Sunday Sermons
New Testament Christianity
New Testament Christianity
This lesson will attempt to answer some of the objections that have been voiced against the idea of restoring the New Testament Church.
Is the New Testament the doctrinal standard for every generation of Christians?
People argue, “Well, when you talk about restoring the New Testament Church you are assuming that the way Christians worshipped, what they practiced and believed constitutes the standard which Christians in all succeeding generations must follow.”
Is the moral standard given to Christians living in the first century the moral standard for Christians in all succeeding generations? The answer is “yes”! The immorality condemned in the first century will still be wrong at the end of time (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:21 “those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”; Revelation 21:8). Is the New Testament teaching on the Christian’s responsibilities to civil government, his employer or employees and his family, binding upon Christians in every generation? Again, the answer is yes. Since God always exists, this means that whatever civil governments may exist in the future, are established by Him (Romans 13:1). Every generation of employees must realize that the Lord is our true employer (Ephesians 6:7), and in every generation, those who are in positions of authority need to realize that they have a master who is carefully watching how they treat those under their oversight (Ephesians 6:9). Will there every be a generation of children of whom God doesn’t expect them to obey and honor their parents? (Ephesians 6:1-2) In addition, seeing that God will condemn all unrepentant fornicators and adulterers (Hebrews 13:4), this reveals that the doctrines in the New Testament that govern the marriage relationship are also binding upon every generation. Therefore seeing that the New Testament doctrines that concern personal morality, civil government, the family, and secular employment are still binding, then how much more the doctrines that concern the Church for which Jesus shed His blood! (Acts 20:28). What Jesus said about His words indicate that the totality of what He said in the first century will hold true for all time (Matthew 24:35; John 12:48).
Is a continual succession of congregations necessary?
Some are under the mistaken impression that claiming to be the Church that one can read about in the New Testament means that one is claiming that one can trace the origin of one’s congregation through a successive number of congregations all the way back to a congregation that existed in the first century.
Yet even if such a succession of congregations did exist, it would not prove that a church was the Lord’s church, because the original congregation or a congregation down the line may have gone into apostasy. What produces a new generation of Christians is the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23-25), which is described as seed that is imperishable and abiding. Hence, every generation will have access to the same gospel message, the same truth. To restore the New Testament Church in any city, culture or time period simply requires that we preach the same message as was preached in the first century. The word that falls upon good and honest hearts, in any generation will produce the same thing, that is, fruitful and faithful Christians (Matthew 13:19,23; Luke 8:11,15).
What about all those years of historical silence?
Some argue, “But there are centuries between the first century and today in which we do not read about the Church of Christ. Did the Church cease to exist? Was there a time in which Christians ceased to exist?
Remember, the ratio or gap between the lost and the saved does not alter truth. God has never bent, compromised and ignored the truth in order to save more people (Matthew 7:13-14; 2 Peter 2:4-9). The New Testament itself predicts an all out, not merely a mild or fringe apostasy, would hit the Church (2 Timothy 4:2-4; 2 Peter 2:2 “many will follow”; 1 John 4:1). There are many periods in the Old Testament in which the faithful were few and far between (Noah, Joshua and Caleb, Elijah (1 Kings 18:22). There were many times in which false prophets not only greatly out-numbered those preaching the truth, but in which the vast majority of professed believers were following the false prophets (Numbers 14:1-10; 16:1-3; Exodus 32:1; 2 Chronicles 36:14-16; Isaiah 30:9-10; Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so!”). In fact, Jesus seems to indicate that the professed people of God had abused and rejected every prophet that God had ever sent them (Matthew 23:29-35). We also find that in many cases the truly hard-hearted and rebellious people were those who professed they were the people of God. The Bible is filled with passages in which God, through His prophets, condemns those who are professing to be His own people. Over and over again He accuses them of rejecting His Word and listening instead to human religious traditions and opinions (Judges 2:10-12; Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 8:11; Romans 10:21 “But as for Israel He says, ‘All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people’”). We need to remember that secular history and even religious history is not infallible and neither are we always given all the details. If not for the Old Testament, we probably would not know much of anything about the faithful few in Israel or what was the true spiritual condition of that nation in any given generation. If God had chosen to leave an inspired account of history from the first century to the 21st century it would read a lot different than any of the standard secular and religious reference works composed by human and fallible historians. In fact, I find many religious historians operating under the assumption that about everything that has happened in groups claiming to be “Christian” was the will of God. Such historians often note the introduction of a new practice or belief, but completely miss the fact that such a practice or belief was a definite departure from the truth (1 Timothy 4:1-3). Religious historians miss even the significance of recent religious history. The Restoration Movement in this country is typically overlooked. In fact in the book entitled, Eerdman’s Handbook To The History Of Christianity, I couldn’t even find a reference to the Church of Christ, the Restoration Movement, or such early pioneer preachers as Alexander and Thomas Campbell or Barton W. Stone. As is typical in many such works, what is really being noted is a history of religious apostasy rather than a history of the faithful few. Do not be shaken that religious historians failed to mention what the faithful few were doing following the first century, because religious historians in the 21st century continue to ignore the Church of Christ.
