In the last couple of posts, we have shown that our position as God made us, and our partnership with angels give us authority that makes us useful warriors in the army of the Lord. Just what kind of authority do we have? Let’s explore that topic today.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ep 1: 17-23, NIV).

Did you get that? He said God has given us “great power” if we put our faith and trust in Christ Jesus. How did he do that? He disarmed the powers and authorities who had control of us and made a public spectacle of them by taking on our sins on the cross. This allowed him to forgive us and cancel the legal charges Satan had against us which condemned us to be forever separated from God (Cl 2:13-15). He now strengthens us with his power and qualifies us to share in his inheritance in the kingdom of light (Cl 1:11-12). In Ephesians, we read: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ep 2:6). Therefore, we have been made joint-heirs with Christ, and Paul goes on to say we have been given authority with the same power that raised Christ from the dead if we yield to the power of the Holy Spirit (Ep 1:19-20).

Christ is the head of his Church and we, as part of his Church, are part of his body. He is above all rule, authority, power, and dominion. As his body, we also can overcome these forces as well by using spiritual weapons he has given us. Paul tells us we have the power to demolish strongholds (1Co 10:4-5). These are thoughts and arguments that Satan has set up to go against the knowledge of God. Paul is telling us we have the power to destroy them. We do this in concert with angels (Why Should We Care About Angels) by putting on and utilizing the spiritual armor and tools God has given us (Ep 6:10-20). We don’t plea and beg for God to answer our prayer, but we pray in the authority and power he has given us. Jesus’ words are powerful and cut to one’s very core (Hb 4:12), and angels respond to his words (Ps 103:20). Jesus’ name is powerful and one day all will confess his name and lordship just by being in his presence (Pp 2:9-11). And there is power in his blood to cleanse (1Pt 1:18-19), forgive, and one day all will confess his name and his lordship (Cl 3:17), and his blood protects us and helps us overcome spiritual attacks (Rv 12:11).

So, if you have placed your trust and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, you, my friend, have far more power than you may think. We are now able to have the mind of Christ (1Co 2:26) which means we can see and act in the way Christ would. And if we resist the devil and his forces by utilizing the power Christ has given us and utilize the armor he has bestowed to us, the devil will most definitely flee (Ja 4:7). This is not always easy because we can never let our guard down or give the devil a foothold in our lives (Ep 4:27) because he will most definitely take any and all advantages he can. But we definitely have authority to push back. So, let’s do so. The rewards are far greater for us if we do than if we do not. It is always darkest before the dawn, but that dawn is coming, and it is coming soon.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We know there were prophets in the past who God used mightily. After all, there are whole books of the Bible that were written by these prophets who God told to do certain things and to speak certain words. I have mentioned in a previous post how the messages these prophets spoke, typically of impending doom, were peppered with messages of hope (God's Prophecy of Hope) and that hope is not hope unless it is actually tangible and will come to be in the physical as prophesied.

Do such prophets exist today as well? One of the arguments by many against this tenet is that today we have all Scripture from God so there is no need for prophets today. But did God only use prophets to provide his scripture to us? As I pointed out in another post (Church Age), there were many other prophets who God used but their words did not become part of our canon of Scripture. It would seem it was not the office of prophet that determined the use of their words, but God’s intended purpose of their inspired words which the Holy Spirit gave them. Yet, the common denominator seems to be that all those whom God called to be a prophet pointed their audience to God and to God’s scripture. Their main purpose was to help prevent God’s people from going astray or to help them understand the error of their ways so they would return to God wholeheartedly.

So, if there are prophets today, they should be doing the same. I think there are three criteria they would be fulfilling based on what I just stated above: (1) they provide God’s inspired words, but not adding to what the Bible already has told us; (2) they point people back to God and his precepts; and (3) while they may be speaking about what God will be doing or is doing, they are not adding to Scripture, but utilizing Scripture for us to focus on to either teach us some aspect of Scripture we have not, or are not, abiding by or recognizing.

Yet, we need to recognize that prophecy can be tricky for us to validate before we jump in wholeheartedly. After all, the enemy has his prophets also. Our enemy, Satan, uses them to distract, divide, and confuse us so that we focus on the division their words cause us rather than on the message the true prophets are trying to get us to understand. It seems this has been his modus operandi from the very beginning. Maybe a few examples will help us. During the time of Jeremiah, there were those who opposed his prophecies as being untrue and unfounded and even publicly ridiculed him (Jr 28:1-11), and God proved the false prophet to be untrue as he met an untimely death (Jr 28:12-17). God revealed these false prophets’ true motives as being from the enemy (Jr 23:13-14). Almost all God’s prophets had to deal with false prophets who tried to make the people believe their words null and void. This was true of Isaiah (Is 8:20) and Ezekiel (Ek 22:28) as well.

