Welcome back to the Ask Pastor John podcast. We begin another week with a question from a listener named Tom who asks this, "Hello Pastor John, the epistles of Paul seem to be addressed to specific audiences in the cities of Rome and Corinth and Philippi and others." Indeed they are.

"So how do we know that those epistles now apply to me and to other people today? I know that the epistles are to believers, but I'm confused how that logically includes believers today. How does the Bible answer that question?" It's a question that is really worth thinking about. We just kind of assume that, and it's good to pause and reflect on why is that?

Why do we assume that they're so relevant and valid for us today? So let me think out loud for a few minutes and give maybe six or seven ideas or reasons from the Scriptures why even the parts of the Bible that are very focused on one particular situation two thousand years ago or more are relevant and are valid for us today.

Number one, we know that Paul wanted at least one of his letters read elsewhere. So he says in Colossians 4:16, "And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans." So the very least we can say is, even though there were peculiar relevancies to the church in Colossae, Paul thought the letter would be useful in another place.

So that's a good pointer that Paul didn't think of his letters as useful only in one place or time. Number two, not all epistles were designated for only one church, and the fact that they were written to whole regions and churches would caution us from thinking that the letters have only tiny, small, particular congregational significance.

So James, for example, starts, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus to the twelve tribes of the dispersion." Well, I think that's a code word for Christians all over the Roman Empire in all kinds of situations. Or Peter begins like this, 1 Peter, "Peter, an apostle to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia." My, my, my, that's a lot of places and a lot of diversity that this letter is set to.

So let's be careful that we don't over-particularize the letters of the New Testament. Third response, "The apostles knew that the teachings they were giving were not merely their own, but were the words of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit always knows how to make His words valid and relevant for His people, His people of all time." So Paul says, for example, 1 Corinthians 2.12, "We have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given to us by God." And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

Those who are spiritual would include us, and the Holy Spirit is able to see all of those who will be reading His words and know what to say through the apostle Paul so that they would be useful. Number four, the fourth reason for thinking these are valid and relevant, "The teaching of the apostles was seen as the foundation of the whole church, universal, not just the foundation of a single local congregation." For example, Ephesians 2.19, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." So that verse is teaching that the apostles, that is, in their writing and in their teaching, have become a foundation for the household of God, universal, not just a particular church in Ephesus.

And so the foundational nature of the apostolic teaching in their own minds is a pointer to the fact that the church of Jesus Christ would rest upon them and find them foundational and useful for their whole existence, the church's whole existence. Number five, much of the epistles are instruction about the nature of salvation, the nature of man, the nature of God, and His way of working in the world, and not about a situation in the local church.

Here's just a few examples. First Corinthians 15.3, "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." There's nothing about that sentence that is time-bound or situation-bound.

It is an explication of the historical reality of the gospel. Here's another one, Romans 3.28, "We hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works of law, or is God the God of the Jews only? Is He not God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith." That's a statement that is not determined by any particular local situation.

It's good for all time because it's rooted in the very nature of God. One more example, First Corinthians 2.14, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. He's not able to understand them, for they are spiritually discerned." That's a statement about the nature of fallen man that's good for all time.

So the point there is lots of instruction in the epistles is not related in particular to the situation or the time. And here's number six. The arguments that are made in the epistles for why we should act a certain way, even if it's in a particular time and place, are arguments that are based on truths that are valid across time.

For example, Ephesians 4.25, "Having put away falsehood, let each of you speak truth with his neighbor." Now should we stop there and say, "Well, maybe that's not true for us today. Maybe we can speak lies to each other." He grounds it like this, "For we are members of one another." In other words, he roots the call for truthfulness in a truth that is true for all time.

In the body of Christ, we are members of one another. Or Romans 12.19, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves. Leave it to the wrath of God." Now if a person says, "Well, maybe we should avenge ourselves today. Maybe that's only relevant for the Romans." No. Here's the way he argues, "For it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." So the nature of the argument is in God, not in the situation.

Here's another example, 1 Timothy 2.12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over man. She is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam was not deceived, but the woman." In other words, the argument for a woman's listening and submitting to the teaching of the men in the church isn't rooted in the local situation.

It's rooted in creation. Or take Philemon. Now Philemon is the most personal book in the Bible. It is so unbelievably concrete and specific. And yet, Paul, writing to Philemon to try to get him to take back Onesimus, who had been converted under Paul's ministry in prison, he says, "Though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you." Now, in that way of talking, he's showing us something about the nature of love that's not grounded in the situation at all.

It's grounded in the nature of love that prefers to appeal rather than to command. And I've got a whole bunch of more illustrations, but that's enough. Let me just close like this. Number seven, "Would it be like God?" I don't think it would be like our Good Shepherd if he gave a book to his people in the first century that was useless to the people that he loves and intends to guide in the later centuries.

Yeah. It's always good to ask foundational questions like this one and not make assumptions about the relevance of the Bible. Thank you, Pastor John. This is the purpose of the podcast. I mean, taking important topics that are often assumed and then rethinking them. And to that end, thank you for the question, Tom.

If you have a question, send it in to us. Go to our online home at DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn and click on the button to send us a brief email with your question. And there you can also take a look at our most popular episodes all time and browse our recent episodes and search through our entire collection.

We have now over 900 episodes to date. Amazing. Well, why is John Pfeiffer so opposed to fun? Does he shudder in the presence of glee? Is he a moody killjoy, a cloudy curmudgeon, a melancholic puddle glum, a wet blanketed downer or just a sore headed codger? We'll find out more tomorrow about John Pfeiffer's beef with fun.

I'm your host Tony Reike. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast. We'll see you then. you