One True and Just God

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served something created rather than the Creator- Romans 1:25

God is one and God is just. The justice of God also brings into the picture the wrath of God (1:18 see below). In 1:18-32 Paul will discuss those who are "without excuse" and must face God for the wickedness of being less than human.

Humans were created for compassion and kindness, for justice and good, but mankind sought after their own desires rather than those they were created for. We were created to have a heart like God's ("in His image" see Genesis 1-3), to love the things he loves, to care for the things he cares for. We know we were not created for selfish pursuits and we do not need religion to tell us this, our conscious testifies against us. When we seek after our own human desires we are being less than human because we were created to seek after God and his desires.

God, being just handed us over to our sinful desires and choices. The wrath of God could be felt in the consequences of our sins (6:23). None of us can stand before God, not even one (3:10, more on this later). Even pagans sought to make God in their own image instead of recognizing that we are made in his. Our only hope is to surrender to God (12:1-2).

If God is just and we surrender to him then doesn't that mean that we will endure his wrath. We would if we were the ones standing before God. But it is Jesus Christ that stands before God in our stead (more on this later). This is why any religion that leads you to a god without the intercession of Christ (God in flesh, more later), leads you to either a god that is going to subject you to wrath, or one that is not just. Either way, if you are not standing before a just God being represented and covered by his Son, Jesus Christ then good luck!

You are going to need it! 

The Gospel of God

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-

Romans 1:1

There have been many that have begun to preach through the book of Romans that have been said to spend multiple sermons on this one verse. It is full of truth and insights. I will not exhaust multiple entries on the many observations present here but I will allow, as is proper, this verse to set the tone for the rest of the study of the letter to the Romans.

I will assume that we know who Paul is and at least some of his history. I will take a moment to talk about Paul's approach to the gospel. Paul had three stances. Each of these were taken at the same time. It has been said that he had a foot in three countries at once (if he had three feet). One foot is in Judaism. Paul was a Pharisee, and by his own account, a good one (see chapter 11). Paul was deeply concerned with the Jews in each city he visited as he spread the gospel (see the book of Acts). Paul also had a concern that the gospel of God was not something new but something foretold by the prophets and in the Scriptures (see verse 1:2). It can be safely said that in Paul's eyes, the Christian movement was a Jewish movement.

His other foot was in the Hellenistic world. Paul was called to the Greek and Hellenistic societies. He was concerned with the freedom of these new communities to stand apart from the Torah (the Jewish law). Paul defended the rights of these churches in Jerusalem (Acts 15) and in front of Peter (Galatians). Paul primarily focused on the physical attributes of the Torah, like circumcision or dietary restrictions, but he also talked about the Gentiles as a fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham (see Galatians 4).

Paul's third foot (if he had one) is in the world of Roman government. Paul uses terms for Jesus that were normally reserved and used of Caesar. It was a way of Paul recasting allegiance to the true King, instead of the faux king of Rome. All three of these distinctions are prevalent in the letter to the Romans and we will highlight them as we have occasion. 

The gospel is a much bigger concept than a prayer involving the ABC's. The gospel is bigger than a decision that has been made or a pre-baptism ritual. For Paul, the gospel involved the efforts of God to make the world right again. God is a God of justice and that means that God will bring justice to creation. This has powerful ramifications for all of us (more on that later). The gospel involves us because God is involving us in his efforts to make the world right. If God is going to make the world right, then it is something that must come from his efforts. The gospel is God's way to save the world from itself (see 1:16).

In 1:18-3:20 we will explore Paul's expression of this truth.

Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus' Death and Resurrection

It is been said before that the gospels are simply a passion account with a long introduction. Today many seem to focus in on the teaching and ministry of Jesus and fail to pay attention to the suffering and death of the Son of God. In his book Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus' Death and Resurrection, Thabili Anyabwile calls us to look deeply into the death and resurrection of Jesus to stare and point at what was achieved by the sacrifice of the Son of God on the cross.

Many people come through our churches and hear messages every weekend but sadly it is possible to attend the modern church for perhaps years and never hear a clear, true, and compelling presentation the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is one of the many reasons a book like Captivated is timely and necessary. Anyabwile writes simply enough for anyone picking up this book to understand yet he holds nothing back from the effect and the ramifications of what happened on the cross.

There have been books over the years that have treated the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ chronologically. There've been books that have walked through the sayings of Jesus as he endured suffering and crucifixion that came with the cross. This book treats the death and resurrection of Jesus theologically and practically as it looks at the death and resurrection of Jesus by asking a series of questions that were made by Jesus himself or those around at the time of his death and resurrection.