We find similar cautions in the New Testament also. Jesus warned people of this issue even in his day (Mt 7:15) as well as what would happen in their future (Mt 24:24). John (1Jn 4:1), Peter (2Pt 2:1-3), and Paul (Cl 2:8) also provided this same warning.

So, if we know there will be false prophets among us, wouldn’t that suggest we would also have true prophets of God in our midst as well? Why would we need them if we have all of God’s scripture? Well, it seems the false prophets are using scripture (or, rather, misapplying scripture) to support their false theories and teachings (2Co 11:13). We need true prophets to cause us to focus on the true meaning of scripture and not fall for such false teachings. While, yes, we can accomplish the same on our own, we also know most of us do not dive into scripture and personally pray to understand its true meaning. True prophets will (and should, if they exist today) cause us to focus correctly on what God is telling us through Scripture.

If this was not true, then why would John say to test the spirits to tell if a prophet is true or false (1Jn 4:1)? What was the litmus test? “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God” (1Jn 4:2-3). So, listen to several messages from those who claim to be prophets. Are they consistent in their messaging? Do they talk about other prophets and demean them? Do they point you to Scripture or focus you on what they say? Does their message align with all Scripture or just the point they are making with a specific scripture reference (which may be out of context if it doesn’t align with all scripture). And, as John told us, is Jesus Christ the center of their teaching?

So, what are these prophets telling us that is putting so many people in a quandary? We’ll get into that in my next post. I hope you join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The idea of the coming Kingdom Age is not absent from the Bible. The coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our time, which some are calling the Kingdom Age, will bring in an unprecedented harvest of souls for the Lord. This was revealed to Daniel (Dn 7:27) and Jesus also spoke of this as well (Mt 24:14). We know he was not talking about the end of time because Jesus then goes on to talk about what will occur after this which we have labeled the Tribulation Period (Mt 24:15-22). Jesus also told his disciples he was conferring a kingdom to them just as God the Father had conferred a kingdom to him (Lk 22:29).

This is likely the kingdom to which both John the Baptist and Jesus himself were speaking of when he first started his ministry. Reason? The Holy Spirit had not yet been given so he asked his disciples to pray for it to come because the Holy Spirit would be able to do more than he himself could do because the Holy Spirit could work within everyone at the same time (Jn 14:12).

Why would there be a coming Kingdom Age and how have so many people missed it? The former is probably easier to explain than the latter. As previously said, both the Church as well as Israel did not fulfill their original calling. This coming Kingdom Age, highlighted by one of the most unprecedented Holy Spirit outpourings in history, is the graciousness of the Lord to allow the Church to fulfill its original mandate: preach the gospel to the whole world (Mt 28:19-20) and to become a united, unblemished, bride for Jesus Christ (Ep 4:13; 5:27).

I see the Church Age divided into four steps:

1.      Early Church: This was when the Holy Spirit was first given and was allowed to work miraculously to reach many who accepted Christ as their Savior and could then go and duplicate what they had seen, heard, and had been given.

2.      Church Decline: Unfortunately, this started not too long after the expansion of the Church throughout the Roman Empire. Greek and Hellenistic thought processes began to infiltrate Biblical interpretation and the Church becoming hierarchical in structure inhibited the working of the Holy Spirit because those in influential seats of power were often not led by the Holy Spirit. Apostles and prophets were suppressed because they showed that individuals had the power of the Holy Spirit to bring others to Christ rather than relying on the Church organization itself to achieve such a feat, and the prophets would preach and reprimand those in clerical power positions which those in power would not want to occur and so would suppress the validity of such individuals.

3.      Church Reformation: This was a reawakening of the Church to many aspects of the Early Church but still with many weights and flaws of the previous hundreds of years by misguided leaders. Satan was quick to jump on this bandwagon to cause doctrinal disputes which split the church into an ever-increasing number of factions. With no belief in prophets to counter the waywardness, it seemed to create more and more factions until, today, there are hundreds of various denominations which cannot get along and which bicker with each other rather than seeing how to unite within Christ.

