HighStreet Christian Church

THE BIBLE

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The Bible has been called 'the world's least-read bestseller'. Even in this age of unbelief, many homes have one. What then is this book, accepted by some as the Word of God, and dismissed by others as fables?

OUTLINE

The Bible is a collection of 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. The Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Koine (common everyday) Greek. Testament in the Bible sense is literally a covenant, or agreement. The Bible thus records God’s old and new covenants with the human race. Basically God is inviting us to have fellowship with Him. Our English word Bible comes from the Greek biblia meaning books.

The Old Testament starts with a brief account of creation. It mainly records how God raised up the nation of Israel and revealed Himself to them. It ends some four hundred years BC with most of Israel deported because they did not live up to God's standards. The Old Testament lays the foundation for the New and gives many promises about the coming of Jesus.

The New Testament records the earthly life of Jesus in the four Gospels, the history of the early church in Acts, a number of epistles or letters to the Church and concludes with an account of the end of this age in Revelation (The Apocalypse).

The central message is that we can all have a personal relationship with God because Jesus allowed himself to be sacrificed for us.

ITS PURPOSE

‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness’ (2 Timothy 3:16). ‘For the prophecy (i.e. teaching of God's Word) never came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Peter 1:21).

God reveals Himself to us in the Bible. He tells us what He requires of us and of the wonderful blessings that are available. The Bible is a manual for living.

INTERPRETATION

Some critics claim that the Bible is open to many interpretations. The Bible says that ‘no prophecy (teaching) of the scriptures is of any private interpretation’ (2 Peter 1:20).

A proper understanding of any book, or teaching, requires that we consider each part of it as a part of the whole. So it is with the Bible. To properly understand it, we must consider its overall purpose.

We also need to remember that study guides and helps, cross references, notes and even the chapter and verse divisions are not part of the original inspired text. These may help us, but they must not be used to build doctrine.

To correctly interpret the Bible we must have our teachings shaped by it, not the other way around.

The only fair way to interpret the Bible is to take it at face value, to let it speak for itself.

The Bible is written for ordinary people: 'not many wise according to the flesh…are called’ (1 Corinthians 1:26). Paul, who was probably the most highly educated of the New Testament church leaders, goes on in chapter two to say how he did not rely on his learning, ‘but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power’ (verse 4). Beware of those who have to go into great scholarly explanations to prove their point.

RELIABILITY

Some claim time and translation mean we cannot be sure the Bible text we have is accurate. Two facts refute this claim.

First, both the Old and the New Testaments were translated into various languages at early dates. These translations have come down to us as independent sources of the text.

Second, among the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in 1947, were complete or part copies of several Old Testament books, including a complete copy of Isaiah. These were at least 1,000 years older than other then known copies. Comparison with modern copies shows no significant differences.

Some claim the Bible is 'full of contradictions'. Religious teachings and people's opinions may be contradictory; what the Bible actually says is consistent.

TEST IT

The Bible promises that God will prove himself to all who sincerely turn to him, e.g. Isaiah 1:18, Matthew 11:28 and Revelation 3:20.

Jesus promised that signs would follow the preaching of His Gospel. The early Church had these signs.We know from experience that God still confirms His Word with signs following today.

We invite you to have a personal experience of God's power. Then you will know that the Bible is His Word, not because some one told you so, but because of what God does for you.

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SALVATION

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WHAT IS IT?

Salvation means to be made safe, to be delivered from danger or destruction. In the Bible, salvation means to be delivered from the consequences of sin (John 3:16 & 5:24).

The dictionary defines sin as wrongdoing, neglect of duty and, in particular, breaking God's laws. Most people think of sin as really 'bad' things like murder, robbery and idolatry. Of course, all these are sins, but the Bible also calls envy, hatred, false religion, anger and the like sin (Galatians 5:19–20).

The original New Testament Greek word hamarteno, usually translated sin in English, means to miss the mark, or fall short. Thus, in the Bible sin includes not only the more obvious things, but also any falling short of God's standard in any way.

WHO SINS?

The short answer is all of us. 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23).

'All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one to his own way' (Isaiah 53:6).

'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us' (1 John 1:8).

WHO NEEDS SALVATION?

Again the answer is all of us. 'For the wages (result) of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 6:23).

We cannot be good enough for God by our own efforts. 'all our righteousness are like filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6).

'if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain' (Galatians 2:21).

We may not be "bad" but we are still sinners.

HOW ARE WE SAVED?

'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life' (John 3:16).

'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved' (Acts 16:31).

By his death and resurrection, Jesus opened the door of salvation. Believing (literally: trusting, relying on and obeying) enables us to go through that opened door.

