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| It Seemed Good Unto Us |
Bill Burkett
(1) And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, {and said}, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
(2) When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
(4) And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
(5) But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
(6) And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
(23) And they wrote {letters} by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren {send} greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
(25) It seemed good unto us . . .
Let us assume that we want to have a solid Bible founded form of government in the church. To have that Biblical government means we will follow the example and teaching of Scripture and reject what is not Biblical or human in its origin. As we do this, we must be gracious toward those of the historical churches who have patterned their government after the Roman papal form of government, which in their judgment, is essential to meet their particular needs. We are not concerned with other church organizations in this study. But we direct all of our remarks to those who profess to be committed to following the simple apostolic pattern of church government as recorded in Scripture. The Bible does not teach that any bishop rules over another bishop. This is not the teaching of Acts 15. In fact, it teaches quite the opposite. Neither the Scripture nor the early church practiced having any authority higher than the authority of the bishop over his own local church. The apostles and the early church taught and practiced this. A bishop is a pastor and all bishops should be pastoring a church. In The Church Of Acts we have no bishop who is not a pastor over a congregation of believers.
Let us look at the Scripture in Acts chapter 15 where some believe that papal power structure is taught:
Verse 1; Jewish teachers converted to Christ were teaching that converts to Christ should be circumcised according to the Mosaic law.
Verse 2; Paul and Barnabas withstood the teaching of the Judaizers and decided with the brethren of the church that they should go up to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and elders who were abiding there. The apostles did not come down from Jerusalem charging the Antioch church but rather the Antioch church went up to Jerusalem seeking their advice concerning the teaching.
At no time did either the apostles or the elders of the churches who came together assume any authority over the other pastors or elders present. They did dispute the matter as verse 3 tells us but each of them acted independently of the others.
This was not a council of all of the churches but a meeting between the elders of the new Antioch church and the elders and apostles at Jerusalem. The matter of the Jews imposing their customs on the new Christians concerned all of the churches and not just Antioch. Paul and the elders at Antioch could have decided at Antioch what they wanted Antioch to abide by. But it was not until Paul and Barnabas decided to gather with the apostles and elder brethren of Jerusalem that it was discussed and decided. Apparently it would be better for the church to act in unity with the elders of Jerusalem because all of the churches which were being faced with this same problem. So, in this particular case a council of the elders of these two churches came together.
It was only the matter of Judaistic teaching that they discussed. All other matters which involve a local church were handled by the pastor and elders of that local church. This was a matter that pertained to a doctrinal threat involving the church universal.
Paul saw that the Judaizers were going to be a major problem especially among the Jewish converts. He knew that for unity to be preserved in the churches that this doctrine would have to be settled, and the sooner the better. Paul and the elders went up to Jerusalem from Antioch to discuss the teaching of the Judaizers. There was no bishop in Jerusalem ordering this meeting to be held. There was no central figure of authority in the whole record of this meeting as it is described in Acts chapters 15 and 16.
The letter that was finally drafted and sent out to the other churches started, "It seemed good unto us." It was not the decree of a pope but the conclusion of brethren from two churches involving an issue that would effect the posterity of the church!. It is "US" and not "I."
Verse 3; The apostles visited other churches between Antioch and Jerusalem telling them how God had saved the gentiles adding them to the church.
Verse 4; When Paul and Barnabas arrived at Jerusalem they declared to all of the brethren including the apostles and elders what God was doing through them as they preached the gospel to the gentiles. There is evidence in verse 13 that James is the bishop of the church in Jerusalem. In this case he would be the host pastor of this council between these two churches. Note that James remains silent until the others had all spoken first. First the Judaizers speak their position; then Paul spoke declaring his position. Finally James spoke at the last giving his judgment in the matter only after hearing from and considering all that had been declared by Paul and the others.
Verse 5; THE JUDAIZERS SPEAK: There was also a group of Jews and Pharisees who had been converted to Christ in the church at Jerusalem that heard Paul and the elders from Antioch and immediately rose up commanding that those converted to Christ be circumcised according to the law of Moses.
