Another Church Father Who Knew God "Away with the atheists!" Polycarp cried, standing unconsumed amid the roaring pyre until the executioner’s blade sealed his eighty-six years of faithful witness. Polycarp (c. 69–155) was Bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor and a disciple of the Apostle John. He is one of the most important links between the generation of the Apostles and the second-century church because he knew not only John and Ignatius prior to him, but Irenaeus who rose as a

Today we’ll look at how Ignatius taught the first tenet of Trinitarianism: that the Father is the One God. One God Ignatius boldly proclaimed that the One God is the Father. Observe how below he reiterates the Biblical declaration that there is One God, the Father. Ignatius writes: There is One God, who has manifested himself through Jesus Christ his Son… (Magnesians 8:2) A good statement. Unlike most modern-day pastors, Ignatius does not conflate or confuse the Father with t

A Missionary Team is Forged In our last lesson we described how Barnabas and Paul ministered together in Antioch for a year, from 43 to 44 AD. We can calculate the precise year because of a chronological anchor which Acts 11 reports to us: the death of Herod Agrippa. Historians have determined Herod died in AD 44. So, the relief trip Paul and Barnabas made to Jerusalem from Antioch can be dated just before Herod’s death. Here’s the biblical account of the events: … Herod took

Foot Power The Lord Jesus walked everywhere and so did his apostles. For example, Peter, John, Paul, and Barnabas were itinerant preachers who believed in reaching people where they were at. So they used their feet. That was a choice they made to increase the likelihood of personal encounters. They could have used other means, but they used their feet to get around. Acts 8:26-40 tells the story of Phillip, an itinerant preacher walking on the road to Gaza, when he spotted a c

The Man, the Myth, the Legend Clement of Rome stands as the earliest Christian figure of the first century (not one of the 1st generation Apostles) whose writings we possess. He was born about 30 AD. Writing as an elder from the church at Rome, he addressed a crisis in the Corinthian church with a letter that demonstrates both pastoral wisdom and authority. Irenaeus (c. 180 AD), recognized Clement as a man who had met and spoken with the Apostles. He wrote: Clement was appoin

Laying the Claim At our fingertips is solid historical proof that we own orthodoxy. We, as FIRM Christian Ministries, possess the Church’s original sound doctrine. We own its authors, its history, its creeds, and its vocabulary. We possess all that, and much more. The Apostle Paul told the Church that everything belonged to them: All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas [Peter] or the World or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours (1 Corint

History on Our Side In the last lesson, we introduced you to some very important men from our shared Christian history: Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen. Those men, each pastors, are part of a group we call the Church Fathers. What made each of these men famous? They debated. They built arguments. They suffered. They lived in times of intense persecution. Origen's father was martyred for the Faith. Justin earned the title "Martyr" with his own blood. But most i

Nicene Light The Nicene Creed, composed by distinguished Christian pastors in 325 AD, affirms that Jesus is “... God from God, Light from Light, very God from very God...” From such a statement we deduce that the Christian Church was originally as clear as you and I that Jesus is from God. The Church fathers who composed the Nicene Creed demonstrated sensitivity to the words of Jesus. He liked to talk about how he came from God. For example, the Lord Jesus said straight up ‘…

"The Rock" Report #1 Now, let’s get to know that man upon whom the Church is built. Let's get to know Peter better. You know Peter, the fisherman-turned-apostle, the leader of the Apostles, but do you know what made Peter "the Rock"? The best way to know why he got his name is to reflect upon a powerful encounter Peter had with Jesus. In it, Jesus asked a question: He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered and said, 'The Messiah of God' (Luke 9:20, N

Monotheists to the Core You already know this, but we need to reinforce it: The Apostles were believers in One God, the Father. They were monotheists before Christ came, and monotheists after Christ went. As Jewish men, they believed in their God, the God of the Jews, "Yahweh." The Apostles had no greater statement of Faith than Deuteronomy 6:4 which says ‘Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is One.’ In fact, it was the very statement of faith of their Rabbi, Jesus. He rei

