The True History Of The Early Christian Church Order Printed Copy
- Author: Kelly, Ronald
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About the Book
"The True History of the Early Christian Church" by Ronald Kelly provides an overview of the origins and development of Christianity in the early centuries, discussing key figures, events, and controversies that shaped the church's identity. The book explores how Christianity grew from a small sect into a dominant religious force, highlighting the struggles and triumphs of early followers and leaders. Kelly's narrative offers insights into the legacy of the early Christian church and its lasting impact on Western civilization.
Smith Wigglesworth
Smith Wigglesworth was born in 1859 to a very poor family. His father did manual labor, for very little pay. Smith himself went to work at the age of six to help with the family income. At six he was pulling turnips and at seven he was working in a woolen mill twelve hours a day. His parents did not know God, but Smith hungered in his heart to know Him. Even as a youngster he would pray in the fields. His grandmother was the critical Christian in his life. She was a Wesleyan Methodist and would take Smith to meetings with her. At one of these meetings there was a song being sung about Jesus as the lamb and Smith came into the realization of God's love for him and his decision to believe Christ for his salvation was decided that day. He was immediately filled with the desire to evangelize and led his own mother to Christ.
Smith has various church experiences as he was growing up. He first went to an Episcopal church and then at thirteen a Wesleyan Methodist church. When he was sixteen he became involved in the Salvation Army. He felt deeply called to fast and pray for lost souls. He saw many people come to Christ. At seventeen a mentor shared with him about water baptism and he decided to be baptized. The Salvation Army was experiencing a tremendous level of the power of God in those days. He describes meetings where "many would be prostrated under the power of the Spirit, sometimes for as long as twenty-four hours at a time." They would pray and fast and cry out for the salvation of fifty or a hundred people for the week and they would see what they had prayed for.
At eighteen Smith left the factory and became a plumber. He moved to Liverpool when he was twenty and continued to work during the day and minister during his free time. He felt called to minister to young people and brought them to meetings. These were destitute and ragged children, whom he would often feed and care for. Hundreds were saved. Smith was often asked to speak in Salvation meetings and he would break down and weep under the power of God. Many would come to repentance in those meetings through this untrained man. At twenty-three he returned back Bradford and continued his work with the Salvation Army.
In Bradford Smith met Mary Jane Featherstone, known as Polly, the daughter of a temperance lecturer. She left home and went to Bradford to take a servants job. One night she was drawn to a Salvation Army meeting. She listened to the woman evangelist, Gipsy Tillie Smith, and gave her heart to Christ. Smith was in that meeting and saw her heart for God. Polly became an enthusiastic Salvationsist and was granted a commission by General Booth. They developed a friendship, but Polly went to Scotland to help with a new Salvationist work. She eventually moved back to Bradford and married Smith, who was very much in love with her.
The couple worked together to evangelize the lost. They opened a small church in a poor part of town. Polly would preach and Smith would make the altar calls. For a season, however, Smith became so busy with his plumbing work that his evangelistic fervor began to wane. Polly continued on, bringing Smith to conviction. One day while Smith was working in the town of Leeds he heard of a divine healing meeting. He shared with Polly about it. She needed healing and so they went to a meeting, and Polly was healed.
Smith struggled with the reality of healing, while being ill himself. He decided to give up the medicine that he was taking and trust God. He was healed. They had five children, a girl and four boys. One morning two of the boys were sick. The power of God came and they prayed for the boys and they were instantly healed. Smith struggled with the idea that God would use him to heal the sick in general. He would gather up a group of people and drive them to get prayer in Leeds. The leaders of the meeting were going to a convention and left Smith in charge. He was horrified. How could he lead a meeting about divine healing? He tried to pass it off to someone else but could not. Finally he led the meeting and several people were healed. That was it. From then on Smith began to pray for people for healing.
Smith had another leap to make. He had heard about the Pentecostals who were being baptized in the Holy Spirit. He went to meetings and was so hungry for God he created a disturbance and church members asked him to stop. He went to prayer and prayed for four days. Finally he was getting ready to head home and the vicar's wife prayed for him and he fell under the power of God and spoke in tongues. Everything changed after that. He would walk by people and they would come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and be saved. He began to see miracles and healings and the glory of God would fall when he prayed and preached.
Smith had to respond to the many calls that came in and gave up his business for the ministry. Polly unexpectedly died in 1913, and this was a real blow to Smith. He prayed for her and commanded that death release her. She did arise but said "Smith - the Lord wants me." His heartbroken response was "If the Lord wants you, I will not hold you". She had been his light and joy for all the years of their marriage, and he grieved deeply over the loss. After his wife was buried he went to her grave, feeling like he wanted to die. When God told him to get up and go Smith told him only if you "give to me a double portion of the Spirit â my wifeâs and my own â I would go and preach the Gospel. God was gracious to me and answered my request.â His daughter Alice and son-in-law James Salter began to travel with him to handle his affairs.
