Restoring The Early Church

(Section 1)

 

Mike & Sue Dowgiewicz

[click here for a printable copy]

CONTENTS

Preface
Introduction

Section One

The Hebraic Facets of the Early Church

Chapter 1 The Jewishness of the Early Church:
An Indispensable Ingredient of the New Testament

Chapter 2 The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament):
Basis for the Teaching and Practices of the New Testament

Chapter 3 A Hebraic Perspective:
The Foundational Thinking of the Early Church

Chapter 4 The Early Church:
Humble, Hebraic, and Spirit-Filled

Section Two

The Transition from Our Hebraic Origins

Chapter 5 The Loss of Our Hebraic Roots:
Christianity’s Response to the Jews

Chapter 6 Greek Philosophy in the Church:
How Did Plato Displace God?

Chapter 7 The Roman Conquest of the Church:
Is the Reformation Unfinished?

Section Three

The Early Church Born Again

Chapter 8 Your Relationship with Jesus

Chapter 9 One on One: Marriage

Chapter 10 One on One: Parenting

Chapter 11 Neighborhood Home Fellowship:
Promoting Righteousness

Chapter 12 Neighborhood Home Fellowship:
Load-bearing Relationships

Chapter 13 Fulfilling Biblical Prophecy:
Israel and the Jewish People Today

Chapter 14 Conclusion:
Jesus Is the Head. What Part Do His People Play?

Bibliography
Resources and Publications
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Preface

God has permitted my wife Sue and me to observe “Christianity” in ways few people have had opportunity. From 1983 to 1993 Sue and I administered a retreat ministry that touched the lives of over five thousand people from just about every Christian denomination. For eight years I counseled pastors and church leaders, primarily in Connecticut but also in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and New York. Before that I was Controller at a highly regarded Christian college. I am a graduate of a respected seminary.

Using the current church vernacular, Sue and I are “lay people,” and this book is written for “lay people.” We have found that the truths God revealed to us during our stay in Israel in 1993 and 1994 are also being revealed to others.

“I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword” (Zechariah 9:13).

We first heard an explanation of the above verse at a prayer conference in Jerusalem. In the months following the conference God took us aside and led us to the resources and information that are the basis for this book. Two broad facets of the message God gave us will be developed more fully throughout the book:

1. The Holy Spirit is restoring to followers of Jesus a biblically Hebraic understanding of their relationship with God and with the significant people in their lives.

The early Church related to the Lord through a biblically Hebraic framework of understanding. A Hebraic understanding affects the depth of your relationship with God and is inseparably linked with how you relate to others. For instance, a descriptive essence of a Hebraic-Christian marriage in the early Church would perhaps be, “If you want to know the extent of my relationship with Jesus Christ, look for it in the love I have for my spouse.” God planned for husbands and wives to put their marriage above all other relationships or activities: “A man will be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Their mutual love should be a visible representation of their relationship with Jesus. Those who have suffered broken marriages and relationships are able to receive the healing intimacy of restoration with God by exploring and applying the Hebraic principles of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit is turning the hearts of fathers toward their families (see Malachi 4:6). The Hebraic home was the basic building block of spiritual development in the early Church. It is still the foundational starting point for the growth of healthy home fellowships and congregations.

The older members of your community, the sages or mentors, have traditionally been recognized as respected repositories of wisdom and insight. God is once again raising them up to guide and to counsel husbands and wives, and men and women in general. The return to Hebraic mentoring in the church is an indispensable factor being awakened by the Lord today.

2. The Holy Spirit is alerting Christians to the reconciliation now taking place with the Jews.

God has promised great blessing to those who bless the seed of Abraham, the Jewish people. He is regathering the Jewish people to the land of Israel in fulfillment of His promise to them: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:24-26). Christians who are made aware of this move of God can share His loving kindness toward the Jews and be ever ready to “give the reason for the hope that [they] have...with gentleness and respect”(see 1 Peter 3:15,16).

Why Have We Written?

In a sense we are writing with concern for those to whom we ministered at the retreat center. We wish that we had known earlier the Hebraic principles God opened up to us in Israel. Many people came to mind as we absorbed these truths. We often thought, “If only they could hear this, they could more readily trust God in their difficult circumstances.”

Although the medium of the written word lacks the informal and interactive dynamics of a retreat, our goal is to furnish something practical, something useful and pertinent to your daily life. Through this material we trust that you will be able to take appropriate steps of action in your faith to strengthen your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and revitalize your relationships of marriage, family, and intimate friends. We have documented events that occurred over the centuries, developments that have removed the vitality of the Hebraic early Church of the first century.

Some of the truths contained in this book are based on revelation from God through the Holy Spirit as we searched the Word. We believe these truths agree with the Bible in every sense. Other information is gleaned from our own investigation, the research of others, and from our observations through years of personal involvement with many Christians from different walks of life and various denominational and doctrinal persuasions.

The first draft of this book was sent to several men and women who are recognized as theologically sound in their respective areas of Christianity. We wanted to be certain our work wasn’t in vain. Our thinking at that time, almost two years ago, was: “If these respected individuals examined the research that we did, would they come to the same conclusions?” The feedback was an overwhelming endorsement of our work. Two frequent comments surfaced in their feedback. The first, “I know that what you have written is true, but I would be frightened to implement the changes needed to help get my church back to the foundations of the early Church.” The other often repeated comment was, “You don’t have to prove your case; show people how to bring it about.” In light of these responses, Restoring the Early Church is a synthesis of both historical research and practical suggestions.

A visual image of the Restoration now underway within the Christian community is a large oak tree, with the Restoration fitting in right above the roots at the base of the trunk. The Hebraic truths of the first century Church were that foundational. In another analogy, if church ministry could be compared to computer programs, the existing church practices would compare to application programs and the Restoration to a deeper system software.

Due to the comprehensive breadth of the topic covered, we have organized the book into three distinct sections:

Section 1: The Hebraic Facets of the Early Church
This section presents the historic backdrop and influences of the God-fearing Hebraic community that accepted the Messiah during the first century. Their relational practices and teachings were foundational for the New Testament writers.

Section 2: The Loss of the Hebraic Roots
This brief overview highlights the events that brought about the exchange of Hebraic roots for an alien culture and organizational structure. Because of the extensive research and writings of others in this area, the presentation of the incursion of Greek philosophy and Roman government into the church has been compressed.

Section 3: Jesus, the Home, and Home Fellowships
The last section focuses on the primary arenas for Christlike development and growth. All other dimensions of life, including a viable congregation that worships the Lord and serves the interests of His Kingdom, are spawned from these central areas.

Restoration Ministries provides specific training materials in support of this book. For further information, please call 888-229-3041 or go to our website, Restorationministries.org, or email us at mikedowg@aol.com

Mike Dowgiewicz July 1996

_________________________

Introduction

The Current Plight of the Church in the US

“Men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

When the tribes of Israel gathered to make David king, all of them journeyed to Hebron with thousands of troops. One tribe in particular, the tribe of Issachar, came with two hundred men “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” If we are ever to see the powerful first century early Church restored, we must become a people who understands the current times. Then, if we have faith and courage, we can be part of the restoration of the Church as Jesus founded it: His Body of followers consumed with love for Him, for our families, for other believers, and for the lost. Before we consider what God is requiring of His people as He restores these biblical facets to the church today, let’s assess the current status of the family and “The Church” in the US.

Carle Zimmerman, in his book Family and Civilization, provides unique insight into the disintegration of the modern family and church. Zimmerman traces the typical development and eventual disintegration of the family in a variety of cultures. In most great civilizations, including Greece, Rome, and now the United States, the shifts in family relationships and in societal attitudes toward the family follow a similar course. Initially there is great respect for the family, and individual desires are subordinated to family needs. Eventually this attitude gives way to its opposite: a deification of individual rights and a deprecation of family commitments. This is accompanied by a disintegration of society. This was the pattern, he believes, that took place among the Greeks and Romans, and the same pattern that currently operates in the US.

