Church History

Church History

The Apostle Paul: A Unique Gift from God, Part 2

by Cliff McManis
written by Cliff McManis

In part one of “The Apostle Paul: A Unique Gift from God,” we highlighted Paul’s exemplary service to Christ noting five of his distinctive commitments in ministry. Here we look at five more traits, (six through ten), that set Paul apart as a servant for Christ beginning with the sixth point:

Balancing Grace and Discipline

Sixth, Paul balanced grace with discipline. He knew the two always go together. Discipline without grace is punitive authoritarianism and loveless tyranny; grace with no discipline is antinomian. Paul begins all thirteen of his epistles with the words, “grace and peace to you” as he writes to fellow believers, whether individuals or entire congregations. He even began with this positive greeting when he was writing to rebuke people for their sin, such as the Corinthian and the Galatian Christians (cf. Gal 3:1). The Corinthian church was tolerating gross immorality, divisive behavior, drunkenness during corporate worship, lawsuits against each other, and more. And yet pastor Paul tempers his letter of rebuke by first greeting them with the grace that is in Christ, and only later specifically rebukes them for their sins. Their main problem was that they were “arrogant” (1 Cor 4:6, 18; 8:1). Out of love, Paul rebukes their arrogance. He consistently spoke the truth in love, even when the truth hurt. He was simply following Jesus’ model who, when confronting believers, spoke grace first, then rebuke. This is how Jesus addressed the seven churches of Asia Minor: grace, then correction in truth (Rev 2-3).

A Gifted Teacher (Sometimes Hard to Understand)

Seventh, Paul was unique as a preacher, teacher, and apostle in that he was at times hard to understand. Some of the truths he presented in his epistles were difficult to comprehend. Peter stated this plainly:

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures (2 Pet 3:15-16).

Peter, a lead apostle, admits that some of Paul’s epistles were challenging. A key reason Paul was difficult to understand is because much of his doctrine was new information. The gospel was not new, but much information relayed to Paul about the new age of the Church, updated details about the Incarnation, eschatology, and the new program that would incorporate the Gentiles was undisclosed in the Old Testament and revealed for the first time to Paul. There was much that the glorified Christ revealed to Paul that He did not reveal to the twelve while He was on earth.

Entrusted with the Mysteries of the Church

Eighth, Paul was entrusted with the “mysteries” of the church. In Paul’s epistles, a “mystery” is a new truth revealed to an apostle by God that was hidden in the Old Testament. Mysteries were a mode of progressive revelation, divine truths advancing and augmenting the collective body of doctrine previously revealed to the saints. Jesus revealed some mysteries about the kingdom in Matthew 13 and John spoke of mysteries in Revelation related to the end times. But it was left to Paul to unveil divine several mysteries about the Church program (Eph 3:1-5); information not revealed to prophets of the past or even to the twelve apostles. This new information at times confused Peter, and that is why he said Paul could be “hard to understand.” Paul introduced several new mysteries, all related in some manner to the Church. For example, Paul was the only one who spoke of the Church as “the Body of Christ,” a mystery revealed to Him by Christ.

Grounding Imperatives in Glorious Indicatives

Ninth, Paul’s writing is distinctive as he begins with indicatives and then moves on to imperatives. This is the pattern in the majority of his thirteen epistles. In grammar, an indicative is a “mood” expressing an assertion or statement of reality as opposed to a wish or something potential. In contrast to an indicative statement, an imperative was a command. A verb in the indicative mood simply states the way things are. The implication of Paul’s pattern of stating first a truth about the Christian life in the indicative and then followed by the imperative is that God commands us to do things only after He has empowered us to obey. We can’t obey in a vacuum or in our own strength through sheer will power. Ephesians is the classic epistle modeling Paul’s indicative-imperative pattern. The first half of the epistle is strung together with dozens of indicative verbs, reminding Christians what Christ has already done on their behalf. The last half of the epistle is replete with imperative verbs, commanding Christians to live in light of the truths they possess because of Christ’s work on the cross. God expects us to do only what He has enabled, equipped and empowered us to do in light of the person and work of Christ.

For example, in chapters 1-4 of Ephesians Paul reminds believers (through indicative statements)  what Christ has already done for them through His death and resurrection and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Only after they understand their legal position in Christ and the accompanying divine resources He provides to all believers as a result of salvation does Paul call them to live distinctly as God’s holy people. God expects, and requires, Christians to obey because they can. Christ has made it possible.

