There are some who adhere to the teaching of Christ Jesus as indicated by the red letters in their Bibles and quote, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9). There are others who claim Jesus was a Jew and only taught about Moses’ Law. Another group claims to only study and follow the apostle’s teaching, as mentioned in Acts 2:42. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” When we study what the Scripture says about doctrine and teaching, however, we learn that Christ and the apostles both taught the same thing, the Word of God. An early book called The Didache (Greek for teaching) contained a first line that reads, “The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.” This statement indicates the conclusion of early Christians that the teaching of Christ and the teaching of the apostles were not two but one complete teaching of God’s Word. The book, “The Didache” itself, has many errors.
There is one verse that uses three ways to refer to the sounding forth of the Word, also called doctrine, which refers to the thing or gospel that is taught. Paul tells Titus that elders are “holding fast the faithful word (pistos logos) which is in accordance with the teaching (didache – the act of teaching), so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine (didaskalia – that which is taught) and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). Jesus taught that He was the faithful Word that was sent from heaven. In John chapter 6, Jesus uses the metaphor of bread to describe the life-giving power of the words He spoke. The implication is that He received the words and brought them to the people on earth so that they could know God and how to inherit eternal life. From John 6:32 to verse 68, His teaching, the sound doctrine, is that His words can give one eternal life.
Jesus says, “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). He then says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (John 6:35). After some discussion, many cannot accept His teaching and depart. Peter, in answer to Jesus’ question about the twelve, said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68). The “words of eternal life” are the (didaskalia), the sound doctrine, the gospel, the thing which is to be taught to mankind. But Jesus could not reveal all of it because He had not yet died, risen, and ascended.
Jesus was preparing for His arrest when He told the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:12-15). The disciples could not understand the entire gospel then, not even the need for His death. But the events of the next 51 days would prepare them to understand. Notice that the Holy Spirit would receive the words from the risen and glorified Christ, and that Jesus had received the words from the Father. After Acts chapter two, the words spoken by the apostles and written in our New Testaments, are the words of God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the inspired writers proclaimed only one doctrine, only one gospel, only one complete Word.
Therefore, the events referred to in Acts 2:42 included not only the things spoken by Jesus but the events of His death, burial, resurrection, and the significance of those things as revealed by the Holy Spirit. Notice what Paul said about the gospel as he wrote to the Romans. “It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:16-17). The gospel is the complete revelation from heaven, including the words of Jesus while He was on this earth and His words sent from heaven by way of the Holy Spirit and preached by the apostles. Paul says it contains two things. One is the power of God to save, and the other is the description of the righteous God of Heaven. The only way anyone can be right with God both now and in eternity is to hold to the one doctrine in this life, here in this wicked world that we live in (2 Timothy 1:12-14).
What is your attitude toward the one doctrine?
