No That Isn’t How Christianity Started

While there are many truths in the “Traditional Christianity Narrative” it is absolutely false and has led to so much confusion and division in the Body of Christ. Below is a list of Biblical truths that smash the traditional Christianity narrative.

Download our Biblical Timeline it will help clarify when Christianity Began

• No, Paul did not join Peter and the eleven and spread the gospel all over the world, baptizing and adding believers to the Body of Christ.

• John the Baptist was the prophet spoken of in Isaiah and Malachi that would come on the scene as the herald of Israel’s King.  (Isaiah 40:1,2) John the Baptist ministry wasn’t to set up the Body of Christ it was to announce to Israel that their King was coming!

• The apostle Peter and the 11 preached the gospel of the Kingdom, (Matthew 10:5-7) it was the identical message that John the Baptist preached. (Matthew 3:2) Israel’s promised King was coming to fulfill the promises made to the fathers. (Romans 15:8) 

Jesus Christ was born of the woman, raised under the Mosaic law and preached the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus never told anyone to stop practicing the law or shut down the Temple. Just the opposite. Jesus was among His people, the Messiah that Israel had been waiting for over a thousand years was walking among His people fulfilling the promises made to the fathers. (Romans 15:8, Luke 1:67-77) 

• Jesus commanded the 12 not to go to the Gentiles and they didn’t.

(Matthew 10:5-8) There is no record of the apostles having a ministry to the Gentile world. If they did then the book of Ephesians, Colossians, Romans, are untrue. We either believe what God says in Ephesians 2:11,12 or not? As a matter of fact, there is no record of the 12 apostles leaving Jerusalem and preaching the gospel around the world. “Great Commission” (Mark 16:15-18).

• It is clear from Acts 15 that Peter and the believers of the Jerusalem Church were still under the law and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.

It is God who commands Paul to go up to the Jerusalem Church to set the record straight. (Galatians 2:2) And it is the apostle Peter who finally stands up during the “Jerusalem Council” and says “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” (Acts 15:11) Why would Peter need to say that if they were already preaching the gospel of grace?

• 14 Years after John the Baptist and 10-11 years after Pentecost the apostle Paul received the gospel of grace and the doctrines for the Body of Christ, the Church directly from the glorified Lord Jesus. No one taught or instructed Paul (Galatians 1:11,12), it was the apostle Paul that delineated the gospel of grace and the doctrines of grace to Peter and the leaders of the Jerusalem Church, not the other way around! (Galatians 2:6,7)

• The apostle Paul was the only chosen vessel of God with a ministry to the Gentile world.

Before Paul, the Gentile world was without hope and without God. But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15,16)

The “Body of Christ” Began with the Gospel of Grace

Christianity began when God revealed to the apostle Paul the gospel of grace, and the doctrines for the Body of Christ, the Church today. God makes it clear to us that before His revelation to Paul, the Gentile world was without hope and without God.

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12  remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:11,12

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began ‘

Romans 16:25

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Ephesians 3:1-11

The Body of Christ which is His Church was a Secret “the Mystery”

The resurrected Lord Jesus revealed the gospel and doctrine of grace to Paul fourteen years after John the Baptist and 11 years after Pentecost. So how could John the Baptist or the twelve apostles teach or preach grace when it wasn’t revealed. They couldn’t and they didn’t there is no record of the twelve apostles having a ministry to Gentiles. None! The gospel of grace the teachings for the Church today which is His Body was a Mystery a secret hid in God from before the ages. Revealed to God’s chosen vessel the apostle Paul, 11 years after Pentecost around 40 AD. Paul was out among the Gentile world preaching and teaching the gospel of the grace of God for around 11 years before the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

Paul, Peter and the Jerusalem Church in Agreement

It is at the Jerusalem council where the legalist attempt to convince Paul that the Gentiles need to believe the gospel but also keep the law and be circumcised. But Paul does not give in for a second, (Galatians 2:5) as a matter of record, Paul realizes that those who were of high reputation had nothing to offer he didn’t already know. (Galatians 2:6) It was Paul who shared new revelations with Peter and the Jerusalem leadership. (Galatians 2:7) From Acts 15 until the Church is taken of the scene all mankind will be both saved and judged by Pauls gospel, the gospel of the Grace of God. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

On the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:16

24  Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25  Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26  that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:24-27

Conclusion

Understanding when the Body of Christ, which is His Church started and when God temporarily put Israel aside. Will make studying the Bible so much easier and enjoyable. (Romans 11:11-12, 11:25-26)

Thank you for reading.

Please don’t hesitate to comment or ask questions below.

Mesa Bible Study

Jamie Pantastico