WHAT DID PAUL LEARN FROM THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH?
KEY VERSE – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1) SECONDARY THEME VERSES: “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16); “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21).
THEME: Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone releases us from the yoke of the law, freeing us to live a life of love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Legal (Imputed) Righteousness: We are justified by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16). Imparted Righteousness: Immediate Moral Change at conversion (Gal. 6:15); Gradual Moral Change through the fruit-growing work of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) which requires our cooperation (Gal 5:16-17, 25, 6:8). We cooperate by using CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection, Confession/Thanksgiving. Foundational verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14)
Good Teachers: (1) Constantly re-evaluate what they are doing; (2) Set large goals; (3) Ask – Does everything I do contribute to learning?; (4) Prepare well; (5) Check for understanding; (6) Like teaching; (7) Get results from their teaching; (8) Have perseverance. Don’t give up.
TEACHING GOAL: To show the antiquity of the basic beliefs of Biblical Christianity.
REVIEW
The problem Paul is facing is “How can I prove to the Galatians the essentially supernatural nature of the gospel which I preach?”
1:11-12 – Paul’s thesis: My Gospel was received by divine revelation.
From 1:13-4:31 Paul defends his position as an apostle and the divine authenticity of the Gospel he preaches.
Paul shows his independence from: (1) Human Teaching (1:13-17);
(2) The Judean churches (1:18-24); (3) The Jerusalem “pillars” (2:1-10); (4) The Apostle Peter (2:11-21).
Last week we asked ourselves the following:
1. Have I experienced God acting on me? Have I been the subject or the object of the sentence in my relationship to God?
2. Have I had a revelation of who Christ is and embraced the objective truth of the Gospel and also had a subjective experience of Christ in me, revealing himself to me?
3. Have I sensed God’s call on my life to a specific ministry?
4. Am I still focused on the call that God gave me? Am I on course even though I may be changing gears?
TEXT FOR THE DAY:
Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. (Galatians 1:17-19)
WHAT DID PAUL LEARN FROM THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH?
1. Key Historical Dates Relating to the Early Church
2. Dating the Gospel and the NT Letters
3. The Creeds – How Did They Help Paul?
4. A Closer Look at I Cor. 11:23-26 & I Cor. 15:3b-7
INTRODUCTION:
THE OT/NT SCRIPTURES ARE INSPIRED BY GOD
“As He said through His holy prophets long ago.” (Luke 1:70)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (II Tim. 3:16-17)
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (II Peter 1:20-21)
Scripture is our primary witness to Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. It is internally reliable and needs to external support to prove its veracity and authenticity. We do not need external data to prove the authenticity of the NT before we can trust it.
Today we want to approach the New Testament as nothing more than a book of ancient literature. We know it is more than this. Nevertheless we want to see it as an historian would see it and see what we can learn.
WHAT DID PAUL LEARN FROM THE EARLY CHURCH?
We know Paul had a very special revelation on the Damascus Road: “…the Gospel I preached … I received … by revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 1:11-12)
But, did Paul receive any part of the Christian belief system via tradition? We think he did.
In the days following the birth of the church, Pentecost, we read that the first Christians: “Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)
Probably some of them that were present on the Day of Pentecost or were touched by the early church returned home to Damascus and started a fellowship there. There were enough of them in Damascus to motivate Saul to go there and arrest them.
READ: Acts 9:18-20
“Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.” (Acts 9:19b-20)
Did Paul then go into Arabia? “But I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus?” (Gal. 1:17b)
Paul was in and around the church in Damascus for 3 years. This is where he fellowshipped.
“Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem . . . .“ (Gal. 1:18)
What did Paul learn from the church in Damascus? They were meeting before Paul got there.
