Where
Do Aquila and Priscilla Fit In?
Acts 18
tells us that Aquila and Priscilla were Jews.
They were also prominent laborers in Paul’s mystery doctrine. Assuming that they were a part of the Jewish prophetic
program prior to Paul’s revelation, does this mean that they were part of the
church the body of Christ or the Little Flock?
The transitional stage between prophecy and mystery is confusing.
You are right; the book of Acts in particular
is confusing because of its transitional nature, and also because of its cycling
format (which we also see in the book of Revelation and even in parts of
Genesis). For example, Acts 10 takes place right at the time of Paul’s
salvation in Acts 9. So, was Cornelius
in the body of Christ or the kingdom church?
God is not the author of confusion, but of peace
(1 Cor. 14:33); but God wrote his scriptures to be studied. You have to be a workman.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.
The scriptures also need to be rightly
divided. You have to understand the book
of Acts from a Pauline, dispensational perspective.
Ephesians 3:2
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you-ward:
You have to understand that Acts is written to
the Jews (during that time of transition) and its terminology and focus are
Jewish: it is written from a Jewish perspective. You do see Paul circumcising and baptizing
during the infancy of the body of Christ.
Acts 16:3
Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised
him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all
that his father was a Greek.
Acts 19:3-5
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said,
Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him
which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.When they heard this, they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 15 shows the Jerusalem council from the
Jewish perspective; but, our perspective as gentiles in the body of Christ is
evident in Galatians 2.
Galatians 2:7-9
But
contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was
committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in
Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me
toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and
John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me,
they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should
go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
You wrote in your email that
to be a part of the Little Flock during the transitional period, one had to be
a part of the Jewish (law-keeping) program and a believer in Christ as the
Jewish Messiah prior to Paul’s
ministry. Exactly! You said it perfectly. That is what would identify someone as a
member of the Little Flock—the Jewish believing remnant (Luke 12:32). The main thing was that they had to know
Jesus Christ as their Messiah. That is
what made the difference. All the Jews
were under the Law. They were steeped in
the Law from birth; that was part of their culture. It is the same with Islam today. If someone is born into Islam it is just part
of their culture. But what separated a Jew
and made them a member of the Little Flock was belief that Jesus was Messiah.
John 20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his
name.
Acts 2:36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath
made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
But this is prior to Paul’s
revelation of the mystery.
Romans 16:25
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,
You
wrote, “Given that Aquila and Pricilla were devoted followers of Paul’s Mystery
doctrine we can infer that they, although being Jews like Paul, had not
accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah prior to the dispensation of Grace.” That is how I see it.
Acts
can be confusing because of the transitional nature; but we in the age of grace
have more clarity now nearly 2,000 years since the infancy stage of the body of
Christ. God changed the program; but
there was a gradual diminishing of
Israel’s program while Paul’s ministry was increasing. So there was an overlap of the two programs.
The
transition in the book of Acts is similar to the process of moving from one
house to another. There are some days of transition in which you have access to
and the use of both houses.
That is
similar to the transition between Israel’s prophecy program and the dispensation
of grace. God had been doing one thing
with Israel for 1,500 years under the Law.
But now there is a new program that began with Paul’s salvation. The Jewish leaders of the Little Flock
(Peter, James, John and others) had to learn about it over time from Paul, and
also from witnessing what God was doing and seeing that his dealing with them
was diminishing.
Romans 11:12
Now if the fall of them [Israel] be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of
them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
So
there was a transition period and, therefore, there will be some confusion if
you don’t rightly divide the word.
Notice
that the account of Aquila and Pricilla says that they lately come from Italy.
Acts 18:2
And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately
come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had
commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
That is
significant. They had been away from Jerusalem.
That tells me that they were not privy to everything that had been
happening, and that they had not trusted Jesus as their Messiah. They heard about Jesus as Messiah from Paul;
and not just that he was Messiah, but that it is faith in the cross of Christ
that saves them – the gospel of grace.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he
rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I
have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace
of God.
Therefore,
we can assume that they did not trust Jesus as their Messiah prior to Paul’s
salvation, so therefore they were not members of the kingdom church; rather
they were members of the body of Christ with Paul because they heard the
preaching of the cross from Paul.
Hopefully this
helps!
†††
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No comments:
Post a Comment