Did Jesus not communicate clear and effectively? Did His Spirit speak confusion through His apostles and prophets? Did Jesus fail by giving teachings that imperfect people cannot follow? The fault is with man and not with Christ. Many “believers” do not really believe or rely on the teaching of Jesus Christ as sinless, infallible, and without error. This is not because they do not believe in the sinless state of Christ, but they no longer can use the New Testament Scriptures for teachings to equip for every good work (2 Tim 3:16–17). They have undermined their ability to trust the Bible.
The Bible is the primary source of the words of Jesus Christ. Only the New Testament was written and overseen by those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus’s life. No other source provides the words of spirit and life other than the Bible.
Conflict with the Canon of Scripture
One error lies behind every false teaching ever invented. This error is the rejection of Jesus’s authority, His words, and the New Testament Scriptures.
Blind guides will openly question the teachings of Christ and disregard Christ’s authority. They accept other forms of baptism based on the assumption that men gathered the New Testament without God’s oversight. However, Christ’s Apostles oversaw the collection of the New Testament. Christ’s Spirit says that there is “one baptism” (Eph 4:5). One teacher asserted,
Remember that the Bible had not been collected and the canon was a long way from being finalized. That would make it understandable that a variety of baptism practices would arise in Christendom…and they did. (“about spirits and baptism.” Tentpegs. 8 Feb. 2011)
From here, that writer justifies any possible form of baptism. However, his perception of the Bible is false, and he has clearly bought into this pseudo-history for his own purposes. Paul’s affirmation of one baptism is enough to see that the first Christian practices were not flexible to the great variations like today. There is one faith, one gospel, one doctrine of Christ. Jesus established one baptism (Matt 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 10:47). This baptism is in Jesus’s name for forgiveness of sins and it is essential to the Gospel (Rom 6:3–7; 1 Cor 15:1–4).
Many false teachers would have others believe that Jesus’s teachings are different for each congregation and that Jesus did not give His gospel, so that people could understand with the same mind and judgment. Paul taught the same in every congregation (1 Cor 4:17; 7:17). The apostle Paul expressed,
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Jesus prayed, “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). The Truth about the development of the canon of Scripture is below.
Observe All Things
Why would anyone assume the role as a teacher of the gospel and neglect to give oneself entirely to the doctrine of Christ?
[G]ive attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine…Think on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Tim 4:13–16)
Christians strive to do as Jesus commanded and “observe all things that I have commanded” (Matt 28:20). Teachers must not pass their lack of diligence on as the Bible being “imperfect.” Jesus revealed that His disciples can and must observe all things that He has commanded. Any teacher who is not diligent should fear for his soul that he puts at risk (Jas 3:1).
Destructive Heresy
Many teachers present a history of the Bible as asserted by the church in Rome. They teach conveniently what they want. Despite what the Scriptures say, false teachers will accept a lie to support their invented beliefs. For example, Patrick Mead admitted,
The church did without a collection of 66 books for a few hundred years. That’s right. The apostles were dead and so were those who had received the laying on of hands from the apostles… and the Bible wasn’t around for a good long while. Individual books existed and those were passed around and copied when possible but I am not aware of any historical evidence that any one person or church had all 66 books — and only those books — in their possession before the year 300 AD. Those who believe that the Bible is a legal text, a rule book, and a map that directs every single aspect of acceptable worship struggle to explain how the church functioned during that time. I believe it is because the Bible is a narrative with some commands, not a command book with some narrative. In other words, we have a LOT of grace and freedom in regards to how we organize and worship.” (These 66 Books, June 25, 2009)
The agenda asserts that Christians cannot agree about worship, baptism, and the organization of the church as one teaching from Christ, but rather that almost anything goes.
The Truth about the Canon of Scripture
The church never did without a canon and collection of Scripture. The church first had the Jewish Scriptures, and they received first the Gospels and Paul’s epistles as Scripture. Early Christians accepted 1 Timothy as Pauline where Paul referenced Luke’s Gospel as “Scripture” and later taught that the Scriptures are God’s breath providing doctrine to equip for every good work (1 Tim 5:18; 2 Tim 3:16–17). Luke referenced the Gospels as His sources sharing material from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark (Luke 1:1–3). The earliest Christians who accepted 2 Peter recognized that Paul’s epistles were Scripture (2 Pet 3:15–16). They included Peter and John’s writings too (2 Pet 1:16–21). John also wrote of that they as witnesses were writing (1 John 1:4).
Anyone not familiar with the apostles’s oversight of the collection of the New Testament should honestly consider the Scriptures presented here: The Formation of the New Testament Scriptures.
Conclusion
Many teachers conveniently overlook and slant history to open the canon of Scripture and allow variations of teachings and practices. The apostles oversaw the collection of the New Testament Scriptures, so there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Father of all (Eph 4:4–6). Christians can be one as Christ prayed they be one (John 17:21).
The Breath of God 