The fruit of Protestant doctrine vs. the original ‘Apostles’ doctrine’
While Christians are taught to base their beliefs on the Bible – and by extension Christ Himself – is this what is really happening?
What foundation are you really building upon? Is it truly the foundation that Christ and His first apostles smiled upon, or something based on a host of subtle changes that makes for a completely different form of Christianity?
Rather than the usual tact of making a strictly scriptural argument, let’s discuss the results of what we say we have today versus what they had in Century One.
The fruit of Christianity today is well short of what was known in the first century when the Christian faith got started under the original apostles.
Today many Evangelicals, Protestants, Charismatics and non-denominational believers base their faith, practice, and worldview on what is essentially the foundation of the Protestant Reformation. This paradigm is markedly different from the first-century faith, practices, and worldview based upon the foundation of the “apostles’ doctrine.” (Acts 2:42, Eph. 2:20).
As history records, beginning with Roman Emperor Constantine’s acceptance of the faith in the early 300s AD, what solidified not long after into the Roman Catholic church co-opted the faith as the dominant world-conquering force in the West, and beyond (not withstanding Orthodox branches).
The Protestant Reformation, informally begun in 1517 by Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, established a new de facto foundation and provided both a solution to Catholic errors – and a new set of problems.
The Reformation was positive in that it translated the Bible into the languages of the people, and encouraged all Christians to delve into the Word for themselves. It also eradicated the most unbiblical teachings of Catholicism. Its key discovery was justification by faith; belief that salvation (being made right with God and ultimately going to heaven) is based on “faith alone.” Its mottos were “sola scriptura” (the scriptures alone), and “sola fide,” (by faith alone).
Problematic
Alongside a burst of discovered truth and liberated souls, a host of negative outcomes have also arisen from the Protestant Reformation.
It is clear that Luther and other ex-Catholic priests were unable to even understand certain challenging scriptures. Luther had real problems with James – calling it an “epistle of straw” for seeming contradictions that were not really contradictions. He also disliked Hebrews for making it look like you could lose your salvation. And, he had his doubts about Revelation – which portrayed a Jesus holding the churches to high account threatening they could be “hurt by the second death,” or have their names blotted from the book of life. He said He might also “vomit” unrepentant Christians from His mouth meaning they’d no longer be in Him.
He and Calvin were impressed by the Catholic Saint Augustine and less so with the Ante-Nicene teachings (from 100-300 AD) which held onto the oral and written understanding of the original 12 apostles (and of course the Apostle Paul).
In short, the reformers set in motion a set of conditions that many yet are bound within to this very day.
Few contest the fact that they did not fully restore the faith but performed a partial overhaul. This has become exceedingly problematic in that the “Body of Christ” which the New Testament overwhelmingly calls for to be united and undivided, resembles a cancer. The disease of cancer is when a cell in the body begins to errantly mutate and replicate and grows to a mass of unwanted cells that never should have been.
In like manner, Christianity once spurred by the tenets and spirit of the Reformation began ever-dividing into new sub-sect so that the count has become as many as 40,000 denominations worldwide, and over 9,000 in Protestantism alone. Some of these sub-sects have only minor shades of difference, and are not as troubling, but on the whole, the spectrum of different sects ranges to 180-degrees of separation.
Put another way, people reading from the same Bible, and claiming to be leaning on the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit in coming to their understandings of scripture, have taken polar opposite stances on major life-affecting issues!
This state of affairs cannot be of God. It cannot because God does not contradict Himself and tell His children mutually opposing things. He always advocated unity and the “body” not divide!
If the Bible is taken as the “Word of God,” and if people believe also God’s “peace in their heart” is a confirmation they are on the right path, something is terribly wrong with this picture!
God is “not the author of confusion, but of peace.”
John 17:20-21 – “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Eph 4:1-6 – I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Sola Scriptura
Other major issues with the model established by Luther, Calvin, and other reformers includes the notion of “sola scriptura” (only the scriptures) which has been a recipe for disagreements, arguments, and debates over scriptural interpretation.
It was nearly arrogant to presume that they could restore the faith to its pristine glory merely by using their minds and a sincere heart in reading the Bible to come to the knowledge of the Way of Christ.