4.      Kingdom Age: This is a true reawakening of the Church to the Early Church beliefs and practices. So, it is not so much a new thing, but returning to something the Church once was. We will see the Holy Spirit being outpoured in significant ways that will likely jar many who are stuck in church tradition and rites. We will again see many signs and wonders with many being miraculously healed from all sorts of diseases and maladies by the Holy Spirit as a true testament to his power. As in the Early Church, this will lead many to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

This seems to be when the Church will shine for the Holy Spirit will enable believers to impact others with their lives and many will fall under the conviction of the Holy Spirit leading to a tremendous reaping of souls for the Lord. It is unclear how long this time will last, but it seems to come on the heels of much persecution but ends with a time of great glory. Therefore, the rapture event for the Church does not come to rescue believers but to take them out of the world at the peak of their performance so it can have an even greater impact on those who remain.

Doesn’t that sound wonderful? We, the church, as the bride of Christ will be received by Christ in our glory and not our humiliation. What a great God we serve!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

It’s no coincidence that the Church had its beginning on Shavuot (Pentecost; Ac 2). Israel became a nation (i.e., became betrothed to God [Yahweh]) fifty-two days after the first Passover (Ex 24:4-8). While Bikkurim (Firstfruit) and Shavuot (Pentecost) were not celebrated as festivals until the Israelites reached their Promised Land (Lv 23:10), the covenant God made with Israel to make them a nation occurred on the same day that Shavuot would normally occur. In the same way, the Church was born or was betrothed to God [Yahweh] on the first Shavuot after Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

The Church did not replace Israel (Ro 11:1-2, 11, 25-29) but the mode of worldwide impact for God was transitioned from a nation to individuals. It was a betrothal because God calls the Church his bride (2Co 11:2; Ep 5:24; Rv 19:7). It is interesting that Shavuot is also known as the First Shofar because the betrothal period is marked by the blowing of a shofar. The sound of the shofar was the very voice of God when Israel was pledged to God at the base of Mount Sinai (Ex 19:18-19; Dt 4:12-13). The sound of a rushing mighty wind, the Holy Spirit himself, occurred when the Church was pledged to God in the upper room in Jerusalem (Ac 2:2) forty days after Christ’s ascension into Heaven (fifty days after his resurrection on Bikkurim, or Firstfruit).

This was the foreshadow (2Co 1:22) of God’s new, more intimate, covenant promised to Israel (Jr 31:31-34). Jesus had fulfilled the previous covenant with Israel (Mt 5:17) and was now making a new blood covenant which would actually forgive sins (Mt 26:28) whereas previously, all the sacrifices just placated sin (Hb 10:1-4).

While the idea of the Church we know of today was alluded to in the Old Testament (e.g. Dt 32:21; Is 65:1), it was not made fully known in how God would use it until God revealed such to the apostle Paul (Ep 3:4-6). The birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ had to first occur before his Church could be established. Why is that? Because the power of sin over humans had to be eliminated (Ro 6:7).

We need to fully understand what Christ did for us on the cross. He became our sin so that we could take on his righteousness (2 Co 5:21). What does that mean? Our past, present, and future sin was placed on Christ; all sin ever committed by anyone. Now, that’s quite the burden. The apostle Paul tells us Christ disarmed the powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Cl 2:15). This implies that he went to Sheol in our place so that penalty of our sin could be dealt with once and for all. So Christ went to Sheol for three days, proclaimed to those on the unrighteous side why their fate is sealed, and preached to those on the righteous side what he just did for them and gave them the gift of redemption. He then brought the righteous home to the third heaven where they are today and why Paul stated to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2Co 5:8). Because of the disarming by Christ to Satan and his kingdom, he can now bestow on those in his Church gifts for building up his Bride and make her strong and effective.

Christ received back from Satan the power he had stollen from Adam (Cl 2:13-15; Jn 10:17-18; Rv 1:18). What power had God given to Adam? God gave him dominion over all the earth (Gn 1:28) to rule in God’s authority (Ps 8:6-8). Satan deceived that out of Eve and Adam rebelled against God (Gn 3:1-7) so Satan connived Adam’s kingdom from him (Mt 4:8-9; Jn 14:30) and all born afterward are born into sin, Satan’s kingdom (Ps 58:3, Jn 12:46; Ro 5:12); therefore, we do not have to choose Satan’s kingdom because we are born into it and must make a conscious decision to leave it (Jn 3:17-18).

