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Lesson Five - The Apostles' Teaching

In Acts 2:40, Peter exhorts the thousands of new believers: "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation!" Those who "accepted his message" responded to this challenge: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching..." (verse 42).

What is the Apostles' Teaching?

The apostles put their teaching into writing - the New Testament. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament. So the apostle's teaching is the whole Word of God.

The Word of God

The Word of God is:

Life

"...The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" John 6:63.

The Word of God is creative - able to transform a person's life (Psalm 33:6,9; Hebrews 11:3).

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth...so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me emtpy, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" Isaiah 55:10-11 (see also 57:19).

Water

"...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word..." Ephesians 5:25-26.

Like water, the Word of God cleanses a person's life. We start life in the kingdom of God "washed clean" by the word of God (John 15:3; Psalm 119:9), and the word of God continues to keep us clean.

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you" Psalm 119:11.

Light

"And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" 2 Peter 1:19.

The Word of God reveals us:

The Word of God gives discernment in a dark world (Psalm 119:104-105,130; 19:8).

Food

"...Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" Matthew 4:4.

The Word of God causes spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrews 5:12-14). Ephesians 4:13-15 expresses God's aim for each believer:

"...until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."

Seed

In Luke 8:4-15, Jesus told His disciples the parable of the sower. In verse 11, He said: "The seed is the word of God." God desires for our lives to be fruitful (John 15:8).

"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness" 2 Corinthians 9:10 (see also Psalm 1:3).

A sword

"Take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" Ephesians 6:17 (see also Psalm 119:98).

The word of God is a weapon against the attacks of Satan. Note how Jesus used the sword of the Spirit against Satan during His temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-14).

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" Hebrews 4:12.

Authority to pray

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you" John 15:7.

The Word of God gives us the authority of the Lord Himself in our prayer. To "ask whatever you wish" means literally "to ask as one who has the right - with authority (to command). Now the creative word has been placed in our mouth.

The Foundation of the Word

"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" James 1:21-22.

God is not just wanting us to hear His words, but for those words to be implanted in our hearts so that we actually do them. In fact, Jesus likened His words to the foundations of a house (read Matthew 7:24-27). The Word of God builds inner concrete in our lives so that no matter what may come against us we will stand strong.

"...you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (see also 2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:3,18).

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Copyright © 1995 Paul, Bunty and David Collins. All rights reserved. This study may be freely used and reproduced, wholly or in part, by the Christian Church for the non-profit purposes of study and training only, provided copyright and contact information is included.

Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies are from the New International Version of the Bible, © New York International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The Message. All versions used by permission.

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