Similarly, Jesus expects us to be discerning about commands in the New Testament letters. Here are direct imperatives:
No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. (1 Timothy 5:23)
Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments (2 Timothy 4:13).
Should we all drink wine or bring cloaks from Troas? Obviously, those commands were tied to circumstances that no longer apply. Apostolic letters were not written as formal law books. They were not tracts on systematic theology. They addressed specific individuals (like Timothy) and churches (like the church in Philippi) to meet needs and answer questions then current. When you overhear someone’s phone conversation, you hear one side speaking but not the other. That is our experience with the letters. We hear the apostle responding, but not always the questions asked or the surrounding circumstances. For example, Paul referred to letters that we don’t have (1 Corinthians 5:9; 16:3; Colossians 4:16). He referred to previous discussions known to his readers, but not to us (1 Thessalonians 4:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:6). Why does the Lord not give us all the background available to the original readers?
We may wonder also why the Lord, in inspired letters, placed vital commands (like impartiality and purity, 1 Timothy 5:21-22) alongside incidentals (like wine for sickness, 1 Timothy 5:23). We are not told. But we are given the larger picture. The New Covenant is “not like” the Old. That seems to be so even in the way it is revealed and presented. Instead of writing on stone, the Mediator wrote His will into hearts as they dealt with ongoing life. Through the apostles, He trained early Christians to apply His commands and principles to life’s variety of specific challenges—and we today learn from their training letters. In this age of covenant maturity, He trains us to use adult discernment. “Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:10).