What Does the Bible Say About Why the Bible Was Written #4?

In this fourth episode, Arnie and Fred begin by noting that the Bible produces faith in Jesus Christ. It does this by providing the words and deeds of Jesus Christ. We look at Luke's Gospel account first and note that it was addressed to a high-ranking Roman official with the intended purpose of providing the eye-witness accounts of what they believed. We also point out that Luke wrote Acts and addressed it to the same official. We discuss the fact that the Bible contains and provides the evidence needed for the belief that is required to produce that faith. We discuss at length how the Bible identifies the Lord's church. It contains the promise that Jusus made that He would build His church, singular. He built only one church, and we point out where the Bible states that it is a spiritual body in heaven. We also discuss the local churches that existed in the first century and note that Paul on a number of occasions made sure that we know that he preached the same thing in every local church. This shows us that the Bible records the specific pattern for the Lord's church. We begin our final discussion in this episode about how the Bible teaches an individual to become saved. We run out of time before finishing it. We will begin the next episode on what the Bible teaches us about what we must do to be saved. Take about 30-minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript provided for your convenience.

Transcript

Fred Gosnell: 0:00

This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ, meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net or to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com.

Arnie: 0:34

Good afternoon. This is Arnie Granke and Fred Gosnell. This is what does the Bible say, brought to you by the church of Christ at Woodland, and here in Sumter, South Carolina. We hope that if you happen to be in the vicinity, that you'll drop by and visit with us on the Lord's Day or on Wednesday evenings. And if you happen to live here, we certainly would welcome you to come to worship with us. It's at at 3370 Broad Street extension. Fred and I have been talking about, we've had a couple of sessions about why the Bible was written. I suppose maybe we just sort of assume that we know the answer to that. Turns out that there are probably a lot more reasons behind that than we might have suspected, because it reveals the nature of God. It tells about the purpose of man. Discusses for us the nature of sin. We know that there's a Messiah and and the identity of that Messiah is revealed in the Scripture. It certainly talks about the source of of salvation. What other, what other items can we talk about that, that deal with why, the why the Bible was written Fred?

Fred Gosnell: 2:00

Well, one of the things that it does, it, it, it produces faith in Jesus Christ. And when, when we look at Luke, Luke wrote was, was writing to Theophilus, a Roman official. And when we read Luke one, one through four, we know what he says in the beginning of his letter or his gospel account to Theophilus, and he says, For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth, in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee, in order most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. So so the when he's calling him most excellent Theophilus. That's an official title. Theophilus was a was a Roman official. And of course, one of the things we need to understand is, being a Roman official, he would have had access to any of the Roman records,

Arnie: 3:13

That's right.

Fred Gosnell: 3:14

that were available.

Arnie: 3:15

This is the high Roman official. He's not just a guy that runs errands,

Fred Gosnell: 3:20

eah, that's correct. And so he had evidently been taught some things, Luke says, Wherein thou hast been instructed. So there was someone that was teaching Theophilus about what had occurred concerning Jesus, and Luke said that he was going to write things in order, he said, a declaration. So there's when we finish reading the rest of of Luke, we find out that he has provided all of this, all of this information about what occurred, about who Jesus was, about you know what he did while he was there. And, of course, he provides Theophilus with a record of the crucifixion and the things that occurred about that. Then when we when we get to Acts, we find that the book of Acts, of course, was written by Luke, and he begins Acts in Acts chapter one. Notice, notice what he says. He says the former treatise, have I made O Theophilus. So, so he's writing to Theophilus again. Now this time, he doesn't refer to him as most excellent Theophilus. He refers to him on a more personal level. And some people think that, well, Theophilus may have obeyed the gospel.

Arnie: 4:43

He may have.

Fred Gosnell: 4:44

And of course, he, Luke is writing to him from a personal level, not as an to an official. So, so then he says, Of all, Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up. After that, he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles, whom he had chosen, to also he showed himself alive after he's his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So so Luke was providing Theophilus with with information about Jesus, that that would provide him the the evidences of the things he did, and so that would produce faith in Theophilus. So that's one of the things that the Bible was written for.