God’s people, his Church has gained that power back. Paul tells us the power we have received is the same mighty strength God exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms (Ep 1:18-23), and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ep 2:4-10). Therefore, we, God’s Church, have far greater power and authority than we have been led to believe. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you already have this power which comes to us through the Holy Spirit. We can exert more and more of this power as we allow the Holy Spirit to control more and more of us.

The early church was given, and operated, in a five-fold ministry, as some have called it. Paul states that Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that those who come to Christ may be built up in unity of faith and become mature in the knowledge of Christ (Ep 4:11-13). There is much debate about this verse both from a gift classification perspective and from a gift over time perspective. Paul does use a different conjunction between the first three gifts and the last two gifts. Yet, the conjunctions Paul uses in this verse, (de and kai) while different are still translated as the English conjunction ‘and.’ Yet, just because a different conjunction is used (kai) between the last two does not necessarily mean these are one gift but likely mean they are more connected in character and function than the other three. For example, all pastors are teachers but not all teachers are pastors. This same type of mental gymnastics cannot be done for the other three (apostles, prophets, evangelists). So, in the end, it seems there are still five distinct gifts, but some individuals could be pastors and teachers, while others are teachers but not pastors.

Then, there is the controversy over apostles and prophets being for the early church, but not for today. This, I think, comes down to the definition of these terms. Some state there were only twelve apostles so there were no additional apostles after these individuals. While this is a true statement, this does not necessarily exclude others from being called apostles. For example, the original twelve apostles were also called disciples, but this did not mean Jesus had only twelve disciples. After all, the word ‘apostle’ simply means “an ambassador of the Gospel” usually with miraculous powers.

It seems there were apostles Christ had chosen (Ac 1:2) and then apostles which the churches chose (Ac 14:14; Ro 16:7; 1Co 9:2). Paul also uses the word ‘we’ when he mentioned the term ‘apostles’ in his letter to the Thessalonians (1Th 2:6). He is likely referring to not only himself, but also to Silas and Timothy as well (1Th 1:1). Later, Paul also refers to Andronicus and Junia as apostles, two among many others. Therefore, it seems over time, the term apostle came to be applied to other dedicated individuals for God’s service and not just to the original twelve.

In addition, it seems others were posing to be apostles even though they were not (2Co 11:13). It would seem these individuals, whom he sardonically called “super-apostles” were performing some type of miraculous signs as that was one indication of an apostle (2Co 12:12). Yet, their overall intent was not the advancement of the gospel but their own fame. Yet, if apostles were noted to be only Christ’s original twelve apostles, then these individuals would not have been able to feign being apostles.

The other term to consider is ‘prophet.’ Some claim that once all of Scripture was complete, there was no need for prophets as we now have God’s compete word to follow. While that is true, I’m not sure that settles the issue. After all, prophets were not just to deliver a message that would become Scripture but provide messages from God that warned people about obeying God’s Scripture. Granted, there were many prophets in the Old Testament that became part of our canon of Scripture (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachai) but there were many others who delivered a word of warning from God which did not become part of Scripture, but held true to Scripture (e.g., Gad, Nathan, Ahijah, Azariah, Hanani, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Jahaziel, Oded, Huldah, and Uriah). In addition, there were prophets mentioned in the New Testament as well (Silas, Judas [Ac 15:32], Agabus [Ac 21:10], and others [Ac 13:1]). So, just being a prophet does not mean words delivered will become Scripture. Yet, their words will never contradict Scripture.

Yes, we have God’s complete Scripture today, but we have so many different interpretations of Scripture today leading to so many different doctrines based upon the same Scripture. Is this what God would want? Would prophets have prevented such from occurring? Just something to consider.

Also, prophets have always popped up when God’s people have gone astray from following his word. That is why so many were persecuted because they warned people they were not in the right. People get very angry when they are spiritually reprimanded. We also see that throughout Scripture.

While prophets are certainly about the future, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are talking about a future not reported in Scripture. But let’s be honest here, we have so many views of our future, how can we know which are truly correct? Would prophets have prevented that from occurring as well? Again, something we should consider.

In addition, if there are no prophets today, then why does Scripture teach there will be prophets in “the last days” (Jl 2:28-32)? So, we had them, then they went away, and then they’ll return? If so, who determines when we should listen to them again?