Zimmerman identifies three types of families, each of which predominates at various times in the life cycle of a
civilization: the trustee family, the domestic family, and the atomistic family.

The trustee family is the most stable family form. Great value is placed on the resources and truths that ancestors have passed along from generation to generation. The governing authority is normally a patriarchal structure ruled by the oldest males. The input of all the relatives, however, is sought when typical problems arise in each family unit.

Because family loyalty is held in such high regard, senior members can function as the recognized disciplinary agents. They can demand obedience in a way that those outside the family or clan might not respond to. Divorce is rarely practiced in this type of family structure. Individuals are expected to subordinate their own interests to the greater interest of the family as a whole. Family members accumulate wealth and provisions through a spirit of selflessness and hard work. The solidarity of this family type can be seen in the era of the Pilgrims and Puritans of early America.

The domestic family occupies a middle ground between individualism on the one hand and absolute authority of the family on the other. The government structure in this family type values the strength of family ties and stability but leaves room for individual expression and a certain creative autonomy to present new ideas. Clan power is subordinated to church and state agencies. Divorce is infrequent but does occur occasionally. A husband and a wife are seen as a family unit that assumes major responsibility for raising their children according to the values that they believe are right.
Parents are willing to undergo the pain of childbirth and trials of childrearing because they view their children as an extension of themselves.

At times that means that some parental desires have to be sacrificed in order to focus on the needs and training of the next generation. Generally mothers and fathers of this family type are willing to forego, if necessary, luxury cars, upscale homes, and even time-consuming hobbies in order to have energy, time, and resources for their kids. This type of family structure epitomized Greece and Rome at their height of trade and commerce. The subsequent decline of these civilizations occurred when the state took over the responsibilities that up until then had been assumed by the families and
religious institutions. Up until the 1950’s, this structure characterized the majority of American households.

When the ties within the family unit disintegrate, an obsession with individualism develops. This marks the atomistic family stage. Each person is viewed as a distinct unit, disconnected from the family. Individual rights are emphasized rather than family responsibilities. Whereas self-sacrifice was the norm under the trustee and domestic families, complete and unabashed selfishness becomes normative under the atomistic family. Cultures of this type experiment with childless liaisons and suffer increased divorce rates. Because the majority are unwilling to sacrifice for the future, fewer children are born.

Religious and moral mores have little effect on protecting the sanctity of the family. “The individual, having no guiding morals, changes the meaning of freedom from opportunity to license. Having no internal or external guides to discipline him, he becomes a gambler with life, always seeking greener pastures. When he comes to inevitable difficulty, he is alone in his misery.”1 Not content to suffer in silence, the atomistic individual seeks out others with similar difficulties to establish a political “voice.” His special-interest group can then gain power and influence in order to coerce social institutions to remedy their misery.

Note the contrast between the ethic of personal responsibility in the domestic family and the development of socialvictimization (“It’s not my fault”) in the atomistic structure. A civilization in the throes of the atomistic period resembles a swarm of antagonistic insects engaged in mortal combat. Individuals become obsessed with their own desires and concerns, disregarding the needs or suffering of others. Commitments and responsibilities are looked on as infringements on personal freedom.

Consider the characteristics of an atomistic society.
• Marriage loses its sanctity as a stable, committed institution. The inviolability of marriage as a covenant is lost. The relationship is often broken by relatively easy, “no-fault” divorce.
• Feminist movements abound as women lose their inclination for childbearing and child nurturing. The birth rate decreases. Daycare facilities replace intimate parenting as mothers are no longer motivated or encouraged to raise their own children in the security of the home.
• Public disrespect for parents, parenthood, and authority in general rises. Parenthood becomes more difficult for those still trying to rear children with biblical values. The media denigrate time-honored values and traditions.
• Young people are increasingly disrespectful of their
parents and others in authority. Juvenile delinquency escalates, as do promiscuity and rebellion. Neither the legal system nor educational institutions are able to deter such unrighteousness.
• Adultery is accepted and even promoted in many circles. Alternatives to marriage, such as cohabitation, are increasingly accepted.
• Sexual perversions of all kinds (homosexuality, rape, incest, pedophilia) move from toleration to proliferation.2

In 1986, when we first began to share Zimmerman’s thoughts with pastors and other people on retreats, there was unanimous consensus that the United States had entered the atomistic stage, the period when social disintegration was occurring. Many of us began to seek ways that we as Christians could be “salt” and “light” no matter what happened to our country; thus the purpose in writing this book.

How Has the Church Fared in the Atomistic Culture of the US?

“Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’S altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the LORD God of Israel, ‘and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,’ says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith” (Malachi 2:13-16).

In his thought-provoking book Marriage Savers, author Michael McManus provides some startling facts concerning the church and single parenthood. He writes,

According to George Gallup, Jr., two-thirds of Americans are members of churches, and 42% attended church in any given week in 1991. Seventy-three percent of first marriages are blessed by the church, according to the Census, and we are troubled by the more than 50% divorce rate. Clearly, the American church—300,000 local congregations—has access, a latent power, to influence most people. This is in sharp contrast with the church’s access in Europe, where church attendance is 4% in Finland, 12% in France, and 14% in Great Britain according to a 1986 Gallup Poll.

Yet....Japan, with almost no Christians, has one quarter as many single parents as America, and every European country and Canada do twice as well as the United States in holding two-parent families together. Clearly, the nation with the deepest church penetration has the least impact on central issues involving rearing of children.

US: 22.9% of homes headed by a single parent [Note: This statistic has risen since McManus' study.]
Japan: 5.9% of homes headed by a single parent
United Kingdom: 12.7% of homes headed by a single parent
France: 10.9% of homes headed by a single parent West Germany: 17.5% of homes headed by a single parent
Canada: 14.8% of homes headed by a single parent (Source: Bureau of the Census report, “Children’s Well-Being: An International Comparison,” Bureau of the Census, 1992.)3

In this culture, the decline of strong supportive parental ties with their children has produced another detrimental side effect. During the 1960’s, the period of adolescence spanned ages thirteen to nineteen. By the late 1980’s, however, sociologists had extended adolescence from age twelve to age thirty — and today is up to age 37. (This assumes that the beginning of adolescence is marked by the onset of puberty and ends when an individual takes complete responsibility for his or her actions and decisions in life.) Our culture has, in effect, produced a generation of “adult adolescents” ill-equipped to assume the roles of responsible adulthood and leadership.

At the retreat center we were asked in 1985 to conduct a singles ministry representing many different churches in our region. We did this for about two and a half years until individual churches began their own singles ministry. The average age of those who attended our monthly potluck and quarterly retreats was 28-29 years. The size of the group varied from thirty to sixty people. Except for one or two, the participants had never been married. Only a few resided at home with their parents; many lived alone in apartments.

Over a several month period we encouraged these individuals to ask their parents, “Is it a joy for you to have me as your child?” The vast majority of the singles were held captive by their fears. They could not get up the courage to ask their folks that question. Perhaps seven of the group did inquire. Their testimonies to the others were filled with wonderful love and affirmation on the part of the parents, much to the inquirers’ surprise. Still, the majority could not overcome their fear to approach the very people who had once changed their diapers.

Many of these people were college graduates and had experienced a certain measure of personal freedom due to disposable income and an enormous amount of discretionary time. Many of their options and decisions centered around what “toys” to buy and what activities to occupy those extra hours. Their maturity level was commensurate with that of the 14-17 year-olds we had guided in youth groups during the early 1970’s. No matter what counsel or suggestions we presented, little change was effected in the lives of most of them. (At that time, we were still unaware of how crippling the demise of the three-generation family had been as it impacted personal maturation.) We have followed the lives of many of these men and women, observing a disquieting pattern of migration from one singles group to another to yet another.

