Most mid acts dispensationalists believe the church of God did not come into being until Paul began his ministry. But does the bible say this is true? No, quite the contrary. For Paul himself says in Gal chapter one how he persecuted the church of God before his conversion. How in the name of reason could Paul have done this, if the church had not existed during that time?
Also God's word tells us in Acts chapter 2 that all the believers at Pentecost were "added" to "the Lord's church". This is the very one Jesus himself said he was going to build when he was with his apostles.Matt 16.
So how does this tie in with Paul's mystery of the church? The mystery was not that God was going to build a church under Paul's ministry, but that ALL kinds of men and women would be allowed entrance into it. The church began with Peter and it's full MEANING wasn't revealed until Paul wrote his prison epistles. |