Also, if prophets were only for the early church until the canon of Scripture was in place, wouldn’t Scripture have been more explicit about that? At what point is the cutoff for prophets? The canon of Scripture occurred over several hundred years. Also, how do we handle what Paul says about prophecy when he said, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all” (1Th 5:20)? Because if we are no longer listening to prophets, then we are technically treating them with contempt because we are not following them. So, at what point were we allowed to not follow Paul’s advice in this regard? Would this suggest that we should listen to prophecy as long as they do not contradict the Bible itself?

And, if we look at what many prophets are saying today, then many are talking about a Kingdom Age that is upon us, or a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the earth to bring a great revival. Is this something we should listen to or ignore? If this is upon us, why weren’t those of the early church looking for this future for themselves? Wouldn’t Paul have known about this and would have put this in his writings?

I think the short answer is no. Why? Because they were already operating in the idea of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Paul likely expected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to continue throughout the Church Age, so he would not be expecting it to wane and then come back again. Therefore, his emphasis was on Christ’s return and not another outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

So, what would have caused this decline of the outpouring of the Holy Spirt to get us where we are today? What some have purported, and what is hard to refute, is that the teaching of the spiritual gifts of apostle and prophet no longer being needed is the reason. If these two gifts were meant to be carried farther, what caused their demise? Politics.

Whether we look at Judaism or Christianity, both have not fulfilled their spiritual destiny God had ordained for them because of politics. Not politics itself, per se, but allowing those not led by the Holy Spirit to lead.

As an example, by the time Eli was Israel’s high priest, the people went through the motions of sacrifice, but their hearts were not in it, mainly because his sons were quite corrupt. Likely when the people saw their corruption, they were not as enthusiastic in following the precepts God had required of them. It was at that time God brought Samuel into play. While he was a judge, he was also a prophet by warning the people as to what God required of them.

By the time of Jesus, the high priest position had become a political position and thereby the person being high priest had lost a lot of their concern about following God’s precepts. They were in the position for the power, prestige, and wealth the position provided them. In addition, it led to nationalistic encouragement rather than Scriptural encouragement. This led to the Jews becoming more exclusionary to other nationalities rather than teaching other nations the ways of Yahweh. The letter of the law became more important than the heart of the law.

This is also true of the Church as well. The early church had the spiritual fervor, ever desired to be led by the Holy Spirit. As the church became larger, it became more organized, and over time, became hierarchical. While there is nothing wrong with such organization, it led to those who were not really Christian to hold high positions, ever looking how to increase their power, prestige, and wealth. This led to the Church becoming more political and less spiritual. It would be easy to see how apostles and prophets would be discouraged in such an environment because they would bring stinging remarks that those in prominence were not in keeping with the heart of Scripture. Religious rites became more important than the true leading of the Holy Spirit.

What about you today? What is leading you? Are you more about the letter of Scripture or the heart of Scripture. God has always stated it is better to obey than sacrifice (1Sa 15:22; Ps 40:6; Ho 6:6). Let’s walk in the light of the Holy Spirit and allow him to guide us.

Next, we’ll look at something wonderful that will be coming. I hope you join me for the next post where we will be discussing that.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

It was not the difference between being Jewish and Gentile and how to combine these cultures under the umbrella of Christianity that caused the final division between the two, but the expression of anti-Semitism that developed. Probably one of the earliest writings that set this tone was the Epistle of Barnabas (80-120 AD):

…give heed to yourselves now, and not to liken yourselves to certain persons who pile up sin upon sin, saying that our covenant remains to them also. Ours it is; but they lost it in this way for ever, when Moses had just received it. (Barnabas 4:6, 7)

The main tenet of this author was that the Jews did not receive the covenant from God as they claimed because Moses broke the stone tablets that contained that covenant; therefore, it was not received until Jesus Christ came and it was received by the Gentiles who believed in Him. This thought pattern may have been the genesis to many other writers who went even further into these anti-Semitic beliefs and teachings.

