Now these are the gifts Christ
gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets,
the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do
His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
This will continue until we all come to such
unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that
we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the
full and complete standard of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11, 12 NLT: (Emphasis added is
mine).
This study is one of a five part
series of teachings regarding the foundational work of
the fivefold-fold ministry as given in the Ephesians
reference presented above. It is the work of the
five-fold ministry, as executed by the various members
of the body of Jesus, to build up the other believers
into a complete maturity in Christ. Each of these
ministries is related to a foundational area of study
for the disciple. This first study will introduce the
disciple to some important concepts and ideas that they
will find helpful when considering the study of teachers
as the portion of the five–fold ministry concerning the
foundational basis of the Jewish Torah to our faith and
the effects that biblical teachings have on the lives of
disciples.
It is interesting to note that some
believers believe that the relevant portion of the Bible
is the New Testament or as some people refer to it as
the Apostolic Writings. Other believers in the GOD
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, believe that the Tanakh or
the Old Testament is the relevant portion of the Bible.
The truth is that the Bible is a collection of writings
that individually express a portion of the plan of
restoration for our world. Collectively they paint the
entire picture of GOD’s plan for our lives. It is
important that we see the Bible as a continuing
revelation of GOD’s plan for us.
The Bible starts with the first five
books, which are referred to as the Torah by Hebraic
reference or the Pentateuch by Greek reference. The
Torah is important because it was the record of GOD’s
initial dealings with mankind. We see the accounts of
Creation, the accounts of the flood in the days of Noah,
and the relationship of GOD with the Hebrew
patriarchs. Then we encounter the stirring accounts of
the deliverance of the Hebrew people as they are set
free of the oppression by their Egyptian masters. It was
during this journey to the Promised Land that the most
significant event of the ancient world occurred. This
event was the giving of the Instructions for Righteous
Living, which is referred to as the Torah by Jewish
usage and is referred to as the ‘Law’ by Greco-Roman
usage.
These instructions formed the basis
for the rest of the writings that comprise the Bible and
to ignore their influence is to get a false impression
of what the Bible is all about. The following portions
of the Bible, which included the historical accounts of
the people of Israel, the poetic writings that express
the nature of our relationship with the Father,
and finally to complete the writings of the Tanakh, are
the prophetic writings that were GOD’s comments
on the manner that the people of Israel fulfilled their
covenant responsibilities regarding the Torah
instructions for righteous living. These writings
comprise what the Jewish people refer to as the
Scriptures.
Then we have the accounts of Jesus
as he came to Earth to fulfill the purposes of the
Father. The Gospels accounts relate the words and
events of the earthly ministry of Jesus. What is
important to remember is that Jesus had to
fulfill the requirements of the Torah instructions or
else He would have been disqualified as being the
Messiah. This was the situation that prompted
Jesus to express the following reference, Matthew
5:17, 18 NLT:
Don't misunderstand why I have
come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or
the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish
their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and
earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's
law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.
The ‘Law’ or Torah instructions thus
became the foundation for the teachings of Jesus
and the writers of the New Testament. An example of this
foundation is found in a response that Jesus gave
when asked by a religious leader regarding the greatest
commandment. Jesus gives the following response,
Matthew 22:36-40 NLT:
"Teacher, which is the most
important commandment in the law of Moses?" Jesus
replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all
your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is
the first and greatest commandment. A second is
equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are
based on these two commandments."
Jesus is telling us that the
entire Bible is designed to be a revelation of how
mankind is to love GOD with all their being and
how to express that divine love towards the rest of
humanity. So rather then segment the Bible into relevant
parts for study, it is incumbent on the Bible student to
study the entire Bible to understand how to fulfill
these two great commandments in their lives.
To reinforce the concept of a
continuation revelation one must realize that the
beginning of the Bible describes GOD’s wonderful
creation and the end of the Bible describes the
wonderful restoration of the world and coming glory of
GOD descending to the Earth in the New Jerusalem.
In between these two great feats, is the recorded
history of the fall of mankind and the consistent
efforts of GOD to reconcile mankind back to
Himself. Within these accounts, you will find examples
of things that you are going through and you will be
able to witness how other people dealt with these
issues. It can be very helpful to realize that you are
not the only person that has struggled in that area.
