The majority of evangelical Christians are aware that the New Testament consists of four gospels. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are these. Given that Jesus’ inner circle consisted of 13 followers, including Judas Iscariot, why are there only four gospels recorded in the New Testament? At first glance, it appears highly plausible that every disciple would have a gospel recorded in the New Testament.
The difference of the gospels to other books
In response, let me briefly discuss what sets the gospels apart from the other three New Testament books—Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. First off, there is no value difference here. All of the Bible’s teachings are inspired by God and can be used to teach, reproof, correct, and train in righteousness, so that the man of God is qualified and equipped for every good job, according to 2 Timothy 3:16–17.
The gospels are chronicles of Jesus’ life written by people who were close to him, which makes them different. They were either disciples of one of the apostles, like Mark and Luke, or one of the original 12 disciples, like Matthew and John. The apostles’ instructions on how to apply the gospel’s truth to daily life are found in the Epistles.
Why just four of them?
Why then were there not more firsthand reports included? I want to concentrate on what the Bible has to say to us for the purposes of this piece, not on the dispute. Ephesians 4:11–13 states: “And He (God) gave the prophets, teachers, shepherds, and apostles to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach the maturity of manhood, the fullness of Christ, and the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God.”
What does the Bible state about it?
This excerpt highlights three points that I would want to draw attention to.
- God bestowed to the evangelists, teachers, shepherds, prophets, and apostles. As evangelical Christians, we hold that the apostles’ authority comes from God’s gift to them. As a result, the writings [authored by them] that are contained in our Bibles possess the same authority. I think we can say with confidence that not every apostle was tasked with authoring a gospel.
- God provided them for the church’s upkeep so that we may carry out our ministries with effectiveness. This relates to Paul’s statement that all of Scripture is beneficial for preparing us for every good work in 2 Timothy 3:16.
- The intention is that we could deepen our comprehension of Christ, imitate Him, and eventually exalt Him.
Our Bibles contain [just what God has desired to communicate to us]. We can be sure that the Bible we have today is for our advantage and to God’s glory since God has spoken. All we require to understand Jesus’ earthly life and teachings is contained in the four Gospels that have been passed down to us.