The Hardest Worker Among the Apostles

Tenth, Paul was unique among Christian servants in that he worked the hardest. Yes, I said that right. That can be a surprising statement. But Paul said as much when comparing himself with the twelve apostles and other early church leaders. He stated plainly, “I worked harder than any of them” (1 Cor 15: 10). Paul was not being arrogant when he said this, for just prior to this statement he said he “was the least of the apostles” and not even worthy to be an apostle. That he worked the hardest was really God’s assessment of Paul. He makes it clear that his unique calling would be possible only by God’s divine grace. Paul’s comparison to the other apostles was not a qualitative assertion, but more of a quantitative one: the nature of his practical ministry would require more fortitude and stamina than the apostles of Jerusalem needed. Paul was commissioned to take the gospel to the Gentiles who were dispersed abroad (Gal 2:7). Peter was the apostle to the Jews, localized in Israel. Paul would travel thousands of miles, non-stop, for years, moving from town to town, region to region, country to country, by foot and boat, over land and sea. The twelve apostles would remain mostly around Jerusalem. Paul had a cosmopolitan ministry (2 Cor 10:14); Peter a parochial one. Paul details the unique ardor that typified his ministry of “suffering” most specifically in Second Corinthians. See especially 1:8-11; 7:5; 11:21-33. Paul’s intense twenty-year-plus ministry is one of the greatest examples of what it means to toil for the Lord with blood, sweat, and tears at the highest level, all with a humble, contented, godly attitude (1 Cor 10:31).

The book of James reminds Christians that “every gift is from above,” from the God of Heaven (James 1:17). Ephesians 4 reminds believers that godly leaders are gifts from God to His people (4:11-12). As such, the Apostle Paul was one of the greatest treasures God ever gave to sinful humanity. Those of us who are non-Jewish Christians can thank God for sending Paul to get the gospel out to the Gentiles all over the world. Because of his unique ministry, God has reserved a special heavenly reward for Paul’s faithfulness while he labored for Christ on earth (2 Timothy 4:8). And even that reward will point not so much to Paul’s efforts, but rather to God’s grace enabling grace (1 Cor 15:10).

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Church History

The Apostle Paul: A Unique Gift from God, Part 1

by Cliff McManis
written by Cliff McManis

The apostle Paul was used by God to help lay the foundation of the Church within a few years after Christ’s resurrection. God changed him from being a Jesus-hating Christian killer to one of the most courageous and selfless believers the Church has ever known. It was Paul who gave his life to bring the gospel to the Gentile world. The legacy of his ministry has been preserved for 2,000 years in the Book of Acts and the New Testament epistles, thirteen of which were written by him. From these Scriptures we can glean some instructive distinctives about Paul’s ministry that highlight how God used him for such a critical and specialized calling. In no particular order, consider the first five of ten traits that gave an imitable texture to Paul’s Christian service.

Paul: Apostle of Christ Jesus

First, Paul was unique among the apostles, being appointed at a different time and with a different mission than the other apostles. People often debate how many apostles there were, who they were, and whether there are any today. During His earthly ministry, Jesus hand-picked twelve apostles to represent Him and start the Church. After Judas betrayed Jesus and killed himself, he was replaced by Matthias (Acts 1:26). So, Matthias is included as one of “the twelve apostles of Jesus,” frequently called “the twelve” in the Gospels and Acts. Five years after Jesus ascended back to heaven, Jesus appeared to Paul and called him to be a unique apostle—the apostle to the Gentiles. Because he was called as an apostle several years after Jesus ascended, and long after “the twelve” had been appointed, he called himself the apostle “born out of season”—a “Johnny-come-lately,” if you will. “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (1 Cor 15:8).  So, Paul was not one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, but was the thirteenth, and the last ever apostle, appointed by God to bring the gospel of Christ to the non-Jewish world.

Tutored by Christ

Second, Paul is the only apostle, and only Christian, who was tutored directly by the risen Christ. He said he was made an apostle “not through man, but through Jesus Christ” (Gal 1:1). That apostolic commissioning commenced when the risen Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9: 3-5, 15-16). This occurred a few years after Jesus ascended into heaven. Over the course of his twenty-year ministry, the glorified Jesus would appear many times to Paul giving him instruction and special revelation. On one occasion he was allowed into the third Heaven and saw glories inexpressible (2 Cor 12:1-4). The gospel Paul preached was given to him directly by revelation from Jesus; he did not learn it from any man. He was not tutored in the faith by any of the twelve apostles or fellow Christians (Gal 1:12; 2:8), but by the heavenly Christ.