READ: Acts 9:21-25
“Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him 15 days. I saw none of the other apostles – only James, the Lord’s brother.” (Galatians 1:18-19)
“When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples ….” (Acts 9:26-30)
Obviously there was “content” to the apostles teaching. “Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42) What was it? We don’t know exactly. But all basic, core teaching ends up as the content of hymns, creeds etc. What is important to know that these creeds and hymns existed prior to the writing of the Gospels, Acts and the New Testament letters.
These hymns and creeds were obviously memorized and preserve pre-New Testament materials. They are our earliest sources for the life of Lord Jesus Christ.
I. KEY HISTORICAL DATES & THE EARLY CHURCH
33 – April 3 Crucifixion of Christ
05-67 Life span of Paul
26-36 Pilate as Governor in Judea
33-36 Conversion of Paul
55-62 Porcius Festus, Procurator of Judea (Acts 25:2)
64 Persecution of Nero
70 Destruction of the Temple – Foretold by Jesus – Mt. 24:1; Mark 13:1; Lk. 21:6. It is important to note that none of the Gospels mention the destruction of the temple.
II. DATING THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS
35 Conversion of Paul
48-62 Writing of Paul’s letters according to Wikipedia
55-70 The writing of the “Synoptic” Gospels
Some feel there was “Q” written before Matthew and Luke. Was Mark “Q” and did Matthew and Luke incorporate some of the material from Mark?
What is important here is, if the Gospels were written early enough they would have been written by eyewitnesses.
55-70 Mark written.
55-70 Matthew written
61 Luke written, before Acts. See Acts 1:1-4
63 A date of 63 AD for Acts is gaining support.
The latest firm date for Acts is the procuratorship of Porcius Festus (55-62).
Acts does not record the death of James in 62 AD, Paul 64 AD or Peter in 65 AD.
Acts does not include the persecution of Nero in 64 AD.
Acts does not mention destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
80-90 John written. Doesn’t mention Temple but maybe written so long after the destruction of Temple that it had lost some of its significance. John focuses on the deity of Christ.
III. THE CREEDS – HOW DID THEY HELP PAUL?
All of the creedal material below was used in the church prior to the use of it in the New Testament documents, that is prior to approximately 48 AD.
If someone were to ask you, “What did the early church teach and believe about Jesus prior to the writing of the Gospels, Acts and the NT letters, that is prior to 50 AD?” you would point them to this creedal material.
A CURSORY LOOK AT PETER’S PENTECOST SERMON
The sermon is not a creed or a hymn but shows us the initial kerygma, message of the church.
Who shared with Luke the content of Peter’s sermon on the First Pentecost?
Scholars have discovered that the language used in speaking about Jesus in these early speeches (sermons) in Acts is quite different from that used at the time when the book was compiled in its final form. (Gary E. Habermas, The Historical Jesus, 149)
What does the sermon say about the Lord Jesus Christ?
2:22 – A man, from Nazareth, miracle worker.
2:23 – Crucified, raised from the dead.
2:32 – Resurrection witnessed by Peter & others
2:36 – They were convinced Jesus was both Lord and Christ
“Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42) The core of the “Apostles’ Teaching” must have been parallel with the core of Peter’s sermon.
Please note that in Mark 14:26 after celebrating the Last Supper, the disciples and Jesus sang a hymn and went out. Also we have Paul, in Col. 3:16 referring to Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
HISTORICAL FACTS CONTAINED IN THE CREEDS, HYMNS AND TRADITIONS OF THE EARLY CHURCH
ROMANS 1:3-4 (Creed) (Scholars say that parallelism in clause shows this to be a creed.)
1. Descendent of David
2. Resurrection
3. Resurrection proves Jesus to be the Son of God
ROMANS 10:9-10 (Creed / Recited at baptism?)
