The apostolic letters were not penned to produce eternal life but to inform those in Christ that they already had it. John writes, "This letter is to assure you that you have eternal life. It is addressed to those who give their allegiance to the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). Eternal life is the result of a personal relationship with the Son of God. The scriptures simply bear witness of this fact. "The witness is this: that God has given us eternal life, and that this life is found in the Son. He who possesses the Son has life indeed; he who does not possess the Son of God has not that life."
There is as much difference between the apostolic letters and eternal life as there is between a birth certificate and physical life. No one considers that a birth certificate produces life although it bears witness to the fact that one exists. To this, the careless student objects that we are born of the word of God, and quotes, "You have been born anew, not of mortal parentage but of immortal, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23).
This objection falls flat, however, when it is remembered that Peter is not talking about the letters written to the churches, but about the gospel. "And this 'word' is the word of the Gospel preached to you." Certainly the epistles of Peter were not included in the word by which "God's scattered people" (1:1) were begotten, for they already had an inheritance laid up for them in heaven before Peter ever wrote them. The letters were sent to confirm that fact.
When the term "word of God" is used with reference to birth or begettal it never refers to an apostolic epistle. All of these were written to congregations or individuals already in Christ Jesus. When Paul writes that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17), he did not include the Roman letter, for it was written to those who had already been justified by faith, and who had received the Spirit that made them sons and enabled them to cry, "Abba! Father!"
The very context of Romans 10 shows that faith comes by the gospel.
How could they invoke one in whom they had no faith? And how could they have faith in one they never heard of? And how hear without someone to spread the news? And how could anyone spread the news without a commission to do so? And that is what the Scriptures affirm: 'How welcome are the feet of the messengers of good news!' But not all have responded to the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?' We conclude that faith is awakened by the message, and the message that awakens it comes through the word of Christ.
Alexander Campbell wrote: "We preach, or report, or proclaim news. But who teaches news? Who exhorts news? We preach the gospel to unbelievers, to aliens, but never to Christians, or those who have received it."
A modern theologian, Alan Richardson, Canon of Durham, agrees. In his Theological Word Book of the Bible he says,
In the N. T. preaching has nothing to do with delivering sermons to the converted, which is what it usually means today, but always concerns the proclamation of the 'good tidings of God' to the non-Christian world. As such it is to be distinguished from teaching which in the N.T. normally means ethical instruction, or occasionally apologetics or instructions in the faith.
The apostolic epistles do not comprise a written code. They were never intended to be a compilation of laws They were written as love letters to "all who are dedicated to him" (2 Cor. 1:1). The purpose of the writers is carefully stated, "Do not think that we are dictating the terms of your faith; your hold on the faith is secure enough. We are working with you for your own happiness" (2 Cor. 1:24). If the apostles did not write to dictate "the terms of your faith," on what grounds do lesser and later lights take what they wrote and try to use it for just such a purpose?
The apostolic writings are guidelines to happiness No one confuses the guide lines on the highway, provided for safety and convenience, with a statute book It is recognized that such lines and signs are fixed by authority, by one of the higher powers. There are some no passing zones where one must never cross the center line, but in many places one must use his judgment and take the responsibility. He may "pass with caution" or "drive with moderate speed." The good driver is one who adjusts to circumstances and conditions.
The Living Way has marked out the way for us. In most cases we must use commonsense and judgment, tempering our actions according to the needs of our brethren, and being cognizant that the eyes of the world are upon us. Some things are always wrong. Others are wrong only under certain circumstances. "Happy is the man who can make his decision with a clear conscience" (Romans 14:22). Happy, too, is the man who allows another the liberty to decide without trying to impose his own judgment and opinion upon him.
In every generation there are those who have tried to play God with the lives of other men. They have taken general passages and given them specific application, finding in them a way to condemn what they have already decided is wrong. Under the guise of promoting "holiness" they have compiled their arbitrary list of things deemed unholy in contemporary culture and measured the character of men by their own yardsticks. They have legislated where the Spirit has not and claimed infallibility for their dogmas. Nothing is more unholy than for men to exalt themselves to the position of divine interpreters of the sacred oracles.
To drive out God's precious children because they cannot conform to partisan whims, fancies and rulings, and to elevate opinions to terms of union and communion, is to assume the role of false apostles, and not truly follow the leading of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. To turn epistles of grace into a lash with which to lacerate the hearts of the brethren is not to follow the example of one who wrote, "For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. What we pray for is your improvement."
Our pattern is Jesus of Nazareth. The good news about Jesus leads to faith in him. That faith implies more than intellectual assent to his role in history. It is belief that he is the Messiah of the prophets, the Son of God, the Lord of life. It is not merely belief on him, or in him, but belief into him, the kind of faith which involves commitment or surrender to him who is its object.
In him is life, eternal life. In him we become partakers of that life, sharers in his life! In him we grow up, maturing in the various aspects of life. It is here the apostolic epistles fulfill their role. They were written to saints who were ignorant of how they should walk, and often to those who knew but who had become cold and careless. One does not write to his children to produce life but to show them how to have a good life. One must never confuse a recipe for happiness with the sperm from which he is begotten.
The purpose of the apostolic writings is to bring us together, to aid us in being united. "Complete my joy being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, of one mind" (Phil. 2:2). "Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ Jesus forgave you" (Eph. 4:32). "Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace be with you" (2 Cor. 13:11).
When we take the scriptures and use them as a club to batter brethren into unwilling conformity, or when we quote them to justify our separations and divisions, we misuse and abuse them. The scriptures are for all, not for a clerical power structure. Every man must be allowed to approach the word of God for himself. The Christian armor is to be worn by every soldier in the ranks and not by an elite corps of self-appointed gladiators.
One exhibits no loyalty for the word of God when he twists and wrests the scriptures to make them do what they were never intended to do. To make them into a legalistic code to stifle thought and enforce rigidity is to do despite to the grace of God. Let the revelation of heaven be what God intended it to be, the means of teaching us to glory in the cross of Christ Jesus.