Arnie: 5:35

Well, you know, Luke's first letter to Theophilus is, is the book of Luke. And, of course, that tells about Jesus, life and ministry and death and resurrection and and then here, as we come into the book of Acts, there are a number of instances where things were occurred that were miraculous in nature, where disciples performed miracles, as well as some teaching that that was involved in that. So, you know, we wonder sometimes, well, What, what is there to support that? You know, how do we what evidence is there that this wasn't just all made up? Is is there anything that that serves to show us that, well, as a matter of fact, here are some things that occurred that are not escapable. We've got to understand that God's hand was involved in these and and I think that that's that that's a good bit of what occurs in in

Fred Gosnell: 6:54

Of course, what Luke says there, he says that the book of Acts. concerning Jesus, he says, To whom also he showed Himself alive after His suffering by many, and he says in direction, yeah, and he by many infallible proofs. Uh, then he says, Being seen of them 40 days. And of them the apostles. And of course, Paul tells us that one time there was over 500 people that saw him. So so the evidence is, is, is in the books of what Jesus did and what occurred, and that's one of the reasons the Bible was written so that it would produce faith in Jesus and provide the infallible, Luke, says, the infallible proofs that have had been recorded by these eyewitnesses.

Arnie: 7:49

Now Luke's not the only one who has, who has given us infallible proofs. And for example, Paul, which that's another story in in and of itself. Why was Paul who was such an such an ardent Jew who disbelieved and and persecuted the the disciples, becomes a powerful advocate for for the gospel and and goes all over much of that part of the world, in in teaching others? He wrote to the Romans. In Romans, chapter 10, wrote an epistle there, and it's part of the record that provides evidence that's needed for these people to to believe. And and the in Romans 10, beginning in in verse 13, he said, For whatsoever shall or rather whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? Those are three good questions and and they're inescapable in the direction that he's that he's going with this. So he says in in verse 15, How shall they preach? Except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of pre peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Which, which, by the way, he makes, he quotes from, from, really, from two Old Testament sources. Isaiah 52 verse seven is one of them there in that last line, and, and Nahum one and verse, verse 15, How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel, preach peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Verse 16 says, But they have not all believed the gospel. That's true. The Jews, in fact, never have up to, up to this point, or relatively few ever, ever have. For Isaiah saith, saith, Lord, Who shall, who hath believed our report. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So you just don't all all of a sudden decide, well, I think I'll be a Christian. No, what do the Christians believe? What? What is the gospel? What does it teach them? Why is it that they believe? What is the evidence of this and and that is the source of of where people get, get their faith. John, in John, chapter 20, and beginning in verse 30, 30, after he has described many of the, I think seven, if I'm not mistaken, miracles that Jesus performed, major signs of him being the Messiah. He says in verse 30, here of John, 20, Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you might have life through His name. So there's a powerful number of miracles in the New Testament, I think more than 50, 53 was one of the counts that I that I had. Somewhere along the line, I discovered that I missed a couple things that were just a word or two that didn't actually show the the evidence itself just referred to it. So there, there's more than 50, we'll just leave it at that.

Fred Gosnell: 12:15

Yes, and of course, that that's some of the evidence that that is provided that will produce faith in an individual. Then, then the the Bible also identifies the Lord's church. Tells us about Jesus promising to establish His church, and of course, he He only talks about establishing one church and and that's in Matthew 16, verse 18. And he tells Peter, he says, I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And of course, He had asked the apostles, who, Who do men say? And then they had given, who did men say that I am?, Jesus said. And of course, they had given a number of different things that they had called Jesus. But then Peter said. He said, Well, who do you say that I am? And Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Jesus said this, until Upon this rock, and of course, the rock he's talking about there is the the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of of living God. That's the that's that's the truth of the matter. And it's upon that that the church is built. Church isn't built on Peter. Beside Peter's name is, is is masculine, and it means a stone. The rock that Jesus said he built his church on is or is feminine, and it's a foundation rock. It's a large, large rock, not a piece of rock. So, so we would not know that if it wasn't written in the Bible. And, and, of course, that's the one place that is identified as Jesus' Church, the one church that he built.