3. Belief that Jesus is God
2. Resurrection
I CORINTHIANS 11:23-26 (Fixed Tradition)
4. Jesus had a supper with His disciples the night before His betrayal
5. He instituted the “Lord’s Supper” for His followers
6. His body and blood was sacrificed for us.
7. The “Supper” was a commemoration of His death.
8. He promised to come again.
I CORINTHIANS 15:3-7 (Creed)
9. Christ died (3)
10. Christ was buried (4)
2. Christ was resurrected (4)
11. The disciples believed in the literal appearance of Jesus (5-6)
12. James, the Lord’s brother, who had been a skeptic, was converted to faith (7)
PHILIPPIANS 2:6-11 (pre-Pauline Hymn)
13. Jesus is the Messiah, God
14. The Messiah (Christ) became a man
9. He was crucified
I TIMOTHY 3:16 (Creed / “The Christ Hymn”)
14. Christ came in the flesh
2. Vindicated by the Spirit (resurrected)
15. Christ was the subject of the preaching of the church
16. People believed in Him
17. Christ ascended to heaven
II TIMOTHY 2:8 (Creed)
1. Jesus is of the lineage of David (Jesus linked to history)
I JOHN 4:2 (Confession)
13. Jesus is the Messiah
14. Jesus came to earth in a body
THE LORD’S TABLE (I Cor. 11:23-26)
The formula for the Lord’s Table is carefully recorded in Matthew 26:26-28 and Luke 22:19-21.
Joachim Jermias (A German Lutheran theologian, scholar of Near Eastern Studies) notes that Paul’s word “received” and “delivered” are not Paul’s typical terms” for passing on tradition. Additionally, there are onther non-Pauline phrases such as “he was betrayed,” “when we had given thanks” and “my body” (11:23-24), which are further indications of the early nature of this report. In fact, Jeremias asserts that his material was formulated “in the very earliest period; at any rate before Paul . . . a pre-Pauline formula.” Paul is actually pointing out “that the chain of tradition goes back unbroken to Jesus himself.” (Gary Habermas, The Historical Jesus, Pg. 147)
CONFESSION / CREED STATED IN I COR. 15:3b-7
READ: Have someone read I Cor. 15:3-7.
That this confession is an early Christian, pre-Pauline creed is recognized by virtually all critical scholar across a very wide theological spectrum. There are several indication that reveal this conclusion:
1. Paul’s words ‘delivered’ and ‘received’ (I Cor. 15:3a) are technical terms for passing on tradition. Thus Paul is stating that this material is not his own. He received it from another source.
2. A number of words in the creed are non-Pauline, again indication another origin of this material. Examples are “for our sins,” “according to the scriptures,” “he has been raised,” “the third day,” “he was seen,” “the twelve.”
3. It is likely that the creed is organized in a stylized, parallel form, thereby providing a further indication of the oral and confessional nature of the material.
4. There is an indication that there may be a Semitic source, such as the use of the Aramaic “Cephas” for Peter, hence pointing to an earlier source before Paul’s Greek translation.
5. Other indication of an ancient Hebrew narration include the triple usage of “and that” along with two references to the Scripture being fulfilled.
Scholars consider this the oldest of Christian creeds, dating it in the mid-thirties. Numerous critical theologians date it from three to eight years after the crucifixion. (Adapted from G. Habermas, The Historical Jesus, pages 153-154)
CONCLUSION:
Paul’s revelation on the Road to Damascus centered on the great fact that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, the Messiah. That was a special revelation. It appears that the message of “Salvation by Grace Alone” was also made clear to Paul at that time, or in subsequent revelations.
Besides these extra-special unique and individualistic revelations Paul built his teaching and theology around the facts contained in the ancient creeds, hymns and traditions of the early church, going back to just a few years after Pentecost.
SO WHAT?
1. The Bible is God’s inspired Word. It needs no external verification to prove its veracity.
2. Apart from receiving unique Divine Revelation from God Paul also built his theology around the historical facts found in the earliest creeds, hymns and traditions of the church.
3. Critical scholarship has given us a solid understanding of what the church believed and taught between 35 and 70 AD.
4. In a world and of skeptics, cynics and nay-sayers the historicity of the Life and Jesus and the New Testament becomes stronger and stronger.