Smith would pray and the blind would see, and the deaf were healed, people came out of wheelchairs, and cancers were destroyed. One remarkable story is when He prayed for a woman in a hospital. While he and a friend were praying she died. He took her out of the bed stood her against the wall and said "in the name of Jesus I rebuke this death". Her whole body began to tremble. The he said "in the name of Jesus walk", and she walked. Everywhere he would go he would teach and then show the power of God. He began to receive requests from all over the world. He taught in Europe, Asia, New Zealand and many other areas. When the crowds became very large he began a "wholesale healing". He would have everyone who needed healing lay hands on themselves and then he would pray. Hundreds would be healed at one time.
Over Smith's ministry it was confirmed that 14 people were raised from the dead. Thousands were saved and healed and he impacted whole continents for Christ. Smith died on March 12, 1947 at the funeral of his dear friend Wilf Richardson. His ministry was based on four principles " First, read the Word of God. Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you. Third believe the Word of God. Fourth, act on the Word."
Dressed in His Righteousness Alone
Iâll never forget meeting up with a mentor of mine at Starbucks shortly after becoming a Christian. We regularly met there to read and study the Bible. One day, a person walked by and was elated to find Christians. But during our conversation, my mentor began asking some pretty forthright questions, and I couldnât quite understand why. âDo you believe that a person is justified by faith alone?â he said. The stranger hesitantly responded, âNo, I believe that a person is justified by faith and works.â My mentor graciously but strongly insisted, âThen you donât have a biblical view of justification.â A lot of back-and-forths followed, but because I was a recent convert, I found it immensely difficult to understand what was going on. I barely understood what the term justification meant! Eventually, I discovered the importance of this vital doctrine. Martin Luther and other Reformers considered the doctrine of justification by faith alone the article on which the church stands or falls. It is at the core of the gospel, and the church needs to embrace it as such. What Is Justification? So then, what is justification? This is a crucial starting point. How one defines justification will determine not only how one thinks and believes but also how one lives. Roman Catholic dogma, for example, defines justification as synonymous with sanctification,1 and the result is detrimental. Oneâs standing on the final day is determined by the growth of Christâs righteousness, which is imparted to a person through baptism and increases through participation in the sacraments.2 In a word, justification is essentially a clean slate that one needs to maintain to enjoy a favorable verdict at the final judgment. Diametrically opposed stands the Reformed understanding of justification, which is carefully, succinctly, and biblically defined in the answer to question 33 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: Justification is an act of Godâs free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.3 Notice that justification is an act, not a work or process.4 It is not a hopeful destination. It is Godâs gracious, once-for-all verdict â his declaration of a person to be righteous in Christ, and therefore fully accepted by God. The Greek words for justification and righteousness, along with their cognates,5 belong to the legal sphere.6 Consider, for example, Romans 8:31â34: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against Godâs elect? It is God who justifies [Greek ho dikaiĆn]. Who is to condemn? Justification language belongs to the courtroom; it is forensic. Accusations are met with Godâs justifying verdict spoken over his elect (see also Romans 5:16â19) â a spoken word that melts the hardened hearts of sinners. Whose Righteousness? God, the holy, just, and perfect Judge, finds sinners not guilty and declares them righteous. How? On the basis of the person and work of Jesus Christ â by forgiving our sins on account of the substitutionary death of Christ in our place (Romans 3:21â26) and imputing or reckoning Christâs righteousness to us (Romans 4:1â9; Philippians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21). What is this righteousness? His perfect obedience to God, rendered in his life and death, often referred to as the active and passive obedience of Christ. He perfectly fulfilled the law (Galatians 4:4â5; Romans 8:1â4) and also died under the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13), in love for his people (Galatians 2:20). Nevertheless, death could not keep its prey, and so Christ tore the bars away and arose a victor from the dark domain.7 Jesusâs resurrection was not only proof that his sacrifice satisfied Godâs wrath; it was also his own justification or public vindication (1 Timothy 3:16; cf. Romans 4:25). On Resurrection Sunday, God declared the verdict of righteous over his Son, and through union with him, we too receive that unchangeable righteous standing (2 Corinthians 5:21). How Do We Receive It? What is necessary to receive this righteous standing? Faith, works, or a combination of both? The answer is faith alone. Paul makes this clear in Galatians 2:16: âWe know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.â Justification is not a both-and matter. Itâs either by faith or by works. Paul fleshes this out in Romans 10:3â4. He speaks of his Jewish kinsmen as those who are âignorant of the righteousness of God,â are âseeking to establish their own [righteousness],â and thereby do ânot submit to Godâs righteousness.â Then he provides this explanation: âFor Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.