Also you will see the love of the Father and His
great mercy poured out to mankind from the Genesis
accounts all the way through the Book of Revelation.
Now that you know what the Bible is,
it will be helpful to understand how the Bible was
written. It the beginning, mankind passed down their
information in oral form. It wasn’t until the time of
Moses that these accounts were written into the books of
the Torah. The following references will verify the
authorship of Moses:
Exodus 24:4 NLT: Then
Moses carefully wrote down all the LORD's
instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up
and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He
also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the
twelve tribes of Israel.
Numbers 33:2 NLT: At the
LORD's direction, Moses kept a written record of
their progress. These are the stages of their march,
identified by the different places where they
stopped along the way.
Deuteronomy 31:9 NLT: So
Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a
book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark
of the LORD's Covenant, and to the elders of Israel.
Following the time of Moses, we
see the history of GOD’s dealings with the people
of Israel as written by the holy men of Israel. We see
the poetic writings of the Psalms, the Book of Job, and
the Song of Songs. The wise Solomon gave us the wisdom
writings of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The mighty
prophets give us their instructions as the Spirit of
God moved on them and they were able to speak these
holy words to the people of Israel.
Throughout all of these writings, we
see the efforts of mortal men putting into words, the
concepts and revelations of the infinite being we know
as GOD or as the Hebrews would refer to Him as
HaShem, the Name. The ways of GOD are
beyond our comprehension so mere words would never be
able to convey the fullness of the nature of GOD.
This is where the Holy Spirit is so necessary.
Just as the Holy Spirit moved upon the waters in
Genesis 1:2, the Spirit would move upon these
writers as they would compile the inspiration that was
in their hearts down in written form. Thus it is
important to understand that the letter of the writings
can never and will never be able to convey the full
meaning that GOD intended. This is why mankind
over the years has missed the intent of GOD for
they study the letter of the ‘Law’ but they miss the
spirit or intent of the words. This is why Jesus
remarked in John 5:39 NLT:
You search the Scriptures because you think they
give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!
Jesus was instructing the people to
not look so hard at studying every nuance of the words
but rather to look for the one that gives those words
meaning. In other words this was what the Lord
was trying to teach us when He gave these words.
Jesus came to show us in the flesh what these words
meant. The Apostle Paul expanded on these words when he
wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:6 CJB:
He has even made us competent to be workers serving
a New Covenant, the essence of which is not a written
text but the Spirit. For the written text brings
death, but the Spirit gives life.
What Paul is trying to tell us that
while the written text is important as a guideline
pointing us towards the truth, the real agent of
revelation and understanding of the Word of GOD
is the Holy Spirit. Jesus understood this
need by sending us the Spirit to teach us, as is
noted in the following scriptures:
John 14:16 CJB: and
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth,
to be with you forever.
John 15:26 NLT: But I will
send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will
come to you from the Father and will testify all
about Me.
John 16:13 NLT: When the
Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all
truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell
you what He has heard. He will tell you about the
future.
The question will naturally arise
at this point regarding how does the Holy Spirit
do this? The answer is that we don’t actually know how,
but He does it. We know this by experience. We need to
understand that that GOD does not expect us to
understand everything that is written in the Bible at
one time. Understanding the Bible is a life long
pursuit. The more you learn, the more you learn that
there is more to learn – it is a never ending pursuit.
But there are those moments when the Holy Spirit
knows that you are ready, when He will give you
understanding of a certain passage that may have eluded
you for years. Or you may have understanding a certain
passage one way and then the Holy Spirit will
give you a different perspective on it.
I tell my students that as a teacher,
I can not give them truth. I can guide their way and
show them where to look but until the Holy Spirit
reveals it to them, they have only learned information
and not truth. Truth can only be realized through the
work of the Holy Spirit. This is one reason why
there is such a division in the body of Christ
concerning doctrinal issues. People learn information
that they think is truth but it is only information. All
truth will bring people closer to GOD and it will
promote unity among the body, rather than dissention.
