They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching… Acts 2:42

Today we begin a series where we look at some of the characteristics of the church in Jerusalem in the early days. People were being saved and added to a community. Each one didn’t see themselves as an island or view their Christianity from an individualistic point of view. They gave themselves to each other. We see today that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. If you like, there was a body of teaching that the apostles brought and the people received it with faith and devoted themselves to it.

I can imagine that this meant they put themselves under good teaching, gave themselves to studying the Scriptures and living lives according to these teachings. Paul’s command to Titus was “You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1) and to Timothy: “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations,…” (2 Tim 4:2-5). Let us be those that turn to the truth. Study the word diligently, so that you can learn to discern teaching that is sound from that which is misleading. The word of God is our life.

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