While many of the early church fathers had very good Biblical teaching for which we all have benefitted, they could not seem to get over the stumbling block of Jews and their rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah. However, they did not seem to distinguish the difference between individual Jews and the Jewish nation. The national leaders rejected Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah; individual Jews, however, were accepting Him as their Savior. Yet, this distinction seems to be missed in their writings. Here are just a few:

• Ignatius of Antioch was a disciple of the apostle John and was bishop of the church in Antioch, Syria, when Trajan was Emperor and sentenced him to a martyr’s death by beast in the arena. This is an excerpt from one of his writings to Magnesia, one of the regional units, or territories, in Greece (writing between 105-115 AD):

It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered together to God. (Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Chapter X)

• Justin Martyr was a second century Christian apologist. He also wrote against Marcion who held that Christianity was in discontinuity with Judaism. This is an excerpt from his third apology (writing between 150-160 AD):

For the circumcision according to the flesh, which is from Abraham, was given for a sign; that you may be separated from other nations, and from us; and that you alone may suffer that which you now justly suffer; and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned with fire; and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence, and not one of you may go up to Jerusalem. (St. Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter XVI)

• Origen was a theologian in Alexandria, Egypt. He refuted Gnosticism and was a critic of many pagan philosophies of his day. He is noted for developing Christian Neoplatonism which combined many of the philosophies of Plato with those of Old Testament scripture. This is an excerpt from one of his responses to the pagan philosopher Celsus’ attack on Christianity (writing between 203-250 AD):

…on account of their unbelief, and the other insults which they heaped upon Jesus, the Jews will not only suffer more than others in that judgment, which is believed to impend over the world, but have even already endured such sufferings. For what nation is in exile from their own metropolis, and from the place sacred to the worship of their fathers, save the Jews alone? And these calamities they have suffered, because they were a most wicked nation, which, although guilty of many other sins, yet has been punished so severely for none, as for those that were committed against our Jesus. (Origen Against Celsus: Book II, Chapter VIII)

• John Chrysostom (344-407 AD) was a priest at Antioch in Syria as well as archbishop in Constantinople and was noted as the early church’s greatest preacher. He was blunt in his preaching which won him notoriety as well as got him into trouble. He was later falsely accused of heresy, deposed, and sentenced to exile. However, his health was so poor he died on the journey. The following are excerpts from some of his sermons:

The synagogues of the Jews are the homes of idolatry and devils, even though they have no images in them [Sermon I:3; based on Jer. vii:11]. They are worse even than heathen circuses [Sermon I:3]. The very idea of going from a church to a synagogue is blasphemous [Sermon II:3]; and to attend the Jewish Passover is to insult Christ. To be with the Jews on the very day they murdered Jesus is to ensure that on the Day of Judgment He will say 'Depart from Me: for you have had intercourse with my murderers' [Sermon III:5 and VI:8]. The Jews do not worship God but devils [Sermon I:3, based on John 8:19], so that all their feasts are unclean [Sermon I:6]. God hates them, and indeed has always hated them. But since their murder of Jesus, He allows them no time for repentance [Sermon VI:1]. It was of set purpose that He concentrated all their worship in Jerusalem that He might more easily destroy it [Sermon IV:6].

It is likely that most of these early theologians would state that they were not condoning the systematic killing of Jewish people and their words have been taken out of context. While that may be true, they also likely did not consider how much weight their words would be taken by those who would come after them or how long-lasting their statements would endure and be such a catalyst for a much more aggressive form of anti-Semitism which still persists today. While their intentions may have been pure and slated at non-Christian Jews and not wanting their congregation to be confused with non-Christian Jewish thinking, it became the focal part of the wedge that started to drive the separation of the church from all Jews and not just those who had not accepted Jesus as their Messiah.

During this time of church history through the teachings of Origen, Clement, and others who were influenced by Greek philosophy and allegorical scripture interpretation like the Jewish scholar Philo, was the use of allegory to explain scripture from a Christian perspective. This method of interpretation allowed them to make leaps that the Christian church was now the continuation of God’s covenant with Israel in the Old Testament. This in itself is not anti-Semitism, but does lay the groundwork for that to develop: if indeed true, then how would, or could, Israel fit into God’s future plans?

This sentiment has continued over the centuries by many. Under the rise of Constantine and the Counsel of Nicaea, further separations were made. As one example, Easter was made the official Christian holiday for celebrating the resurrection of Christ rather than Passover week (Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits). Also, the rights of Jews were severely reduced, and the Jews were later treated very severely, were blamed for plagues that occurred, and were harassed relentlessly. This anti-Semitism was a catalyst for the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and much persecution. Unfortunately, Paul’s statement that salvation had come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious (Ro 11:11) was not considered, but rather the Jews were made to hate instead. Even Martin Luther in the fifteenth century had disparaging remarks against the Jews. So much so that Hitler stated his atrocities against the Jews were simply finishing what Luther had started.

The separation between Jew and Christian has become so far removed that it is likely any mainstream Jew or Christian today would be unable to express any connection between their two faiths. Most Christians today have no real understanding that Jewish holidays have a Christian relevance.

