The New Testament doesn’t promise more gramma writings or teachers to learn from

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There is nothing in the NT about studying Christ’s or anybody else’s “saying” or logos messages in order to live on this as our “daily bread,” for unlike every other famous rabbi teacher who always kept scribes nearby to write his words down in order to teach other disciples, Jesus never asked anybody to record His words.  Instead Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (a), and “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (b). <Notes> a) Luke 12:11-12, b) Matthew 10:19-20.

Jesus explains why:  “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth:  It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Parakletos Alongside-Helper (a) will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send Him to you. . . When the [Holy] Spirit of The Truth comes, He will guide you into ALL the truth” (b).  Earlier Jesus said:  But the Parakletos Alongside-Helper (a), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you ALL things and bring to your remembrance ALL that I have said to you” (c).  So you can see there was absolutely no need for new writings! <Notes> a) Parakletos:  ‘Close-beside’ caller, summoner, or inviter; helper, succorer, or assistant; encouraging teacher, counselor, comforter, or consoler; defense-attorney, judicial-advocate, or court-intercessor, b) John 16:6-7, 13, c) John 14:26.

Thus Jesus explains why we shouldn’t follow others: “However you are absolutely in fact not to be called ‘rabbi’ (a) for you have ONE Teacher (b) and/but/thus you are ALL brethren (c); and/coupled call in possibility no man your ‘father’ (d) on earth, for you have ONE Father, who is in heaven; moreover not in possibility be called leader (e), for you have ONE Leader, the Christ (f)” (g) – see Coaches and Facilitators page.  It wasn’t soon before the Catholic Church disobeyed all 3 emphatic teachings of Christ, but the Protestants perpetuated the disobedience! <Notes> a) rabbi in Hebrew means esteemed teacher, b) didaskalos: instructor, c) the point is clear that the “brethren” weren’t to be called “teachers,” d) originator, e) kathegetes: literally “to lead down-from,” used of a leader as someone who brings other ‘down the road of learning’ by giving needed instruction, thus a master-teacher-leader; used in Greek literature of educator-facilitators, f) Christ means Anointed Messiah, g) Matthew 23:8-10 – see Teach One Another – BT10.

The Apostle John also reminds ALL Christians in 1 John 2:20, 27 in answer to teachers coming into the Church confusing and deceiving them: “You’all have been anointed by the Holy One [Christ] and/thus you’all had [with ongoing results] eido ‘seen’ to understand/know . . . I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.  However, the anointing that you have already received from Him ongoingly abides/lives in you and/thus you have absolutely in fact no need than anyone should teach you, but just as His anointing ongoingly teaches you about ALL things and is trustworthy and indeed no lie, just as it has already taught you, ongoingly abide/live in Him.”  Clearly the apostle wasn’t expecting his readers to blindly follow him and his teaching either, but to follow the “One Teacher” of the anointing – and we know that to always be the promised Holy Spirit!

Paul also speaks out against following teachers, even himself (a).  After all, wasn’t it Jesus that said: “Follow Me” so many times (b)?  Thus even Paul qualified “Follow/imitate me” with “as I also [follow/imitate] Christ” (c).  We have to remember that Jesus said:  “The sheep [of His] hear His (d) Voice, and He calls His own sheep by name/authority and leads them out [to pasture].  When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they eido mentally ‘see’ to perceive/know His Voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they absolutely in fact do not eido mentally ‘see’ to perceive/know the voice of strangers. . . . My sheep listen/hear-to-understand My Voice, and I experientially, relationally ginosko know them, and they follow Me” (e). There simply isn’t anything here about reading ancient logos messages written with gramma letters into a bible, but everything here about prophetic-rhema words which we know is ‘seen’ and ‘heard’ only by the means of the Holy Spirit. <Notes> a) 1 Corinthians 1:12, 3:4, b) Matthew 4:19, 8:22, 9:9, 10:38, 16:24, 19:21; Mark 1:17, 2:14, 8:34, 10:21; Luke 5:27, 9:23, 59, 18:22; John 1:43, 12:26, 21:19, 22, c) 1 Corinthians 11:1, d) the Good Shepherd’s, e) John 10:3-5, 27.

