A New Humanity Part 5; Looking at the Church, second century forward

Ephesians 2:15 NRSV  He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

In my view there is a huge disconnect between the first century church prior to 70AD/CE and the church that we see emerging in 110AD/CE. In the second century church I do not see the gospel of grace emphasis that was in the first century church. First and foremost, Paul et. al., always lead with the gospel of grace when addressing the saints. By gospel of grace, I mean proclaiming the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for redemption, salvation and forgiveness. This was true of all of Paul's epistles, and even when he was exhorting them to deal with problems, he always proclaimed the gospel first. He explains why in the verse posted below.

1Co 2:1-2 NRSV  "When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.  (2)  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 

In fact, in the most corrective letter of Paul's ministry, the first epistle to the Corinthians, he spent a multitude of verses in the beginning proclaiming the efficacy of the preaching of the cross. However, in reading the letters from even the first bishop's of the second century it is obvious that a legalism akin to the leaven of the Pharisees had already crept in.  While the letters of Ignatius of Antioch did mention, the cross, the blood of God, it did not have the imperative focus of the grace of God and the gospel as did the letters of Paul and even Peter, James and John for that matter. Undoubtedly, the  writings of that early period that are so legalistic that they would have been rejected by Paul, were the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache.

The Shepherd of Hermas is considered to be a product of the second century, and was read widely and included in the canon of the early church. It was loved by the saints, and used in worship and sermons and it was ultra legalistic. It would have made the Rabbi's of the first century Pharisees happy indeed. The didache makes no mention of redemption and justification by the faith of Jesus Christ. Rather, it is a compilation of the Sermon on the mount and many sayings of Jesus. It completely ignores the transition that took place within the early history of Jesus earthly mission. It seems to miss the fact that the Sermon on the Mount and all of Jesus sayings for that matter were given to Torah observant Jews who were under the Mosaic Covenant before the cross event. Those who believe that the Sermon on the Mount was an amplification of the Law to show the Jews who believed that they were obeying the Torah blamelessly were not doing so and were actually incapable of it are much closer to right than those who see it as the law of Christ.

It is almost as if the great doctrines of grace and gospel expounded in such depth by the Apostle Paul was forgotten or relegated to an unessential status. There is no mention of one of the most profound teachings that is found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In that letter, chapter one, verses three though fourteen explain that God's PURPOSE in creation was redemption. Further the purpose was to bring praise to God's glorious grace. I feel like when I say that revelation is profound I am not doing it proper justice. Think about it, the language, before the foundation of the cosmos, means before anything was created. Paul states plainly and forcefully that God had chosen the redemptive work of Christ before the foundation of the world. This means that the only clue to the mind of God in creating was that it was set on redemption so that the glory of the gracious plan would be praised. Yes and amen! That is certainly worth all the praise humanity can muster!

It is not like there was no warning about the church falling victim to a different gospel and a different Jesus. Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 that after he left savage wolves would come in not sparing the flock. Paul told the saints in Thessalonica that God would turn the saints over to a strong delusion so that they would believe what was false. Jesus told his disciples that they need to take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and further explained to them that the leaven of the Pharisees was their doctrine. He said in Matthew chapter thirteen that the entire kingdom would be leavened.

As the centuries progressed orthodoxy got farther and farther afield from the pure gospel of grace that Paul and the other Apostles taught. Yes, I mean all of the other apostles. James, who wrote to Jewish believers before the destruction of the temple, while the Old Covenant still hobbled alongside the New Covenant, an Apostle that Luther rejected... calling his epistle an epistle of straw, wrote this. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

It is my hope that this series of posts will build on one another, and point the way to a return to the gospel of grace that Paul taught the first century church, and that in doing this, we will be able to re-capture the agape, joy and peace that will transform the world into a new humanity, one person, one community at a time.