If they had wished, they could have consulted many reliable and preserved writings of the early church which commented on the Bible. These are no more “extra biblical” than the reformers’ own commentaries with one major difference. The early church from the first century through 300 AD was so much closer in time to the original church. Some were first, second, or third generation disciples of the apostles themselves!
Galatians 5:20 says “heresies” (incorrect teachings) are a work of the “flesh.” It is patently obvious that there has been a whole lot of “flesh” delving into the Holy Writ. This is because it is categorically impossible for everyone in a disagreement to be right! The Christian faith is called “the narrow way,” and “broad is the way that leads to destruction,” said the Lord in Mt 7:13, and “many go in by it.”
This “many” who go to destruction thus includes those who name Christ!
Matt 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Fruit
In Matthew 7 the Lord also said how to know the true disciples from the false.
Matt 7:17-20 – Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
With this said, let’s take an overview of the fruit of the Protestant Reformation and Christianity as it’s been practiced since then (as well as by the Catholics who have attempted to scrub up their history, and stay relevant).
While many Christians since the Reformation have lived godly lives, the overall testimony of how the world views Christians is today greatly compromised.
From pedophiles, adulterers, money grubbers, liars, hypocrites, and thieves, the reputations of various leaders who said or say they represent true Christianity in this era has been seriously marred.
Overall fleshly or worldly mindsets wrapped in a veneer of Christian-speak just does not cut it in attempting to win the hearts and minds of the unconvinced. And, it is a simple truth applicable to so many who profess Christ that you cannot give someone something you yourself do not really have – or have without major contradictions presenting a blurred witness.
While the early church had its share of false teachers and prophets, these were soon marked out, and the degree of scandals we see today were not heard of in the first century among those recognized as following the apostles’ doctrine.
Their manner of life – and also that of the common people – was a living testimony to the God they said they followed.
In the first century, the church took off with dynamic power after Pentecost when Peter preached in Acts 2 under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit and saw 3,000 souls added in one day. Acts 17:6 records the faith had “turned the world upside down.”
In short, their lives impacted those around them. They also knew and obeyed the full apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42) and could by the power of the Holy Spirit obey the commands of Christ – as interpreted by the apostles whose names will be written on the foundation of the New Jerusalem.
Rev 21:14 – Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Ask yourself: Would you rather learn how they understood and practiced Christianity from those whose names will be written on the New Jerusalem for eternity, or modern teachers whose names are on their profitable “non-profit” ministries?
Inconvenient Truth, Political Incorrectness
The tale of the martyrs testifies they believed unto the point of torture and death. It was no more popular or politically correct in their day to practice the true faith but they did so unlike many of today’s (perhaps unwitting) compromisers propped up by modern theologians.
Some of the things the first Christians understood from the beginning was the faith was devoted to God and it did not craftily shift the emphasis on the sinner as the focus making the faith more about the people than the Lord Himself.
There was also no “prosperity gospel” espousing material and financial blessing as a sign of righteousness – or anything approaching this modern teaching.
They also knew what Jesus said about dying to self, carrying the cross, or they were “not worthy” of Him. None of them taught “once saved always saved,” but rather that saving faith provided grace for works that would bring God glory.
They also upheld the teaching that remarriage after divorce was understood as adultery – a very inconvenient teaching for many in 21st century Christianity. Today the divorce rate among evangelicals nearly mirrors or exceeds that of “the world” – which in fact they are very much a part of, and not really separate from.
The necessity of baptism by immersion for full salvation and membership in Christ was also upheld, and the power of the Lord’s Supper as a spiritually significant thing – not a memorial only – was understood.
Women were not permitted to teach because Eve was deceived first speaking of a difference in the nature of the woman’s mind and thought processes. God had also ordained an authority structure which – dating back to the order of Adam over Eve – saw men as the head.
1 Tim 2:11-14 – Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
1 Cor 11:3 – But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Test by Fruit!
A major sticky wicket has been the endless Bible debates of those who “agree to disagree” over points of teaching.
