By: Mike Riley
The plea of churches of Christ today is to restore New Testament Christianity into the lives of as many as will receive the gospel. Preaching the gospel without expecting those who believe it to change their lives is not sufficient. To this end, the churches of Christ preach, and the Bible teaches, that the gospel contains all the information that we need to do this (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:17).
This revealed information constitutes a pattern to restore New Testament Christianity. Each person must be concerned with restoring and following the New Testament pattern in his life. Some say that the New Testament contains no such pattern. If that’s true, then restoration is impossible. One cannot restore anything without knowing something about the original pattern. On the other hand, if the New Testament contains such a pattern, restoration of New Testament Christianity is necessary to be a Christian.
Does the New Testament contain such a pattern? Jesus tells us that there is such a pattern. He said, “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). God’s word is like a seed. Every seed contains a complete pattern to restore the plant from which it came. We do not expect a seed from an apple tree to grow an orange tree, and vice versa. We expect a seed that contains the pattern of an apple tree to produce an apple tree.
So is the word of God. When individuals observe and obey God’s word, as revealed by Jesus Christ in the New Testament, they follow a pattern that produces Christians. They have restored what God desired. With such, God will be pleased, for one will have grown out of the word of God what God put into it.