Minister to the Gentiles

Third, a distinctive of Paul’s ministry was his motto: “to the Jew first, and then also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). This is a chronological statement by Paul, not a preferential one. It was part of his evangelistic and church-planting ministry strategy. When Paul arrived in a new town or city, he would first look for a synagogue to preach at because he was a trained and respected Jewish rabbi who had a ready audience filled with adherents of the Hebrew Scriptures (Acts 17:1-2). The Jews had a head-start over the revelation-deprived Greeks about the expectation of a messiah. After beginning with evangelizing Jews in any given city, Paul would then move on to the Gentiles, preaching the gospel message to anyone in his path.

Church-Planter

Fourth, Paul championed and modeled “follow-up” ministry. He would preach the gospel in non-evangelized areas, see a few who would believe his message, who he then formally added to the local church family. He would typically start a church with these new believers, establish some doctrine and worship practices, and then be on his way to the next town, after only a few weeks or months. But Paul never forgot about these new believers in these fresh, under-developed churches he left behind, for he considered them his permanent spiritual family members, even his spiritual children for whom he would give his life (1 Cor 4:15). His greatest concern was their spiritual health and growth, and as a result he would purposefully circle back around to nurture them and establish them in the faith (Acts 15:36). He did this by making personal visits to these novice churches, providing hands-on discipleship at a deeper level. When Paul could not re-visit the new believers himself, he would then send his representatives to them on his behalf or a personal letter (Phil 2:25-28). This “follow-up” ministry fostered a deliberate step toward cultivating maturity among the saints and at the same time it served as a preventative measure, as Paul knew that young believers were always vulnerable to false teachers who might make inroads into these newer churches while he was absent. For the apostle Paul, Christian discipleship was more than just getting people saved.

Team-Builder

Fifth, Paul was known for team leadership. He was no spiritual lone ranger. On his missionary journeys he was always with a cadre of like-minded co-laborers (Col 4:10-14; 1 Thess 1:1). He never conducted gospel ministry in isolation as a maverick. He would never think of starting an independent 401c3 ministry named after himself, i.e., “Paul’s Ministry, International.” Many churches today are known for one pastor or leader who alone calls the shots at the church, making one unilateral decision after another. This would be unthinkable to Paul. Paul followed Jesus’ model of putting a plurality of qualified leaders in place to ensure a balanced ministry of depth and breadth (Matt 10:1). A team ministry approach also guarded against off-based, biased, short-sighted decision-making. Team ministry also provided accountability against blind-spots that typify all fallen leaders.

These five traits of Paul’s ministry are priority ideals which should inform our ministry philosophy today, ensuring that it is apostolic and biblical. In fact, Paul knew that as a called and empowered apostle, God was using his life to be a pattern for others. He himself said, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). In a follow-up article, we will survey five more traits that were distinctive to Paul’s unique service to Christ and His church that can serve as an excellent model for us to follow.

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Church History

The Value of Studying Church History

by Derek Brown
written by Derek Brown

Well, things were going swimmingly with our Young Professionals Bible study until I queried the group to see what we should study next. I had mentioned church history a couple weeks prior after one of our post-study discussions, and apparently the idea had stuck.

All of a sudden, I was neck–deep in preparing weekly lessons on 2,000 years of a complex story of gospel-grounded courage, doctrinal development, church expansion, and severe persecution, all the while coming face-to-face with some of history’s boldest Christian apologists and her smoothest-talking heretics. Not to mention that in nearly every era of church history you find such an intricate interplay between theology, philosophy, politics, and ecclesiology, it is often difficult to identify what biblical faithfulness should look like in such contexts.

Yet, despite the complexities and difficulties inherent in the study of church history, it is not only possible to gain a solid grasp on some of the major chapters in this grand story of God’s global work; we are able to glean important and faith-strengthening lessons from the past because it is our past.

I entitled our multi-week study, Your Spiritual Heritage: A Brief Study of Church History. If you are a Christian, the history of the church is your history. Think about it. The gospel eventually made its way to you through the history of the church. Having begun in Jerusalem, the gospel came to you, not immediately through a divine vision, but through the passage of time, as Christians who received the good news continued to make disciples who made more disciples. By God’s grace, that Jerusalem gospel came to you through a faithful disciple who has a spiritual lineage all the way back to Pentecost. Pretty amazing, huh?  

So, the study of church history should pique some interest in the Christian due to the simple fact that it is the Christian’s family history, and because it is the fulfillment of Christ’s promise in Matthew 16:18 to build his church. Beyond that, there are a few other good reasons for why a Christian should take a little time to delve into the past. Let me offer three.