About the only negative comment I could make about this book is that there simply wasn't enough of it. Yet even this is hardly criticism as anyone in the church, whether a reader or not, could pick up this book and grow from reading it without being daunted by technicality. The entire book is less than 100 pages which is not intimidating to anyone and is a wonderful resource that can be given out to those wishing to know and understand the purpose and ramifications of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each chapter even includes a study guide for an individual or small group to go through together.

It is truly rare that I ever read a book and have nothing that I would add as an improvement. But Captivated is exactly what it claims to be and achieves its purpose by remaining simple and to the point. I would recommend that any Christian read this book for their own growth in their own ability to explain and discuss the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with others. I also would recommend that anyone purchase this book to hand to their friends and family that may struggle with the realities and the difficulties that we face with this issue. I'm grateful for Thabili Anyabwile for writing this book and would love to see him write more in this exact fashion and brevity.

Spiritual Gifts and the Early Church.

There is much discussion about the gifts of the Spirit that are active for the church today or whether some of the gifts have ceased with the Apostolic Fathers. Modern denominations are formed on the basis of this continuation of gifts. Revivals and massive gatherings center on the speaker being able to perform "miracle healings". How much of this should we accept as biblical and authoritative? Better yet, did the Early Church continue the practice of all of the spiritual gifts after the time of the Apostles?

 To explore this we first need to agree on our language. The "gifts" of the church are called "charismata" by Paul (although he will also call them "pneumatika"). This "charismata" is where we get the word charismatic. Today we are just as likely to use this word for a group speaking in special tongues or other miraculous manifestations or to describe the compelling personality of a person. The word "charismata" was used often by the Early Church but many scholars looking to defend their practice take every reference without searching for specific content. The Early Church used "charismata" to refer to God's gifts of material possession that were intended to be shared, the wisdom to be shared, and the help the strong could lend to the weak. Only once is a reference using "pneumatika"made in the Apostolic Fathers to refer to a spiritual gift (Epistle of Barnabas).

Here are some of the gifts that are associated with the modern pentecostal movement treated in light of the Early Church:

Apostles:

The Didache uses the word "apostle" to denote a missionary or an "appointed messenger". The document uses the words prophet, teacher, and apostle interchangeably for its instruction about testing them. The Early literature quickly began to use the singular expression of "apostle" to refer to Paul. Very early in the tradition the church began to hold the term to refer to activity located around the twelve. There is no suggestion of some succession from the Apostles themselves.

Prophecy:

This is impossible to treat in a paragraph without making sweeping statements so we will treat this in a later post specifically. However, here we can say that the early Christians saw prophets the same way they did in the Old Testament, they were a mouthpiece for God and proclaimed forth his "word". These proclamations were sometimes predictive in nature but were usually relevant observations based on the general revelation given of God's will to a specific situation. There was a sect of early Christians called the Montanists that were a prophetic movement following Montanus that came up around 172 AD in Phrygia. There is much made of the Montanist movement by pentecostal scholars. It is important to note that the "prophets" of the Montanist movement were predicting the return of Christ. They were repeatedly revealed to be false prophets when the return of Christ did not manifest. Even though Tertullian joined this Montanist movement in his later teaching, the sect was made distant from the Orthodox teaching of the early Christians. Again, we will return to this later.

Tongues:

Tongues as a spiritual gift were primarily a marker of the movement of the gospel into other nations and people groups. This word "glossolalia" has the potential of four meanings:

1. to speak a human language that one has not learned (Acts 2)
2. to speak a non-human language (1 Cor. 13:1)
3. to speak in unintelligible words that need interpretation
4. to utter sounds in musical cadence

Early references to speaking in tongues outside of the New Testament are extremely sparse. Irenaeus refers to the use of tongues as a move of the twelve and Paul in line with foreign languages, not at all like modern glossolalia. He also uses the term to refer to frivolous or silly speech as opposed to speech that is unintelligible. The lack of mention of the occurrence of speaking in tongues in the second century has been interpreted as being so common that it need not be mentioned. However, the controversy surrounding the Montanists provided the opportunity for it to be reflected on. The reason they were not mentioned could also be because they has ceased.

What was Early Christian Worship Like?

There are many discussions and disagreements on the form and formality of worship. There are traditional liturgical practices like the Greek Orthodox Liturgy that date back over a thousand years. There are also some that think their altar calls and "Gaither-style" hymns would qualify as "traditional. And then there are the contemporary services that lean primarily on music and drama to move the worshipper in to more willing acceptance of the topic for preaching. There are any combination or tweaking of any of these and most congregations would not hold firmly to any one of these approaches. However, the questions often arise, "What was worship like in the first church?"

The sources are not full enough to show exactly how the Apostles worshipped but there are early documents that give us a fairly clear picture of the kind of worship that was practiced in the earliest tradition. All of these practices were typical (as far as the sources point us) of the church in the first 300 years. So, what was worship like?