Verse 6; And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. This council of two churches was not being called by any ruling bishop, nor was the meeting dominated by a single ruling figure or one supreme authority. The Scripture was the only authority and God the Holy Spirit was clearly the only one in charge. (Amos 9:11-12) The key word is "consider" (eido), to be sure something is thoroughly understood through the gaining of knowledge on the subject. There is no presence of a bishop over a bishop or any one man, or any several men usurping authority over the other brethren present at the meeting. The early church displayed only a mutual and cooperative attitude toward one another in all of their church governing. They showed honor and respect to each other with all being subjecdt to the Holy Spirit.
Verse 7-11; PETER SPEAKS: Verse 7 literally says, "And when there had been much mutual discussion." In these verses Peter speaks about God saving gentiles under his ministry.
Verse 12; PAUL AND BARNABAS SPEAK: And the multitude holds their peace.
Verse 13; JAMES SPEAKS: James reviews all that has been said and then said, "It is my sentence that ..." The word "sentence" is the Greek word krino meaning, to distinguish between what is right and wrong. James is speaking as the bishop of the church in Jerusalem and as the chairman of the meeting which was being held at his church. The Scripture does not say this but it is strongly implied by the fact that he made the concluding remarks which were put into the letter sent to the other churches. James rested his conclusions that went into the letter on the words of the prophet Amos (9:11-12) concerning the gentiles to be received into the church. So the Scripture and good mild temperament on the part of all was the spirit of this first council held in Jerusalem.
When we read of this account of the meeting in Jerusalem we cannot help but see the gracious spirit among all of these brethren. There was no anger or shouting, no anathemas toward the Judaizers (even though they were in error). You can almost sense the hush and quietness that was in the atmosphere of the meeting - no hostility, no hatred toward anyone - just a calm and rational behavior. The meeting was under the precious influence of the Holy Spirit from beginning to end. All present seemed only to want the truth to prevail in the end.
We are also reminded of Paul's letter to Titus listing the qualities of a bishop:
For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temoerate; Holding fast the faithful word as he heth been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Titus 1:7-9
It's not what a man has done in the past, or how popular he is, or how rich or intelligent he is, that qualifies him to be a bishop over a church - but his character must be godly, loving the brethren being an example of Christ to those he is shepherd over.
THE RECORDS OF CHURCH HISTORY
Church government has been influenced through the years by human invention and government of the world around it. However, there is a clear guideline for pure church government given in the Scripture for those who want to follow what God's Word teaches.
The Catholic church government based on the ultimate authority of the papacy or a supreme and infallible ruler has been a great influence on the Bible believing churches and pastors even though we do not sometimes realize it. If the historical churches want to believe in liturgy and that tradition is equal to the authority of Scripture, then that is their business and their right to teach to their people. But those Christians within the Pentecostal church who want to remain faithful to the simple form of church government as it is revealed in the Bible have the same right. In this study we are only addressing our own Pentecostal brethren and churches who do indeed keep the desire to preserve the Biblical form of government.
Through six centuries the Catholic church has adopted decrees in their counsels that places tradition on an equal authority with Scripture. As the doctrine of the Pope was established he became the sole authority to decide matters of dogma. The final step taken in establishing the authority of the Pope was the subordination of both faith and morals. That is, he became the infallible ruler of the church in all matters of faith and morals never given to man by God.
"Since the Council of Trent every appeal of Scripture is rendered null and void by the conception of the tradition which completes - and eventually, in point of fact, eliminates - Scripture. Since the Vatican Council every appeal to real tradition also is made inefficacious through the theory that the Pope alone has authoritative knowledge of tradition. The Pope has not only the right but also the sacred canonical duty of repudiating and disallowing every critical further inquiry based upon an appeal to Scripture or tradition and of excommunicating anyone who persists in such an attitude." (The Misunderstanding Of The Church, By Emil Brunner.)