About a year after we were “relieved of duty” from the singles ministry as various churches developed their own singles groups, a man we’ll call Bill came to us. He had been asked to start a singles group on behalf of his church, the largest congregation in our area. Someone on the church staff had recommended that he talk with us. After our introduction Mike asked, “Bill, do you know what hell on earth is? It is being forty, single, and wishing you had been married the whole time.” He peered at Mike sadly, replying, “I’m forty, single, and wishing I had been married all that time.” As we conversed, Mike encouraged him to pray for an older grandparent-aged couple to conduct the singles ministry. We had discovered that even in our forties, we were too young to significantly help our single friends. Bill disregarded our advice, and after one or two years of struggling with the group, suffered an emotional collapse.

How often do you labor in your own strength, even for “good” causes, only to discover that what seems good but is outside of God’s purpose and timing will not bear the lasting fruit of changed lives?

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

"Today, many Christians question the meaning of our forms of worship and service. They dutifully attend services and meetings, yet are burdened by the meaninglessness of so much that is traditionally a part of our churches. They sense a need for a new perspective, a new awareness...Their Sunday-at-eleven culture is timed to fall between the two milking hours in the agricultural society. Sermons remain one of the last forms of public discourse where it is culturally forbidden to talk back...

"Made up, usually, of a small inner core of believers who assume the necessary posts of leadership with gratitude and devotion,...[leadership is] surrounded by a cloud of uninvolved and mildly approving witnesses...Basically, we do not want anything to happen on Sunday morning that will upset our daily routine. We want to be ‘inspired,’ to come away with a warm feeling, but we do not want to be disturbed, so subconsciously we structure the service in order to assure safe, predictable, comfortable results...

We say that our faith must be lived—that Christ invades us to transform every aspect of daily life. Yet we teach this faith in formalized classes or sermons far out of a life context...We say that every believer is a priest, gifted and responsible for building up others in the Body of Christ. And we bring adults to church, set them down and tell them to listen to a teacher or to the pastor. They have exercised no ministry, held no responsibility but to be quiet and orderly, and have helped no one by their presence...

We say that parents are responsible for the Christian nurture of their children. Yet we develop more and more church programs to minister to them and thus promote the idea that parents can turn their children over to the church and the church will do the job of nurturing them...

It does not matter what we say. What we do talks most convincingly. And the fact is that our current church patterns and our educational programming intellectualize Christianity, promote parental irresponsibility, prevent believers from ministering to one another, and permit Christians to feel comfortable without any personal ministry.(emphasis added)4

Prophetically penned by Lawrence O. Richards in his book, A New Face For The Church, do these observations correctly describe the present state of the church in the United States? Or more specifically, can you see any similarity to what is happening in your congregation?

David Wilkerson, pastor of the Times Square Church in New York City, wrote in his 6-13-94 Pulpit Series letter,

"The denominational church system appears to be in the throes of death. It has almost no influence in the secular world, no mighty power in Christ. Growing numbers of ministers are falling on all sides—to adultery, covetousness, pride and perversions of all kinds. Pastors...are bringing in entertainment and showmanship...[and] many pastors today are cowards when it comes to naming sin. They merely go through the motions of the ministry, having a form of godliness but no power. It is because they have grown comfortable in their position. They have lost the touch of God and no longer hear His voice."5

In May, 1994, Wilkerson stated,

"I believe the gospel can’t be fully preached unless it is accompanied by the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost—working mighty wonders, proving the gospel is true...The church today has become weak and ineffective. Why? Because it no longer believes in the supernatural! Theologians tell us that at some point God quit performing mighty deeds. Yet, exactly when all of this supernatural activity stopped, no one can say!” (Authors’ comment: This theological position reflects revisionism, altering Scripture to reconcile its meaning with current cultural beliefs and standards.) Wilkerson continues, “The miracles of this last-day church will be genuine, real, indisputable, undeniable—and yet they will not be well-known. Instead, they will issue forth from the hands of ordinary, holy, separated saints who know God and are intimate with Jesus...If you think you’re too ordinary for God to use, listen closely: God is not going to do His last-day work through big-name evangelists or pastors...The fact is, God is going to need every housewife, teenager, elderly person and all who love Him to carry out His mighty work!"6

C. Peter Wagner, professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, offered this in Ministries Today:

"Rapid change is taking place in the landscape of worldwide Christianity...the form that churches are taking is so different from past eras...By far, the most rapidly growing segment of Christianity on all six continents is a type of church that does not fit traditional categories or classifications...Perhaps one title that would fit is the term ‘post-denominational’. These churches are characterized by indigenous leadership, contemporary worship, concert prayer, power ministries and mutual affiliation based on spiritual rather than legal and bureaucratic ties."7

A trend of thought is evident in these quotations: a movement away from an institutional and hierarchical system toward a daily reliance on the Lord that empowers individual believers to worshipful obedience.

“As He was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down’” (Mark 13:1,2).

You must not let the size of your congregation or the beauty of your place of worship deceive you. Massive congregations filled with apathetic spectators are not what the Lord intended. Wayne Jacobsen, in A Passion For God’s Presence, illustrates Satan’s plan to make the church big and impersonal:

"In the third century Satan must have called a BIG meeting with his demons. Hades 1, he probably called it. Since persecution had failed so miserably, this diabolical council needed to develop a new strategy to undermine the life of the church...The objectives were clear: The plan would have to diffuse the self-sacrificing love that carried the church through conflict, distract it from intimacy with God, and devalue the importance of the individual believer...Someone came up with a very simple idea: ‘Trying to keep it small hasn’t worked—let’s make it big!’ What would happen if the church suddenly became acceptable? Many would come just for social reasons. They would quickly dilute those who are really in God’s clutches. And imagine all the programs and activities they would have to plan to keep those people happy. Nothing chokes out intimacy as well as busyness. The church would eventually become a machine, chewing up individuals instead of loving them. They couldn’t possibly teach all the followers to walk with God personally, so they would soon substitute rules and guidelines for His ever-present voice. The machine would have to be run by professionals. The others would become nothing more than spectators and billpayers."8

Whether or not such a demonic meeting actually occurred is debatable, but the deception of the demonic goal can readily be seen throughout the church today: “Size equals success.” We were visiting friends in a large Florida city a few years ago. As they drove us around the city, our host pointed out different church buildings. Many were vacant. His tale sounded something like, “This one once had 5,000 in attendance... This one had 3,000...This one...” Each church we were shown had grown to tremendous size and then destroyed itself from within.

Soon after our visit to Florida, we were visiting other friends outside Washington, DC. As we drove down one of the main streets enroute to the Sunday morning worship service, our host remarked that this particular street was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. It contained more churches than any other street in the world! As we drove along, Karl pointed out which churches had split from others along that same thoroughfare. Interestingly, during the service we attended, a letter of reconciliation from the church leadership was read to the congregation. It was addressed to the congregation from which they had split some years earlier. This state of affairs would not be so serious if the two examples cited represented just a few isolated cases in the US. However, we are now talking about the rule, not the exception. Our churches have become human institutions, not living spiritual organisms.

Corroborating this thought is the following from Ernest Wright in The Rule of God:

"God, through the work of the Spirit, has always been at war with human institutionalism, because the institution becomes idolatrous, self-perpetuating, and self-worshipping, because church membership becomes synonymous with the new birth, because man tries to make the Spirit follow law.” How complex we have made the simplicity of the gospel, with our “programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all."9

John Stott, a well-known Christian author, was asked to explain why Christianity has declined in the West and how this process can be avoided as more and more of the world becomes Westernized. Stott replied,

"It began with these philosophers who mounted a frontal attack on the Christian church, seeking to replace revelation with reason...And the church was feeble to capitulate to that assault...Another reason why Christianity is declining is that what is declining is pseudo-Christianity. It is not the authentic Christianity described in the Gospels and the New Testament... Christianity has declined in the West because Christian people who claim to follow Christ don’t look like it...If Christians lived like Jesus Christ, the world would be at our feet today. The greatest hindrance to the spread of the gospel is the church. The church that is intended to be a stepping stone to faith is more often a stumbling block to faith." (emphasis added)10

Probably the biggest reason for the church’s difficulty in breaking its ties with people management systems and programs is that institutionalism, an established and recognized body that performs a particular function, is so prevalent in our culture. The culture, more than God’s Word, now influences the church. Both Jesus and the early Church kept organized institutionalism to a minimum, preferring the power of the Spirit and the relationships among believers to provide ministry. They could see from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the society around them that the institution of the priestly system had failed to produce an obedient people who loved and served the Lord.