Paul described this situation when he commented on an
issue regarding food sacrificed to idols, 1
Corinthians 8:1 CJB:
Now about food sacrificed to idols:
we know that, as you say, "We all have knowledge."
Yes, that is so, but "knowledge" puffs a person up
with pride; whereas love builds up.
It is the mere learning of knowledge
and not the mastering of revealed truth that causes so
much dissension within the body of believers. If we were
to walk in love, we would realize that some people are
in the learning the information stage and they may not
have the revealed truth yet. We need to love them by
giving them time to develop and to nurture them by
giving them guidance, not doctrinal arguments. Others
that have received truth through the Holy Spirit
may see an aspect of the truth that is different than
how you see it. We must walk in love to promote unity of
Spirit and not conformity of thought.
An ancient sage once said that the
Torah is like a 70 facet jewel. One may look at it from
one facet and the light will refract a certain way but
when you turn the jewel, the light will refract
differently from another facet. The Word of the infinite
GOD is like that. Our minds are so limited, that
we can only capture a minute portion of His truth. This
is why GOD will use different people to see
different things in the Word, but collectively, we can
realize more of His infinite Truth. Paul describes our
struggle to capture this truth in 1 Corinthians 13:12
NLT:
Now we see things imperfectly as in
a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with
perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and
incomplete, but then I will know everything
completely, just as God now knows me completely.
One of the problems caused by our
partial understanding is the issue of conflicting
doctrines. Doctrines are formalized teachings that
represent a shared belief among a group of believers.
These doctrines start out as a general teaching that
someone put together as a study of the Bible. Then as
the teaching gains acceptance it matures into a doctrine
and if its gains enough acceptance it becomes dogma or
the essential belief of the group. Some dogma is
necessary as it refers to the nature of the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit; as well to the various elements of
salvation. Beyond these core elements of dogma there is
great room for a variety of doctrines. One such example
is the doctrine of Baptism. One group believes in the
doctrine of infant baptism and another believes in adult
immersion. Both groups can love the LORD but they
have a difference of opinion regarding this issue. The
correct manner in which to operate as a loving body of
Christ is to agree to disagree, but then show love to
each other.
The issue of doctrine is important
for it can often be a discouragement to people that
desire to study the Bible, when they see others arguing
doctrinal points. The best hope for the Bible student is
to realize that we are responsible for seeking our own
truth and not the hand-me-down truth that others have
learned. The basis for this personal seeking is found in
2 Peter 1:20, 21 NLT:
Above all, you must realize that no
prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own
understanding, or from human initiative. No, those
prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke
from God.
Just as the prophets spoke with the
individual inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we can
gain truth from those words by our inspiration by the
Holy Spirit. In other words, as we read these
inspired words, the same Holy Spirit that
motivated the writing of these words, will come to us to
activate our understanding of the words. This is what
Paul meant when he said that the Spirit gives ‘life.’
Our understanding of the truths of the Bible is what
gives our own spirit life. We grow spiritually as we
continue to appropriate GOD’s truth into our
life. This is the reason why getting embattled over
doctrines can be so harmful, for we stop gaining truth
and we succumb to the prideful wisdom of mankind. The
Holy Spirit is my teacher not human beings. Human
beings are to be guides but all truth must be gathered
from GOD.
Now how do we accomplish this
gathering of truth? We have included in this teaching a
number of questions and answers to assist the student in
their Bible studies:
Where do I start to study?
The best place to start studying the Bible is in
the beginning where God started to reveal His
plans for mankind. Take time to read through the
entire Bible so that you can understand the whole
picture. It is alright to focus on favorite
sections but one needs to see the whole picture to
avoid doctrinal bias. Don’t worry if you don’t
understand everything at first. Continue reading
and some of it will make sense later.
What If I don’t understand what
I am reading? It is alright if you don’t
understand everything at first. It may take
several readings to gain some sense of what the
words mean. Try to see the bigger picture by
reading around the puzzling text. Then think about
the text and pray for understanding. The Holy
Spirit can often teach us better if we think
quietly before GOD. If you still remain
puzzled after this quiet contemplation, then seek
other resources for some help or ask another
person for their understanding. Remember that
their understanding is only a guideline and it is
not truth until you feel the Holy Spirit
confirm the truth in you.
