This discussion comes from Getting the Garden Right, coming soon from Founders Press. It is used with permission.
Copyright © 2017 Richard C. Barcellos. All rights reserved.
(This is part 3 of 8, click here for part 1 & part 2)
Now notice what Luke records in Acts 6:2-4:
So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2-4)
The “ministry of the word” most likely refers to the message preached, the things proclaimed by the apostles. This is, in fact, the ministry of the word of God. This is confirmed for us in 1 Thessalonians 2:13.
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. (1 Thess. 2:13)
Kruger comments on this text as follows:
Paul emphasizes that the apostolic message borne by the apostles was to be received as the authoritative word of God . . . Although this message was certainly passed along orally by the apostles, it is clear that Paul expected his written letters to bear the same weight as his words spoken in the Thessalonians’ presence. Second Thessalonians 2:15 says, “Stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” It is difficult to imagine that the Thessalonians would have understood Paul’s letters in any other way than as the authoritative apostolic message that demanded their submission and obedience.[1]
The apostles realized their message was God’s message in light of the sufferings and glory of our Lord. It was God’s message through them, something communicated by Christ in them by virtue of the promise and ministry of the Spirit. Our Lord had prepared them to expect this.
The following words by the Lord to the disciples prior to his death and resurrection apply to them in a unique way as apostles.
These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26 “But the Helper, 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 said to you. (John 14:25-26)
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (John 15:26-27)
“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. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:13-15)
These promises set the background for the apostolic ministry. The apostolic ministry includes both speaking and writing on behalf of Christ in fulfillment of these very words.
The apostles have left the church with what has been termed apostolic tradition. These apostolic traditions were first spoken by the apostles and then written for us in the New Testament. This means that some things done by the early churches prior to the writing of the New Testament were based on the authoritative spoken word of the apostles (e.g., the Lord’s Supper in Corinth [1 Cor. 10 and 11]; the presence and function of teachers of the word in Galatia [Gal. 6:6]; the presence and function of overseers and deacons in Philippi [Phil. 1:1]; and the presence and function of laborers who oversee and instruct in Thessalonica [1 Thess. 5:12-13]). It is important to note, as Kruger asserts, the authoritative tradition that the New Testament speaks of is not human tradition or ecclesiastical tradition, but apostolic tradition.[2] It is also important to realize that what was first spoken was subsequently written and canonized. As Kruger acknowledges:
Although this apostolic tradition was initially delivered orally as the apostles preached, taught, and visited churches (2 Thess. 2:15), it very soon began to be preserved and passed along in written form. Of course, this transition did not happen all at once—oral apostolic tradition and written apostolic tradition would have existed side by side for a period of time.[3]
In sum, the New Testament documents can be understood as the written expression of the authoritative, foundational, and eyewitness tradition delivered by the apostles of Jesus Christ.[4]
Oral apostolic tradition is assumed and further explicated by written apostolic tradition.
What does the discussion above about apostolic tradition have to do with the fact that Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week? The resurrection of our Lord is not left as a self-interpreting act of God. Its theological and practical implications were brought to the early church by the apostles via both oral and written apostolic tradition. Though we do not necessarily possess the oral apostolic tradition in the exact words in which it was first delivered, the written assumes the oral and builds upon it. This being the case, if the New Testament indicates that the church met on the first day for public worship (i.e., practice), that it did so due to the first-day resurrection of our Lord (i.e., redemptive-historical basis), and that this practice was approved by an apostle or apostles (i.e., authoritative approval), is it too difficult to conclude that first-day meetings of the church for worship were also ordained by Christ through the apostles (i.e., dominical and apostolic sanction)? Just as the Book of Acts and the Epistles do not command the Lord’s Supper to be instituted, neither do they command the churches to meet on the first day of the week. Just as the Lord’s Supper is assumed by the Epistles, so the Lord’s Day is assumed as well. The churches addressed in the New Testament, and the things they practiced, existed prior to letters being written to them. As we shall see in our discussion of 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, first-day church meetings at Corinth are assumed to be in place, just as the Lord’s Supper is assumed to be in place, and both prior to the writing of 1 Corinthians. The importance of the discussion on apostolic tradition will become more evident in the discussion which follows.
[1] Kruger, Canon Revisited, 186-87; emphasis original.
[2] See Kruger, Canon Revisited, 177. As understood and explained by Kruger, apostolic tradition is categorically different from Roman Catholic tradition.
[3] Kruger, Canon Revisited, 179.
[4] Kruger, Canon Revisited, 181.
Dr. Richard Barcellos is associate professor of New Testament Studies. He received a B.S. from California State University, Fresno, an M.Div. from The Master’s Seminary, and a Th.M. and Ph.D. from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Dr. Barcellos is pastor of Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Palmdale, CA. He is author of Trinity & Creation, The Covenant of Works, and Getting the Garden Right. He has contributed articles to various journals and is a member of ETS.
Courses taught for CBTS: New Testament Introduction, Biblical Hermeneutics, Biblical Theology I, Biblical Theology II.