Because of this separation, there is now also a separation between Christian Gentiles and Christian Jews (usually called Messianic Jews) which is unfortunate since they both are followers of Jesus Christ. It seems that these Messianic Jews are the only ones who currently blend the messages of the Old and New Testaments into their liturgical church operations. As an example, there are very few Gentile Christian churches that even mention Communion comes from the last Passover meal Jesus had with his disciples. Even if this aspect is mentioned, the symbolism of the bread and cup within the Passover meal are usually not explained. The argument continues in that Messianic Jews can get too legalistic as did the Jews in the days of old while Gentile Christians can be accused of not understanding the Old Testament meaning in their New Testament practices. It seems everyone can get caught up in tradition rather than understanding. All Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, should remember Paul’s words to the Colossians that whatever one does, it should all be done in the name of Jesus Christ and to the glory of God the Father (Cl 3:17). Praise and recognition should also not be the motivators as that can instead hinder the gospel message (3Jn 1:5, 10), and one’s thought pattern must change to recognize the worth in others that God sees (Pm 1:15-16).

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With Paul being so against Gentiles becoming Jewish proselytes in order to become Christians, we have to wonder if the apostle Paul became a Gentile. Although Paul was adamant about what made one a follower of Jesus Christ, it is not that he threw away his Jewish heritage. He was actually quite proud of it (Ro 11:1). At times, however, he did set aside his Jewishness, for he did not want it to be a stumbling block to others and confuse them (1Co 9:20-22). But for the most part, he kept a lot of the Jewish customs. On his second missionary journey, he hurried back to Jerusalem to keep the Passover (Ac 18:21). On this journey he also seemed to have kept a Nazarite vow (Ac 18:18). On his third missionary journey, he observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Philippi (Ac 20:6) and wanted to get to Jerusalem in time for Shavuot [Pentecost] (Ac 20:16). Paul, therefore, did not live like a Gentile in every aspect. Yet, he was not bothered by blending the two. Paul’s main emphasis was that Jesus Christ came and died for the sins of mankind and everyone needed to hear about Him, accept Him, receive salvation through Him, and receive the Holy Spirit in order to live a life pleasing to God. Everything else was just tradition. The Law of Moses had shown them their sin (Ro 3:20); keeping it did not save them (Ro 3:23, 28). Salvation through Jesus Christ is for all, both Jew and Gentile (Ro 3:21-31).

Paul saw no problem with keeping the Jewish traditions/customs or even the Law itself as long as it was kept in its proper context. It is something one chooses volitionally to do but not committed to do. Therefore, there was no need to impose this on Gentiles as it was not necessary for salvation. However, anyone, either Jew or Gentile could decide to keep the Jewish feasts and any other customs as long as they knew this was not making them any better than anyone else (1Co 8:8). After all, the Jewish feasts were just as important to Gentile Christians as to Jewish Christians: Pesach (Passover) was a reminder of the crucifixion of Jesus and thereby forgiveness of sins (1Co 5:7), Matzah (Feast of Unleavened Bread) was a reminder that Jesus Christ was a sinless sacrifice for them and that accepting Him they were now also dead to the power of sin (Ro 6:3), Bikkurim (First Fruits) was a reminder of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and thereby a promise for their future resurrection (Ro 6:4), and Shavuot (Pentecost) was a reminder of the gift of the Holy Spirit and the union of both Jewish and Gentile believers (Ro 10:12). Even the other feasts would be an important reminder for their future: Rosh Hashanah (New Years’ or Feast of Trumpets) would represent God not forgetting the nation of Israel as He remembers His covenant with them (Ro 11:25-26) and demonstrating that God always remembers His promises; Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) would represent the promise of Christ’s Second Coming and the salvation of the nation of Israel (Zc 13:1; Ro 11:27); and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) would represent the promise of Jesus Christ, their Messiah and Savior, setting up His earthly reign on David’s throne and dwelling with His people (both Jewish and Gentile Christians) on earth (Zc 8:3, 14:9; Rv 20:4).

While Paul was mainly focused on Gentiles, he did not forget about the Jews and would often first preach in their synagogues wherever he went (Ac 14:1, 17:2). The other disciples focused more on the Jews but also did not forget about Gentiles entirely. Much of this information is not found in the scriptures but from the Roman historian Eusebius, the Christian theologian Clement, as well as others. From these sources we find the other places that the disciples preached the gospel message. These places are countries we know today as Albania, Algeria, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Gavdos, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Sicily, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.