What resources should I use?
One of the best tools you can use is a
concordance that lists all of the available
references that relate to the word or topic that
you are studying. There are concordances in
hardcopy or you could use a number Bible software
programs to electronically search for your
references. Word studies or topical studies, which
list references for a topic, are an excellent way
for the beginning student to learn about the
Bible. Bible dictionaries or encyclopedias are a
great way to learn about the people, places and
the customs of these people. Understanding the
historical environment is very important in
understanding how the Bible will relate to our
life. The more advanced students may wish to use
original language study helps to understand the
words that were used in the Greek or Hebrew that
the passages were originally written in. The
original language study can bring new
understanding to references since it is often
difficult to convey the full meaning of a word in
another language.
How do I know if the Holy
Spirit has revealed something to me? This is a
difficult question to answer for the results are
very subjective and the Spirit may work
differently with diverse people. There does seem
to be two common levels on which the Spirit
will move. One is a move of an introductory level
where the Holy Spirit is leading us to a
place of understanding. You may find yourself
drawn to read a certain passage or a certain
passage will keep coming to your mind. These
things are the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
The real payoff occurs when suddenly the light
goes off in your head and you know that you know
what it means. Such moments are very precious and
dear. A lot of people become discouraged by the
hard work that is involved in Bible study but when
you get one of these moments you know that the
work was well worth it. Often this moment will
have life changing consequences. Remember this
reference, Hebrew 11:6 NLT, emphasis added is
mine: And it is impossible to please God
without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him
must believe that God exists and that He
rewards those who sincerely
(diligently) seek Him.
How much should I read?
This is a trick question, for you could never read
too much of the Bible. When I first was introduced
to the Bible, I was instructed to read it during
every possible moment that I could. I used to
carry around a pocket New Testament so I could
pull it out and read it when I was riding in a car
or I was standing in a line. I know that it was
the constant reading of the word that salvaged my
mind from years of drug abuse and it built a
foundation that was to see me through many a hard
time. It is recommended that you should endeavor
to read through the Bible at least once a year.
There are many programs, some on the internet,
which will set a schedule for you to read through
the entire Bible in year. If you will maintain the
schedule, you will find it easy to accomplish this
goal. The Jewish people read through the Torah on
a planned schedule every year. The advantage being
that it will build a solid foundation of
understanding of the ways of GOD. It is
amazing to find that no matter how many times you
read through the same passages, something new will
emerge from the reading.
What do I do with the knowledge
that I have gain? This question is perhaps one
of the most important questions on the list. It
does little good to learn knowledge if we will not
apply it to our lives. Paul warns us about the
situation where people will be ever learning but
never coming to the knowledge of the truth, 2
Timothy 3:17. It is in the application of the
knowledge to our everyday life circumstance, which
revels the truth of the Word of GOD in our
life. When the Word tells us to act in a certain
manner then we need to apply that instruction to
our life to confirm the truth that was revealed to
us. This is how we witness the truth of GOD’s
word to the people around us. A person that
refuses to apply the word is described in James
1:23-25 NLT: For if you listen to the word
and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face
in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and
forget what you look like. But if you look
carefully into the perfect law that sets you free,
and if you do what it says and don't forget what
you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
What if someone disagrees with
what I believe? You will come across
this situation many times in your faith walk. We
must remember that it is not our job to make
everybody conform to our way of thinking or is it
our responsibility to conform to the thinking of
others. It is however our responsibility to walk
in love to one another. We have the privilege of
sharing what we believe and we should be bold
enough to do so. But if the other party disagrees
with what we have stated then we need to leave it
at that point. Don’t be tempted to argue your
point for that will not be helpful, but stand your
ground politely. If someone asks why you believe
that way, then give a loving and gentle response.
Remember it is not our responsible to make people
believe what we believe, but it is our responsible
to walk in love towards them, even if they reject
us.
In conclusion, we need to look at the
issue of the accuracy and reliability of the Scriptures.
