Who Was The Founder of Christianity?

If one were to ask your average professing Christian “Who is the founder of Christianity?”, probably without exception, the answer would be, “Jesus”.” In fact, almost anyone in the world who is familiar with the man, Jesus, believes that he founded the Christian religion.

Such being the case, when the follow-up to the above question is asked, “Where in the Bible is the Christian message found?”, again, probably without exception, the answer is, “In the gospels”, i.e., the New Testament books entitled Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is in these four accounts, according to almost all Bible teachers of almost all Christian denominations and religions, that Jesus left his instructions for the Christian Church. These four books are to historical Christianity what the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are to American citizens.

Yet, when we survey these four accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, we find that the word “Christian” and the phrase “Christian church” are nowhere to be found there. It is widely assumed that the Lord’s reference to “my church” in Matthew 16, and his two references to “the church” in chapter 18^{, ((These are the only references to the word “church” in the four gospel accounts.))} are references to the Christian church. In fact, if you were to ask both Roman Catholics and Protestants when the Christian church begin, almost all would be in complete agreement that the Christian church in the world today began in Matthew 16 at the moment when Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter (vs. 19),  ^{((Herein lies the basis for multitude of jokes about St. Peter at the “perily gates.”))} and declared that, “upon this rock I will build my church” (vs. 20). They differ on just who the “rock” is,  ^{((Catholics say it is Peter; Protestants say it is Jesus.))}

but, otherwise, they are in lock step about the Christian church beginning in Matthew 16:19. ((Neo-Pentecostals argue for Pentecost (Acts 2) as the churches beginning.))

Well, put this in your pipe and smoke it: Both Catholics and Protestants are wrong on all three counts. I say this because the church in Matthew is not the church that today exists in the world.

Let us examine some facts:

(1) In all New Testament references the word “church” with the exception of the mention of it in Acts 5:11, is translated from the Greek,, “eklesia”, which means, “a called out assembly; called unto God’s purpose(s).”  ^{((Stong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the English Bible))}   Under this definition, any number of groups in the Bible could qualify as a church. Noah and his family, Abram and his family, the twelve tribes of Israel, etc. would all be examples of a church.

(2) Since Jesus never referred to the church he established in Matthew 16 as the “Christian” church, why should we assume that it should be called the “Christian” church? Just what church did Jesus actually create in Matthew 16?

To answer the above question, we must first answer two other questions:

1. What was the stated purpose of the Lord’s ministry?
2. Whom, specifically, was he calling out, and to what was he calling them out?

The Lord’s purpose may be found in two passages:

And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21)

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
(Matt. 5:17)

Who, exactly did he come to call out (the “his people” of 1:12):

I came not but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matt. 15:24)

First, he came to save his people (Israel) from their sins; secondly, he came to fulfil the law and the prophets; thirdly, he came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. From these three proclamations, can we not safely conclude that Jesus’ earthly ministry was to, for and about Israel?  ((Romans 3:1 says that the Jew had the advantage (over the Gentile) because “unto them was given the oracles of God (the law and the prophets). Moreover, Romans 15:8 says that he was “a minister of the circumcision (Israel) for the truth of God… to confirm (through fulfillment of the law and the prophecies) the promises (of the kingdom) made unto the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)”.))

Obviously, this called out assembly began with the 12 disciples—all Jews, by the way—but would also include any other Jew who was willing to comply with the requirements demanded of a disciple. These are briefly stated as follows:

Confess, repent, and be baptized (literally, in/with water  ^{((Baptist doctrine notwithstanding, it is not possible from the description of  John’s baptizing of Israel and the Lord himself, to determine whether or not he was completely immersing those being baptized.))}  ), for the remission of sins (Matt. 3:1-11; Mark 1:1-5), then:
Endure unto the end to be saved. (Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 4:17)

Enduring would include the following:

1. Keeping the commandments (the law) ((Matt. 5:19; 19:17: John 14:15; 15:10))
2. Disavowing oneself of all material possessions, including money; 3. Cutting off all familial relationships; ((Matt. 10: 9-10; 19:21-29; Mark 10:29; Luke 14:26; 18:22)) 4. Expunging from his mind, all thoughts pertaining to any earthly needs. ((Matt. 6:25-31; Luke 12:22-31))

If we take the above four commands literally, who today could possibly comply with them? Who of these folks, who claim the church of Matt. 16 to be the same church that today exists in the world, could honestly say that they are keeping, without wavering, the above demands that the Lord placed on his followers?

Catholics and Protestants invariably answer these two questions in one of two ways: 1. Jesus didn’t tell all of his followers to do all those things; and/or 2. The first of the four commands is the only command we are to take literally. The other three commands must be taken in a spiritual sense

This treatment of Scripture is what is referred to as “spiritualizing” the passages. I do not contend that there are no spiritual principles to be gleaned from these passages, but by what study principles can one decide, on his own, to choose some commands as spiritual, while choosing other commands as literal? Nothing in the passage indicates that portions of it may be spiritualized. One simply cannot, with any honesty, say that the first of these commands is to be taken literally, but the last three are to be spiritualized, or interpreted as figures of speech. All are part of a cohesive statement of obedience, and therefore ALL are to be taken literally.

