New Testament Epistles – Apostolic Letters to the Church

Epistles of the Apostles

Epistles are a type of letter. Have you ever received a letter with GOOD NEWS?

And consequently didn’t these epistles or letters fill you with joy upon reading from the thoughtfulness of this sender of GOOD NEWS?

Epistle from the Council of Jerusalem – Acts 15:20

Previously we spoke of a precedent from a council in Jerusalem with Good News for Gentiles

Just a reminder from our previous post about the HOT Topics of AD 50 clarified by James (NOT one of two among the Twelve, but an apostle of the GOSPEL of the RISEN JESUS, biological half-brother of the Lord):

An EPISTLE may be a COMMAND or at the very least as in ACTS 15,

AUTHORITATIVE INSTRUCTION to all.

An epistle from any apostle sent out by Jesus Christ contained authoritative instructions from the Lord to first century disciples throughout the world – Good News with Christ’s encouragement from men sent out by Jesus with the Gospel.

WHO wrote to the 1st century Church?

Like most Christians YOU can likely name several apostles who communicated to various churches and church leaders by letter or epistle. These include (in no particular order):

Peter
John
Paul
James & Jude (the Lord’s biological half-brothers)
and others (Silas, Timothy, etc.)

Letters in our spare time

My purpose today is to point to the HOT topics of A.D. 50 through the epistles written about the time of Paul’s second missionary journey in Acts of the Apostles.

And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Acts of the Apostles 18:11 – confirming Paul’s length of stay in Corinth

Corinth – 1st Church Plant in ACHAIA

Paul wrote his 1st epistle to the Corinthians five years after is current residence in the city.

Other Epistles & communication (~A.D. 50)

Let's take a glance at these instructions for the Church ALREADY IN CIRCULATION in A.D. 50 - two decades after the Pentecost the HOLY SPIRIT filled the saints in Jerusalem - chronologically:

JAMES

James can be reliably dated ca. A.D. 44–49, making it the earliest written book of the NT canon.
Commentary of John MacArthur

THEREFORE, James has already sent out various authoritative instructions to the church (perhaps even in consultation with some of the Twelve) in his epistle already familiar to most believers PRIOR to instructions from the Council of Jerusalem addressing Jews and Gentiles worshipping together in the Hellenist nations of Rome.

A.D. 49 –

GALATIANS

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 * and all the brothers who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

* These 'brothers who are with [Paul]' are listed in the Corinth – 1st Church Plant in ACHAIA post above introducing Acts 18.

Once again, John MacArthur helps us with commentary of the timing of Paul's epistle to the Galatians, churches we have already visited earlier in Acts.

Paul founded churches in the southern Galatian cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 13:14–14:23). These cities, although within the Roman province of Galatia, were not in the ethnic Galatian region.

source: BlueLetterBible.org commentaries

WHY do we write letters?

OR emails in this 21st century of the Lord’s church?

OR TEXT someone OR MESSAGE someone in some convenient APP?

The Apostle Paul, previously sent out to the Gentiles by Jesus Christ with the Gospel, begins to write back to the members of these churches he and other apostles had planted. It’s not simply a one-time evangelism but BUILDING UP THE CHURCH for the long run.

Once again, and Epistle is a type of letter with an authoritative purpose.

I’ve hinted at our own evangelism of Christian Social Witness many times before.

What would Paul have done in ATHENS had the Apostle had a cell phone?

OR what evangelism for 18 months while in Corinth now would the Apostle Paul utilized had he owned a satellite-connected laptop computer or iPad?

Of course this begs the question (now that we may so easily 'Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel'):

WHY DO YOU INVEST SO MANY MORTAL HOURS IN THIS SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY 
WITHOUT MENTION OF JESUS CHRIST & THE GOSPEL?

WHEN do we communicate?

This morning I have already been interrupted in my daily ‘routine’ (if we could manage such a thing) by:

phone calls,
emails,
texts,
i-messages,
multiple push notifications for the same HOT topic BREAKING NEWS interruption of the day
- (similar content to each other and speculative news opinion of what it all means I’ve endured for the past several days)

I’m actually initiating some of my own emails related to other parts of my life having nothing to do with my job BUT by various measure important to my relationships with others in witness of the character of the Good News of the Cross in my eternal life.

WHO do we address in our messages?

Mostly, people we know.

YET often the opportunity to SHARE the Gospel will come at an unexpected time in an unlikely place.

YOU do not have to think of yourself as needing the tools of an anointed evangelist like Philip explaining the Gospel from Isaiah to an official of Ethiopian court,

OR Paul and other apostles sent to the Greeks

OR an annointed 20th century evangelist like Billy Graham preaching the Gospel to many in large stadiums throughout the world.

Here's a HOT TOPIC for you: IS THERE A HELL?

Did you realize the multitudes attending the crusades of Billy Graham were MOSTLY unconverted ‘christians’ in need of building up the faith of the Gospel already preached to them repeatedly as members of their own church?

Perhaps YOU are one of these in need of hearing the gospel or you want to TALK OF JESUS but just don’t know where to start.

Would some of YOUR christian brothers and sisters be encouraged by an epistle of GOOD NEWS shared by YOU?

WHY did the Apostles write Epistles?

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all.
Paul’s earliest Epistle [~A.D. 49] to the GALATIANS 1:6-7a NIV

ACTS of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas has already witnessed to us that proclaimers of the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ will be rejected by many AND even persecuted.

YET they continued to proclaim the gospel IN THESE OTHER CITIES OF GALATIA.

The word of the Lord spread through the whole region..

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit..

So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there [Iconium], speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders..

[they fled to] cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country,

where they continued to preach the gospel.
Acts of the Apostles 13:49,52; 14:6b-7 NIV

Paul’s HOT Topic of his first epistle:

REALLY, apostasy (a rather ‘churchy’-sounding word a professional evangelist might go on to explain).

As we already know from Paul’s first mission these to men of Galatia public opinion is greatly divided in EVERY town with some at the extremes taking extreme measures to ensure that their GOSPEL remains unheard.

(Sound familiar?)

The Apostles wrote epistles to build up the church in general and faithful church leaders specifically.

When we continue chronologically with the HOT topics of these epistles we will talk of JESUS proclaimed to the Galatians and the FALSE GOSPEL the apostle will address in his epistle to them.

WHY NOT COMMENT HERE what YOU think is important about Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

Summer HOT Topics from the EPISTLES: To be continued...

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

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