Institutional efforts can provide a guise of success even where the vitality of Jesus isn’t real. That’s what is so deceptive about it. You think you’re pleasing God for all your activity and its results, yet beneath the programs and entertainment lies an emptiness that few will admit. Institutionalism deceives you into feeling good about yourself even after your responsiveness to God has ceased. Our dear friend Casey Sabella was preaching in England a few years ago when he asked the congregation this question: “If Jesus Christ were dead, how long would you keep on doing what you are doing?” The people were convicted as they realized and admitted that everything would go on just as it had. The institution provided all that they needed or wanted to meet their social and religious needs.

“‘You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’ So from that day on they plotted to take His life” (John 11:50,53).

Another hindrance to obedient intimacy with God is “vested interest” in the church. Vested interests are found in those people who, because of position and power, attempt to keep the status quo. For example, while Mike was in the Navy he read a dramatic account of vested interest that had required an Act of Congress to overcome. During the early decades of this century, airplanes were introduced aboard ships. The pilots of these aircraft were in control of the missions of the planes, free from the direct decision making of the ship’s captain.

Throughout the Navy’s history, a ship’s captain had always exercised total dominion over everything that was aboard hisvessel. The captains perceived the pilots’ autonomy as a threat to their own vested interest of absolute authority. A number of ship captains tried to jeopardize the success of aircraft missions aboard ships. Some actually endangered pilots’ lives by putting their ship into a turning maneuver just as a plane was attempting to land onboard. Therefore Congress stepped in and enacted a law that any ship with aircraft stationed onboard was required to have a captain who was also a qualified aviator. Today over half the people in the Navy are connected to aviation in some way. Once vested interests are exposed and challenged, changes can occur

.In A Passion For God’s Presence, Wayne Jacobsen wonderfully exposes the power of vested interests in churches today. Jacobsen illustrates his point with the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes in which a group of royal advisors seeks to keep their jobs by lying about the emperor’s nudity. As the king parades through the town in his “new clothes,” a little boy with no vested interest at stake shouts the obvious: “He’s naked!” Jacobsen correlates the fable with the history of the church:

"It’s easy for us now to look back at those generations, not sharing their vested interests, and see how believers sold out to political and personal corruption during the Middle Ages; to high finance prior to the Reformation; to terror and murder during the Inquisition; to natural reason during the Enlightenment; and to liberalism early in this century...We stay captive to deception by the same appeal of personal interest...So it is with the church today: many people are making Christianity just what they want it to be, whatever fits their interest...It doesn’t take great wisdom to unmask deceit—only a desire to look at things the way they really are, not the way we want to see them."11

A growing number of observers are now pointing to the church in the United States and crying, “We are spiritually naked!”
A tale from The New England Church Resource Handbook further illustrates the concept of vested interests.

"Henry Cabot Lodge, a [former] senator from Massachusetts, was convinced that many bureaucrats have little else on their minds than maintaining their power and position (a problem sometimes encountered in churches, as well as government). ‘They are a lot like old Si Haskins,’ he said. One day we came upon Si sitting on the dam up above the town. ‘What are you doing, Si?’ we asked. ‘I’m paid to shoot the muskrats,’ he replied. ‘They’re diggin’ under the dam.’
‘Well, there’s one over there right now.’ We pointed to a big one with his eyes just above water. ‘Why don’t you shoot him?’ ‘You don’t think I want to lose my job, do you?’ he replied.12

The Pharisees of Israel had their own vested interests. Many people had put their faith in Jesus following the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

“But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. ‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him’...Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’...So from that day on they plotted to take His life” (John 11:46-50,53).

Think about how far the vested interest people would go to protect their positions: “So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him” (John 12:10,11). Do you wonder if Lazarus, having been brought back to life, ever found out that the priests were planning to kill him? At what point does a vested interest so thoroughly blind a person (who thinks he or she is doing God’s will!) from discerning the truth?

“‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another” (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Revisionism. Does that word mean anything to you? Most of us are so subtly influenced by its effects that we don’t even notice. The Random House Dictionary defines revisionism as “attempting to reevaluate and restate the past based on newly acquired standards.”(emphasis added)13 Many school textbooks are now being written with gross distortions of history or with omission of formerly significant facts and data with the express purpose of appeasing particular political or social agendas. For example, most references to the spiritual heritage of our founding fathers have been revised to reflect instead a desire for greater economic prosperity in the New World. In order to appease the Arab countries that provide them oil, several European universities are teaching from revised history books which claim that the Jewish Holocaust never took place. (An ancient proverb says, “Lies written in ink can never replace facts written in blood.”)

Not even the Bible is safe from revisionism. One version contains a genderless God to accommodate the feminist movement. Another has had all verses pertaining to the miraculous and supernatural events removed to accommodate the rationalistic and scientific community.

We are reminded of Frank Peretti’s novel, Piercing the Darkness. Although fiction, the book deals with the conscious demonic effort to undermine people’s confidence in the reality that absolute truth exists. The Bible tells us, “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent, called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus tells us that lies are Satan’s native tongue: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Lies and distortions have been with the church since its earliest years. Paul dealt with a serious deception regarding the return of the Lord: “Concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come” (2 Thessalonians 2:1,2). The deceiver has been at work since the Garden of Eden and it is no surprise that his work continues unabated.

Revisionism within the church has had a profound effect throughout the centuries. Many today think that the customs, practices, even the organization of the church date from the time of Jesus and the apostles. History shows that prejudice and vested interests over the centuries “revised” the operation and function of the early Church, handing down to believers something far different than what was intended by the Lord. In fact, much of what you consider key elements of church practice may even violate 1 Corinthians 4:6, quoted earlier. We will explore these factors in subsequent chapters.

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

The opposite of revisionism is apperception, interpreting new information in terms of the old or what you already know beyond doubt to be true. In other words, a newer teaching or practice is evaluated in light of older, proven truths. Jesus relied on apperception in His teachings by often quoting the Older Testament and then applying that truth to a situation He was addressing. For instance, while speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read aloud from the scrolls the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (vv. 1,2). His listeners already believed this prophecy to be true, so He used these verses as the basis for understanding Himself, telling them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21).

To justify His disciples plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath (see Matthew 12:1-8), Jesus reminded His critics of the commonly known fact of “sanctified Sabbath breaking”. David and his hungry troops had entered the tabernacle and eaten the consecrated bread that by law was relegated solely to the priests (see 1 Samuel 21:3-6). On the Sabbath, the priests regularly broke the commandment that demanded no work on that day in order to offer sacrifices and circumcise babies (see Matthew 12:6, from Hosea 6:6). So important were the Hebrew Scriptures as a basis for the Gospel message that they were quoted, or apperceived, throughout the gospels, epistles, and the Revelation.

The Bereans were commended for studying the Scriptures, apperceiving Paul’s new teachings in light of Hebraic scriptural truths (see Acts 17:11). Due to the extraordinary amount of revisionism which has entered the church over the centuries and the concomitant loss of the early Church vitality, the authors are writing with apperception in mind, trying to clearly discern God’s intent at the time the Scriptures were written.

In order to be true to the Word of God you must be willing to depart from today’s church structure and traditions that may seem “sacred” yet have no biblical foundation. Appropriate the nobleness of the Bereans, investigating the Bible to apply what God has said. Like the Bereans, you also may have a burning desire to reach the point in your faith experience in which the practices of that faith “do not go beyond what is written” (see 1 Corinthians 4:6).