Arnie: 14:11

Yeah, and, and, interestingly enough, we would, we would anticipate that if, if, if God is active, as He is in in the things involving Christ and that our faith is based on that, it would look like Satan would be doing everything he could to try to interfere. Guess what? He does, do everything that he can, but he he's never, never victorious. And it's interesting that that Matthew records Jesus as having said, The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. There's nothing going to, that's powerful enough to stop God from accomplishing the things that that were done through through Christ and and put a stop to his his teaching of the gospel. Acts two and verse 47 is, is another passage here. And after the day of Pentecost, when Peter had preached and and there were 3000 people that day that obeyed the gospel. As a matter of fact, it's recorded in in Acts, chapter chapter two. Verse 47 tells us that, They were praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily, such as, were being saved. I'm fascinated, not only about about that fact, but the fact that, you know, if when, when people say, Oh, I'm a Christian, someone say, Oh, well, what church are you a member of? You know, or something along that, that line. It, there's not a multiplicity of churches that Christ built. You, you read that as one church, didn't you? Yeah, I will build my church. And, and that's, that's exactly right. So the Lord added to the church, singular, Such as were being saved. It's not a plural thing, so that we have hundreds and even 1000s of different churches, and we're not talking about the fact that different places where there are Christians and calling that a church that's a part of the of the body of of Christ. But Jesus did not ordain multiple religions in In other words.

Fred Gosnell: 16:50

Yeah, exactly. And of course, in Hebrews chapter 12, 22, and 23 there, the Hebrew writer writes, he says, But you are come unto mount Zion and unto the city of the living of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and church of the first born ones which are written in heaven, to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. The, Jesus' Church is a spiritual body. And, it is, it is in heaven and and those who obey the gospel are added to it, and their names are written in in heaven. There's only one of those. Now sometimes people will read Romans 16, 16, and Romans 16, 16, says that salute one another with the holy kiss the churches of Christ salute you. Well you. You mentioned different localities. Of course, there's Christians all over the world in different localities. And and Paul is referring to local congregations. They are local assemblies of individuals that have associate together as a local church of Christ. And of course, what we need to understand is, remember, in Acts 2, 47 The Lord added to the church daily, such as, were being saved, individuals are added to the Lord's church. Congregations are not. So, so congregations consist of individuals in various localities and and of course, we're going to talk about some, some of those coming up here, when we look at the pattern for the Lord's church. And I think that's the next point here.

Arnie: 18:30

Well, yeah, let me just, let me just note here when, when you were reading the the churches of Christ salute you. It doesn't say denominations, right, you know, and, and, so let's not understand it is meaning, oh, this is the XYZ church, or this is the ABC church, or this is the MNO church, or something along that line. Rather than use the name of the denominations here. There was just one church and and when it says, salute you, it means that we're sending greeting. We're we're saying, Excuse me, we're we're telling you we're here, and we believe what the Bible teaches the same as as you do, rather than some of our neighbors who claim to be Christians, but, but really, really aren't. Uh, First Corinthians chapter, chapter four, and and beginning in verse 16, I don't think you read that that passage, did you, Fred? Paul is writing to the Corinthians and says, Wherefore, I beseech you, but be ye followers of me, For this cause I've sent unto you Timotheus. And that's Timothy, of course, in the the writer of first and second, Timothy and and also one of the the preach people that you see mentioned in the book of of Acts and other of Paul's writings that assisted him in in the work of spreading the gospel. I've sent unto you Timothius, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring Who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere, in in every church. So every congregation was receiving exactly the same information. That one, for example, one congregation didn't say, Oh, we all drink out of one cup when we have the Lord's Supper. And another one says, Well, we have multiple cups. You know. Some say, Well, we have this in in the cups. And somebody else says, well, we've got that in the cups. They all had fruit of the vine in in the cups, there's no difference in what they did or or how they they did it. It was the same for every group of of these believers, because that's what Paul taught everywhere that he went. And can I read one other passage? First, Corinthians, chapter seven and and verse 17, Paul writes in and he tells the Corinthians, But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk. And so I direct. And it doesn't stop there. I direct in all churches, or every church, as the King James Version says both are exactly correct.

