Monday, December 17, 2007

What is the Purpose of the New Testament?

   I grew up being taught that a major purpose in my Christian life was to restore the ancient patterns of New Testament Christianity.  I never questioned that mindset.  From my earliest abilities to comprehend I was taught this was our first and primary responsibility.  I cannot tell you the number of sermons I heard  mentioning Scripture as the “blueprint” for the New Testament church.  It was strongly implied that the most important thing  we could do was make sure that we adhered to the patterns Scripture laid down for us.  In the minds of those who taught me, this foundational fact was as real as  God Himself.  
   As I began to question this teaching I began to question many other things as well.  I had never

considered the validity of these points.  I searched the Scriptures with the utmost diligence but the results were always the same. Scripture did not teach  my responsiblity  to restore the church.  There were  questions that continued to haunt me as I considered this so called foundational truth.  Questions such as , “How did I know God intended the church be restored?”  “What proof did I have that God lost

the church?   If God had lost the church who was I to appoint myself as the one in charge of restoring it?  Would we have the ability to restore something God lost?  The mindset that we are appointed restorationalist is the height of arrogance and self-righteousness.  In fact this borders on blasphemy.
    The doctrine of restoration was one of the goals entertained by the Pharasees.  Their intent was to restore Judaism to the purity it held when given to Moses at the mount.  Is there a parallel here or am I reading too much into the similarities?
     The writings of the New Testament aren’t intended as a pattern or as a rule book.  Scripture was given for entirely different reasons.  First, they were written to show  the way of salvation, how we get into Christ.  Second, these writings of God show us how to deal with various problems facing Christians in  everyday life.  Third, God’s word allows mankind to know certain truths about God.  This allows  us  insight into God’s personality and integrity.  With this knowledge we are able to build  relationship with God.  This is part of the spiritual aspect of Christianity which can’t be found through the doctrines of patternism and restoration.  Think about it.

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