If we are honest with ourselves, the Christianity that revisionism and institutionalism have produced bears little of Christ’s image. God is seeking a people who long to be touched by Him personally with the intensity of David: “O my Strength, I watch for you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God” (Psalm 59:9,10). The Lord penetrates hearts, not programs. That’s what intimacy is all about, and that is what you are called to pass on to others. You cannot expect to impact prisoners of the spiritual forces of darkness throughout the world—or even your family, neighbors, and coworkers—if you hold out a formula to them but withhold your heart.

Consider the merits of the following poem. As you appraise the loss of the Hebraic influence of the early Church, you may see in today’s church the dominance of Greek philosophy (which concludes that the spiritual realm is far holier than the physical) and Roman organization (which insists that a hierarchy of church leadership is necessary in order to perpetuate the church system). Ask yourself, “Is this what God wants?” Have the reforms of the past centuries gone far enough to reestablish the biblical Church?

THE CLIFF

‘Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
But over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke and full many a peasant.
The people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally.
Some said, “Put a fence ‘round the edge of the cliff,”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”

The lament of the crowd was profound and was loud,
As their hearts overflowed with their pity;
But the cry for the ambulance carried the day
As it spread through the neighboring city.
A collection was made to accumulate aid,
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave dollars or cents—not to furnish a fence—

But an ambulance down in the valley.

“For the cliff is all right if you’re careful,” they said;
“And if folks ever slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much
As the shock down below—when they’re stopping.”
So for years (we have heard), as these mishaps occurred
Quick forth would the rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fell from the cliff
With the ambulance down in the valley.

Said one, to his plea, “It’s a marvel to me
That you’d give so much greater attention
To repairing results than to curing the cause;
You had much better aim at prevention.
For the mischief, of course, should be stopped at its source,Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally.

It is far better sense to rely on a fence
Than an ambulance down in the valley.”

“He is wrong in his head,” the majority said;
“He would end all our earnest endeavor,
He’s a man who would shirk this responsible work,
But we will support it forever.
Aren’t we picking up all just as fast as they fall
And giving them care liberally?
A superfluous fence is of no consequence,
If the ambulance works in the valley.”

The story looks queer as we’ve written it here,
But things oft occur that are stranger.
More humane, we assert, than to succor the hurt,
Is the plan of removing the danger.
The best possible course is to safeguard the source,
Attend to things rationally.
Yes, build up the fence, and let us dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.

Author Unknown

Many of the past church reforms stemmed from arguments over revisionist writings. You are experiencing the results even today: thousands of denominations established because of doctrinal divisions. Each disagreement operates like the ambulance down in the valley. Today’s doctrinal differences have distracted God’s people from personal intimacy both with Jesus and with each other. Individual congregations keep people occupied with programs and meetings but generally fail to lead them to the fullness of loving obedience in Christ. In fact, church busyness often lures people away from intimacy. Instead of a source of edification and mutual support, “church life” is all too often a wellspring of pettiness, gossip, and manipulation.

It appears that there are two possible options open to the church: One, to continue to ‘effect repairs’, i.e., to put the ambulance down in the valley pursuing the mistakes of the past, struggling to patch up the church as it has been revised over the centuries. If you use the same processes of reforming the church that your forefathers used, you will find yourself still clinging to non-biblical or extra-biblical forms and patterns that have, over time, become hallowed because of
tradition. Just possibly, this generation can be honest with itself and recognize that the whole edifice is crumbling.
A whole generation may reject empty form that lacks living substance.

Your second option is to accept the challenge of restoring the true biblical foundations of the early Church. If you understand that Jesus is the only Head and Builder of His Church, you must search the Bible for what He and the apostles presented in terms of the Hebraic framework in which it was initially addressed. Those willing to do this can work together in agreement with the Holy Spirit, and in our time see a true expression of the Church of Jesus Christ. Will it be popular? Probably not. Will it be powerful? Yes, exceedingly so!

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Section One

The Hebraic Facets Of The Early Church

 Very few non-Jewish Christians recognize that they are “Gentiles.” Before our trip to Israel, if someone had called us Gentiles, we would have responded, “So what!” According to Romans 3:9, “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin”, and, speaking of salvation, Paul writes that “there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles—the same Lord is Lord is all and richly blesses all who call on Him” (Romans 10:12). At the same time, however, Romans 11 delineates a difference between Jews and Gentiles: “Because of [Israel’s] transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (11:11), and, “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25,26).

We didn’t recognize that our reading and understanding of the Bible had been derived from the patterns and methods of the Greek philosophers who had come into the church in the centuries after Christ. We had not considered noteworthy the Hebraic thought patterns and relational practices of the God-fearing Jewish authors of the Newer Testament.

Our understanding of the early Church had been based on a theological exegesis of the Greek words in the Newer Testament manuscripts. It had never occurred to us until our study and research in Israel that many of the early Church practices and understanding of their faith had been adapted from practices already taking place among the God-fearing Jews. We had always connoted all of Judaism at the time of Christ to be as rigid and unyielding as the Gospel representation of the priests, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin.

This section of the book introduces you to the foundations and practices of the Hebraic early Church. It is our belief that to a large extent these formed the basis for the New Testament writers’ understanding of the foundations and practices of the Church. For example: Did you know that many rabbis at the time of Jesus were already teaching that “you must be born from above”, that is, experience spiritual birth? Are you aware that men in the synagogues already served as apostles, evangelists, elders, and deacons? Do you understand the purification that baptism represented to Jewish believers? If you can remove the anti-Semitic veil that has covered the eyes of much of the church for so many centuries, you will relish a study of what the Jewish writers of the Newer Testament understood these practices to signify.

We are espousing a return to the Hebraic thought and relational practices of the Jewish people who feared God and trusted Jesus for their salvation. Men and women such as these were present to hear and respond to Peter’s message on Pentecost: “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Much philosophical conjecture and verbal division has led believers to argue over the meaning of Greek words. “Correctly [handling] the word of truth” as an approved workman (see 2 Timothy 2:15) should include the study and application of the Hebraic teachings and practices at the time of Christ. Think of the vitality that could flow in and through the church if believers expended as much effort in living what they have already learned as seeking after more knowledge. Applying our full biblical heritage could unify the church today to live in the power that was so evident in the Hebraic early Church.

“What is this Restoration all about?” has been one of the most common questions we have been asked. “We have the Bible, God’s Word—what is it that we need to have restored?” These questions must be partly answered with two more questions: “Has God’s Word ever been lost to His people?” and, “What has occurred to restore His Word and His understanding of it?”

How Was the Word Lost?
The Bible lists at least three occasions in which God’s Word was lost. In some cases the Law had been misplaced or hidden. In other instances the interpretation of the Word had been marred by men who had tried to put their own laws and writings on par with God’s. Let’s examine some of these situations and note how the past restorations took place.

Loss #1:
After the death of King David, a series of kings ruled. Some followed the way of the Lord while others worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth. At one point following a spiritually low era for Judah, King Josiah, whose heart was for the Lord, came to power: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2). Josiah ordered the priests to set about rebuilding and purifying the temple, which had become a mess of decay from lack of use.

"Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes... He gave these orders: “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”...Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: “Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord”...Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem...He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant" (2 Kings 22:10-23:3, emphasis added).

When the righteous king recognized the disobedience of his people and repented, he called the elders, who represented the family leaders of the people, to hear the Word and renew the covenant. Restoration led to repentance and rededication, a profound lesson for us today.

Loss #2:
Some of the Israelites with Nehemiah and Ezra returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity of Israel. After rebuilding the temple and walls of the city, the people wanted to renew their covenant with God: “All the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel...They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read” (Nehemiah 8:1,8, emphasis added).

Loss #3:
Prior to the time of Jesus the Pharisees and scribes attempted to keep the Jewish people from violating God’s law by establishing other laws as “fences”. Their original intent was noble. Yet over time, tradition, which has a hallowedness all its own, enabled these manmade laws and practices to be treated as if God had given them. Their own laws and traditions actually blinded the Pharisees from seeing the Messiah as the fulfillment of the very Scriptures that they thought they were upholding. Confronting this third “loss of God’s Word”, Jesus chastised the Pharisees:

And he said to them: ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother,” and, “Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.” But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: “Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban” (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that’ (vv. 9-13, emphasis added).