Those in the Middle Now we have come to a saying which has stumped Christians for centuries: Jesus’ expression that the Father was in him and he was in the Father. We’re going to interpret it carefully. To do that, to interpret the passage rightly, the first thing to do is to recognize Jesus’ audience. To whom did Jesus direct this saying? Jesus’ expression ‘the Father is in me, and I in the Father’ was a teaching Jesus gave to people without faith. He said it to people who d

A Review In our last Bible study (One God, lesson #41), we learned how Jesus ministered. He did it in such a way as to avoid fame. Let’s review some points about that. Some of the key take-aways include: Jesus’ approach to ministry was to avoid applause. He sought personal experiences for people, not his own popularity. Jesus always tries to give the Father the glory. He told people who witnessed his miracles ‘not to tell anyone’ (Mark 7:36). Jesus hushed people who saw his m

On Mission to Glorify God Jesus’ mission was not to seek fame, popularity, or riches. Rather, he was out to glorify God. During one Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Jesus spoke to the crowds and expressed his approach to ministry. Here are his exact words: My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone is willing to do his will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but he

The Submissive Spirit Our topic is how Jesus proceeds from God, but let’s talk now about the Holy Spirit. Maybe you didn't know, but He helps us get an understanding of Jesus' relationship to God. Particularly, since he has a role in the Father-Jesus hierarchy, he impacts our own role. First of all, the Spirit serves Jesus. Now, that inspires us to serve Jesus too. Specifically, the Spirit inspires us to be submissive to Jesus. Obeying Jesus is hard, but the Spirit can cure t

The Power They Could Not Ignore Everybody who saw Jesus perform healings recognized that ‘the power of the Lord [God] was with Jesus to heal the sick.’ Well, can you also recognize this truth? Will you acknowledge that Jesus’ miracles were not from himself, but that they were from God? Can you admit that God worked through Jesus? The Jewish people, the inhabitants of Israel in the first century, could not ignore Jesus’ many miracles and signs. Being monotheists--believers in

To Believe in the Relationship And so, having completed this brief survey of passages related to how Jesus wanted people to respond to his ministry, we return to our theme verse, the one in which Jesus encouraged the Apostles to believe in his relationship with the Father. Remember: This is where Jesus said that it was okay for his disciples to believe in his relationship with the Father even if only on the basis of his ‘works.’ That is, Jesus said that the disciples didn’t n

Crowds Inspired The crowds which observed Jesus believed that God was at work in him. In Christ they saw a man who was anointed by God and they praised God for what they saw in that man, Jesus. They glorified God because it was obvious that Jesus was not acting alone. They were certain he was sent and empowered by the Almighty—and they were right! Those crowds joined the people Jesus healed, and they worshipped God. They were often inspired to praise God by the gratitude of t

Source of Strength The Pharisees denied that the source of Jesus’ strength was God. They ignored his prayer life, denied his love for God, and would hear nothing of his expression: ‘I am in the Father and the Father is in me’ (John 14:11). Any time the Lord Jesus spoke of his relationship to the Father, they would get edgy. In fact, it was a topic that annoyed them so deeply, that it drove them to anger, wrath, and eventually homicide! They crucified the Lord. Today we'll con

Higher/Lower Order of Belief You would think that the Apostles had a strong faith, but the reality is that even after three years together, Jesus still had to encourage them to believe in his tight relationship with the Father, a relationship he described as him being ‘in the Father’ and ‘the Father in him.’ The Lord Jesus defined two levels of belief in this relationship: 1) belief on the basis of his words, and 2) belief on the basis of his works (his miracles). That’s why

Does He Trust You? The greater question regarding your salvation was never so much “Do you trust in Jesus?” but rather “Does he trust in you?” In fact, in John chapter 2, John explicitly tells us that Jesus did not trust most of his followers when he writes: Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men. But, why not? Why did Jesus not entrust himself to people? What was his reason for not trusting those who followed him? Well, their reason for b