In the last article, we discussed the timeline of Jesus and the physical dealings that were involved. Now we will move on to the time of the Apostles.
Recall that the Apostles received the Holy Spirit back in Acts 2 because Jesus had promised this to them. Because God was still dealing with the Jews during this timeline, you will notice that the dealings of the Holy Spirit were primarily physical because the Jews were a physically inclined people. Such dealings include the laying of hands, speaking in tongues, and water baptism.
During the time of the Apostles, however, you will notice the beginnings of a transition from Jew to Christian. When God deals with non-Jewish it is spiritual and as such, there is a switch from physical to spiritual dealings.
Acts 10:43-48 “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.”
“To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. “
Peter speaks about believing in Jesus Christ and once a person does, they receive forgiveness of sins. This faith-only salvation plan is spiritual. Now, if we look back to verse 1, we see who Peter is speaking to when he says this, an Italian man or a non-Jew. In this case, when the Holy Spirit is given to non-Jews, it will not come through something physical (laying of hands, speaking of tongues, water baptism, etc) but through a spiritual means, by simply having faith, and we see this in verse 44.
“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”
Here we see that for the non-Jews, the Holy Spirit was given to them when they believed in Jesus Christ. Nothing physical here. The physical signs came after they received the Holy Spirit.
“And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
The Jews were surprised because the Gentiles also received the Holy Spirit. Here we see another transition from Jew to non-Jew.
“For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?“
Notice that physical things came after receiving the Holy Spirit. This is different from Acts 2, where the Jews received the Holy Spirit through physical means (laying of hands, water baptism, speaking in tongues). Another example of the gradual transition from Jew to non-Jew. We know it is gradual because the Jews were not cut off right away due to God’s mercy, so God was still primarily dealing with the Jews during this time with hints of non-Jew.
Acts 21:18- “And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law, As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.”
“And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.”
Paul is dealing with Jews here.
“And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law, As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.”
Here it states that there were many Jews who got saved through the Apostles but still observed sacrifices, the law, and circumcision. Verse 25, however, states that the non-Jews were kept separate from the physical things, meaning they did not partake in them. Now, if a person does not believe in dispensationalism they are unable to understand the historical background of the Apostles or the background of God’s workings behind the scenes. This means that they are unable to understand why God’s dealings with certain groups of people were transitional and why the Apostles mainly dealt with the Jews while mingling some spiritual doctrine with the physical.
During the Apostles’ ministry, the Apostles dealt mostly with Jews, meaning that God was not done with the Jews. We also see that even though the Jews were saved they still observed physical things. This is shown in the book of Acts and Hebrews.
Now, because the saved Jews still followed physical teachings (physical law of Moses, ordinances, etc) they claimed that those physical works were needed for salvation as well. Thus, there was a controversy between the Jews and Paul’s followers.
Similar to the Jews, some Christians today believe in physical works for salvation and will use Acts 2:38 as a prooftext. To debunk this, Acts 15 is needed because this is the point that the saved Jews and Paul’s followers came together to decide that salvation was no longer through physical works but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Acts 15:9-11, 22-28 “And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;”
“And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”
The Apostles, elders, and other believers come together to form a consensus on salvation only through faith in Jesus.
“Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;”
Witnesses, including the Apostles, the entire church at the time, Paul, martyrs, and the Holy Spirit, determined that salvation is through grace without works. However, we cannot forget the fact that God was still dealing with the Jews primarily through physical means because that is how it had been for the past 2000 years prior to Christ’s death.
Now, something to keep in mind is that the Apostles were in charge of the Jews while Paul was to deal with the non-Jews.
Galatians 2:8-9 “(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.”
“(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision,“
Apostles deal with Jews.
“the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)”
Paul deals with the non-Jews.
“And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen,”
Paul went to the non-Jews.
“and they unto the circumcision.”
While the Apostles went to the Jews.
What is the difference between the apostles’ and Paul’s ministry?
Now we have established the difference between the Apostles’ ministry and Paul’s ministry. As previously stated, God, at the time of the Apostles, was still not done with the Jews despite the introduction to the Christian doctrine.