The “Holy Spirit of The Truth” is spoken about often by the Apostle John (a), and since “The Truth” is NT shorthand for “Christ” (b), John could have just as easily said: “The [Holy] Spirit of the Christ,” which is exactly what the other apostles did (c).  Another variation is: “The [Holy] Spirit of the Lord [Jesus]” (d).  Clearly the NT expected “the Holy Spirit of Lord Jesus Christ” to be the ONLY teacher to “follow or imitate” for Christians of the completely-different-in-kind New Covenant, never again putting their trusting-relying-faith in others, and certainly not to an authoritative, top-down hierarchy of teacher-leaders we see enacted in the OT Law.  That didn’t mean that Christians shouldn’t because of Christian love consider heeding the advice of other (e), or “Unconditionally-love one another with devoted family affection, that is, esteeming one another in/by/with perceived-honor/value” (f), but in context the caveat is:  “Let unconditional-love be genuine:  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is agathos good” (g).  In other words, you shouldn’t follow in man, and only follow their example if they are following Christ so that it’s indeed “good” – inherently the “good” that originates from God alone (h). <Notes> a) John 14:17, 15:26; 1 John 4:6, 5:6, b) see The Truth page, c) Romans 8:9; Philippians 1:19, 1 Peter 1:11, d) Acts 5:9, 8:39; 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, e) 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9; 1 Corinthians 11:1, Hebrews 13:7, f) Romans 12:10, g) Romans 12:9, h) Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19.

John 20:30-31 explains why John waited until nearly the end of his life to write his logos message gospel account: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are absolutely in fact not written in this book.  However, these things have already been [with lasting results] written in order that you might have trusting-relying-faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by having trusting-relying-faith you might have everlasting zoe genuine-life in His name/authority.” And later in John 21:25 he says: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”  All the logos message gospel accounts were written fairly late (68-100 AD), so apparently it was more of an after-thought by the apostles and only 2 of the 12 wrote anything down, because Mark and Luke we’re even part of the 12 and Gentiles at that, disciples of Paul’s that simply collected information to later report, with no mention that the Holy Spirit was even guiding them.  So until this time, apparently the early Church simply relied on the Holy Spirit to be sufficient as “The One Teacher” for Christians.  If they had this confidence, maybe it’s a good idea to place our trusting-relying-faith there also!  Are we pointing others to the “Who” of Christ’s Spirit or a “What” or ancient writings that came much later and not even collected into a bible for another 200 years!

Reflection:

As Christian musicians, if the early Church for 300 years didn’t have a bible to rely on, and only a few scattered letters after 50-100 years, but instead was taught directly by “The One Teacher” of Christ’s Spirit, and since all the NT writings point to the latter with absolutely no mention of intended writings, let alone a study of them, maybe we should also have that simple childlike faith that learns directly from being “yoked to Jesus”?

Prayer:

Lord, I praise Your name that “You have kept the secrets of the kingdom hidden from the so-called ‘wise and understanding ones’ – the scribe writers/copiers of biblical texts and teacher-leader Pharisees who study and teach them and the philosopher debaters of this world – but instead un-hidden them for little children and the other ‘least among you’ for certainly then “You show no partiality” and “destroy the wisdom of the so-called wise and thwart the understanding of the so-called understanding ones.”  Praise Your name that you eliminated the need for a top-down hierarchy of teacher-leaders under the old covenant to teach us to know You, but under the completely-different-in-kind New Covenant per Jeremiah 31:31-34, there is absolutely in fact and possibility NO NEED that any man teach us, because of the Anointing of the Holy Spirit so that NOW you teach us ALL directly, so that we might ALL eido mentally “see” to perceive/know You and Your will.  What an incredible simple plan that eliminates all sources of error – You taking over complete control of the process!

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