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Compare & $ave
When Jesus once taught in the temple, the Jews were astonished at how he could teach, not having been “trained" (i.e., “uneducated,” “not knowing letters;” John 7.14-15).
When they heard Peter and John teach, they were astonished at the confidence with which they taught, being “unlearned and ignorant men.” “And then they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4.13).
Are there any similarities in the teaching of Jesus with the teaching of Peter and John? What else would have made the Jews connect Peter and John as having “been with Jesus?”
What about the present? Is it not still true that teaching can identify one as having “been with Jesus?” Certainly so! It can also be proof that teaching is in error. If not, why not? The teachings of the Jews could not identify them with Moses because they did not teach what Moses taught. They taught “traditions” (Matthew 15.1-9).
The apostle Paul gave a command to the church of Christ in Thessalonica to “stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thessalonians 2.15). Paul once taught things that he later recognized as being in error (Galatians 1.14). But when he began preaching “the faith which he once destroyed,” he was connected as having “been with Jesus,” for his teaching was similar to what Jesus taught (1 Corinthians 14.37).
So also today, teaching will either cause the preacher to be connected with Jesus’ teachings, or prove him a preacher of another gospel.
The responsibility is upon each person to compare what is taught today with what was taught by Jesus and the apostles. Let us remember the words of the apostle John: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4.1).
