Dealing With Christian Controversies

The first of all church controversies was not about theology but something surprisingly Jewish. Within it are the principles of how to enlarge your tent, your heart, your vision, and the expense of your calling.

But every time you have a victory in the lord, there’s always the enemy to start trying to mess it up.
And so there’s opposition, and then there’s opposition, and they there’s attack and there’s controversy.
And that’s when you have to stand because god will even do something greater when you’re getting attacked.
Stand because he has something even greater if you press through the attack.
There have been many controversies in church history in the history of the, quote, organized church.
It doesn’t mean that they were all real believers or not, but some of the famous ones were one was called Arionism, which held that the Messiah while the son of god was not quite as divine as the father or he and wasn’t eternal.
Historianism that that Jesus Messiah and this was and the son of god were not quite the same.
His his humanity and his divinity were kind of separated.
The nasticks and the docetists, which said messiah’s body was just an illusion because because they said that the physical word is evil, so it had to be an illusion that he was even here.
The Marcianites that the god of the Hebrew Bible was different from the god of the new testament.
In other words, the god of the in some some believers still act like that true.
The god of the old testament isn’t always angry in a bad mood.
The god of the new testament, he has to change a heart. He’s a nice god. Not true. Not true.
Pelegianism that you could earn your way to heaven without grace and much, much more.
But but the first of all controversies in the quote church or faith was very different.
Well, this is actually the true church. This is acts, and here it is. Acts fifteen verse 1.
Some men came down from judea and began teaching the brethren unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
Okay. The year is approximately 49 AD.
This is an event that is of such gigantic importance without this.
Many of you or most of you wouldn’t be saved today.
All those who came, who come to the Messiah, who were not Jewish by birth.
Back then had either been proselytes, meaning they had already already converted or god fearrs, and they and they may have already been circumcised.
Only Cornelius the Romans Centurion in caesarea who who called for Peter to come and was the first one to be baptized.
Only he didn’t fit the pattern.
But that event was apparently seen as something exceptional, didn’t fit in, not for changing a policy.
And they may have assumed that Cornelius would then go under the law and be circumcised.
A persecution comes to the believers in Jerusalem, and it scatters them.
They end up some of them end up in Antioch in Antioch, it’s Jew and Gentile.
And there’s no real doesn’t the Bible doesn’t speak about a distinction. They’re just there.
And they they start it from Antioch comes the 1st world mission as we saw Paul and Barnabas.
And when Paul goes and Barnabas, they for the first time, they’re preaching directly to the gentiles.
It’s not just, okay. We went here and then, you know, it’s kind of a side people are coming.
To the as we as we seek for the Jewish people to come, but now they’re going directly to the gentiles.
So this was a matter of far reaching concern to Jerusalem. They’re saying, what’s going on here now?
Cause things are changing. It is about 19 years after the crucifixion and to get an idea and the resurrection.
That would be like the resurrection of the crucifixion would be like when 911 happened. Okay?
That’s about 19 years ago or so. So that’s where you are. That’s how far they are.
So he he now now they went all that time, though, almost 20 years without coming to this decision about circumcision.
That means they were pretty much all Jewish believers except for the god fearing gentiles because that’s all that it was, but now it starts going on.
So this is the first the first church issue controversy for quote for Christianity.
What would be known as that later on is focused not on all these other things that came later, but on circumcision.
That shows you right there how Jewish the faith is. The 1st church controversy is about circumcision.
They thought that in order to become a Christian, you had to be circumcised or you had to become Jewish by flesh.
And there. So it comes all the way up to this point.
Now it also shows you not only how Jewish your faith is, and it’s for everybody, Jew and Jetal, but it’s the it’s it’s what god has given, but also it shows you how far things departed because just about in the in the 4th century, the 300s, not not not that long, much long later when you look at the whole age, believers what the church councils were saying that any believer that still celebrated the Jewish holidays was was condemned.
It actually made a thing that if you celebrated passo you celebrate the death of Messiah, which happened on passover, on passover, you were condemned.
It was outlawed. They called them the those who did the cordo decimans, that which sounds like a har heresy, but it simply means the 14th day of the month that’s that’s passover.
So, see how far it went from its roots when the very first thing was, can we let in non Jewish peoples without being circumcised?
Can you become a Christian without being circumcised.
It comes along because of a great victory.
Paul and Barnabas go out and gentiles are coming in.
But every time you have a victory in the lord, there’s always the enemy to start trying to mess it up.
And so there’s opposition. And then there’s opposition and they there’s attack and there’s controversy.
And that’s when you have to stand because god will even do something greater when you’re getting attack stand because he has something even greater if you press through the attack.
Acts 15 verse 1. Some men came down, as I said, from Judea, the Ant teaching, you must be circumcised according to Moses, or you cannot be saved.
They became known. They’re teaching that circumcision for men is essential for Salvation.
They became known as they’re called Judaism.
Interesting because that that it says something because the new testament is completely Jewish, but they the ones who are under the law, that’s what they associate with the Jewish people under law.
But the whole new testament is Jewish. Verse verse 2.
When Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren so this happened because there was debate with Paul and Barnabas and these people that when that happened, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas, and some others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and to the elders concerning the issue.
So here they are, they’re debating.
Now, much debate is not of god, but sometimes there are debates that are of god.
As long as the purpose is the love and the purposes of god for him, not for us.
So the controversy leads to the council of Jerusalem.
The 1st of all church councils is the council of Jerusalem, which ultimately is gonna lead to the opening up of the gospel to the world, to the nations.
Paul and Barnabas are appointed to go there from Antioch kind of representing Antioch.
Paul, when he speaks, is not speak so much about theology, although he was a brilliant theologian, but he basically, and so and Peter, they’re basically gonna say what god has done.
Look guys Look at what god is doing. God is saving the gentiles. It’s bigger than what you imagine.
It’s interesting because because it goes on when when Paul, Paul, you know, when he wrote Galatians, it might have been written before this council.
So when he’s talking about the law, you guys back on the law.
It may have been one of the things that we’re leading up to the council because he doesn’t mention the council in Galatians.
This is Jonathan Khan. Thanks for watching.
The Josiah manifesto and all my books, you can get anywhere Amazon wherever books are sold.
Shallow.