In fact, because God was still dealing with a physically minded people, many of the spiritual dealings were followed up by something physical the Jews still had to do because it was something they were familiar with. Examples of this were the speaking of tongues, laying of hands, and water baptism to receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 19:1-6 “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”
“He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? “
When do you receive the Holy Spirit?
Paul asks some disciples if they have received the Holy Spirit since becoming believers. As a Christian, you will probably argue that the Holy Spirit is given to us upon receiving Christ for salvation. For the Jews in the time of the Apostles, however, it is not so. Look at what they say in the next verse.
“And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost“
They didn’t know they were to receive anything after believing. Now, look at what Paul asks.
“And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.”
Recall that John the Baptist’s ministry was for the Jews concerning the coming of the physical Messiah and physical kingdom. They also practiced water baptism in preparation for that.
“Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”
Notice that after they became baptized and when Paul physically laid his hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. So signs and wonders and water baptism were dependent upon the giving of the Holy Spirit. We would like to stress that this was for Jews in the time of the Apostles which greatly differs from how Christians today receive the Holy Spirit.
Something to keep in mind is the historical background/context of the Apostles. Since they were still dealing primarily with Jews it means that a lot of the physical Jewish doctrine was still being taught. Not only that, we have to keep in mind God’s covenant with the Jews. Although it was slowly transitioning to more spiritual dealings God still dealt with the Jews physically.
James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”
One of the Apostles, James, addresses the Jews. This should be apparent from the use of ‘the twelve tribes’. The next verse, however, gives more insight as to whom the Apostles are directing the message to.
When are they last days?
James 5:3 “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.“
‘The last days’ is in the context of the Tribulation time period. When Jesus taught about the post-Tribulation rapture it was for the Jews. This should be a clue that whatever is mentioned in this specific passage contains Jewish doctrine.
What does James 2:24 mean?
James 2:24 “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
This shows a faith and works salvation plan because this is what the Jews had known since the beginning of their covenant with God.
All of this being said, you can’t completely dismiss all of the general epistles just because they were mainly dealing with the Jews. Because there was a gradual transition from the physical to the spiritual, this means that those spiritual doctrines that were being introduced are applicable to Christians today. This, however, has to match up to whatever is mentioned in Paul’s epistles for it to be applicable to us.
What does 1 Peter 1 mean?
1 Peter 1:18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;”
Peter is speaking to the Jews here that the Christian doctrine is not based on the traditions of their Jewish ancestry.
1 Peter 1:12 “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
Peter warns the Jews to uphold their testimony among the non-Jews.
1 Peter 1:20 “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”
Tribulation application here, meaning there are Jewish elements here.
1 Peter 1:18 “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
The righteous person is barely saved so how can a sinner be? You see some physical works are involved here just based on the context. Thus, it is for Jews.
How do you interpret Revelation 7:4?
Context is key to identifying the audience for a particular doctrine. Otherwise, you will have Christians today misapplying verses from the general epistles to their salvation plan.
Revelation 7:4 “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.”
Now, the title of this book should be an obvious clue as to whom it is written for as it pertains to end-times; the Jews. Not only that, the above verse mentions the collective tribes of Israel as well as each individual tribe by name. Thus, we know that Revelation is for the Jews. Everything makes sense when you look at it through dispensationalism.
Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
This is a faith plus works salvation plan, which we know originally, was for the Jews.
Are faith and works separate?
Now, some Christians use the epistle of John to prove their doctrine of lordship salvation. Lordship salvation is salvation attained through faith alone, however, once you have that salvation you have to do good works in order to prove you are saved by faith alone.
This heretical doctrine does not only contradict itself but it combines two things that should be separate in our Christian doctrine; faith and works.
1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”
According to this verse, if you hate someone you are a murderer. This poses a problem unless you are familiar with the background of the Apostles and the background of God’s dealings during that time. God was slowly transitioning from Jews to Christians. Hence why the Apostles, including John, were still ministering to Jews. Thus, this passage is applicable to the Jews, not Christians.
1 John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”
The mentioning of ‘the last time’ is a reference to the Tribulation and the Christian Church does not go through this. We only know this because of dispensationalism and the knowledge of the covenants. People without knowledge of the covenants or dispensationalism cannot make these distinctions between Jewish and Christian doctrine and claim Jewish doctrine for themselves.