â We submit to Christâs righteousness by faith. Just breaths later, in Romans 10:9â10, Paul writes, âIf you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.â No wonder Paul, in the very next chapter, helpfully explains that âif it is by grace [that we are chosen, saved, and presumably justified (see Romans 10:10)], it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be graceâ (Romans 11:6). âJustification is not a both-and matter. Itâs either by faith or by works.â A biblically Reformed understanding of justification by faith alone is indeed comforting to the sinner. âHow can I be righteous before a holy God?â is an appropriate question to ask for those outside of Christ. The only acceptable answer is found in Christ. He is the basis of our justification, and he can be received only by the empty hands of faith. And this doctrine is at the core of the gospel. More to the Gospel than Justification? In loving and declaring the doctrine of justification by faith alone, some can begin to think that justification is the gospel. But that is not true. Simply saying, âJesus died for my sins so that I can receive Christâs righteousnessâ does not capture the entire gospel.8 Paul doesnât stop there when he lays out the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1â4. Jesus also was buried and rose from the dead. In fact, the resurrection of Christ plays a crucial role in our justification (as weâve seen in Romans 4:25; see also Romans 1:3â4; 1 Corinthians 15:20â23, 42â49; 1 Timothy 3:16).9 The gospel also includes Jesusâs ascension, enthronement as Lord, and outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:3â4; Acts 1:11; 2:1â21; 2:32â33). We therefore should not say that justification is the gospel. And yet, neither should we welcome the persistent emphasis of those who downplay justification, whether by minimizing it to a âsubsidiary craterâ in Paulâs theology10 or, even more drastically, by insisting that âour justification by faith is not part of the gospel.â11 In the end, justification is not the gospel, but it is undeniably at its center.12 If you exclude justification from the gospel, then the gospel ceases to be âgood news.â Solely by Faith? The Reformed tradition has consistently promoted a threefold definition of faith: (1) knowledge of the content of the gospel that we believe (Latin notitia), (2) intellectual assent to the gospel of Christ (assensus), and (3) trust in the person and work of Christ on our behalf (fiducia). Recently some have taken aim at the third part of that definition (trust).13 They argue that faith is not primarily âinteriorâ or âemotionalâ but âexteriorâ and âembodied.â In other words, faith is active rather than passive, and it should be seen rather than felt. So they prefer slogans such as âjustification by allegiance alone,â since allegiance underscores the active nature of faith. Those who argue for this definition of faith make a major mistake. Since they redefine faith as a more active response, they argue that Paulâs either-or of justification is actually a both-and â both faith and works. To be clear here, they do not think a person can be justified by works that stem from self-righteous efforts. They believe Romans 3:20, that âby works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.â However, they underline the phrase âworks of the lawâ and say, âPaul was not against Spirit-wrought good works contributing to a personâs justification.â âChrist is the basis of our justification, and he can be received only by the empty hands of faith.â At this point, you may be feeling the way I did in the conversation at Starbucks, not really understanding the fine distinctions. But this is significant. To say that Paul wasnât against good works with respect to justification, you have to make a drastic move theologically. You have to reject the distinction between justification and sanctification. What do I mean by that? Put simply, justification and sanctification are inseparable yet distinct, like the heat and light of a fire.14 You cannot have one without the other; at the same time, you can distinguish one from the other.15 Good works, as Paul commends them, are done in our sanctification, but they cannot contribute to our justification. If they do, justification is no longer by faith alone. Is Christâs Righteousness Imputed? After the conversation with the stranger at Starbucks, I asked my mentor, âWhat does imputation mean?â The word was thrown around during our discussion but never really defined. Imputation means that the righteousness of Christ â his active and passive obedience â is counted or reckoned to believers. Christâs righteousness is imputed, counted, reckoned to you when you are united to Christ by faith (1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). As Calvin said, âWe do not . . . contemplate [Christ] outside ourselves from afar in order that this righteousness may be imputed to us but because we put on Christ and are engrafted into his body â in short, because he deigns to make us one with him. For this reason, we glory that we have fellowship of righteousness with him.â16 When we talk about receiving righteousness, union with Christ is essential. Imputed righteousness is distinct from infused righteousness. In the Roman Catholic view, Christ merited righteousness for us, and that righteousness is then infused into believers at baptism. Itâs as if Christâs seed of righteousness should be planted into your heart. It becomes your own. And it is up to you, in dependence on the Spirit and the sacraments, to water it and grow in personal righteousness. By contrast, the imputation view intentionally uses the words count or reckon, as Scripture does (Romans 4:1â8; 5:12â19; Galatians 3:6).17 In justification, Christâs righteousness does not become ours as some sort of personal possession. It is counted or reckoned as ours. Why? Because we do not perform the acts of justifying righteousness. Christ, as our substitute, lived the perfect life we couldnât and died the death we deserved. The righteousness of Christ must therefore primarily and exclusively belong to him.18 It is therefore an alien righteousness â it comes from outside of us. And it is graciously imputed, counted, or reckoned to those who have no inherent righteousness whatsoever (Romans 3:9, 23; Ephesians 2:1â3). We are indeed âdressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.