Worship was weekly

The earliest church gathered weekly for worship on Sunday. The day of the week was likely a celebration of the resurrection and a clear breaking from the Jewish practice of gathering on Saturday. The meeting also occurred pre-dawn and the sun would rise as the Lord's Supper was being shared. This would visibly and tangibly point the worshipper to the hope of resurrection that the elements were intended. This early meeting also allowed slaves and workmen to go to work (no weekends or stores being closed for these guys) and avoid unwanted detection from those aggressive to Christians.

Worship was Christ-centered

The earliest church celebrated Christ as divine from a very early point in history. Theories of this development taking decades are faulty, at best. The worship of the early church would focus on hymns that proclaimed Christ's deity. These were both encouraging and instructive. These hymns would be responsive statements coming from the congregation based on the statements made by the leader. These early hymns are basically confessions of faith in their infancy.

Worship was ordered

The earliest elements of the worship service were based on the pattern displayed in the synagogue. They were "word centered" in that the proclamation was the main event. All other elements were to encourage and illuminate the exposition of the Scriptures. The basic elements were Scripture reading, preaching, singing, praying, partaking in the Lord's Supper, and giving. The two basic movements were the service of the word and the service of the table. Throughout time these would be called by different terms but the overwhelming portion of Christian worship throughout history included both Word and Table. The Table has been treated here before and will be again so I will only point out that preaching was primarily expository. This means that there was a reading and explanation of what was being read.
A final note is on the giving, which will be treated more fully later. The concept of tithing is not in the early church worship practice. The tithe was suspended at the close of the Old Testament (which comes at the cross). The early church encouraged giving for the main purpose of caring for others.

What should go…What should stay?

Based on these insights from historical Christian worship it is clear that there is a great deal of support for our worship practices today and a need to make some major changes. A few include…

1. Make worship about Jesus: This is not to say that we abandon the Old Testament or any texts that are not explicitly speaking about Jesus. In fact, the early church was deeply committed to proclamation from both testaments. Rather, we could ask "What does this text proclaim about the need or nature of Jesus Christ?"

2. Make worship moving: Using the setting, scenes, and elements of worship to tell the Christian story are instructive and inspiring. The first church used meals, the rising sun, and other elements of worship to set a "mood" and display direct encouragement into everyday life.

3. Preach and Practice the Table: Churches that are not preaching expository (as opposed to topically) and are not calling worshippers to the Table weekly should have to prove (historically) why they have clearly broken with the apostolic tradition. To worship without the table is to do something other than Christian worship.

Communion Confession...

Adapted from the Didache (AD 50-150)

Leader: “The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

Response to the Bread:

         Everyone:         We give thanks to you, our Father,

                           for the one bread, which you have made known to us.

                           Through Jesus, your servant, to you be glory forever.

Leader: “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”  

Response to the Cup:

         Everyone:         We give thanks to you, our, Father,

                           for the cup of blessing, which you have made known to us

                           Through Jesus, your servant, to be glory for ever.

Leader: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’”

Sharing of the Elements:

Everyone:         Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. To You is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.

* image is of the agape feast, an ancient Christian tradition carried on today as communion.

Wake up Your Faith...

One of the concerns facing the current condition of the Church is a lack of connectivity with other believers. We huddle into autonomous church buildings or disconnected denominations and close off our communication from other Christians. We also insulate ourselves from those outside our circles and we suffer relationally, as well as intellectually. The truth is that there is much to be learned and gained from our Christian brothers and sisters, both now and throughout history.

This is one of the many reasons that I am thankful for books like “Awakening Faith” by James Stuart Bell. This book is a gold mine of wonderful devotions from the Early Church period. Each page is a window into the faith that has stood for millennia. The Christian reading these daily offerings will be blessed, encouraged, and educated by those that have been so critical in establishing the foundations of the church.

The reader will find these devotions to contain enough of an excerpt to get the mind and heart moving but not so much that the focus is on the book. Topics are included, as well as biblical references to encourage some more thought on the topic being discussed by the Church Father. This is a book that will be one of you favorite devotions to have by you in the morning.

The only areas of criticism are that the writings being used in the devotion are not referenced. The reader cannot go and read more by this particular writer. I would hope to see this addressed in a second edition. I would also hope to see better indexing. There is some in the back but I felt that having a few paths through the devotional would have been nice (and simple enough). To move through the devotional by topic, by author, and chronologically would have been a vast improvement to the indexing of the devotions.

That being said, this book is well worth your time and money. You will be using it for years to come. If you are looking for a devotional that breaks out of the typical mold then you will want to consider “Awakening Faith”.

Zondervan provided me a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This was not an effect on the review that I have written.