Jude 1:18 “How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”‘
Another Tribualtion reference so we expect Jewish doctrine in the following verses. Let’s look at verse 21.
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Something physical has to be done in order to gain eternal life, therefore it is a Jewish doctrine.
Now, some people want to take these types of verses where it states that they have to do some sort of work and reinterpret them as being faith alone. When they do that they are manipulating the word of God that wasn’t even intended for them in the first place. Thus, leaving the verse as it says is the only way to get correct doctrine and is why dispensationalism is so important.
Keeping in mind dispensationalism, there is a heretical doctrine to watch out for: hyper-dispensationalism. This simply means that they will completely throw out the book of Acts and the general epistles because according to them they are only for the Jews when this is not true. Recall that during the Apostle’s time period, God was transitioning from the Jews to the Gentiles, meaning that He was transitioning from physical dealings to spiritual ones. This means that Christian doctrine can be found in the book of Acts and the general epistles, although it is less compared to Jewish doctrine. An example of this is the following verse.
Acts 8:36-38 “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.“
“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?“
Philip, an Apostle, dealt with a non-Jew. Notice how he told the eunuch to get saved.
“And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.“
It wasn’t until the eunuch believed in Christ for his salvation that he was able to be baptized (Christian doctrine). This is different from the salvation plan for the Jews at the time, where in order to receive the Holy Spirit they had to do something physical like getting baptized, the laying of hands,etc.
Another example of Christian doctrine in the general epistles is found in James.
James 1:18 “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
We were born of God’s will and then we were born by the word of God. Recall that Paul said faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, thus, we were born again by the Word of God, or Jesus. This verse along with the context of verse 5 also lets us know that there is a transition from Jewish to Christian and back again.
1 Peter 1:4 “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Christians use these verses to prove eternal security because it mentions that one’s salvation is kept through faith.
Thus we see that there are some things a Christian can claim from the general epistles instead of assuming it is all for the Jews during the Tribulation.
Now, covenant of grace (those who believe everything applies to a Christian) and hyper-dispensationalists are similar in that they only see one side, either fully Jewish doctrine or fully Christian doctrine within the general epistles and the book of Acts. What they both fail to see is the transition from Jew to non-Jew.
3 John 1:6 “Which have borne witness of thy charity beforethe church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:”
This clearly addresses the Christian Church.
Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
This refers to the Christian Church because Christ died for us and washed our sins in His blood.
Again, it is important to stress the historical background of the Apostles and the covenants between man and God because it is only then that we can identify and understand the reason behind these transitional verses. The reason for these transitions is because God’s dealings with the Jews and their physical kingdom were still going on while gradually introducing Christian doctrine to the scene. Eventually, He would do away with the Jews (as He had warned them if they kept rejecting Jesus and His teachings) and transition to non-Jew.
Did the Apostles of Jesus understand everything they wrote?
Something else to consider is that even though the Apostles did not understand everything they wrote doctrinally, they still wrote it according to how the Holy Spirit led them because it was God’s words. They wrote to the best of their understanding under Jesus’ teaching which was mostly Jewish with some spiritual doctrine. This is different from Paul, who cleared up a lot of the specifics of Christian doctrine.
2 Peter 3:15-16 “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;“
God’s wisdom concerning Christian doctrine was given to Paul, which is different from other Apostles.
“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood,”
This was something that Paul received that no other apostle did; the clearness of Christian spiritual doctrine. This is why they were tasked with Jewish and end-times doctrine. At the same time, spiritual doctrine was introduced in their ministry because Jesus was beginning the transition from physical to spiritual. Thus they went according to the best of their understanding because that is what Jesus taught.
We see other instances where Paul was the exception to understanding spiritual doctrine with clarity among the Apostles in the following verses.
- Romans 16:25-26 The revelation of the mystery (Christian doctrine) was kept secret until Paul.
- Galatians 2:9 Paul mentions a personal revelation from God that allowed him to know and understand the spiritual doctrines that others could not understand clearly.