Introduction

We are dealing with the normative status of the written new covenant. Last time we considered the nature of the promise of Christ regarding a written new covenant. Today we begin to consider the fulfillment of that promise.

Jesus promised that His apostles would be His witnesses in the power of the Spirit. They will have divine authority in their proclamation. Their witness will constitute the foundation of the church. That is the sense in which the little stone Peter (you are Cephas, little stone) is massive foundation rock upon which the church will be built until the end of the age (Matt. 16:18; 28:19-20).

Implied in the abiding nature of this foundation/witness is the promise of a written form of that witness. Just as the OT abides to the end of history as a written collection, likewise, the apostolic witness will abide to the end of history on a par with the OT written collection. The OT word from God regarding Christ looked forward to new revelation and thus implied a written new covenant that would come in along side it in proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. And the promise of Christ of an authorized witness to Himself that will abide to the end of the age implies that it will be preserved like the OT, preserved in writing as an authoritative written expression of the very words of God.

Another way to view these things is to look where Jesus points (one arrow pointing back and curving around and two pointing forwards). Jesus points us back to the OT word of God as our standard to the end of time (Matt. 5:18). This first arrow curves around and thus points to the end of history. That written old covenant itself points ahead implicitly to a written new covenant. Moreover, Jesus points us ahead to the NT word of God as our standard. He does this by promising an authoritative witness to Himself that will serve as foundation for the church through the centuries and that therefore, implicitly, will have a written form in order to be preserved for the ages.

Such is the nature of His promise. Now let's shift our attention to the fulfillment of His promise. It comes to realization in stages: by proclamation, inspiration, and collection. Today we will discuss the fulfillment of His promise that comes about by proclamation (this expands on what we said in the message on Biblical Tradition).

The promise of Christ was realized in the Spirit empowered preaching of the apostolic testimony. Again, we speak of apostolic testimony because Jesus promised them that they would testify of Him. We can see how this realization unfolds by proclamation if we reflect on the Acts of the Apostles, the gospel preached by Paul, tradition as authoritative witness, and word gifts of the Spirit.

1A. The Acts of the Apostles

The history recorded within the Book of Acts shows us how the gospel message was proclaimed in Judea, Samaria, and to the utter most parts of the earth in accord with the promise of Christ (Acts 1:8, you shall be my witnesses…in the power of the Holy Spirit). Acts 1:8 outlines of the book of Acts showing how the promise of Christ was brought to realization in the preaching of His witnesses. In Judea the apostles "never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 5:41-42, note the interplay between proclamation and teaching). When the gospel reached Samaria, the promise of the Spirit was given through the "laying on of the apostles' hands" (Acts 8:14-18). The apostles, Peter and John, testified, proclaimed, and preached the gospel in many Samaritan villages (Acts 8:25). Paul enters the picture in Acts 9 as the chosen instrument to carry the gospel to the Gentiles (v. 15). Hence, we have record of the ministry of Peter opening the door to the Gentiles in chapters 10-12 (recall the house of Cornelius and the eating of things formerly unclean) but Paul's carrying the testimony of Christ in the missionary journeys comprises the bulk of the book in chapters 13-28.

Important here is the fact that the Acts of the Apostles proclaiming the gospel was not a merely human witness. In their actions and testimony the Lord Jesus continued what He began to do and teach (Acts 1:1). He did so in the power of the Spirit that He gave to the church as the gift of His redemptive work. To that work the Spirit testified and by the Spirit the apostles also testified to that work (cf. Jn. 15:26-27, "I will send" the Spirit to testify in your testifying). In the actions of the apostles, in their proclamation, the promise of Christ is fulfilled.

2A. The gospel preached by Paul

In Romans Paul tells us that He was called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel (1:1). And that gospel is equated with what was promised in the Scriptures regarding Christ (1:2) who gave Paul grace and apostleship (1:5). Remarkably, it is OT gospel that Paul bore witness to as a servant of "Jesus Christ our Lord" (1:4). The gospel of God is the gospel promised in the Hebrew Scriptures. The apostolic gospel that testifies to Christ is on a par with the word of God of the OT because Paul's gospel is the gospel of God that was promised in the OT. Nonetheless, it is Paul's gospel, Paul's apostolic gospel that he calls "my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ" (Rom. 16:25). Paul closely personalizes the gospel ("my") and says it is the message preached, the proclamation, of Jesus Christ. His gospel is on a par with the OT writings (16:26, cf. "prophetic writings" that refer to the whole OT with the accent on their nature as prophecy/promise) and it is preaching. Thus, Paul is one of Christ's witnesses. He belongs to Christ by election and calling. The Lord told Ananias that Paul "is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles" (Acts 9:15).