The apostles, other than Paul, concentrated their gospel message to the Jews who lived in Jewish colonies throughout the Roman Empire. Many of the places overlap with where Paul preached, which is not really that remarkable when one finds even in the New Testament scripture that the churches were composed of both Jews and Gentiles.

It is interesting to note that one of the main areas where there is no overlap is northern Africa. However, it makes sense for the apostles to concentrate here as this was once part of the Israeli-spawned Carthaginian Empire before being defeated by Rome at least a century earlier. Shortly before Israel was taken by Assyria, many of the Israelites fled to Carthage, which was then known as Kirjath-Hadeschath, and became a significant part of Carthage’s rise to power. Therefore, it is likely that a large contingent of Jews still lived in these areas of North Africa. This is just part of the total Jewish/Israeli population that existed in the first century AD.

From this we see that God has always cared for both Jews and Gentiles and has a plan for both.

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It’s a surprise to many, both Gentiles and Jews, that the Church was originally Jewish, composed of only Jews and Jewish proselytes. When the Holy Spirit descended on that first Shavuot (Pentecost) after Christ’s ascension, all who believed and received the Holy Spirit were either Jews or Jewish proselytes (Ac 2:1-4, 41, 47). This continued as more and more people believed. It seems that the Christian Jews were very accepting of Jewish proselytes becoming Christians and were treated as equals. Nicholas, a Gentile and Jewish proselyte, was made a deacon of the church in Jerusalem (Ac 6:5). Philip preached to many in Samaria who accepted Christ as their Savior (Ac 8:12-17). Normally, Samaritans were not accepted by the Jews because they were considered half-breeds. Therefore, these were either Samaritans who had become Jewish proselytes prior to their acceptance, or the current Christian Jews were willing to accept them because of the similarity in their religious beliefs since no one challenged their becoming Christians. Even Philip preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch was not challenged since this eunuch was already a Jewish proselyte (Ac 8:26-39).

When God, through a vision, lead Peter to preach to a Roman Centurion and his household and they believed and received the Holy Spirit, it caused quite a stir. The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem had a hard time accepting that true Gentiles – not proselytes – had received the Holy Spirit. However, when Peter explained how God had orchestrated the whole thing, they accepted it and rejoiced (Ac 11:1-18). After that, other Jewish believers started telling other Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) about Jesus Christ and they believed (Ac 11:19-21). During this time, Saul, who was a very zealous Pharisee, had received permission from the Sanhedrin to charge and arrest any Jew who had converted to what was then called “The Way” so they could be brought to trial for conviction of heresy (Ac 8:3, 9:1-3). This persecution first started with the stoning of Stephen. Stephen had been a deacon of the Jerusalem church and very outspoken about Jesus Christ (Ac 6:8-15, 7:57-58). Saul was adamant about finishing the job. This persecution caused many Christians to flee Jerusalem to other nearby areas – one being Damascus. Word got to Saul that The Way was spreading its teachings in that area. There has been much criticism of this passage of scripture with some saying that neither Saul, the high priest, nor the Sanhedrin would have any clout in Damascus to carry this out. However, since the letters from the high priest were to the synagogues, it is likely Saul would solicit their help in finding the correct suspects, ask their help with getting judicial authority or going under the radar of judicial authority, or help in securing the necessary means for carrying out the arrest. Also, the letters would carry the weight of the high priest’s authority and may have had financial implication to their synagogue for not helping. In addition, Jerusalem and Damascus would both have been considered part of Syria at this time of history. However, on the way to Damascus, Saul encountered Jesus Christ, had a change of heart, became part of The Way, and then poured his zeal into spreading the gospel (Ac 9:1-22). Later Saul’s name was changed to Paul (Ac 13:9).

Barnabas was part of the delegation from Jerusalem to go and investigate what was going on in Antioch where Gentiles were becoming believers. He saw that it was a good thing and of the Holy Spirit. He later went and got Paul from Tarsus where he was staying at that time and brought him to Antioch (Ac 11:22-26). From there, Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey (Ac 13:1-3). This started many debates about how one should become a Christian, and how Jews and Gentiles could be part of the same group identifying with Jesus Christ.

For some reason, debate has always been a part of the Church – probably because we don’t all look at things from God’s point of view. Unity only comes from a single point of view, and that point of view must be God’s. Let us all strive to find and keep that unity.

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