The Pharisees upheld their laws and traditions but missed the most basic and vital of God’s commands: to love the Lord wholeheartedly and to love your neighbor as yourself.

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Chapter 1

The Jewishness Of The Early Church: An Indispensable Ingredient of the Newer Testament

Many of today’s practices and church traditions emanate from a Greek, or Hellenistic, understanding of the early Newer Testament manuscripts. It is generally thought that the original texts were written in Greek, although some scholars conjecture that the Gospels were originally penned in Hebrew. The authors, however, were definitely Jewish, either by birth or by conversion, as may have been the case with Luke. During the second century, growing anti-Semitism among Gentile believers caused the original Hebraic understanding of the text as it had been apperceived from the Older Testament to be discarded in favor of a Greek cognitive mindset. This loss has robbed the church of the full richness of the faith as a unified whole from Creation to the last days.

Nearly all of the earliest followers of Jesus were Jewish. Jesus emphasized that He had come first for the Jew: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Even the early Church was viewed not as a new religion but as a sect within Judaism: “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect” (Acts 24:5, emphasis added). In his first sermon, delivered on the day of Pentecost, Peter addressed his audience as “Fellow Jews” (see Acts 2:14). The question that the early Church faced was not whether Jews could belong, but whether Gentiles could be included in a faith community consisting wholly of Jews. Must they first convert to Judaism? (See Acts 15:1-29).

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).

At the time of Christ, the Jews of Palestine were clinging resolutely to their Hebraic heritage and ideals despite the infiltration of the Greek lifestyle and philosophical ideas into the society around them. The Jews feared that if they became acculturated to this Greek influence, they would dilute the faith of their fathers. The Greek (Hellenistic) worldview was universalist in its concept of religion; no one belief system was absolute. This outlook, of course, was antithetical to the Jewish people who felt that they were the chosen people of the one true God. To the Jews of the Diaspora (Jews living outside Palestine), though, the pursuit of Hellenistic science, literature, and philosophy was enticing, particularly to those living in the great study centers of Alexandria, Asia Minor, and Syria. These Jews were assimilating Hellenistic teachings into the non-religious aspects of their lives, fitting in culturally and socially with the ethnic groups around them. Their spiritual ties to the temple in Jerusalem and their distinctiveness as the chosen sons of Abraham, however, kept their identity in unity with Jews the world over.

Even the Hebrew Bible had been translated into a Greek version, the Septuagint, for a broader appeal to the diverse population. Following the conquests by Alexander the Great during the fourth century BC, almost everyone spoke Greek, the language of culture and trade. Hebrew was understood by relatively few outside Palestine. By making the Hebrew Scriptures available in the language most widely recognized, Judaism experienced an influx of Gentile converts. Despite these influences, though, the very Jewishness of their religious convictions kept most Jews separate from “heathen intrusion” into their faith.

So integral to their very being was their spiritual heritage that the central focus of the Jews was preservation of the faith handed down from their forefathers. No matter where they lived or what foreign customs surrounded them, the Jewish people worldwide struggled to maintain the uniqueness of the Hebraic relationship with God, a relationship that was totally different from that of any other religion. Paul recognized the unprecedented position of his Jewish people: “Those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is over all, God be forever praised! Amen” (Romans 9:3-5).

The interweaving of Jews who held firmly to Hebraic tradition and those Jews who had been influenced by Hellenism forced the fledgling Jerusalem Church into an early confrontation. A not-so-subtle form of racism was threatening division in the body:

"In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against those of the Aramaic-speaking community [Hebraic Jews] because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism" (Acts 6:1-5, emphasis added).

The Hebraic believers’ willingness to cooperate with the Hellenists regarding food distribution affirmed their desire to maintain unity despite differences in their cultural fabrics. It was more important that they all be reconciled as brothers in the Messiah than to let ethnic dissimilarity divide them (see Colossians 3:11). (Note: The criterion for qualification of the seven selected men was that they be “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” In the eyes of the early Church, evidence of the overflowing presence of the Holy Spirit was a priority. As these men had lived out their faith through righteous obedience empowered by God, each had earned a spiritual reputation that was irrefutable.)

The stoning of Stephen (see Acts 7) and subsequent persecution of believers compelled the early Church to carry the Gospel beyond Jerusalem, fulfilling Jesus’s words that they would be witnesses to “all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (see Acts 1:8). God wanted the good news of the Kingdom to penetrate every nation, but most of the believers in Jerusalem were Jewish and uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with Gentiles. Notice in the book of Acts how God enabled the Church to meet this command: “And Saul was there, giving approval to [Stephen’s] death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria...Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there” (Acts 8:1,4,5, emphasis added).

Philip, one of those who had been selected to oversee food distribution in the Church, was among the Hellenist believers. As such, he had probably interacted on a wider basis with non-Jews and was less likely to have innate prejudices against them. The Samaritan communities were especially despised by the Jews because they were a mixed race of heathen and Israelite blood. As an intermediary in the faith, however, Philip could minister among them and prepare the way for the devoutly Hebraic apostles Peter and John to come: “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them” (Acts 8:14). This action confirmed to the Jews at large that non-Jews could also be evangelized. God was sovereignly working through both the Hebraists and the Hellenists to bring to pass His plan that “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). God’s call to Paul (see Acts 9) was yet further confirmation that Jews were to share the Gospel message as they went, wherever they went.

As the early Church grew in number, it became increasingly pluralistic due to the large Gentile influx. Jewish believers needed to oblige the new work God was performing to reach the Gentiles. The writings referred to as the “Newer Testament” were not available to the earliest believers. Most of these documents were not even written until decades after Jesus’s ascension. For both Jew and Gentile, the “Bible” meant the Hebrew Scriptures, now called the “Older Testament.” Every believer recognized the Jewish roots of the faith:

"For Jesus was born a Jew; he lived on the ancestral soil of Palestine, never once setting his foot on alien territory; he taught a small group of disciples, all of whom were as Jewish as he; the language he spoke dripped with Jewish tradition and lore; the little children he loved were Jewish children; the sinners he associated with were Jewish sinners; he healed Jewish bodies, fed Jewish hunger, poured out wine at a Jewish wedding, and when he died he quoted a passage from the Hebrew book of Psalms. Such a Jew!"1

Though diverse in membership, the early Church agreed on the Messiahship of Jesus. Prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures had prepared them to look for His coming. Early believers, Jew and Gentile alike, shared a common experience as they yielded to the Lordship of Jesus, sought guidance by the Holy Spirit, and relied on the Hebrew Scriptures as their teaching source.

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3).

What if the promise that God gave to Abraham is still in effect today? Could part of the church’s problems throughout the centuries been due to its failure to bless the Jewish people, thereby remaining unblessed in exchange? An increasing number of believers today are going back to the Bible, past centuries of the church’s anti-Semitism, to discover what the Christian’s relationship to the Jewish people should be. They are finding Paul’s words to be true: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6, emphasis added).

To understand God’s perspective regarding the Christian’s relationship to the Jews, examine Romans 11:1-32. Paul wrote this section to specifically address the relationship of Jew and Gentile:

"[1] I ask then, Did God reject His people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel...[5] So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. [6] And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. [7] What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened...[11] Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. [12] But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! [13] I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry [14] in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. [15] For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? [16] If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. [17] If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, [18] do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. [19] You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ [20] Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. [21] For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either. [22] Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. [23] And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. [24] After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! [25] I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full numbers of the Gentiles has come in. [26] And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. [27] And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ [28] As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, [29] for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [30] Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, [31] so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. [32] For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all" (emphasis added).

