Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
There are some facts that are so basic to one's understanding of the New Testament books that without being aware of them, one cannot possibly understand what the apostles wrote. Beginning today, I will present to you the essentials with which every student of the New Testament ought to begin his study. Before opening for the first time any of the books written by the apostles, one ought to already know these things. Fathers, teach these truths to your children. Pastors ought to teach these fundamentals to the congregation. These are foundations upon which all right knowledge of the truth of Christ is laid.
One foundational truth that I have already laid is that Jesus lived, ministered, and died under the Law. Then, we should expect that the disciples who followed him were also under the Law. They exhibited the qualities of righteousness that were characteristic of all righteous men throughout Israel's history. They studiously observed the Law's commandments, as Jesus did, such as never eating certain types of meat (Acts 10:10-14).
The qualities of righteousness that the holy Ghost brings they did not yet have, however. The holy Ghost was not yet given because the awful price for it had not yet been paid. So, while Jesus walked with them, the disciples were righteous by the Law's standards, but they were not righteous by the standards of the New Covenant that Jesus' sacrifice would initiate.
Here are Scriptures that show very clearly and simply what the spiritual condition of the disciples was, after they followed Jesus but before they were born again on the day of Pentecost:
A. They were clean (Jn. 13:10-11;15:3), but they were not sanctified (Jn. 17:17,19).
B. They believed in God (Jn. 2:11; 17:8), but they were not "believers" in a New Covenant sense (Jn. 14:12,29; 16:29-33; 11:11-15, and Mk. 16:17-18).
C. They loved Jesus (Jn. 16:27), but the love of God was not in them (Jn. 17:26; Rom. 5:5).
D. They belonged to God (Jn. 17:6), but they did not have the Spirit within them (Jn.4:15-17. Notice, please, the New Testament standard in Rom.8:9!).
E. They believed God had sent Jesus (Jn. 17:8,25), but they did not really know Jesus (Jn.14:7-9).
F. They were not of the world (Jn. 15:18-20; 17:14), but they were not in Christ (Jn.17:21-23, 26).
G. They were chosen and ordained (Jn. 15:16), but they could neither bear to hear all the truth (Jn. 16:12) nor ask the Father anything in Jesus' name (Jn. 16:23-26).
In short, the disciples were like unborn babies in the womb (Jn. 16:20-22). They belonged to God (under the Old Testament Law), but they didn't belong to God (in a New Testament sense). They were clean (under the Law), but they were not clean (NT). They believed (OT), but they did not believe (NT). They loved God, but they didn't.
One should know this about Jesus' disciples before reading the gospels or the book of Acts. So much of what is in those books, and so much of what Jesus said to his disciples about themselves, cannot be comprehended if one thinks they were already born again.
This is the fifth and last stone that I have used to lay out for you for a sure foundation, upon which you may safely build your faith as you grow in the light of God. Upon this foundation you can build an understanding of your heavenly Father and His Son that you will never have to abandon, either in this world or in the world to come.