(1)  Church history helps us  see how God has protected the truth throughout time. Immediately into the post-apostolic church (c. AD 95, after John died), you see a concern by Christian pastors and theologians to protect sound doctrine. A few decades prior, Paul had exhorted Timothy to “guard the good deposit” (1 Tim 6:20) and Jude exhorted his listeners to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3). Both of these passages imply that there was a body of truth that comprised true knowledge of God, Christ, and the gospel. This “deposit,” therefore, had to be protected from attack and compromise if people were to be saved and the church was to grow into maturity (see Gal 1:8-9; Eph 4:12-16).

From very early on you see theologians of the post-apostolic church articulating and defending basic Christian truths like the oneness of God, the history and reality of the resurrection, the truth of the Scriptures, the genuine humanity and deity of Christ, and the personhood of the Holy Spirit. From the New Testament church through the early church, the medieval church into the Reformation and post-Reformation church, and all the way to the church in her modern and postmodern settings, you can locate a common cord of doctrinal truth that finds its origin in the Scripture through church history that can be grasped even today. God used teachers, pastors, theologians, writers, counsels, creeds, books, and a host of other means to protect that sacred deposit the prophets and apostles left us in the Bible.  

(2)  Church history helps you remember that God uses flawed saints to accomplish his purposes. The moment you step outside the New Testament, you find a church that is far from perfect. That’s not to suggest the New Testament church was flawless; the believing communities in Corinth and Galatia are a vivid reminder that even in those apostolic church glory days, sin and doctrinal error still managed to weave itself into local congregations. Even Christ’s chosen leaders had their own flaws (e.g., Gal 2:11-14).

But once you move out from the apostolic era, it becomes even more clear that God’s chosen means of propagating his Word and building his church are forgiven sinners. Although you can trace sound doctrine from the New Testament through each era of church history, you also find plenty of Christian theologians making doctrinal blunders, pastors overreaching their authority, leaders advocating for illegitimate ecclesiological structures, and so on. Some of the brightest apologists were some of the most caustic; and some of the most promising theologians would occasionally wander into unhelpful and unbiblical speculation. 

Nevertheless, the gospel spread, truth was defended, disciples were baptized, and local churches were established. Pastors would be trained at local Christian schools, theologians would gather to hammer out vital doctrinal issues and create biblically grounded creeds to stabilize the church, and books would be written that would remain for centuries and nourish God’s people in the truth. Despite her many sins and shortcomings, Christ has used his church to advance the hope of the gospel from Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.   

(3)  Church history encourages our walk with the Lord by providing worthy examples to follow. One of the most helpful aspects of church history is the opportunity to learn from men and women who have gone before us. We are sure to find flaws, but we are also sure to find people who exemplified hope-filled courage, passion for Christ, sacrificial love, personal holiness, intimacy with God, rugged commitment to the truth, and powerful insights into Scripture. These examples spur us on to pursue Christ with even more fervency and to make the most of our short time on earth. Scripture instructs us to “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb 13:7). Church history enables us to fulfill this command over and over again.

These are just a few of the blessings of studying church history that I hope will encourage you to take up and read. But where might you find some of the better, more faithful resources to help you on your journey? I will list a few to get you started.

Recommended Resources

  1. **Church History, Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation | Everett Ferguson
  2. **Church History, Volume 2: From Pre-Reformation to the Present Day | John D. Woodbridge and Frank A. James III
  3.  *Church History in Plain Language, Fourth Edition | Bruce Shelly
  4.  **The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day | Justo L. Gonzalez
  5.  **A History of Christian Thought | Justo L. González
  6.  *Christian History Made Easy | Timothy Paul Jones
  7.  *Zondervan Essential Companion to Church History | Stephen Backhouse
  8. **Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine | Gregg Allison
  9.  **Our Legacy: The History of Christian Doctrine | John D. Hannah
  10.  **Early Christian Doctrines | J. N. D. Kelly
  11.  *Long Before Luther: Tracing the Heart of the Gospel from Christ to the Reformation | Nathan Busenitz
  12.  *Why the Reformation Still Matters | Michael Reeves and Tim Chester
  13.  *The Kregel Pictorial Guide to Church History, Volumes 1-4 | John D. Hannah

*Beginner
**Intermediate

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Church History

John Newton the Great Letter-Writer

by Derek Brown
written by Derek Brown

Many if not most professing Christians are familiar the song “Amazing Grace.” The hymn’s author John Newton (1725-1807), however, is not as well known. In this brief article, I want acquaint you with Newton so that you might (1) praise God for His grace in the life of a sinner; and (2) learn from Newton’s example in one specific area.