If you put aside the revisions of replacement (also called supersessionist) theology that developed during the centuries after Christ, you can more clearly recognize what would have been understood from this passage at the time Paul wrote it. “Replacement” doctrines teach that God has permanently rejected the Jewish people and that the Church has replaced them; that all of the promises God made to the Jews now apply to the Church. (Many believers today hold to this concept without even knowing that it has a doctrinal title!) But what you find from examining the above passage of scripture is that:

• God did not reject the Jews. “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means!” (v. 1). Salvation comes only by faith in the sacrificial work of Christ. However, God still has a plan and purpose for His Jewish people to be unveiled in His timing when the Messiah is revealed to them.
• God has maintained a remnant. “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (v. 5). These too have not “bowed the knee to Baal” but are awaiting the promised Messiah. At this point they don’t realize that He has already come and will return!
• It was part of God’s plan for the Jew not to receive Jesus as Messiah so that salvation could come to the Gentile: “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (v. 11). God had chosen the people of Israel to be His precious bearers of truth. They rejected His plan and were, for the most part, led astray. However, when the Jews of today see followers of Jesus truly living out their relationship with Him, they will long for that intimacy with God and repent. One rabbi has said that if those who claim to follow Jesus would just live out the Sermon on the Mount, the Jewish people would see that He was truly the Messiah Who changes lives!
• The metaphor of the olive branch best captures the relationship of Christians with Jews. ”If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root” (v. 17). A thorough study of the Scriptures written prior to Jesus’s incarnation, the Older Testament, will enrich your understanding and appreciation of the “sap” of your Hebraic heritage.
• The natural branches will be grafted in again in accordance with God’s plan: “After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!“(v. 24). God has already shown through His prophet Zechariah how He will regraft the Jewish people into the olive tree: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zechariah 12:10,13:1, emphasis added). Through the work of the Holy Spirit the Jews will understand the truth of the Gospel and proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Lord.
• We Christians need to put away the arrogance of past centuries that the church has demonstrated toward the Jews. “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in” (v. 25). God initiates the relationship between Himself and an individual: “No one can come to [Jesus] unless the Father draws him” (John 6:44). The hardening of Israel is only in part; there are hundreds of thousands of Jewish believers worldwide. When the full number of Gentiles who will enter the Kingdom of God have done so, God will then draw in the elect among His Jewish people who have thus far been hardened.
• God has purposed for both Jew and Gentile to be shown His mercy: “For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all” (v. 32). Since no one deserves the mercies of God, neither can anyone judge another person or group of people and think, “They had their chance and blew it.” God will have mercy on those for whom He will have mercy.
• All of the promises presented in Romans 11 will be fulfilled because God’s Word cannot be revoked: “For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (v. 29). What a comfort to know that His plans will be fulfilled in His timing, by His power, and according to His will for Jew and Gentile alike!

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Chapter 2

The Hebrew Bible — The Older Testament
Basis for the Teaching and Practices of the Newer Testament

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

When Paul penned the above words, the only written Scripture was the Hebrew Bible, the Older Testament. The early Church needed the encouragement of the Hebrew Bible so that they might have hope. These writings were their source text for the truth of creation; the fall of man into sin and God’s plan for reconciliation; the covenant relationship between God and man; God’s moral law and His ethical standards—for everything man needed to know about God and His relationship with mankind. Without referring to the Hebrew Bible, how could believers today ever grasp such concepts as the atonement sacrifice? The high priestly mediation of Jesus between His Father and His people? The priesthood of believers and the spiritual responsibilities and privileges that that entails? The Messiahship of the Lord?

Because their faith was based on the God of the Hebrew Bible, the Newer Testament writers repeatedly referred to those Scriptures. (Matthew alone quotes from the Older Testament over fifty times!) Baptisms, observance of the Lord’s Supper, thanksgiving to God before meals, and other early Church practices were rooted in Judaic purification rituals, the Passover celebration, and Sabbath blessings that had been instituted and practiced long before Jesus’s incarnation. Many churches today emphasize the Newer Testament and neglect the Older.

Many consciously or unconsciously believe that the Older Testament concerned the Jews, and the Newer Testament the Christians. The teachings of Jesus and the apostles, however, found their origins in the thirty-nine books of the Older Testament. We must diligently study the Older Testament as well as the New if we are to ever understand the Hebraic theology of our forebears and regain the spiritual life of the early Church.

The Gospel message has been significantly weakened by minimizing the importance of the Hebrew Bible. Without an understanding of the Older Testament truths, the claims of Jesus may seem irrelevant to people today, particularly regarding His atoning sacrifice for their sins. We live in a pluralistic, relativistic culture in which concepts of absolute truth are negated or disparaged as “intolerant.” Assuming personal liability for sinfulness and spiritual guilt contradicts the ubiquitous blame/ victimization mentality of present-day American society. With these influences, commitment to Christ as Lord of one’s life may diminish instead to mere desire for a life-improver: “If I come to Jesus, my life won’t be so lonely, so poverty-stricken, so anxious.” Have you gone through the anguish of watching those with whom you have shared the Gospel (and who, perhaps right in front of you, “gave their hearts to Jesus”) go on in life unchanged by the Good News? How many “new believers” have lost their early zeal for God and their gratefulness to Him, and have even returned to their old ways? Is it because Christians have spent so much time developing methods and theories for Bible teaching that we’ve forgotten to simply teach the Scriptures as they were written: The Bible as one complete and independent revelation of God? Veteran missionary Trevor McIlwain writes that many heresies, misinterpretations, overemphasis of particular verses, and even the development of denominations can be traced back to failing to teach the whole Word in its chronological, panoramic format—from Genesis to Revelation.1

Consider the tremendous distinction between man approaching God from man’s point of view, and God approaching man out of His great love. Ponder these points drawn by McIlwain in his thought-provoking seminar “Building on Firm Foundations”:

"The Gospel is not man accepting Jesus as his Savior, but that God accepted the Lord Jesus as the perfect and only Savior two thousand years ago. The Gospel is not man giving his heart or his life to Jesus, but that Christ gave His life, His whole being, in the place of sinners. The Gospel is not man receiving Christ into his heart, but that God received the Lord Jesus into Heaven as the mediator of sinners. The Gospel is not Christ enthroned in the human heart, but that God enthroned the Lord Jesus at His right hand in Heaven."(emphasis added)2

Christ has already fulfilled the reconciliation requirements of God. His payment is complete. His resurrection is a sign to us on earth that the sacrifice for our sin has been accepted by God the Father. He is satisfied.

The observant Jew regarded God as the Initiator Who drew people to Himself. The Word makes no sense to those who are without the Spirit’s indwelling presence: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Why should you even try to present Bible truth to unbelievers? Jeremiah 23:29 offers one answer: “‘Is not My word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’” The stubbornness of your own rebellious nature becomes like burnt stubble and crushed debris as the Spirit wields the Word of God to bring conviction of heart to the unrighteous (see John 16:8-11).

Paul directs you to another reason to speak the Truth: “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24, emphasis added). Even more clearly you see in Romans 7:7 that “I would not have known what sin was except through the law”(emphasis added). The Spirit of God takes the truths of the law to reveal in you your constant failure to keep it. He then turns your eyes Christward to the only Lawkeeper Who has received your just punishment to satisfy a holy God.

The Jews of Jesus’s time were well aware of their sinful state. They understood that they were totally incapable of keeping the demands of the Law by their own strength. The annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) only magnified the abyss between man’s performance and God’s requirements. The fasting and prayer that characterized Yom Kippur were outward symbols of the inner transformation that was needed. As the late Rabbi Phillip Sigal emphasized, Yom Kippur was “a day of spiritual regeneration leading to the promised atonement.”3 “Hold a sacred assembly and fast, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:27,28).