In Acts 16, believing led to action—the jailer was baptised when Paul told him what believing meant. Our actions show our faith (James 2:17–26). In Acts 2:38 the Apostle Peter gave the way of salvation as: Repent (turn to God, accept Jesus' sacrifice for us), be baptised (in water), and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This pattern is repeated in Acts chapters 2, 10 and 19 where we read descriptions of what happened when people were saved.

SEALED

In Ephesians 1:13–14, Paul reminded the Ephesian Christians that after they believed they were sealed, or marked, with the promised Holy Spirit. This, he said was the 'earnest' or 'deposit guaranteeing' (NIV) their inheritance or salvation. Paul was likely referring to the events recorded in Acts 19, when he first took the Gospel to Ephesus and found some disciples of John the Baptist; i.e. people with some knowledge of God. When Paul told them of Jesus, they believed, were baptised in water and received the Holy Spirit. They were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

SUMMARY

We all fall short of God's standard and thus need to be saved from the result of sin—death.

We are saved when we believe on Jesus and turn from our own ways (repent). This believing leads us to obey the Bible instruction to be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit.

We can know that we are right with God, not by what some one has told us, but by a personal experience of God's power when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

We trust that as you prayerfully look into God's word you will receive the promised blessings.

We invite you to find out more at any of our meetings.

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BAPTISM

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Jesus told His disciples, ‘Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them’ (Matthew 28:19). The Apostle Peter preached ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:38). The Bible shows water baptism as an important part of our relationship with God. When Jesus was baptised he said ‘it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness’ (Matthew 3:15).

AN ACT OF SEPARATION

Baptism marks a separation from the old life. Baptism is likened to the ark in which Noah and his family were saved. (1 Peter 3:18–21) Just as the ark separated those who were obedient from those who were not, so baptism is an act of obedience and a symbol of separation.

AN IDENTIFICATION

In the Old Testament, God called Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites, into a special relationship. God gave them the sign of circumcision to identify them as His people. In the New Testament baptism has been given as a sign to identify God's people (Colossians 2:10–14). Jesus was publicly identified as God’s Son at his baptism. ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17b).

A BURIAL

Baptism in water symbolises the burial of our old life as we are symbolically buried with Christ and raised in newness of life (Romans 6:3–5). Baptism helps us to understand that as Christians the old life of sin is dead and buried. It no longer has power as it did before we accepted the gift of salvation.

WHO SHOULD BE BAPTISED?

In the first church Peter said, ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptised’ (Acts 2:38). Jesus said ‘make disciples of all the nations baptising them’ (Matthew 28:19). When the first non-Jews came into the church Peter immediately baptised them (Acts 10:48). When the Ephesians, who had a partial knowledge of the Christian message came into a full knowledge, Paul immediately ‘baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 19:5b).

HOW SHOULD WE BE BAPTISED?

John the Baptist baptised people in the river Jordan (Mark 1:5). Following his baptism Jesus came up from the water (Matthew 3:16). John baptised at Aenon because there was ‘much water there’ (John 3:23). When Philip baptised the Ethiopian, they both went down into the water (Acts 8:38). As mentioned above, baptism symbolises a burial. Immersion fits much better with this symbolism than does sprinkling. These and other Bible examples clearly point to baptism by immersion being the Bible pattern. Our English word baptism comes directly from the Greek baptizo meaning to immerse or dip. In the original Greek New Testament, John the Baptist is literally John the Immerser or Dipper. Thus we see the Bible pattern of baptism by immersion, not sprinkling.

INFANT SPRINKLING

History shows that as the Church lost its original vision, baptism passed from being ‘an outward show of an inward experience’, and became an end in itself, almost a magic rite to gain salvation. This is not the Bible picture of baptism. Baptism is only valid if the one being baptised has first repented; that is, made a conscious decision to turn to God. A young child cannot do this.

A LINK

Baptism looks back to Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, which established the New Covenant, and forward to our new life which comes from that covenant.

BAPTISM AND SALVATION

Many in Jesus’ day thought they were saved simply because they were descendants of Abraham. Many today feel they are Christians because they were 'baptised' (more correctly, christened) as a child. John the Baptist warned such people, ‘do not think to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones’ (Matthew 3:9). Note, the same can be said of people who may be baptised by immersion, but do not have an ongoing commitment to follow God's ways. The outward act of baptism means nothing without the inward commitment.

Facilities for water baptism are available at most of our meetings.

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HEALING

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The Bible clearly establishes the place of healing in the church: 'Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up' (James 5:14–15).

Throughout the Bible, God is shown as 'Jehovah Rapha' (literally in Hebrew, God the Healer). Many examples of healing are recorded in both the Old and the New Testaments.

