Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
Acts 18:24-25 (ESV)
Way back in the beginning days of the Church, there was a man named Apollos who was going around preaching about Jesus. He was deficient in his knowledge, so he was only baptizing with the baptism of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist had been calling people to repentance in preparation for the coming of the long awaited Messiah, Jesus; and the people submitting to his baptism were turning from their worldly ways and toward godliness.
Apollos was calling people to repentance, and baptizing them, like John, in keeping with the rights of proselyte baptism, as a demonstration of the turn away from the ways of the world. But Apollos was only offering half of the picture as he didn’t know about baptizing people in the name of Jesus. He was, in a sense, baptizing people out of the world but not into Jesus Christ.
Providentially, Aquila and Priscilla were able to set him right and God brought Paul, who arrived in town and followed up on the converts.
And I notice that today the pendulum has swung to the complete opposite side of the metaphor. Today, with the widely preached, Finney-esque, cheap grace, easy-believe-ism, people are being baptized in Jesus’ name without first coming out of the world.
Apollos had, in his wake, a bunch of half-delivered baby Christians; so does Finney.
The reason the Church is so malformed today is not a lack of programs for bringing baby Christians to maturity; it is for lack of getting them out of the birth canal before teaching them to walk.
C. H. Spurgeon said, “Sometimes we are inclined to think that a very great portion of modern revivalism has been more a curse than a blessing, because it has led thousands to a kind of peace before they have known their misery; restoring the prodigal to the Father’s house, and never making him say, “Father, I have sinned.” “
The Church must repent of her lack of repentance, in her pulpit and in her pews. Only then can she make disciples as she was commanded…
I would agree that repentence is a necessary and often forgotten part of our conversion. When someone says ‘if you believe you are saved…’ and yet does not teach a person to repent, what salvation has really taken place?
I might be wrong but I think we insulate (medicate?) ourselfs with so much in the world that it is hard to even feel the pain. It is to easy to go find something to take our mind off of it.
Good post.
Comment by Steven Sarff — November 29, 2011 @ 9:41 AM