Paul's preaching of the gospel was an authoritative witness to Christ (carrying His name before the Gentiles). It had the authority of OT Scripture behind it; equally, it had the authority of God, the authority of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Lord Jesus behind it. Apostolic preaching was the giving of an infallible testimony to Christ. It fulfilled His promise, it was "through Him and for His name's sake," (Rom. 1:5; Gal. 1:1, 14; Rom. 15:17-19, what Paul said and did was "through the power of the Spirit" as Jesus had promised in promising an apostolic testimony).

3A. Tradition as authoritative witness

Apostolic preaching was eventually forged into a tradition, a message with a history that is transmitted person to person by oral communication. It took time for the gospel to ultimately reach the very city of Rome from its beginnings in Jerusalem. It was carried there by word of mouth, by preaching. What the apostles preached here by Peter and there by Paul, here by one apostle and there by another became an authoritative oral witness to Christ upon which the church was built. When the apostles were not present, the church had the OT and their joint memories of the apostolic witness. They had a common oral tradition and in adhering to it they were kept from straying too far afield by the presence of the apostles and their continual reiteration of the new covenant gospel.

That reiteration by proclamation is called tradition (2 Thess. 2:15, "stand firm and hold to the tradition we passed on to you…by word of mouth"). The words of men that make up the very words of God comprise a message passed on orally from person to person, from apostle to sinner. This tradition that is kept safe and true by the actions of the apostles is an expression of the promise of Christ come to fulfillment.

4A. The word gifts of the Spirit

The word gifts of the Spirit also indicate how the promise of Christ was fulfilled in the apostolic witness. Hebrews 2 directs our attention to the testimony given by God to the great salvation we have in Christ (vs. 3-4). Christ first announced the reality of great salvation. Then it was confirmed by "those who heard him" (the specially appointed witnesses).

In the working of the Holy Spirit through the apostles God testified to the message Christ announced. There is an amazing convergence in the testimony of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the apostles. This convergence leads us directly to a nuance regarding the church's foundation. It leads directly to the additional thought that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). Again, emphasis must be placed on the fact that they are foundation as organs of divine revelation regarding the mystery now revealed by the Spirit (Eph. 3:5). "Not made known" but "now revealed" speaks of the gospel of Christ "hidden" in promise but now "realized" in fulfillment. An authoritative communication from God regarding the meaning of what is now realized was given to the apostles and prophets and that is how they are the foundation of the church with Christ as chief cornerstone (2:20).

The "acts of the apostles" (summarized in the Book of Acts) included preaching of a tradition that was composed of revelation from God given through NT prophets. These are not OT prophets (as if the foundation was spoken of here as OT with NT, that is the case but not the point here) but NT prophets because this revelation is "now" revealed to them along with the apostles (3:5).

We can unpack this apostolic/prophetic tradition a bit more when we connect the gift of speaking in unknown tongues (languages) with NT prophecy. Prophecy was superior to tongue speech unless there was interpretation (1 Cor. 14:5). Tongue speech was thus part of the foundation of the church. Accordingly, God says that He is speaking through the prophetic/tongue speech: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people" (1 Cor. 14:21). Therefore, as people come to understand prophetic/tongue speech they will acknowledge that God is there; that these are His words that lay bare the secrets of the heart (1 Cor. 14:25).

Powerfully, Paul says that when someone speaks and prays in a tongue the words spoken are not from that person's mind for the mind is unfruitful (1 Cor. 14:14). The words are not the fruit of human cognition and deliberation. What then is the origin of the words? Whose words are they? The origin of the words is the Holy Spirit. These words are the words of the Spirit. It is "my Holy Spirit" that speaks in tongues and prays. So Gaffin:

The contrast in the verse is between the Holy Spirit and the mind of the recipient, between the Spirit's activity in the gift of tongues and the inactivity of the recipient's mind…the words of the speaker are the words of the Holy Spirit. His speech capacities are so taken over by the Spirit that the words spoken are not his, except in the sense that his voice is employed…Spirit-worked speech (the words of the Spirit) which in the one case (prophecy) does, and in the other case (tongues) does not , utilize the speaker's existing language (conceptual) capacities (Gaffin, Perspectives on Pentecost, 77-78; for the support of this conclusion see pp. 73-76).

Now let's think through how this relates to the authoritative apostolic oral tradition. Tongue speech is prophecy and as prophecy it is part of the foundation of the church along with the apostles. Thus the tradition included more than the witness of the apostles in and of themselves; it included the word of God in oral form delivered by prophets and tongue speakers. But it must all be categorized as apostolic tradition and put under the umbrella of apostolic proclamation.

There are at least three lines of evidence for attributing such priority to the apostles.