A Debauched Sailor
Newton grew up without much spiritual or moral direction. His mother was a strong Christian, but she died when John was only six. His irreligious father—a seafarer by trade—did not take an active role in disciplining or training his son, so Newton was left mostly to himself in his early years. He did, nevertheless, begin to sail with his father at age eleven and entered naval service (against his will) at age eighteen. It was during his time in the English Navy that Newton was introduced to friends who would draw him into greater and greater decadence. By the time he was twenty-two, he was an immoral, debauched slave-trader who not only treated others cruelly, but who also suffered cruelty at the hands of others.

A Storm at Sea
But on March 21, 1748—a day Newton would commemorate every year after his conversion—God reached down to this sinful sailor in a dramatic way. While at sea, Newton was thrown into panic during a violent storm and began to pray to God for physical deliverance. He soon realized that he was unable to pray with faith because he was not reconciled to God. Happily, he was able to locate a Bible on board and spent the rest of the trip reading the Scripture and seeking the Lord.

This event did much to sober Newton and shake a good amount of outward immorality out of his life, but he was yet unconverted. He recognized the seriousness of his past sins, but was still unacquainted with the deep sinfulness of his heart and therefore relied upon his own efforts rather than faith in Christ to make progress in personal holiness. Several weeks later, however, Newton came to trust genuinely in Jesus for salvation.

From the Sea, to Land, to Pastoral Ministry
Six years after his conversion (1754), Newton suffered an epileptic seizure and was forced to retire from a life at sea. He replaced his work as a sailor by taking a job as a Surveyor of Tides in Liverpool. He also served actively in his church and studied rigorously, teaching himself Hebrew, Greek, and Christian theology.

In 1764, Newton accepted a call to a small parish in Olney, Buckinghamshire. He served this parish for nearly sixteen years and then took a pastorate at St. Mary’s Woolnoth in London. Newton was 81 years old when he finally stepped out of pulpit at St. Mary’s, having served faithfully at St. Mary’s for nearly twenty-six years.

Newton was also a faithful husband and father. He married Mary Catlett on February 1, 1750 and, though unable to have biological children, they adopted and raised two nieces. Newton died on December 21, 1807 at the age of eighty-two.

Newton the Great Letter-Writer
During his Christian life, and predominantly during his pastoral ministry, Newton devoted himself to letter-writing. Although this may seem like an insignificant biographical detail, Newton actually saw his letter-writing as a calling and stewardship from God. Early on, Newton dreamed of ways of he might be spiritually productive through a public ministry—in preaching and teaching.

While not neglecting the importance of his pulpit ministry, soon into his first pastorate Newton sensed clearly that God had equipped him for usefulness in a private ministry—through personal correspondence. In a letter to a personal friend, Newton confessed, “I . . . had reckoned upon doing good by some of my other works than by my ‘Letters’ . . . but the Lord said, ‘You shall be most useful by them’; and I learned to say, ‘Thy will be done! Use me as thou pleases, only make me useful.’”

Newton’s pastoral correspondence is now preserved for our benefit in 1000 letters—500 written and published during his lifetime, and another 500 collected and published after his death. These letters are rich in biblical instruction and unparalleled in their pastoral insight. Most recently, Tony Reinke has carefully studied and categorized these letters in his book John Newton on the Christian Life: To Live is Christ, which I highly recommend.

Your Vital Private Ministry
I focus on this aspect of Newton’s life and ministry, not to pique our historical curiosity, but to draw out this one exhortation: we must recognize the worth of our private ministries. While Scripture places a high importance on the public ministry of the Word, it is equally clear on the value of the private ministry of the Word. Personal conversations, letters, emails, phone calls, and one-on-one discipleship meetings (to name only a few), are vital spheres of ministry in which we have the opportunity teach one another (Rom 15:14). Words rightly spoken can bring life and joy (Prov 15:23; 25:11) and personal discussions can lead a person into greater understanding of the truth (Acts 18:26) or to Christ for the first time (Acts 8:34-37).

You may not have a public ministry in which you regularly each the Bible to or exercise leadership over large group of people. You may serve faithfully, behind-the-scenes in the church’s ‘hidden places’ and have a few believers and unbelievers in your life to whom you minister the Word. You may write letters, take long walks with friends and talk about Christ and the Bible; you may spend time crafting substantive emails to brothers or sisters who are struggling with various theological issues, or lead a Bible study for a couple of unbelievers during your lunch hour. That’s glorious. Your private ministry is vital. Very few people will ever see it, but that’s all right, Jesus does, and he will one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:21).

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