GOD'S GIFT

Like salvation, healing is a free gift. It cannot be earned by our efforts. Jesus died not only for our sins, but for our healing as well (1 Peter 2:24). Healing was a central part of Jesus' ministry (Acts 10:38).

'God is not a man that He should lie...Has He spoken, and will He not make it good' (Numbers 23:19).
'For I am the Lord who heals you' (Exodus 15:26).
'For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable' (Romans 11:29).

Healing is one of the Holy Spirit gifts that God has set in the church (1 Corinthians 12:9–28). Although not all have the same gifts, (1 Corinthians 12:29–30) we should expect the gifts to be evident in every church where the Holy Spirit is working.

SOME HEALING PROMISES

EXODUS 15:26 and 23:25
DEUTERONOMY 7:15
PSALMS 103:2–3 and 107:19–21
ISAIAH 53:4–5
MATTHEW 4:23–24, 8:2–3 and 8:14–17
MARK 6:56 and 16:15–18
LUKE 7:1–9, 10:9 and 17:11–19
JOHN 14:12–14
ACTS 3:1–9, 4:10, 8:5–8 and 19:11–12
ROMANS 15:18–19
1 CORINTHIANS 2:4 and 12:9
HEBREWS 2:3–4 and 13:8
JAMES 5:14–15
1 PETER 2:24
3 JOHN 2 REVELATION 21:1–5
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FROM THE PASTOR: GIFTS, FRUIT, MINISTRIES

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Sometimes there seems to be confusion between the gifts, fruit and ministries of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. For example, some people when told about the gift of tongues will say ‘I do not need that because I have the gift of love, and that is a better gift’. In fact love is part of the fruit of the Spirit, not a gift.

A careful look at the Bible shows that the gifts, fruit and ministries are all given via the Holy Spirit to benefit the Church and Christians, but they are not the same. They are three different workings of the Holy Spirit in us.

1 Corinthians 12 lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are given to each Christian ‘individually as He [the Holy Spirit] wills’ (verse 11). That is, we are not expected to all have the same gifts, although we are told to desire—literally, to pursue ardently—the gifts, not just for our own benefit, but so that the Church can benefit (1 Corinthians 14:1). Just as a true gift in the natural is something that we receive complete, so it is with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In Galatians 5:22–23, we read a list of the fruit of the Spirit. Note fruit (singular). The various aspects of this fruit are all aspects of the Holy Spirit working to help to develop our character over time. Just as fruit in the natural grows and matures over time, so it is with the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Unlike the gifts which we receive complete from the Holy Spirit, the fruit grows in our lives over time. Again, unlike the gifts, the fruit is something that all Christians are expected to have.

Thirdly, we have the ministries of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Teacher and Pastor. These are Christians who are particularly called and equipped by the Lord to serve the Church in various ways. Ephesians 4:11–14 tells us that these ministries are given to the Church to equip the saints (Christians) so that we can all grow and ‘no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.’

Of course those called to ministry should exhibit all of the fruit of the Spirit and at least some of the gifts.

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FROM THE PASTOR: FELLOWSHIP

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The New Testament was originally recorded in the koine (common, everyday, not restricted to a special group) Greek. This is the Greek that was widely spoken in the Middle East in New Testament times. This language was a legacy of Alexander the Great’s empire. In many ways it provided a unifying factor across diverse nations and groups.

The basic term translated variously as ‘communion’, ‘fellowship’, ‘communicate’, ‘partake’, ‘common’ in the sense of universal comes from the Greek root koine. The basic thought is that of sharing something with someone.

In 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul asks:

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? (NIV)

The KJV uses the word 'communion' where the NIV uses 'participation in'. Paul is of course speaking of what we commonly refer to as the communion service when we take the bread and the cup in memory of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf.

The NIV brings out that in taking the bread and the cup we are in effect showing our fellowship or communion (our oneness or unity) with Jesus. That is, we are showing our participation in His New Covenant. We are not just spectators, but are an active part of the Covenant.

The first act of fellowship or communion is when we share in the great gift of the New Birth. We share this with the Lord who gives it to us as we accept it. The next act of fellowship or communion is as we continue to share in our relationship with the lord and also with each other.

In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to unity in Christ rather than being followers of this teacher or another. This is an important foundation of our fellowship, our oneness in the Lord. This thought is continued in Chapter 3.

Let us seek to build our fellowship with the Lord and with each other.

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Unless otherwise specified, all Bible quotes are from the New King James Version Ó 2002 Thomas Nelson Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2003, 2007, 2010 HighStreet Christian Church Inc.

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