Repentance represented for the Jewish people a true cry from the heart to God and a return to His law, even to the hour before death.4 Just as salvation by grace is a gift from God to followers of Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 2:8,9), so too did Judaism teach “salvation by grace, a necessary gift of God to help human beings bypass their inability to fulfill all God’s expectations that they be holy ‘as Yhwh [is] holy.’ Human salvation by merit is impossible. God’s grace is an absolute need, and Yom Kippur teaches that it is an absolute and free gift of God.”5

The ten days leading up to the Day of Atonement were a time of personal reckoning for repentance and throwing one’s self upon the mercies of God. During this period each individual was to examine his or her heart to discern and repair any injury done to another during the preceding year. Only then could one seek God’s absolution. (Note that this is exactly what Jesus demanded of His disciples in Matthew 5:23,24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”)

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

God, of His own volition, established a love relationship with the Israelites through His promises to Abraham. They were to be holy, set apart from all others as His treasured people. Through that unique relationship they could then be ambassadors of the one true God to all other nations. How clearly we see from the Older Testament the “husband love” of God toward His chosen, and the devastating effects of sin rupturing that relationship. How marvelous does that tenacious love of God appear as He moves His people to repent and find restoration!

The Jewish believers of the early Church were so “God-centered” that they never questioned the existence of God. Their confidence was grounded in the opening statement in their Bible: “In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1). To the Jew then and now, God is experienced throughout life, not contemplated or analyzed. Those concepts were later introduced by Greek philosophers who converted to Christianity.

God is known by what He does: He initiates and He fulfills. The Hebraic people did not analyze God from an abstract, philosophical vantage point. They recognized that the God of action also demanded active obedience from them. In other words, their “chosenness” obligated them to heed and submit to God. Obedience to God’s truth brought the nation of Israel blessings; disobedience resulted in judgment.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4,5).

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

If you were to try to summarize the Older Testament, it could be expressed in Deuteronomy 6:4,5, above. The heart-cry of God throughout the Hebrew Bible expresses a longing for a relationship with His people. The essence of the Newer Testament is the same. Quoting from Deuteronomy, Jesus reiterated the greatest commandment (see Matthew 22:37-40, above). Everything in your Christian life—everything about knowing God and experiencing Him, everything about knowing and doing His will—depends on the quality of your love relationship with God. If your relationship with Jesus is not right, nothing in your life will be right.

“Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’” (John 3:3).

“[Jesus said] You should not be surprised at My saying, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:7). Jewish doctrine at the time of Jesus taught that a person must experience a spiritual birth. In Hebraic terms, a definition of conversion involved the total human being responding to God’s call on his life. Conversion equaled rebirth, i.e., “born from above”, and answered the inner appeal of God to the spirits of His people. The act of conversion was a response shift from the head to the heart, from knowing about God to knowing Him intimately. It represented a move from the “outside” to the “inside,” from following the letter of the law to abiding with the God Who initiated it. “I have set the Lord always before me” (Psalm 16:8) expressed one’s inner desire to obey God out of love for Him rather than an external obedience compelled by His Law. This represented true spiritual rebirth in those claiming His Lordship.

The faith which Jesus required to be “born again” is defined more in terms of trust and reliance on God rather than on specific creedal positions. Examine Romans 10:9,10 from the Jewish New Testament (JNT) translation by David Stern: “That if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua [Jesus] is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered. For with the heart one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making public acknowledgment and thus continues toward deliverance.”6(emphasis added)

The Hebrew word for “faith”, emunah, does not mean belief but trust in God. This is an emotional and responsive term emanating from the heart, not a cognitive one assented to by the brain. It does not merely signify or acknowledge that God exists; that is already a given! To simply believe with the mind is to give intellectual assent to a factual statement. To truly trust in God requires a wholehearted yielding of yourself to Him unconditionally.

Salvation in the early Hebraic Church was considered a process. Entry into the process meant to trust that the shed blood of Jesus paid the penalty for sin. Remember that on the Day of Atonement each year the Jewish people offered an unblemished lamb as the penalty for their sins. They trusted that God, through His grace and mercy, would forgive them the guilt of all their sins: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7). It is sometimes difficult for us Gentiles to grasp the significance of the Jewish community as a people understanding the severity of sin and the need for forgiveness, yet trusting that the shed blood of a lamb could bring forgiveness of those sins. Think of that community, after centuries of penitent Days of Atonement, being asked to believe that through one man’s death God would forgive all their sins if they would trust in Jesus the Messiah as their atoning sacrifice. Surely the only two responses could be wholehearted joyful acceptance or dumbfounded disbelief.

The process of salvation requires that you keep on trusting. It is in this realm that spiritual warfare is necessary. Satan may have lost your soul because you have put your trust in the shed blood of Jesus, but he will purpose to entice you to live in doubt and unbelief. As the enemy of God and also of Christ’s followers, his goal is to “make war...against those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (see Revelation 12:17). Satan’s warfare tactics include influencing your mind, will, and emotions away from trusting in God in other areas of your life.

Nearly all English translations of the Bible present the message of warfare in the spirit realm from a Greek framework of linguistics, culture, and theology. Have you generally thought that the demonic activity described in both testaments were merely cultural manifestations of an uneducated, unenlightened society? A Greek orientation would enculturate such demonization as a first century or beyond phenomenon, inapplicable to a scientific, technological culture. The Hebraic framework recognized the reality of Satan and the demons because they were described in Scripture and because they were clearly observable in the lives around them.

Consider the following verses as presented from a Hebraic viewpoint:

"For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting...For in it is revealed how God makes people righteous in His sight; and from beginning to end it is through trust—as the scriptures [Hebrew Bible] put it, ‘But the person who is righteous will live his life by trust" (Romans 1:16,17, Jewish New Testament, emphasis added).

"And it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah, to all who continue trusting...Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting" (Romans 3:22, 28, Jewish New Testament, emphasis added).

Faith comes down to this: Man finds complete purpose and fulfillment in his relationship with God and expresses this life of trust by deeds of gratefulness empowered by His presence. God is eager to share His unbounding grace with those who are His own. His people, however, must realize their own helplessness apart from His sustaining power and love. As God initiates a circumstance, a Christian should respond in such a way that God is recognized as both real and trustworthy. James makes this distinction between believing (which even the demons do) and a faith that is seen in how a person lives: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:18,19).

The faith described in the Hebrew Scriptures emphasized justice for the poor and compassion for the needy, both of which required that the believer be aware of the distressed individuals and respond by meeting the need. Jesus modeled obedience to this command by healing the sick (see Matthew 14:14), restoring sight to the blind (see Matthew 20:34), cleansing lepers (see Mark 1:42), and feeding the hungry (see Matthew 15:29-39). He was profoundly aware of the needs of others and took concrete steps to satisfy them.

To better understand the difference between modern evangelism and true conversion at the time of Christ, we need to reflect on these important facts: From a Hebraic perspective, in order to be in relationship with God, one needed to voluntarily become one with the Jewish people. The Jews welcomed converts as true sons of Abraham. The process of conversion involved solidarity with the Jewish community; not just adherence to the Hebraic laws but a drawing near to other believers. In both Exodus 19:6, when the Israelites were told that they would be for God “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” and in 1 Peter 2:9, in which followers of Christ are called “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,” the communal dimension of the body of believers was emphasized.

Think of the impact of mutual responsibility as you read Philippians 2:12,13, recognizing that the pronoun your (referring to salvation) was plural: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (emphasis added). It was in community with other believers that early Jewish followers of Christ enacted the support, nurture, and affirmation that they had experienced in Judaism. The person who chose to separate himself from the community “had no share in the God of Israel. The heretic in the tradition is one who does not feel solidarity and empathy with the joys and suffering of his community.”7

Judaism was convert-driven: The responsibility to “become Jewish” lay with the convert, not with the community or rabbis. If one truly experienced a spiritual rebirth, his heart focused on learning and obeying everything that would please God. His obedience would constitute his “yokedom” in the kingdom of heaven, submitting to God’s ways as taught and modeled by those whose lives attested to His working from the inside out. A person’s way of life prior to rebirth was “earthly, unspiritual, of the devil” (James 3:15) or, as defined in Numbers 15:39, prostitution of oneself “by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.”

Evidence of a life set on glorifying God fulfilled Malachi 3:18: “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not” (emphasis added). You would not have to look too far today to find examples of pastors begging new “believers” to attend Bible studies or worship services. Nor would it take much recall to think of someone you know who is actively involved in an immoral lifestyle yet boldly claiming to be a “Christian.”

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