But how can so many people be wrong?
Let us once again take a walk through the Old and New Testaments. What is the overall pattern? Are people remaining faithful to God, are the vast majority in a right relationship with God or, is the picture we see that of a continual departure from the truth? Adam and Eve departed from God. Cain and his descendants departed from God (Genesis 4:16ff). Mankind then became so corrupt that God had to destroy everyone except eight people (Genesis 6:1-7). The descendants of Noah’s sons departed from God (Genesis 11:1-6), and God must once again exercise physical judgments to keep sin in check (Genesis 15:16; 18:20). Then ask yourself these questions: How long did the Israelites remain faithful to God after deliverance from Egyptian bondage? (Exodus 32:8) How long did they remain faithful once they had inherited the land? (Judges 2:10-11) How long did they remain faithful following the death of Solomon? (1 Kings 12:28-33). How long did they remain faithful following the death of a good and righteous leader? (2 Kings 21:1ff; 2 Kings 23:32) How long did they remain faithful after being mercifully brought back from captivity? (Haggai 1:2-5; Malachi 1:6-10). When Jesus came to this earth, which religious party among the Jews did He praise? How many faithful people did He find? What type of reception was He given by His own people, by those who professed themselves to be faithful? (Matthew 11:16-19; John 1:11) Even when the apostles were alive, how many professed Christians were of the mind to argue with their teachings? (Acts 15:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:4; Galatians 4:16; 2 Thess. 2:2; 1 Timothy 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:17; Titus 1:10-11; 1 John 4:1; 3 John 9).
But is it even possible?
“As Christians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we must not accept the false notion that restoration is simply an ever unfulfilled dream that can never be thought of as a thing which is certain and has come to fruition” (Gospel Anchor, June 1992, p. 7). Restoration was not only possible, but during the Old Testament it was actually accomplished by various individuals. Hezekiah succeeded in bringing the people back to the Bible (2 Chronicles 31:21 “And every good work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered”). The same was true concerning the efforts of King Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:32-33). In addition, we must reject the idea that every effort to serve God will fail at some point. Some have the attitude that there are errors in every church, but we must reject this idea. Joshua and his generation faithfully served God (Judges 2:7), and in the New Testament there existed congregations in which the Lord Himself found no error or deviation (Revelation 2:8-11; 3:7-13). What hinders restoring the New Testament Church is not a lack of clarification from God, but rather, many people want the church to reflect their desires and opinions rather than reflect the will and wisdom of God (1 Timothy 3:15). Somehow people always think that they can improve upon what God has given to mankind and yet humble people realize that we cannot improve upon the church that is revealed in the Scriptures(Ephesians 3:10-11).
Is it even necessary?
Lest someone ask the question, “But does anything really need to be restored?” Such a question is dramatically answered when we realize that the vast majority of sermons preached today from the pulpits of modern denominations would have left the 3000 present on the day of Pentecost still in their sins (Acts 2:38). Even many in the denominational world bemoan the current unfaithfulness of many professed churches and professed Christians. In fact, even most conservative evangelicals would agree that most of the modern mainline denominational world is in apostasy and bears little or no resemblance to what Jesus taught. The only issue in the religious world with those who at least continue to believe that the Bible is the word of God is whether they are in apostasy as well.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church Of Christ/503-644-9017 www.beavertonchurchofchrist/mdunagan@easystreet.com