â19 For nothing else avails before God. Jesus Receives Sinners Listening to the conversation my mentor had with that fellow at Starbucks was intimidating and a bit over my head. I heard many terms and distinctions that didnât seem, at the time, to make much of a difference in the Christian life. But the more questions I asked, the more I learned that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is not only theologically essential but thoroughly practical. Just think of Christians who question their salvation as they struggle with sin. In those times, they easily can turn inward. âHave I done enough to please God?â âPerhaps if I serve more at church, he will accept me.â âI need to stop sinning in order to be accepted by him.â They may never say these words out loud. After all, they wouldnât want anyone to think they were weak in faith â or even worse, an unbeliever. But their knee-jerk reaction to turn inward reveals a deeper underlying issue. They need to turn outward toward the objective realities of the gospel. They need to trust in Christ Jesus, their righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). They need to rest â not only in mind and mouth, but in heart and life â in the âword of surest consolation; word all sorrow to relieve, word of pardon, peace, salvation! . . . âJesus sinners doth receive.ââ20 Catechism of the Catholic Church: âJustification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior manâ (1989); âThe Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the âinner man,â justification entails the sanctification of his whole beingâ (1995). â© See the Council of Trent, âDecree Concerning Justification,â §7. â© I have slightly updated the language to make the answer easier to read. â© The Westminster divines reserved that language for sanctification: âSanctification is the work of Godâs free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousnessâ (Westminster Shorter Catechism 35). â© See the words dikaioĆ, âI justifyâ; dikaiĆsunÄ, ârighteousnessâ; dikaios, âjust, rightâ; dikaiĆsis, âjustification, vindication, aquittalâ; and dikaiĆma, ârighteous requirement.â â© As recently argued by James B. Prothro, Both Judge and Justifier: Biblical Legal Language and the Act of Justifying in Paul, WUNT 2.461 (TĂŒbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018), though for a criticism of other statements he makes, see my forthcoming review of his book in the Westminster Theological Journal. â© Trinity Hymnal #206, âLow in the Grave He Lay â Christ Arose.â â© That is one reason, after all, why the church disciples new believers: to increase their understanding of the gospel of Christ. â© See also Richard Gaffin, Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paulâs Soteriology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1987). â© Albert Schweitzer, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 225. â© Matthew W. Bates, Gospel Allegiance: What Faith in Jesus Misses for Salvation in Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2019), 37. See also Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017). â© I am currently in the process of writing a review article of Matthew Batesâs work in the Westminster Theological Journal, which will contain more in-depth critical interaction with his arguments. â© See Bates, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, 92. He qualifies this in Gospel Allegiance, 64: âIâm not arguing that faith simply means allegiance without remainder. Nor am I denying that pistis primarily means âfaith/faithfulnessâ or âtrust/trustworthiness.ââ But then he adds a telling caveat: âTrust in or faithfulness toward a leader that endures through trials over the course of time is probably best termed âloyaltyâ or âallegiance.ââ â© John Calvin make this comparison in Institutes 3.11.6. â© I find it telling that Matthew Bates denies the categorical distinction between justification and sanctification because it cannot be found in Scripture (Allegiance, 185â86), and yet, after reading Scripture and laying out his view, he promotes a strikingly similar distinction (see 127, 191â92, 196, and 206). Both justification and sanctification occur in union with Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11). But at the same time, you can distinguish one from the other throughout Scripture âby good and necessary consequenceâ (Westminster Confession of Faith 1.6). See also the Westminster Larger Catechism 77 for a very helpful analysis of the inseparable yet distinct nature of justification and sanctification. â© Institutes 3.2.10; my italics. â© For helpful works on imputation and criticisms raised against it, see Brian Vickers, Jesusâ Blood and Righteousness: Paulâs Theology of Imputation (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006); John Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christâs Righteousness? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002); Ben C. Dunson, âDo Bible Words Have Bible Meaning? Distinguishing between Imputation as Word and Doctrine,â WTJ 75 (2013): 239â60; Thomas Schreiner, Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015). â© James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification: An Outline of Its History in the Church; and of Its Exposition from Scripture (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1867), 326. â© Trinity Hymnal #459, âMy Hope is Built on Nothing Less.â â© Trinity Hymnal #394, âJesus Sinners Doth Receive.â â© Article by David Briones Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary