Part 2 (The Apostolic Gospel)
In answer to the question posed at the end of the previous post, the uniqueness of the apostolate consisted in this: the apostles not only spearheaded the gospel’s penetration into the world (as pioneers), but they also established it (as master-builders, cf. 1Co.3:10) in the foundation of the church.
In this capacity, they served as eye-witnesses to the resurrection, giving authoritative testimony to the “appearing of Christ Jesus” in the world, and also as prophets of God, through whom the eternal mystery in Christ was revealed and illumined (Eph.1:9; 3:1-5, 8-9). As divinely appointed witnesses, they testified to the historical events of Christ’s coming – particularly His death and resurrection. As divinely inspired instruments of revelation (e.g., 1Co.2:13), they announced and interpreted these events (redemptive-historically) as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets: the manifestation of the divine righteousness!
Through this apostolic preaching of “Christ and Him crucified,” then, the mystery that had long been hidden was now disclosed to the saints (Col.1:26; 1Co.2:6-10; cf. Ro.16:25-26; Eph.6:19; Col.4:3; Titus 1:2-3); for the Christ whom the apostles preached was the divine mystery unveiled (Col.2:2)! As Paul writes to Timothy in 1Ti.3:15,
“…by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, was beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory.”
This mystery of Christ, as revealed and proclaimed in the (foundational) ministry of the apostles, is the Chief Cornerstone. On this ‘rock' Christ has established his church (Eph.2:20)!
What is the nature of this apostolic foundation?
In refuting the Gnostic heresies of the second century, Irenaeus first articulated the doctrine of apostolic succession. According to this doctrine the authoritative teaching and interpretation of the gospel was safeguarded in the ecclesial succession of bishops, being traced back, it was asserted, to the apostles themselves.
What was right about Irenaeus’ instinctive appeal to the established church was the understanding that the gospel of Jesus Christ was not merely a ‘naked text’ to be interpreted by anyone as they saw fit (as in the Gnostic re-appropriation and manipulation of the Christian faith). Rather, the gospel was couched within an apostolic tradition, and committed to the historic church (as represented in the body of bishops).
In the New Testament, we find that, beyond a rudimentary narration of gospel events or a simple proposition regarding their meaning, a normative “pattern” emerges - a comprehensive “tradition” of teachings and practices set forth by the apostles (see Ro.6:17; 1Co.11:2; 2Th.2:15; 3:6-9; cf. 1Co.11:23; 15:1). Not only was the apostolic pattern of words to be remembered, but the apostles’ way of life was to be imitated (1Co.4:16-17; 11:1; Phil.3:17). Moreover, we see this pattern or standard entrusted to the apostolic assistants and successors, such that Timothy, for example, is commanded to “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me," and to "guard" this "good deposit" (2Ti.1:13-14). And they in turn were to entrust this pattern of orthodoxy to other, "faithful men" (2Ti.2:2), who would then articulate and exemplify "the trustworthy message as it has been taught,” (Titus 1:9).
In this way, the gospel that had first been entrusted to the apostles (1Th.2:4) has now been committed to the church once and for all (Jude 1:3).
Of course, as many have pointed out, the weakness of Irenaeus’ argument was in (apparently) identifying the historical succession of bishops with the faithful transmission of the apostles' traditions. The obvious problem with this is the fact that many of the church’s bishops have apostatized from the faith themselves. Ordination to the bishopric, then, is evidently no guarantee of orthodoxy’s maintenance. Even if it could be demonstrated that an ecclesiastical line, from the apostolic age to the present, continued uninterrupted in the procession of bishops, the faith bequeathed to us clearly has not.
The Reformers, therefore, argued that the essential truth in Irenaeus’ appeal to apostolic succession was to be understood not in terms of a hierarchical 'lineage', but in terms of faithfulness to the 'authorized corpus' of apostolic teachings and traditions. This is, of course, the definition of the New Testament canon, as reflected in the deliberations of the 3rd, 4th and 5th century church (with canonicity being determined essentially according to apostolicity). Hence, in championing sola scriptura, the Reformers taught that the "rule of faith," by which the Scriptures were rightly read, was to be found in the Scriptures themselves - particularly the New Testament. For in these documents the "good deposit" had been inscripturated through the superintendence of the Spirit, and perserved for the church according to divine providence.
It is not then the pedigree of our bishopric that constitutes fidelity to and continuity with the ancient traditions of the apostles, but our faithfulness to the "sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted," (1Ti.1:10-11). It is this evangelic 'foundation', then, that comprises the true "apostolicity" of the church.
Many today are looking for a Christian community with historic roots and a sense of connectedness to longstanding traditions. Apostolic succession is an appealing idea, then, on purely aesthetic grounds. But if we wish to find a community rooted in the ancient church, let us look first and foremost for conformity to the most primitive of ecclesiastical traditions - that of the apostles! Let us look for the faithful preaching of the gospel. For it is the evangel alone that connects us to the apostles; moreover, it is the evangel alone that binds us to the risen Christ through faith!
The apostolic church is radically evangelical. But how does this then relate to the apostolic commission, to the evangelistic mission?
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
The Church and Mission Pt IV: The Apostolic Church (1)
Part 1 (The Great Commission)
In previously considering the ministry of reconciliation (2Co.5:14-6:2), which is the administration of the new covenant (3:2-4:12), we briefly observed that this commission was originally and specifically apostolic in nature (cf. Mt.28:16-20; Ac.1:2-8). Many have rightly observed that the “we”/”us” pronouns scattered throughout Paul’s explication of the new covenant ministry in 2nd Corinthians (2:14-7:4) are specifically in reference to the apostle himself, or the so-called apostolic band (and hence categorized as “the apostolic plural”). At points Paul adds the inclusive “all” to the pronoun (2Co.3:18; 5:10), while at others, the predicates of the first person plural undoubtedly apply equally to the Corinthians themselves as fellow believers (e.g., 2Co.5:1-5, 21). But the typical contrast of the apostolic “we”/”us” to the Corinthian “you” is sustained throughout (see 3:1-3, 4:5, 12, 14; 5:12-13, 20; 6:2, 11-13; 7:2-4).
This is particularly clear in 5:20, where Paul speaks of his commission as an “ambassador of Christ,” as though God himself were “making an appeal” through the apostle’s preaching and ministry of ‘persuasion’ (cf. 5:11); and on that basis pleads with the Corinthians to “be reconciled to God!” How? Through their reconciliation to Paul, the ambassador of the divine king (cf. 6:11-7:3)! In particular, they are reconciled to God in their repentance regarding their insolence toward Paul (7:8-13; 2:1-11), as minister of the new covenant (3:6) and spokesman of Christ (13:3), and their (re)reception of his gospel over and against “another gospel” (11:2-4) taught by “false apostles” (11:13-15).
Hence, when Paul speaks in 5:18 of the ministry of reconciliation being “committed” to “us,” he speaks uniquely and specifically as an apostle appointed by the resurrected Lord (cf., Ac.26:16-20; Ro.15:15-16). His commission to be a minister of reconciliation to the Gentiles, then, parallels the Lord’s mission enjoined on the original eleven (Mt.28:18-20; Ac.1:8). Therefore, the ministry of reconciliation is first and foremost an apostolic commission.
Interestingly, though we modern evangelicals often appeal to Matthew 28:18-20 and its parallels as the primary ground and impetus for world mission and evangelism, the early church, though zealously evangelistic, never did. Why? Because, as Michael Green explains in his book, “Evangelism in the Early Church,” they understood Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, etc., to have been essentially fulfilled by the end of the first century through the ministries of the apostles.
Of course, there is an important sense in which this is true. The gospel did penetrate to the ends of the (known) world (e.g., Col.1:6, 23). And certainly the apostles faithfully carried out the task assigned them, such that Paul, for example, could say, “So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ,” (Ro.15:19). And again, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” (2Ti.4:7). Surely this means more than that Paul merely maintained faith throughout the course of his life. Does it not also imply that he fully discharged his commission as an apostle of Jesus Christ to the nations (cf. Ac.20:24)? Because of Paul’s missionary genius and unflinching evangelization, the gospel has successfully and irreversibly infiltrated the Gentile world. And the magnificent history of Western civilization is a glittering testimony to that fact.
And yet, it would be wrong for us to conclude that the charge entrusted to the original apostles was either delimited or exhausted by their ministries. Why?
For one, the book of Acts makes clear that the Lord’s decree to the (now) eleven in 1:8 is executed not only through Peter (and presumably the other apostles), but also through such luminaries as Stephen the martyr and Philip the evangelist, who first takes the gospel to Samaria, and both of whom were ‘deacons’ (Ac.6-8)! Perhaps more striking is the fact that the preaching of the gospel is an endeavor undertaken by the church at large. After Stephen’s martyrdom, Luke writes, “on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…those who had been scattered went about preaching the word,” (8:1, 4). Here Luke paints the picture of everyone but the apostles preaching the gospel abroad! It was through such ‘anonymous’ evangelists - known to us only as “men of Cyprus and Cyrene” - that the gospel was first preached to Greeks in Syrian Antioch (11:19-21).
Clearly, then, though the apostles maintained a unique status as authoritative witnesses of the risen Christ (e.g., 10:39-42; cf. 1Co.15:4-8), with direct appointment from the Lord himself (1:15-26; 22:6-21), the injunction to “Go…!” was not limited to the twelve. It seemed, rather, to permeate through and beyond them to their disciples (e.g., Barnabas, Silas, Titus, Timothy), and on to theirs (e.g., 2Ti.2:2), etc., etc.
Moreover, as we briefly noted in the last post, the promise of Christ’s empowering presence for the accomplishment of the mission extends beyond the apostolic era and on to “the very end of the age,” (Mt.28:20). Does this not imply that the mission itself extends to the closing of the present age? Likewise, in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus announces: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come,” (24:14). Many students of Scripture have naturally concluded from this that until Christ returns the on-going testimony to the nations necessarily continues.
At the very least, then, we must conclude that the mission of making disciples among the nations has not expired with the dying breath of John!
Positively speaking, it is clear that the mission originally issued to the apostles extended beyond their immediate circle, and apparently, well beyond their life-time.
What then is unique to the ministry of the apostles as missionaries to the world? Why was the Lord's mandate addressed specifically and especially to them?
And then how and in what sense does their apostolic commission continue in the church today?
In previously considering the ministry of reconciliation (2Co.5:14-6:2), which is the administration of the new covenant (3:2-4:12), we briefly observed that this commission was originally and specifically apostolic in nature (cf. Mt.28:16-20; Ac.1:2-8). Many have rightly observed that the “we”/”us” pronouns scattered throughout Paul’s explication of the new covenant ministry in 2nd Corinthians (2:14-7:4) are specifically in reference to the apostle himself, or the so-called apostolic band (and hence categorized as “the apostolic plural”). At points Paul adds the inclusive “all” to the pronoun (2Co.3:18; 5:10), while at others, the predicates of the first person plural undoubtedly apply equally to the Corinthians themselves as fellow believers (e.g., 2Co.5:1-5, 21). But the typical contrast of the apostolic “we”/”us” to the Corinthian “you” is sustained throughout (see 3:1-3, 4:5, 12, 14; 5:12-13, 20; 6:2, 11-13; 7:2-4).
This is particularly clear in 5:20, where Paul speaks of his commission as an “ambassador of Christ,” as though God himself were “making an appeal” through the apostle’s preaching and ministry of ‘persuasion’ (cf. 5:11); and on that basis pleads with the Corinthians to “be reconciled to God!” How? Through their reconciliation to Paul, the ambassador of the divine king (cf. 6:11-7:3)! In particular, they are reconciled to God in their repentance regarding their insolence toward Paul (7:8-13; 2:1-11), as minister of the new covenant (3:6) and spokesman of Christ (13:3), and their (re)reception of his gospel over and against “another gospel” (11:2-4) taught by “false apostles” (11:13-15).
