July 15, 2004, Vol.3, No.14.

Taught by God

Several years ago Oral Roberts said Jesus appeared to him and told him to raise millions of dollars for a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma or he would die. More recently, a preacher was arrested as he and members of his congregation rode together in a car from Texas to Florida. Their offense was public nudity. The preacher claimed God told them to strip off their clothing and drive to Florida. A number of times I have tried to have Bible studies with people only to have them inform me that God speaks to them directly and tells them what to do.

This is a very serious matter. Jesus declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Jesus Christ is not one of many ways; He is the only way to God and His salvation. But, to come to Jesus and to receive salvation through Him, we must be "taught by God." We must hear and learn and thus come in the way the Father directs (John 6:44-45).

This raises a question of primary importance: How does God teach us? How does He make known His will? This is really a question of authority. It could be posed: What is our authority in spiritual matters?

All primary authority, i.e., original or first authority, in every realm belongs to God. Because "God ... made the world and everything in it, ... He is Lord of heaven and earth." (Acts 17:22-28) He has all authority by right of creation. Furthermore, "the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness." (1 Corinthians 10:26) Were one to travel completely around the globe and view in turn all the cultures of men and the natural beauty of the world, then to turn his gaze in awe upon the limitless, starry space above, one grand thought should crowd all others from the mind - it all belongs to God. God made and owns it all. He has all primary authority.

But no man can by human wisdom search out and discover the mind of God (Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 2:6-9). The thoughts and ways of God are as far above the thoughts and ways of man as the starry canopy is above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9). If we are to know His will, He must reveal it. How has God made known His authority?

Jesus Christ has all delegated authority, i. e., given or secondary authority. He claimed, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." (Matthew 28:18) Christ has all authority because He makes known God’s will to man. Upon this basis He invites all men to come to Him (Matthew 11:27-30). Because Jesus spoke from the Father, His word will judge us in the last day (John 12:48 - 49). In times recorded in the Old Testament, God spoke to men in "various ways," but he has "in these last days spoken to us by His Son." (Hebrews 1:1-2)

How has Jesus revealed the will of the Father to us? The Holy Spirit revealed the Lord’s authority to Christ’s apostles. John 13:1 - 16:33 is the record of a private lesson Jesus gave to His chosen eleven apostles (Judas had just gone out to betray Him) immediately after the Last Supper. In John 16:13-15 the Lord promised the apostles the Holy Spirit would guide them "into all truth." This was because He would receive Jesus’ will and show it to the apostles.

The apostles of Christ, therefore, received the very "deep things of God ... in words ... which the Holy Spirit teaches...." (1 Corinthians 2:9-13) The apostles of Christ thus became the "ambassadors (i.e., ones sent with authority) for Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

But how have the apostles of Christ made known His will to us? They "briefly" wrote the authoritative will of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. We can read these words and understand the apostles knowledge "in the mystery of Christ." (Ephesians 3:1-6)

Since the apostles of Christ were lead into all spiritual truth, there is none left to reveal. Anyone, therefore, who claims to speak for God something not found in the Scriptures is accursed of God (Galatians 1:6-9). We must neither add to nor take from even such much as a word of the Bible as a revelation from God (Revelation 22:18-19).

This New Testament is a "pattern of sound words" which we must "Hold fast" (keep, retain, be consistent with, 2 Timothy 1:13). It is a pattern of authority. Thus, we must pattern our lives by its’ teaching (Colossians 3:17) and refuse to go beyond that which it authorizes (2 John 9).

The New Testament is the divine standard of authority by which God teaches us today. Thus, you can only come to Jesus and be saved in the way it teaches (John 6:44-45). Will you not come to Jesus and be saved by hearing and learning from the New Testament and coming to Christ in the way it directs? (Matthew 11:28-30)