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Christadelphian beliefs are based on the Bible’s claim
that it is the inspired Word of God a claim that is supported by a substantial
weight of external evidence. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21) When Jesus
preached the Gospel, he taught from the Old Testament Scriptures. It was from
these ancient Jewish Scriptures that Jesus taught the people of his time
the ‘Gospel’ or ‘good news’ of the coming kingdom of God. It is to these same
Scriptures that Christadelphians look for the foundations of true Christianity.
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The ecclesia at Disi in
Malawi, Central Africa |
The New Testament was not completed until the end of the
first century AD, after Jesus had ascended to heaven. However when we study its
message we see that it also claims to be inspired by God. The writers of the New
Testament did not dismiss the Old Testament Scriptures as irrelevant but rather
they expounded the message of those ancient writings. Jesus himself pointed us
in the right direction when he said: ‘If they do not hear Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ (Luke
16:31)
In this passage the servants of Jesus are clearly directed
by him to look at the Old Testament Scriptures - to Genesis and the books that
follow - to find the foundation principles of true Christianity. The Apostle
Paul who was instrumental in spreading Christianity throughout the Roman world
in the 1st Century, confirmed its basis in the Old Testament when he wrote: ‘And
the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached
the Gospel to Abraham beforehand...’ (Galatians 3:8)
Christadelphians believe that true Christianity can only be found by accepting
that the whole Bible is God’s Word. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy one of the
1st Century Christians, making this very point: ‘All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
When Paul told the believers at Ephesus ‘I have not shunned to declare to you
the whole counsel of God’ (Acts 20:27) he was reminding them that all his
beliefs and hopes were based on the teaching of the Old Testament Scriptures and
in doing this he was following the example of his Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.
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