The Role of the Prophetic Ministry in the New Testament Church
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the impact of prophetic ministry in the new testament church
- To find out whether still prophetic ministry in new testament church
- To find out the impact of prophetic ministry in Christian life
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Understanding the Concepts
It would presumptuous to embark on this research work without proper understanding of the major operational terms involved in our study. In this regard, terms such as sola scriptura, prophetic Nigerian Christianity and Nigeria are briefly examined in relation to the imports of this paper. Sola scriptura: As earlier observed, it is a Latin ablative which means by “scripture alone”. It is a Protestant Christian doctrine which states that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. According to the Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, sola scriptura basically means that all things necessary for salvation and concerning faith and the spiritual life are taught in the Bible, and clear enough for the ordinary believer to understand it. While this principle does not deny that other authorities govern Christian life and devotion, it sees them all as subordinate to and corrected by the written word of God. It belongs to the five Solae of the Protestant Reformation, which include sola fide, sola gratia, sola scriptura, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria. Sola scriptura, however, holds that the word of God is the only authority for the Christian faith. Traditions are valid only when they are based on the scripture and are in full agreement with the scripture. Traditions that contradict the Bible are not of God and are not a valid aspect of the Christian faith. Sola scriptura is the only way to avoid subjectivity and keep personal opinion from taking priority over the teachings of the Bible. Grudem (1994) cited the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy by saying; We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative word of God. We deny that the scriptures receive their authority from the Church tradition or any other human source. We affirm that the scriptures are supreme written norms by which God binds the conscience, and the authority of the Church is subordinate to that of the scripture. We deny that the Church, creeds, councils or declarations have authority than or equal to the authority of the Bible (p.1204). The doctrine of sola scriptura is a presupposition for the revelation, inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy of the scriptures. While it is obvious that the inspiration and revelation of the scripture are almost generally accepted among the various Christian groups and Church denominations, it is the principle of the canonization and authority of the Bible that mostly set the Churches, especially the Protestants and the Roman Catholics, apart. The doctrine of inspiration of the scripture is, however, immensely important because most of other evangelical doctrines are developed from the Bible. They rest upon and find their relevance and authority on the scriptures. Harrison (1985) cited L. Boettner (1947) and said that the biblical teaching of inspiration is the “mother and guardian of all others”, including the sola scriptura. According to him, An unsound view of the inspiration of the scripture is bound to countenance unsound views, produce distorted teachings or serious gaps in essential doctrinal systematization or offer a temptation to easy subscription to plausible but unsound scientific or philosophic theorizing (p. 620). The fact of Biblical inspiration is clearly stated in 2Tim. 3:16-17, “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”. In view of this, Packer in Ferguson and Wright (1988) says that scripture mediates the authority of God who gave it and the Christ to whom it testifies, and it does this by presenting the realities of salvation-history in their universal significance. According to him, the issue is the nature and extent of the control that canonical scripture should exercise over the doctrine, discipline and devotion of the Church and its members (p. 630). Geisler and MacKenzie (2009) particularly state that sola scriptura among Protestants means that scripture alone is the primary and absolute the source for all doctrine and practice (faith and morals). It implies that the Bible is a direct revelation from God; it is sufficient, and divinely authoritative. Thus, what the Bible says, God says. In this sense the scriptures do not just contain the word of God, but in its entirety is the word of God. Sola scriptura is a Reformation slogan which asserts that scripture is the Church’s only infallible and sufficient rule for deciding issues of faith and practices that involve doctrines. While the Bible does not contain all knowledge, it does contain that which is necessary for salvation.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the role of the prophetic ministry in the new testament church
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information the role of the prophetic ministry in the new testament church. 200 members of redeem Christian church of God Lagos was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the role of the prophetic ministry in the new testament church. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of prophetic ministry in the new testament church
Summary
This study was on the role of the prophetic ministry in the new testament church. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the impact of prophetic ministry in the new testament church, to find out whether still prophetic ministry in new testament church and to find out the impact of prophetic ministry in Christian life. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 members of redeem Christian church of God, Lagos. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made pastors, elders, deacons and members were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Another important issue to be taken into account in responding to the increasing paradigm dimensions and changes in Christian prophetic making in Nigeria is the diversification of the education and professionalization of the leaders and teachers of Christian doctrines. This involves the specialization on specific areas of emphasis in Church ministry as is obtained in other humanities. Everyone cannot become a prophet. In Ephesians 4:11-13, the Apostle Paul viewed this strongly when he said, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Fake prophets and false prophecies would drastically reduce when each person is found committed to his own area. A restructuring of the religious and theological mindset of the Nigerian Christians would be necessary, especially in relation to economic and material reliefs. The emphasis on prosperity, breakthrough, open doors and other such cliché have become dominant not only in the expressions, but also in the expectations of most Nigerian Christians. Unfortunately, the vulnerability of many miracle seekers has thus provided advantage for the practitioners of Christian prophetic making in Nigeria. However, a re-orientation achieved through conscious, consistent and genuine teaching of the true word of God would advance greatly the age-long truth of the doctrine of sola scriptura. Despite the misapplication and challenges, it is important to admit that sola scriptura rejects going to the extreme (that is being fanatical) in any matter of faith, while at the same time Christians should be guided by the fundamentals and comprehensiveness of the values of the scriptures.
Recommendation
The need for the mainline churches and the African Initiated Churches (AICs) to maintain a balanced biblical interpretation following the principles of Jesus’ ethical teachings, The need for the ecclesiastical leadership to embrace doctrine of Sola scriptura as the pivot of Christian faith is necessary in respect of the doctrine of the Apostolic faith, There is also the need for the various strands in the Christian communion to understand that in the spirit of one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ or in the spirit of ecumenism, that extreme of any kind is not allowed, No Christian group should have a particular theological statement of its own to fence it off from other Christian churches. This is in order to avoid false prophets, prophetesses, and false prophecies.
References
- Anderson, G. L. (2015). Pentecostal Hermeneutics. (Retrieved 29/08/15).
- http://agchurches.org/Sitefiles/Default/RSS/IValue/Resources/ Holy%20Spirit/Articles/PentecostalHermeneuticsPt1.pdf
- Atkinson, J. (1982). Martin Luther and the birth of Protestantism. London: Marshall Morgan & Scott.
- Edwards, D. (1998). Christianity: the first two thousand years. London: Cassell. Encyclopedia Britannica, Literal Interpretation–Biblical Criticism, (Retrieved 29/08/15)
- http://www.britannica.com/topic/literal-interpretation.
- http://kingwatch.co.nz/Prophetic_Ministry/delivering_the_word.htm (Retrieved 25/08/15)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_the_Book (Retrieved 24/08/15)
- http://www.gotquestions.org/sola-scriptura.html (Retrieved 27/08/15) Encyclopedia Britannica, Literal Interpretation–Biblical Criticism, (Retrieved 29/08/15)
- http://www.britannica.com/topic/literal-interpretation
- http://kingwatch.co.nz/Prophetic_Ministry/delivering_the_word.htm (Retrieved 25/08/15)