Fred Gosnell: 21:51

Yes. And of course, again, those are local congregations and localities, and we find that specified in First Corinthians 16, when Paul talks about the collection for the saints, he says, Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. So there were local congregations in Galatia and and Paul gave them the same instructions on the first day of the week concerning the collection that was for the saints. So again, the point here is that the Bible provides us and records for us the pattern for the church. The pattern for the church is number one, Jesus built only one, and it's headquartered in heaven. It's a spiritual body. Jesus had, had told Pilate. He said, My kingdom is not of this world. Of course, that's just another description of the Lord's church. It's also his kingdom. And then we note that the pattern for the Lord's church that in every locality that there were Christians, they assembled together as local churches. So in this case, Paul says that he had given this order to the churches of Galatia. There was more than one local congregation in Galatia, and he told them to take up a collection for the saints on the first day of the week. And he told the Corinthians the same thing. So that's a pattern. We can't we can't depart from the pattern that is revealed in the New Testament of the Lord's church, as far as what it is there's one of them, it's a spiritual body. And then how it how the people operate. They operate in local congregations in various localities, and they're all taught the same thing, and they all do the same thing.

Arnie: 23:36

And and so of course, when you see the word churches in the New Testament, it's not talking about different religions. They were similar. They were all supposed to be based on Christ. But here's a little thing that's different. There's a little thing that's different. It, they all did the same things. And what we really ought to understand is that the meaning of the word that's translated, that's ecclesia, in the in the original Greek language, isn't talking about congregate. It's talking about congregations. It's not talking about slightly different religions, or different types of Christianity, or anything along that, that line. These are assemblies or congregations of of people. And I think you read First Corinthians, 16 and verse one there. Didn't you on on, on that? So if anybody that's listening to us has a question, always feel welcome to send us an email or call us on our cell phone or just send us a letter by US Mail for that, for that matter, and we'll be delighted to to help you out with questions that you have and and give you biblical answers. Be sure that that you can read the answer in your Bible. It's not going to be our opinion if we're talking about things that that are based on the Word of God. So here the the the fact of the business is that that the the New Testament was written because it it produces faith in in Christ, and it identifies Christ's Church. We've got a couple of minutes left Fred. Why don't we? Why don't we talk a little bit about about a teaching people how to become saved?

Fred Gosnell: 25:54

Yes, and of course, the Bible tells us, the New Testament tells us that God wants all people to be saved. He's not willing to any should suffer. And we'll get to that passage here shortly. But in first, Timothy, two, three and four, there Paul writing to Timothy, he says, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Well, where are they going to get this knowledge? Of course, they're going to get this knowledge from the words that God has provided. And then here's the passage that we want to specify. Here is in second, Peter three, nine. Peter says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise has some been counts slackness, but is patient to usward, not willing to any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So, so, so the Bible was written to teach us how to be saved, because the Lord doesn't, doesn't want us to be lost. And course, that what, what that implies is that we are accountable to our Creator. He requires us to do certain things that are right and proper and according to His will. And he, of course, tells us, in the Word of God, we'll talk about that probably, tells us things that we ought not to do, that are bad for us, that are sinful and and wrong.

Arnie: 27:19

Yeah, and, and as a matter of fact, of course, when, when Peter is is speaking of God's promise, he's referring here to to Jesus' Second Coming. Jesus is coming there that is an absolute promise and is irrevocable in in any way God will fulfill that. And he, he is not willing for anyone to be misled and and not be able to benefit from Jesus' coming and and returning to heaven with with all his saints. We hope that you'll be in that number as well. Acts chapter 26 is another, is another passage here, and that'll be probably about all that we've got time to talk about. Paul is over in Caesarea, Caesarea Philippi and and that was the seat of Roman government at the time in in Israel. And so he had been taken there for safety because there was a threat of of murder against him by a number of of the Jews. So he was transported over there by by the equivalent of the general that was in charge of the battalion at at Jerusalem. And Paul is given the opportunity to speak to Porcius Festus, who was the governor at the time, the Roman governor. And he had also Herod Agrippa, who was subordinate to him, but also he was the Jewish king of of that area, they had accused Jesus of of sedition. They were aware that Jesus, Jesus, that Paul had been, had been accused of sedition. I'll get that right. So beginning in verse 27, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? Paul says, I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadeth me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but all, so all that hear me this day. Evidently there were some others that were in within earshot of of what was being said and what was being done. Also, all that hear me this day were both almost and all together as I am, in other words, as a Christian, except these bonds. Well, we appreciate you having listened to us again this week. We'll talk a little bit more about how to become saved next Lord's day, the Lord permitting, and we hope that you'll be with us to hear in the meantime, have a good week.