1 Corinthians 1:10-17
A Church Divided Over its Leaders
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul"; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Galatians 1:11-24
Paul Meets with Peter and James
11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.
Acts 15:1-35
The Council at Jerusalem
1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
18 things known from long ago.
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
The Early Apostles saw the need for organization, order, and uniformity of what had been taught by Jesus...Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians wrote that the people of Corinth were saying: One of you says, “I follow Paul” ; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”...The Early Apostles had different followers...But Paul reminds the early followers that they really are one group teaching about Jesus...Is Christ divided?...Paul asks was I crucified for you?...Were you baptized in the name of Paul?...Paul only baptized a few people...For Christ did not send him to baptize, but to preach the gospel about Jesus...Paul recognized that the one teaching influenced the one listening about Jesus and His teachings...
Each of us get comfortable in what we believe and what we want to believe in -even in the ways we want to believe...And even who we listen to...We even do this about our beliefs in Jesus...There are certain things we will believe about Him...Paul realized that each leader taught a little bit differently, but in the end they all were teaching about the same Man, and same LORD, Jesus Christ...What the Leaders were saying about Jesus was what they had heard Him say, or had heard from others...The Twelve Disciples had the most direct information and data about His teachings...They would be the Teachers of the early apostles because they had the most knowledge of Him...Paul met with Peter and James to learn more about Jesus, and I am sure he would gather more information from the others who knew Jesus...But it was three years after Paul was preaching about Jesus, before he went to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and James, Jesus brother...But over time the Christian religion became more organized as the Early Apostles and Disciples and their followers got to know each other and met with each other...
We first read about a Council meeting in Jerusalem trying to bring more order and establish some more uniform Christian doctrines in the teachings of Jesus...After all, with communication and transportation and the way it was in Jesus' time it would be hard to spread the word and teachings of Jesus and get organized messages out in a timely way...Questions for the council was do Gentile believers have to become Jews?...Do Gentile believers have to become followers of the Law of Moses to follow Jesus?...Since Judaism ruled the past and present believers thinking, these questions were very pertinent for the new believer and followers of the Old Testament...And going forward it would be very difficult, to quickly spread the word about Jesus because of the transportation and communication issues...These early issues were addressing, do new believers have to follow the Old Testament writings and customs...And issue that would remain for years and is still discussed today...So for Peter, Paul, James, John, Barnabas and the other early apostles it would be difficult to try to keep things orderly and uniform as the went out to the other parts of the world and talked about Jesus to new believers...
The Jerusalem Council came up with this statement for early believers: It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality...You will do well to avoid these things...Farewell...
So after the Jerusalem Council meeting finished, the men at the meeting were sent off and went down to Antioch with this statement...Then they gathered the church together and delivered this letter from the Jerusalem Council...The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message...
Approximately three hundred years later another Christian Council would come together...In 325 a.d. a meeting took place in the city of Nicea, called together by the Emperor Constantine...Constantine wanted Christian Leaders to resolve some of the differences of the current Christian Leaders...The leaders new that not all teachings were the same about Jesus...So the First Council of Nicea was the another council that would meet about Jesus and the Christian Church to discuss their differences...They also would try to make the Christian doctrine more uniform and organized...They would produce a statement and it would be called the Nicene Creed...This creed would be established for the local and regional councils of Bishops-the intent being to define unity of the teachings of Jesus, and the Christian Religion...
There are variants on the first Nicene Creed that came out of the council meeting, but it is very much like this: We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, of the substance of the Father; God of God and Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father, by whom all things were made, in heaven and on earth: who for the sake of us men and our salvation, descended, became incarnate, and was made Man, suffered, arose again on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, from where He will come again to judge the living and the dead; And in the Holy Spirit...
But the Holy Catholic and Apostolic church anathematizes those [i.e. the Arians] who say “There was a time when He was not,” and “Before He was begotten, He did not exist” and “He was made from that which did not exist.”...The same goes for those who assert that He is of a different substance or essence from the Father, or that He was created, or can be changed...
We can see there was some differing beliefs in the first Council meeting in Nicea...
Then one hundred years later in the city of Chalcedon, the Council of Chalcedon would meet in the year 381 a.d. ...They discussed the divine nature of Jesus...Then again another Council of Chalcedon would meet in 481 a.d. They would meet to clarify more on the nature of Jesus and the subject of the Trinity...
The council of Chalcedon in 381 a.d. came up with the Nicene-Constantinople Creed and text was added to the earlier creed and it went like this:
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages,
Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made Man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;
And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end...
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets;
And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church...
We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins...
We look for the Resurrection of the dead,
And the Life of the age to come...Amen...
As time has marched some of the text has changed and the Catholic Church bishops express the Nicene Creed to be:
I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible...
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages...
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through Him all things were made...
For us men and for our salvation
He came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became Man...
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
He suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and His kingdom will have no end...
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets...
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come...Amen...
These council meetings hoped to bring old believers and new believers together...A statement came out of each of these meetings...Most churches agree with this Nicene Creed, and a few do not...
And as we look back from council to council one might ask: How important is it for all the churches of the world to share in the common doctrine of Jesus Christ?...And how difficult is it for the church leaders to meet and get the word out so there is this similar teaching around the world?...How do we keep the original teachings of Jesus?...And can these things be done?...