"In the fourth century the church began to model its organization more consciously on that of the empire,and this development was encouraged by the emperors, who preferred to have power concentrated in fewer hands and thus more easily controlled. In this (fourth) century "Metropolitan" bishops appeared (later called "archbishops"). They were the bishops of the capitol city of each Roman province. They preside over synodical councils, which were held now with some regularity, and which included all bishops within the province; they also exercised administrative authority over clergy and laity in their areas. In this century appear also "patriarch," The bishops of the four most important sees (official seats of residence of the bishops) in the empire, those of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch. Jerusalem also was regarded as a patriarchal see, because of its religious associations, but the bishops of this see never exercised the political and spiritual authority that was wielded by the other four. The bishop of Rome, to take an example, was diocesan bishop of Rome and its environs, metropolitan bishop of Southern Italy, and patriarchal bishop of the West, with undefined authority over all bishops in this area; and so with the other patriarchal bishops. The power struggle that ensued between these rival claimants of spiritual (and political) power offers an ugly picture, and determined the course of many of the controversies that arose in this period." (Through the Ages, A History Of The Christian Church; (page 51) by Ernest Trice Thompson)
According to the historical records of the church there was no such thing as a bishop over a bishop among the early church Fathers. In the First Epistle of Clement to Corinth, Clement makes it clear in his writings that the words pastor, episcopate, presbyter and bishop have the same meaning and are interchangeable. God knows that men cannot remain spiritual and also be ambitious to attain and keep their political positions of power. There are many other early historical writings to confirm the fact that bishops, or pastors, were never ruling over other churches than their own.
"During the first centuries all bishops were apostolically and canonically equal: all were successors of the apostles with the same rights. The church Fathers were unanimous on this point. (Canon I. de Doellinger, Les Origines de la Papaute p. 14)
"Cyprian defended this equality of all the bishops with special vigor before the claims of Pope Stephan. In his letter (A.D. 72) [he wrote] 'To my brother Stephan, Bishop of Rome, we do not claim to constrain or compel anyone, each bishop being free to act as he deems advisable in the governing of his church and having to give account only to God.' At the seventh council of Carthage he rises up in rebellion against 'those who try to set themselves up to be bishop of the bishops and claim that their colleagues should obey them by virtue of a tyrannical privilege.'
All church governments which practice the idea of bishops ruling over other bishops comes to us from the doctrines and teachings of the Roman Catholic church known as papacy rule. It was finally established in the Roman church as the official stance in the fifth century having its beginning with bishops ruling over bishops four centuries previous. Even Catholic scholars of recent times declare the sovereignty of the local church in early church history. "One finds nothing in this early period which can serve as a foundation for the papal claims." (Cardinal Newman, USA) "No document exists during the first three centuries which implies that a community has the right to excommunicate another local community or independent church. (Dr. Zenov, quoted by Moreton, p.167)
In recent years the Pentecostals in both the Western part of the world and in the East have started modeling their church governments after the democratic form of government or the episcopal form of church government. Again we want to make it perfectly clear that the form of government used by church bodies outside of our Pentecostal churches. But for those of us who want to preserve the apostolic church environment and have God's glory visiting our meetings, then we must not depart from the Biblical government.
Pentecostal Church leaders have interpreted the Bible to justify the way they have conformed to civil and church governments around them. They think that church government as presented in Scripture is not an important matter. But when the mutual and loving attitude between pastors governing sovereignly is replaced with a power structure church government all manner of spiritual and moral disorder enters the church.
The character of the church becomes the character of those who are its leaders. This is precisely why the apostles placed supreme importance on the character of the leaders - they knew that the character of the bishops becomes the character of the church.
When men come into power which God has not ordained and then they oppress and dominate their brothers, they are worthy of the judgment of God. We have seen many good men, godly men, become devils holding Bibles after they receive this authority. Instead of being men of wisdom and love they become irrational tyrants treating their brothers as inferiors. This is not the Spirit of our Lord Jesus.
When the authority of the church is held in the hands of one or a few men it often alters their personalities. Once godly men with humble spirits become angry demagogues cutting down anyone who dares to differ with them or who fails to take orders from them. Many precious brethren who simply want to follow Jesus Christ with a pure conscience without becoming entangled in a politico-religious power structure are ostracized and slandered. God's Word never gave authority to any man, any office or ministry to rule over other churches. The bishop (pastor) rules over his own church but not over other churches which are not his.
James said, "It seemed good unto us ..." when he started the letter to be read to the churches. It was clearly not a dogma being handed down by a ruling pope, but a spiritual conclusion reached after hearing all the brethren express themselves and then comparing it with what the Holy Spirit and Scriptures witnessed to.
(All historical references: I Will Build My Church by Alfred F. Kuen, Moody Press.)
~ "Every one that doeth righteousness is born of him." - 1 John 2:29 ~ Web site - http://www.goshen.net/amen/amen.htm Copyright ?1996 - Bill Burkett Box 90/ Anderson, MO 64831/ U.S.A. Top of Page
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