NT Framework - Is there a Jewish Church and a Gentile Church?

Which camp do you fall into? That the Church began at Pentecost just after Christ ascended, or that it began with the first gentile convert, or that it began later after Paul?

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com 

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

Transcript

Welcome And Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.

When Does The Church Begin

SPEAKER_01 0:10

So the question becomes does the church begin when man realizes it? Such as in Acts 9 or Acts 13 or 28, or does the church begin when God has begun the church? I mean, which which is it? Man's realization or God's formation? And obviously you already know that I hold that the church had already begun. It's based on when God actually began this work of baptizing people by the Spirit and not man's realization of it, which took time. So let's look at some of the reasons that we hold that the church had already begun, but it had to be realized through various events and new revelation given

Luke’s Hindsight And The Twelve

SPEAKER_01 0:52

by the Spirit. So Luke, first of all, who wrote Acts well, wrote Luke and Acts, in hindsight, he's writing the book of Acts in about AD 63, so 30 years after the cross, he confirms that the twelve apostles who are the foundation of the church were already present on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. So in hindsight, he's looking back, and of course he sketched the choosing of the 12th apostle, right, in Acts chapter 1. Many people doubt that you know Matthias was really supposed to be the 12th apostle, but in my discussion of that, I pointed out that the very reason this is here is to show that the foundation of the church was laid before it could begin, before the building could begin. And that's true for a construction project, and it's true for the church, which is a construction project of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, I will build it, my church. So the foundation has to be laid first. That happens in Acts chapter 1. And then in Acts chapter 2, the building can begin to be built on that foundation of the apostles. And you see it there in 2.14, but Peter taking his stand with the eleven. So Luke at least recognized that Matthias was the 12th apostle because here you have Peter and 11 others, which equals 12. So he's understanding that.

“Church” In Acts 5 Explained

SPEAKER_01 2:13

After that, um after the Ananias and Sapphira incident, you know this story over in chapter 5, where those two are contrasted with uh Barnabas. Barnabas had some property on the island of Cyprus. He sold that property, he gave all the proceeds to the early church for the widow relief fund. Um but then you have the contrast, you have Ananias and Sapphira, right? And they say that they sell the property for such and such a price and gave all the proceeds to the church, but they lied. And at the conclusion of that, you see in verse 11, great fear came over the whole what? Church, Ecclesia. It's just a word that means a gathering. It's not a technical term, meaning it doesn't always mean what we think of as the body of Christ, the believers from the day of Pentecost up to this present day. It can just mean, like in Acts 19, it is used to refer to a mob that gathered to attack Paul. Um, it's a gathering. And there's a pagan gathering, so let's just call it a pagan church if you want to. But the point is to show it's not a technical term, it just means a gathering or assembly. But there are particular usages, such as here in Acts 5.11, that are referring to the body of believers, right? So uh Luke recognizes the church in hindsight, 63 AD, was present here in Acts 5. In other words, it had already begun. That's what I'm trying to get across. It was uh at least in Luke's point of view, it had already begun, and he has the point of view of the Spirit.

Stephen’s Martyrdom And Persecution

SPEAKER_01 3:52

After the martyrdom of Stephen, which is Acts chapter 7, the close of that chapter, in chapter 8, verse 1, we are told that Saul was in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death, and on that day a great persecution began against the what? The church. The church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered. And then verse 3, but Saul began ravaging the church. So again, uh anachronistically, you know, speaking backwards in times, so to speak, Luke recognizes that the church

The Problem With Two Churches

SPEAKER_01 4:29

was already there. Now, the people who hold that the church didn't begin until Acts 9, 13, or 28, they're saying that there were two churches actually in the book of Acts. So I've thrown a level of complexity into the situation, but what they want to say is that the body church didn't begin until Acts 9, 13, or 28, but the Jewish church had already begun in Acts 2. Um, so they have in their theology two churches. Um I'm never very interested in views that say there's two this is or there's two that's with the same name. Because it's just not convincing. You're really going to tell me the Holy Spirit has two churches going on in the book of Acts, and he both called them a church. Why couldn't he call the first one something and the second one something else so we'd know that there's they're not the same thing, right? It's like some people say there's two new covenants. And I'm like, that's just not very convincing. Um Jeremiah 31 is where that language of the new covenant begins. And when Jesus talks about that at the last supper, right, and he says, you know, this cup is the new covenant, my blood. Well, I mean, if you know the Bible, you're thinking this new covenant has got to be the covenant that he's talking about in Jeremiah. Uh at least that would be good Bible study. Right? And uh then to come along and say that, well, when Paul talks about the new covenant in 2 Corinthians 3, he's talking about a different new covenant. That's just not convincing. Some people get convinced by it, but I mean, people will believe all sorts of things, won't they? Um so to say there's two churches, and this is just talking about the Jewish church, and later with Paul you start the body church, that just doesn't, that's just not convincing. Um we have that reference to the church, two references there in Acts 8. All before Paul, right? Well, Saul just got mentioned, but um, he hasn't been converted yet.

Closing And Where To Find Visuals

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Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.