1) First, this is in keeping with their special election, appointment, and commission by the Lord Jesus (the Spirit will bear witness of me and so will you, Jn. 15:26-27). 2) Second, "gift lists" put apostles first and prophets second (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11). 3) Third, Paul gives the command of God when he regulates the use of prophecy and prophetic/tongue speech in 1 Corinthians 14 (v. 37, the rules Paul lays down for prophets and otherwise gifted persons are the Lord's commands). It is not necessary that the preaching/proclamation, the teaching, the revelation, the prophetic speech, or the tongue speech originate with an apostle to make up the apostolic tradition. What made it part of the apostolic tradition was the fact that it was governed by the apostles. It operated under the umbrella of apostolic authority and structure. In this way it bore the imprimatur of Christ in fulfillment of His promise.

Summary

So it is though the acts of the apostles, especially Paul, and through NT prophets that an oral tradition became the foundation of the church in accord with the promise of Christ. It is through the apostolic proclamation that Christ exercises His Lordship and calls Christians to practical submission.

Concluding Remarks

1) Christian Submission

Hence, the very definition of Christian submission to Christ includes submission to the message preached by the apostles. Coming to Christ involves receiving the word of the apostles for what it actually is, not the word of men, but the very word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Reference is being made in this text to oral tradition for it is what they "heard" (1 Thess. 2:13). Paul is not speaking of Scripture here as the word of God; he is speaking about oral tradition that is stamped with apostolic authority as the word of God. A Christian is one who submits himself to the authority of Christ as his king. On His authority the Christian submits himself to the witness of the apostles. This is what it means to receive Christ as Lord (Col. 2:6) and to sanctify Him as Lord in your hearts (1 Pet. 3:15). Of course, we have access to that tradition in the canon of the NT. Submission to Christ today involves submission to the NT witness to Christ.

2) The Lordship of Christ

He exercises His Lordship and expresses His will by means of the testimony of the apostles. His rule is not mystical, ethereal, abstract, or subjective. Instead, He rules concretely and objectively by His word, which is to say, by His word given through His specially chosen eyewitnesses. This is a double-edged sword that severs the claims of Rome on one hand and Pentecostalism on the other. It also cuts against both antinomianism and legalism in a single stroke. a) The authorized foundation of revelation for the church today derives from Peter as the rock and from prophetic/tongue speech. But the idea of further revelation beyond the apostolic tradition goes against the fact that apostles and prophets (including interpreted tongue speech) are the foundation of the church for the time between. b) Also, apostolic succession based on Peter as rock goes against the fact that the apostles are unique in giving eyewitness testimony to Christ. c) The apostolic testimony cuts against antinomianism because it is by their testifying that we receive the commands of Christ our king. In what we call the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20), Christ addressed His apostles (v. 16) and commissioned them to teach all nations to obey all that He commanded (v. 20). d) That it is not a legalistic use of the law is stressed in Christ's teaching of the true spirit and intent of the law as new wine in a new wineskin (Matt. 5-7).

3) Our witness to the nations

The labors of taking the gospel to the nations are first the labors of the apostles and we enter into their labors. Our work in teaching the gospel to neighbor and friend is derivative. Their work was direct and ours indirect. We take their gospel to the nations. Praying for an open door for the word applies to us in a way similar to how it applied to Paul. It is for the spread of the apostle's word, for the spread of that witness to Christ, that we pray. Therefore, in our witness we must learn and advance the learning of the tradition of the apostles and prophets. We are so bound because this tradition is the realization of the promise of Christ.

4) Realization of God's eternal plan

How it is received as the very word of God is by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the heart inculcating deep conviction (1 Thess. 1:5). It is by means of preaching the apostolic testimony that sovereign election is realized in the hearts of fallen sinners. Accordingly, Paul can say that God called His elect to Himself "by my gospel" (my, that is, Paul's gospel, 2 Thess. 2:13-14). Knowing how sinners are brought to saving faith and submission by the words of men as the very words of God is cause for hope. The field is the world and it is ripe for harvest by the sure word of God by Christ through His apostles. At the same time, looking at ourselves, it is cause for joy and rejoicing, gratitude and giving of thanks to think that the Holy Spirit has opened our blind eyes to see the Lord Jesus through the blessed eyes of His chosen apostles.

5) What is the stability of oral tradition?

But how stable is this foundation as an oral tradition communicated from person to person by word of mouth? As the apostles died and the eyewitnesses to Christ and His resurrection thus disappeared, how can this be the foundation of the church to the end of the age? It can only be that foundation if it is preserved in written form. That is the only way we can have their eyewitness testimony extended, as it were, through all time. So next time as we follow the path of the fulfillment of the promise of Christ, we will consider the shift from the oral proclamation of the gospel to a written expression of that proclamation.