Hence, when Paul speaks in 5:18 of the ministry of reconciliation being “committed” to “us,” he speaks uniquely and specifically as an apostle appointed by the resurrected Lord (cf., Ac.26:16-20; Ro.15:15-16). His commission to be a minister of reconciliation to the Gentiles, then, parallels the Lord’s mission enjoined on the original eleven (Mt.28:18-20; Ac.1:8). Therefore, the ministry of reconciliation is first and foremost an apostolic commission.
Interestingly, though we modern evangelicals often appeal to Matthew 28:18-20 and its parallels as the primary ground and impetus for world mission and evangelism, the early church, though zealously evangelistic, never did. Why? Because, as Michael Green explains in his book, “Evangelism in the Early Church,” they understood Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, etc., to have been essentially fulfilled by the end of the first century through the ministries of the apostles.
Of course, there is an important sense in which this is true. The gospel did penetrate to the ends of the (known) world (e.g., Col.1:6, 23). And certainly the apostles faithfully carried out the task assigned them, such that Paul, for example, could say, “So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ,” (Ro.15:19). And again, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” (2Ti.4:7). Surely this means more than that Paul merely maintained faith throughout the course of his life. Does it not also imply that he fully discharged his commission as an apostle of Jesus Christ to the nations (cf. Ac.20:24)? Because of Paul’s missionary genius and unflinching evangelization, the gospel has successfully and irreversibly infiltrated the Gentile world. And the magnificent history of Western civilization is a glittering testimony to that fact.
And yet, it would be wrong for us to conclude that the charge entrusted to the original apostles was either delimited or exhausted by their ministries. Why?
For one, the book of Acts makes clear that the Lord’s decree to the (now) eleven in 1:8 is executed not only through Peter (and presumably the other apostles), but also through such luminaries as Stephen the martyr and Philip the evangelist, who first takes the gospel to Samaria, and both of whom were ‘deacons’ (Ac.6-8)! Perhaps more striking is the fact that the preaching of the gospel is an endeavor undertaken by the church at large. After Stephen’s martyrdom, Luke writes, “on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…those who had been scattered went about preaching the word,” (8:1, 4). Here Luke paints the picture of everyone but the apostles preaching the gospel abroad! It was through such ‘anonymous’ evangelists - known to us only as “men of Cyprus and Cyrene” - that the gospel was first preached to Greeks in Syrian Antioch (11:19-21).
Clearly, then, though the apostles maintained a unique status as authoritative witnesses of the risen Christ (e.g., 10:39-42; cf. 1Co.15:4-8), with direct appointment from the Lord himself (1:15-26; 22:6-21), the injunction to “Go…!” was not limited to the twelve. It seemed, rather, to permeate through and beyond them to their disciples (e.g., Barnabas, Silas, Titus, Timothy), and on to theirs (e.g., 2Ti.2:2), etc., etc.
Moreover, as we briefly noted in the last post, the promise of Christ’s empowering presence for the accomplishment of the mission extends beyond the apostolic era and on to “the very end of the age,” (Mt.28:20). Does this not imply that the mission itself extends to the closing of the present age? Likewise, in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus announces: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come,” (24:14). Many students of Scripture have naturally concluded from this that until Christ returns the on-going testimony to the nations necessarily continues.
At the very least, then, we must conclude that the mission of making disciples among the nations has not expired with the dying breath of John!
Positively speaking, it is clear that the mission originally issued to the apostles extended beyond their immediate circle, and apparently, well beyond their life-time.
What then is unique to the ministry of the apostles as missionaries to the world? Why was the Lord's mandate addressed specifically and especially to them?
And then how and in what sense does their apostolic commission continue in the church today?
Sunday, May 6, 2007
The Church and Mission Pt III: “On A Mission from God”?
What is God doing in the world?
This is a complicated question. And undoubtedly God is doing many things in the world. In a sense, we could rightly answer this question with the reply: Everything! (Eph.1:11; cf. Isa.45:7; Am.3:6)
Yet, in another sense, the question is unanswerable. God’s work in the world is ultimately inscrutable and unfathomable (Ecc.3:11; 8:17). "As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things" (Ecc.11:5). We can see it, in retrospect, and then only in part, but we can’t understand it. We can’t 'put it together' and make sense of it all.