There have been attacks regarding the reliability of the
Bible. Some scholars have taken the method of study
called Higher Critical Analysis, where they dissect
every verse of the Bible to distort the traditional view
of authorship. All this approach does is to attack the
words of the Bible but it does not address the Spirit
behind those words. We must be honest when assessing the
Bible to realize that it was written by mortal men that
wrote to the best of their ability the complex and
perplexing aspects of the revelations that they were
given. There were many times that words would never
suffice to describe the situation. One such situation
was when Isaiah stood before the throne of the LORD
in a vision, Isaiah 6:1-5 NLT:
It was in the year King Uzziah died
that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne,
and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending
Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With
two wings they covered their faces, with two they
covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were
calling out to each other, "Holy, holy, holy is the
LORD of Heaven's Armies! The whole earth is filled
with His glory!" Their voices shook the Temple to its
foundations, and the entire building was filled with
smoke. Then I said, "It's all over! I am doomed, for I
am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among
a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King,
the LORD of Heaven's Armies."
What can one say after witnessing
such a magnificent sight? It is foolish therefore to get
hung up on analyzing each and every word. What is more
constructive is to measure the accuracy of the
information that the Bible relates. The Bible very
accurately describes the sinful nature of mankind. We
can read the accounts of the people of the past and see
ourselves in those lives. No other religious writing
depicts this wanton character of mankind so accurately
or describes our need for salvation so greatly.
We can look at the instructions for
righteous living found in the Torah or the words of life
spoken by Jesus, to see how their application
would affect the world around us. What would happen in
the world, if every single person would follow the Ten
Commandments? The world would be transformed into a
paradise. So it would seem that words of the Bible,
though limited by man’s capacity, can still convey
spiritual truth regarding righteous living to us today.
In the same manner, we can realize the timelessness of
the Scriptures. What was true then is true now. The
human heart was evil then and it is still evil today. If
it wasn’t for the holy plan of restoration that is
related in the Bible, there would be no hope for
mankind.
So I would advice the student to not
be bothered by the criticisms leveled against the Bible,
but rather embrace these words with eagerness and
anticipation. There has never been an attack that has
successfully discredited the Bible. For many years the
liberal theologians criticized the historical accuracy
of the Bible. Now with modern archeology uncovering the
many name and places mentioned in the Bible, that
criticism is no longer valid. People have pointed to
linguistic contradictions that seemed to pop up in the
Bible but when the culture of the people is understand
properly, these criticisms disappear.
Then there is the issue of prophesy.
How could the writers of the Bible so accurately predict
the events that would occur without the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit? The prophet Daniel very accurately
detailed the successive Gentile empires that would
affect the land of Israel. Daniel accurately described
the various battles that would ensue after the break up
of Alexander’s empire. Isaiah accurately predicted
hundreds of years before fact, the name of the Persia
king, Cyrus, who would assist Israel in the future. The
entire exile and return of Israel was predicted by the
various prophets, not to mention the prophecies of the
restoration of Israel in the end times that is happening
before our eyes.
We can look at the many prophecies
that accurately predicted the coming of the Messiah,
Jesus or Yeshua HaMashiach as referred to
in the Hebrew. We can rely on the words of Jesus
regarding the future when He so accurately described the
destruction of Jerusalem some forty years later. It is
because the Bible has been so reliable in the past that
we can confidently embrace the Bible as our pattern for
life.
This idea of accepting the Bible
brings us to the final point. All of us have tried
living life by our own idea and ways. Some of us
experienced more disasters than others, but all of us
fell short of living a righteous life before GOD.
Having tried the other ways, it would benefit the Bible
student greatly to fully embrace the teachings found in
the Bible as a pattern for their everyday life. The
concepts of love and loving behavior are so far above
the norm for the people of the planet but the funny
thing is that it works. The people of the Old Testament
understood the power of the grace of GOD to help
them in their time of distress. We, of the New Testament
times, are still experiencing that great grace being
applied to our lives. We need therefore to apply these
lessons that we learn to the lives of others. I will
leave you with this reference from the writings of Paul
to emphasis the importance of Bible study, 2 Timothy
2:15 NLT:
Work hard so you can present
yourself to God and receive His approval. Be a good
worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who
correctly explains the word of truth.