Catholics would say that only certain individuals are called to comply with the last three commands on the list, e.g., monks and nuns who have cloistered themselves and taken a vow of poverty. I don’t doubt for one minute the sincerity of monks and nuns who do this, but these folks are only kidding themselves. I say this because of what John 1:11-13 says:

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The individuals to whom the above verse refers complied (and also, in a future time, will comply) with commandment number one – they were spiritually “born again,” as in John 3:3-7, and were empowered through a spiritual anointing (see 1 John 2:27), to be able to carry (and will carry) out numbers two, three, and four. These individuals included all of Jesus’ followers, not just a select few. The reason many persons fail entirely, or in part, ^{((James 2:10))}   to comply with these demands today is simple: they obviously are not spiritually enabled to comply.

In a nutshell, what the Lord in his first advent came to do was to fulfill the prophecy concerning the new covenant by calling out of the old apostate nation Israel, a new nation.  ^{((Matt. 21:43))}  This new nation started with the 12 disciples, and continued with the conversion of 8000 souls in the first part of Acts.   ^{((Acts 2:41; 4:4))}  However, something of an unexpected nature occurred shortly after this began. A man named Saul, who was the chief persecutor of this new nation (church), had a confrontation with the Lord from glory,  ^{((Acts 9:1-7))}   got his name changed to Paul^{,  ((Acts 13:9))}   and was sent (by revelation which he claimed came directly from the Lord himself  ^{((Gal. 1:11,12))}  ) on a mission to reveal something which he later referred to as “the mystery.”

The Church of the Present Dispensation: “The Body of Christ.”

Although Jesus Christ is the foundation  ^{((1 Cor. 3:11))}   of the present day church, he is not the founder, nor was he the human revelator of it. Jesus Christ gave this job to his Apostle, Paul.

Paul’s ministry, then, was that of revealing a mystery, “hid in God,”  ^{(( Eph. 3:9))} not made known unto the sons of men,”  ^{((Eph. 3:5))}   “but now…made manifest”  ^{((Rom. 16:26))}   through Paul, in his 13 epistles. This mystery was that anyone, under any circumstances, apart from the works of the law,  ^{((Romans 3:21; 4:4,5))}   could be saved eternally into a church he called “the body of Christ.”  ^{(( Rom. 7:4; 1 Cor. 10:16; 12:27; Eph. 1:23; 2:16; 4:12))} Paul’s ministry was not a part of the ministry of the other 12 apostles, and indeed Paul himself (a blasphemer  ^{((Matt. 12:31,32, Mark 3:29; 1 Tim. 1:13))}  ), was not eligible to be included in the church to which the other 12 apostles belonged, and to which they were calling out others who could qualify.

This mystery body was the spiritual organism into which all believers, beginning with Paul,  ^{((1 Tim. 1:16))}   could be saved by simply believing something he called “the gospel of Christ,”  ((Rom. 1:16 (11 more times in Paul’s epistles, exclusively) ))
which is briefly stated as follows:

…how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day…for our justification…believe on the Lord Jesus Christ…believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead…and thou shalt be saved. 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom. 4:25; 10:9-13; Acts 16:31

Please notice that there are no demands for any kind of physical or material response, as there was in the four gospels (gospel of the kingdom  ^{((Matt. 4:23))}  ), in these passages. Never is there any demand in Paul’s 13 epistles for believers to confess or to repent of sins, or to be physically baptized in order to be saved. Nor are there any demands to sell out and, in order to stay saved, to keep the commandments, both of which are a part of what Jesus preached in his earthly ministry. Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30 says of those who have “trusted in Christ”, that they are “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise…unto the day of redemption.”

The founder and revelator of the faith that is to be followed today is the Apostle Paul, who revealed a mystery he called “the dispensation of the grace of God.”  ^{((Eph. 3:2))}   It is within this mystery, revealed only in the writings of the Apostle Paul, that those who claim to be “in Christ,” will find their marching orders. The things that transpired in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, no doubt laid the foundation for this mystery; but they are in no wise a blueprint for believers to follow in this present dispensation.

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. (Rom 16:25-27)

The church that God has ordained in the present dispensation is the body of Christ. The marching orders for this church is Paul’s 13 Epistles, Romans thru Philemon. Building from another blueprint—however noble or right it may seem, or how popular it is—is tantamount to the production of “wood, hay and stubble.”  ((1 Cor. 3: 12,13,14))

Mike Schroeder,

All Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.

Are you saved? Jesus Christ—“who knew no sin”—and his sacrificial death on the Cross, has made the way for “everyone that believeth…to be reconciled to God. History has shown that whatever peace man has achieved in the world can only be temporary. The Bible says that individual men and women can know, beyond a doubt, that they are saved and bound for heaven, and therefore have absolute and permanent peace, regardless of what is going on in the world, by trusting Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for their eternal salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” ^{(( Acts 16:31))} Have you ever done this? If not, why not now?

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