We will not even attempt to defend the early Christian teachings that differ so radically from those building on the Protestant foundation as “scriptural” – although they most certainly are, and they’re based on eternal (permanent) reasons, not merely cultural whims. Beyond this, we’ll say only that history records these and other understandings were a fact of how they viewed the faith.
More importantly, the fruit of their lives is the greatest proof of the early church’s way over ways we may see today that deviate from what they knew and understood from the beginning.
God’s people were also known for an unearthly love, and a non-resistant (pacifistic) way of life. They strove to love their fellows, friends, and even enemies, as Christ had commanded.
They knew the power was not of them, but of God who had made them “sufficient.”
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 – Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we arethe aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
It is said the “proof is in the pudding.” The original faith that won the hearts of those in a hardened world of many competing “gods” or no god at all did so not so much by evangelical technics in the wisdom of men, arguments, or empty words but by their lives!
2 Corinthians 3:1-3 – Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
Their mission was to live as “living sacrifices” (Rom 12:1) of sole devotion unto the Lord as those who strove to be “well pleasing” to Him in all things” (2 Cor 5:9).
That was a working definition of unfeigned love from the heart of the sheep to the Shepherd!
They did not look for excuses to carve out a wide berth and comfort zone for their self-indulgent flesh to merge the pleasures of a worldly life if such things were a conflict of interest to the kingdom of God.
While the Protestant Reformation has brought all these teachings to light, the manner of spirit that it too often produces is simply not the same!
This means something is wrong, terribly wrong. The parable of the sower and the seed talks about cares of the world and desires for other things as that which will “choke the Word” and render a person less spiritually useful or useless before God.
Indeed, many Protestant theologies say the notion of “works” or being useful at all is strictly optional. They say “works” are to be the outflow of the heart and this the early Christians believed as well – except they expected the outflow and knew God expected it and would judge them for it!
Much more could be said on these topics, but we’ll cut it here saying there are a host of things subtly or overtly wrong all adding up to fruit that does not compare to that of the first Christians.
The results of what Christians say they believe today do not hold a candle among people who first understood and practiced the faith “once delivered to all the saints” under the teaching of the first apostles.
It cannot be emphasized enough that a tree is known by its fruit, and one would do well to ponder: If today’s Christianity is the faith of a “better covenant with better promises” by the Almighty God who promised He would back up by His Spirit His faithful sheep, is this the best He can do?
Is today’s divided world and infighting or Christians who passively ignore those they disfellowship from the fruit of the “same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead?”
No. It is the work of flesh – and, though we’ve not talked about it, ultimately evil spirits who may whisper into people “as an angel of light.”
1 Timothy 4:1,2 – Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, …
Darkness on the Rise
The U.S. was once a religious sanctuary and it rose with God’s blessing to prominence, but it never was united. The foundation of the Protestant Reformation was as seeds of dissent and disagreement all the way through, and as a faulty system, we see it now fading. This is a natural outcome of a fundamentally flawed way and the result now is the testimony, witness, and power of those who claim “light” unable to quell the tide of darkness.
Matthew 16:16-18 – Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The church was supposed to be God’s remedy, His own safe haven and as an embassy of the kingdom of heaven on earth. It was called to be a bulwark against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. It still has this potential as God does not withdraw His promise or change His will on this.
We do not believe mass reform in the U.S. or western world will likely happen, but this is a word to the wise. If you personally want all of God, we urge you to please be willing to consider whether you hold to understandings that do not add up to fruit bearing as they knew in Century One.
Look also to the early church teachings and know: they had fruit we all have looked to for 1900 years. They were the ones who wrote the New Testament which those following “sola scriptura” have been fighting and dividing over ever since.
The good news is their God is our God, and He yet lives and will act for those who humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and ask Him to examine them and reveal.
God honors those who honor Him, and He has the greatest vested interest in our success: The Lord wants His “bride” (the church) ready. He did not come for a woman half interested, or self-interested, but one who is “all about” Him.
Revelation 3:15 – “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Discipleship (your Christian life) is to be in the full spirit of the meaning of it as the apostles strove for, and as the scriptures bear witness to if only we would obey them.
May the Lord bless you.
