The First Church
Every religion calling itself Christian tries to imitate the doctrines of the New Testament church. Let us review what happened after that first day at Pentecost.
After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with fire on the day of Pentecost, the apostles, full of the Holy Spirit, began to preach Christ’s message of salvation. The apostles were preaching the message taught them personally by Jesus Christ during His ministry. The message of God reached more people every day (Acts 13:48; 2:47; 18:10). Believers met in homes. Some groups were large and some small, depending on how many people God was calling from a certain area. Sometimes, the apostles would want to go one way, but the Holy Spirit, being the Spirit of Christ, would stop them (Acts 16:6-7). Paul rented a building in one location and preached in houses at other times (Acts 20:7, 20; 28:30-31).
Paul taught the people to engage in good deeds and told them that this is something they would have to learn to do (Titus 3:8, 14). The apostles taught the people to keep Jesus Christ’s sayings and works in their daily lives (John 12:47; 14:12; Rev. 2:26; Luke 9:23).
In some locations, because of the number of people, it became necessary to have some form of organization. This was to prevent confusion and to get the task at hand done.
People were becoming completed disciples in those days (2 Cor. 13:9, 11; Col. 1:28). They were new creations with Christ formed in them (Gal. 6:15; 4:19). Sometimes they became weary in doing good deeds for the needy in their community (Gal. 6:9; 2 Thess. 3:13; Luke 3:11; 14:13; Acts 20:35). They were doers of the word (James 1:22). They bore fruit in their spiritual lives (John 15:8). The wealthy were rich in good works (1 Tim. 6:18). The thieves were told to get jobs so they would have money to give to people in need (Eph. 4:28; 2:10).
God was working mightily through all kinds of people in the early church. God taught people directly as they lived for Him (John 6:45; 1 John 2:27). Much good was done by each individual in the early church (Acts 10:4)! People did good on a person-to-person basis (Acts 9:36). Everyone was striving to be the servant of the most and doing many mighty works to glorify God in heaven (Matt. 5:16; 23:11; 1 Peter 2:12, 15-16; 3:11). They understood that good works are necessary for spiritual growth, building godly character and overcoming and they were not lacking in those areas (Acts 26:20; Col. 1:10; Titus 3:14; 1 Tim. 4:7-8; Rev. 2:26). More churches today should imitate these doctrines! Don’t you agree?