Salvation Through Faith And The Early Church

By Scott Hayes


When it comes to belief in God, Jesus, a higher power, spiritual practice or no such belief, the United States constitution allows citizens the right to religious freedom. While this is the case, the predominant religion in the country is that of Christianity. In most cases, Christians believe in Salvation through Faith.

Based on the bible verse Ephesians 2:8-10, most believe that individuals are saved though faith. While this is the case, the core of the Christian faith has changed over the years to fit a number of different churches, denominations and sects. As such, different churches and denominations often have different practices and beliefs related to salvation, such as good works, public prayer and baptism.

The two most common churches in early Europe were the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. As such, the beliefs of these two churches spread quickly throughout the Middle Ages. After which, the religion continued to spread throughout Europe and later to the United States. As a result, there are now over 2 billion people whom identify as Christians around the world.

In the earliest days, the faith grew out of the Jewish faith based on a vision of Saul, later known as Paul. After which, Christianity became a well known religion which took over the Greco-Roman world and beyond. While there are still many orthodox Jews, a number converted to Christianity based solely on the experiences and ministry of Paul during these early days of the church.

When it comes to the Christian church, there are basically two aspects. These include apostolic and post-apostolic leadership. In the first, the apostles often led the church and were responsible for ministering the good news of Christ to the land. Whereas, the episcopal church was developed during the post-apostolic period with individuals becoming disciples through a great deal of education and awareness.

In the early days of the Apostolic church, many of the apostles were related to Christ. For, after the resurrection, Jesus instructed the apostles that the teachings of crucifixion, salvation and resurrection were to be spread throughout the land. Whereas, the post-apostolic church often refers to the book of Acts with regards to history of the period and the proper methods of salvation.

For, it is the book of Acts that provides a history of the Church and the command to spread the gospel and the message of salvation among the Gentiles and the Eastern Mediterranean by the apostle Paul and others. As a result, the book is often considered to hold the truth as to the original message of salvation by a number of churches. In fact, many Baptist church congregations use the gospel of Acts as a guide for salvation as well as day to day living.

While the bible has a great deal to say about the people of the time and salvation, an individual must believe in the text as a historic document. While there have been critics, it is believed that the book of Acts tells the most about the life of the apostles. Whereas, the book of Matthew provides great detail with regards to the command Jesus gave to spread gospel around the world.




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