Bible Discussion Thread

Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary (concise)

Acts 19:1-7.

Paul, at Ephesus, found some religious persons, who looked to Jesus as the Messiah. They had not been led to expect the miraculous powers of the Holy Ghost, nor were they informed that the gospel was especially the ministration of the Spirit. But they spake as ready to welcome the notice of it. Paul shows them that John never design that those he baptized should rest there, but told them that they should believe on Him who should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. They thankfully accepted the discovery, and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Ghost came upon them in a surprising, overpowering manner; they spake with tongues, and prophesied, as the apostles and the first Gentile coverts did. Though we do not now expect miraculous powers, yet all who profess to be disciples of Christ, should be called on to examine whether they have received the seal of the Holy Ghost, in his sanctifying influences, to the sincerity of their faith. Many seem not to have heard that there is a Holy Ghost, and many deem all that is spoken concerning his graces and comforts, to be delusion. Of such it may properly be inquired, "Unto what, then, were ye baptized?" for they evidently know not the meaning of that outward sign on which they place great dependence.

for they evidently know not the meaning of that ( OUTWARD SIGN )on which they place great dependence.

He called their water baptism an outward sign! He see it the way some of us do.

Water baptism ritually points to the baptism of the Holyspirit.

Acts 19:4.

And when they believed, by believing they were baptized in the name Jesus.

Acts 19:5.

Amen.

Part 2.of 2.

Thesecondmoment of potential disunity came from Judaizers (Jewish Christians) who demanded that Gentile Christians become Jews and follow Jewish laws and traditions. The Jerusalem Council (James, Peter, and Paul) met in Acts 15 to settle controversy. This occurred around the year AD 49. The leaders did not require the Gentiles to be circumcised or to follow the law, but they did ask that Gentile disciples to be aware of Jewish sensitivities. Later in our studies we will look at ecumenical councils (like the one that occurred in Nicaea in 325). It's interesting to note that ecumenical councils aren't all bad; they had biblical precedent. It's good to get together and discuss our concerns and our differences.

Thethirdmoment of potential upheaval in the church came from Gnostic false teachers who claimed that the flesh was evil; therefore, Jesus did not come in the flesh. (To be accurate, this was an early form of Gnosticism; full blown Gnosticism did not arrive until the second century). The Gnostics held to a dualistic philosophy that believed the spirit was good and matter was evil. Salvation was to be acquired through ascetic practices where a person denied the flesh, thus giving life to the spirit. Also, the word Gnostic (fromgnosisor knowledge) meant there was a secret knowledge that must be acquired to achieve salvation. The more secret knowledge a personhad, the higher that personwould climb up the Gnostic ladder.

Paul and John battled this false teaching ( 1 Timothy 6:20, 1 John 4:2, 3). During the second century whole churches fell into apostasy through Gnostic teaching.

So we see that life in the early church wasn't easy sledding. Instead, there were various controversies that had the potential to split the church in two (or three or four) sects and factions. Thus you see strong teaching from Paul against false teachers and divisive people.

Much like us there were many Issues to consider.

God bless.

Part 1.

The story of the church of the New Testament isn't the story of victory after victory. There were major battles that had to be fought to keep the early church united. In particular, there were two early disagreements in the church and one battle against false doctrine that had the potential to divide the church or to send the church on a downward spiral into false doctrine.

First, Acts 6:1-7.In the early church, there quickly arose a disagreement between the Hebraic Jewish Christians and the Grecian Jewish Christians. Both groups were Christian. Also, both groups were Jewish. But one group spoke Hebrew and the other group spoke Greek (thus the distinction between Hebraic Jewish Christians and Grecian Jewish Christians). The disagreement came fromthe Grecian Jewish Christians whose widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. So, in essence this was an ethic controversy. The Grecian Jewish Christians brought their grievance to the apostles. This threatened the unity of the church, so the apostles acted. The oversaw the selection of specific men of Grecian background (we conjecture that they were Grecian based on their names) to oversee the distribution of food to the Grecian widows. This solution worked well. Unity continued until the battle for unity occurred. That's usually how it works. Peace reigns for a while, then another controversy emerges

Two fundamentally different Christologies developed in the early Church, namely a "low" oradoptionistChristology, and a "high" or "incarnation Christology."The chronology of the development of these early Christologies is a matter of debate within contemporary scholarship.

The "low Christology" or "adoptionist Christology" is the belief "that God exalted Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead," thereby raising him to "divine status." According to the "evolutionary model "evolutionary theories," the Christological understanding of Christ developed over time, as witnessed in the Gospels, with the earliest Christians believing that Jesus was a human who was exalted, c.q.adoptedas God's Son, when he was resurrected. Later beliefs shifted the exaltation to his baptism, birth, and subsequently to the idea of his eternal existence, as witnessed in the Gospel of John. This evolutionary model was very influential, and the "low Christology" has long been regarded as the oldest Christology.

The other early Christology is "high Christology," which is "the view that Jesus was a pre-existent divine being who became a human, did the Father's will on earth, and then was taken back up into heaven whence he had originally come,"and from where heappeared on earth. According to Hurtado, a proponent of anEarly High Christology, the devotion to Jesus as divine originated in early Jewish Christianity, and not later or under the influence of pagan religions and Gentile converts.The Pauline letters, which are the earliest Christian writings, already show "a well-developed pattern of Christian devotion already conventionalized and apparently uncontroversial.

Some Christians began to worshipJesus "a Lord"

This is the down side to trying to pattern our beliefs with the early Church rather than relying on the present scripture and Holyspirit. They were divided on several issues.

Christianity in the first century

by Wikipedia.

( GRADUAL SPLIT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM, )

Early Christianity developed out of theeschatologicalministry ofJesus. Subsequent to Jesus' death, his earliest followers formed anapocalypticmessianicJewish sectduring the lateSecond Temple periodof the 1st century. Initially believing thatJesus' resurrectionwas the start of the endtime, their beliefs soon changed in the expectedSecond Comingof Jesus and the start ofGod's Kingdomat a later point in time.

Paul the Apostle, a Jew who had persecuted theearly Christians,convertedand started to proselytize among theGentiles. According to Paul, Gentile converts could be allowed exemption from mostJewish commandments, arguing that all arejustified by faithin Jesus. This was part of a ( GRADUAL SPLIT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM, ) as Christianity became a distinct religion including predominantly Gentile adherence.

Here you see a period of transition.

After the death of Jesus, Christianity first emerged as a sect of Judaism as practiced in theRoman province of Judea. The first Christians were allJews, who constituted aSecond TempleJewish sect with anapocalypticeschatology. Among other schools of thought, some Jews regarded Jesus asLordandresurrectedmessiah, and the eternally existingSon of God, expecting thesecond comingof Jesus and the start ofGod's Kingdom. They pressed fellow Jews to prepare for these events and to follow "the way" of the Lord. They believedYahwehto be the only true God,the god of Israel, and considered Jesus to be themessiah(Christ), as prophesied in theJewish scriptures, which they held to be authoritative and sacred. They held faithfully to the Torah, including acceptance ofGentile convertsbased on a version of theNoachide laws.

This is why we use the Holyspirit to guide our practices.