For this reason Scripture tells us that wisdom – true understanding of the world and (therefore) the ability to accomplish one’s purposes and designs in it – is finally beyond our grasp (Ecc.7:24). Wisdom is possessed solely by God (Job 28:1-28), who is Himself incomprehensible (Job 11:7-9). And being found in Him alone, He alone can reveal it.
And there is much that God has not revealed to us.
We cannot know what will happen even tomorrow (Jas.4:14-15), let alone over the course of our lives, or beyond (Ecc.10:14). Divine providence is mysterious and unpredictable. And despite what we may think, we are not the captains of our fate. "Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him" (Ecc.9:1). We are, quite literally, at the mercy of God, who is the maker and sovereign disposer of all things (e.g., Pro.16:4; Ps.115:3; Isa.46:10-11).
Like Moses, then, all we can do is pray – for mercy, for blessing, for wisdom (Ps.90).
Fortunately, our prayers are not in vain (Jas.1:5). For God does make mysteries known and give wisdom to men (Dan.2:20-23) through the gracious act of divine self-disclosure - revelation. And though God has not revealed everything to us, He has revealed enough (Dt.29:29).
He reveals Himself clearly in nature, and in the human conscience.
He reveals Himself specially in the Law and the Prophets.
He reveals Himself climactically in Jesus Christ.
As John writes: "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." And knowledge of Christ comes only through His word.
This then is wisdom and understanding: the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ through the disclosure of the gospel (2Co.4:2-6).
And so Paul tells us that the ‘foolishness’ of the gospel is in fact the very wisdom of God (1Co.1:18ff.). And regarding his preaching (1Co.2:1ff.), he writes: "we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory," (2:7). It is the eternal mystery of God, long hidden, but now brought to light through the revelation of Jesus Christ in the apostolic kerygma (Eph.3:3-5, 8-9; cf. Ro.16:25-26; Col.1:26-27; etc.).
What is this mystery of God now revealed through the gospel? It is, in short, the divine purpose to consummate “all things together in Christ, whether things in heaven or upon the earth” (Eph.1:9-10). It is a cosmic reconstitution and renewal, under Christ's rule, and centered on the reconciliation and redemption of men through his blood (Ro.8:18-23; Col.1:20).
This then is what God is doing in the world (cf. Jn.5:17).
But if God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, what should our response be? What is the response of wisdom?
Obviously, the first response of wisdom is to be reconciled! It is to pray for mercy and blessing and wisdom, and to find it, as he promised (e.g., Mt.7:7-11; He.11:6; Ro.10:12-13), in Jesus (e.g., Ac.2:12-39; 4:12; Ro.10:14-17). And so Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."
Our next response, it seems to me, is to join him. As those reconciled to God, and made to be “the righteousness of God in him,” are we not also called to be “ambassadors” and “fellow workers” with God in this cosmic, eschatological endeavor?
To be sure, Paul speaks here as an apostle of Jesus Christ. And we are not apostles; for they were eye-witnesses of Christ (Ac.1:21-22; 1Co.9:1; 1Jn.1:1-3), directly appointed by the Lord himself (Lk.6:12-16; Ac.1:24-26; 26:13-18; Gal.1:15-16) as uniquely authoritative delegates sent into the world (e.g., 2Co.13:3; 12:12). Our function as representatives of Christ is therefore of a different nature.
Nevertheless, the apostolic kerygma, the canonical gospel, has been entrusted to us, the church (e.g., 2Ti.1:12-14; Jude 1:3, 17). The torch has been passed. To us the message of reconciliation has been committed. And we know that the evangelical commission, given to the original twelve, will not be exhausted until the very end of the age (Mt.28:20; 24:14). The mission continues. God’s redemptive work in the world is not yet finished.
What then is our response to this? God is on a mission of reconciling sinners to himself. Are we reconciled to him? Are we subject to him and his purposes? Are we on mission together with him?
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