful in naming Eve also.

8. Our great need for light by which we  can navigate through darkness is great at a time when various wisdom are coming forth.

Prayer Point

1. Grant us the wisdom we need for every area of our life.