The book of Acts records eyewitness accounts of the early Church
from Christ's resurrection until about A.D. 60. Chapter 2 records
the beginning of the Church.
This special event began when the place in which the apostles and
other disciples were gathered suddenly was filled with the sound of
a mighty wind and "tongues, as of fire," that appeared to alight on
them. They went out and almost immediately began to speak to the
crowds gathered in Jerusalem, for these events occurred on the
biblical Feast of Pentecost. Miraculously, the apostles' preaching
was comprehensible to all people from many lands so that all
understood their words in their own language.
Often overlooked in this account is the significance of these
events occurring on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1). This was one
of the festivals God commanded for His people many centuries before
(Leviticus 23). In revealing these festivals, God exclaimed, "...
These are My feasts ... the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations
..." (verses 2, 4). Then God proclaimed them to be "a statute
forever" (verses 14, 21, 31, 41).
The Gospels show Jesus keeping the same festivals (Matthew
26:17-19; John 7:10-14, 37-38 ). Both the book of Acts and Paul's
letters show the apostles observing these festivals long after
Christ's crucifixion (Acts 2:1-4; 18:21; 20:6, 16; 27:9). This is
the example they set for us.
Today, however, most churches teach that these festivals were
somehow annulled by Christ's death. Yet the unmistakable record of
the Bible is that the early Church continued to observe them long
after His deathbut with a greater grasp of their spiritual
significance.
Speaking of one of these God-given feasts, the apostle Paul urged
the Church congregation in Corintha mixed group of gentile and
Jewish believersto "keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with
the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8 ).
Paul was obviously referring to keeping the biblical Feast of
Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:6; Deuteronomy 16:16). Paul
similarly explained the Christian significance of the biblical
Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7; Leviticus 23:5) and gave instructions
on how to properly observe this ceremony in the Church (1
Corinthians 11:23-28 ).
Such passages prompt an obvious question: Since Jesus, the apostles
and the early Church kept these days, why don't churches teach and
observe them today? After all, Paul directly tied the feasts to
Jesus, His purpose and His sacrifice for mankind (1 Corinthians
5:7).
The Gospels and Acts are equally clear that Christ, the disciples
and the early Church kept the weekly Sabbath on the seventh day of
the week as their day of rest and worship (Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16,
31-32; 13:10; Acts 13:14-44; 18:4). It was Jesus' custom to go to
the synagogue on Sabbath days to worship (Luke 4:16). Contrary to
the teaching of those who say that Paul abandoned the Sabbath, it
was his custom, too, to go to the synagogue every Sabbath (Acts
17:1-3), using this God-ordained assembly to teach others about
Jesus as Savior and Messiah.
Of course, most people and churches ignore the biblical seventh-day
Sabbath. But why? Shouldn't we observe a weekly day of rest and
worship as God commands (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15), and
shouldn't it be the same day that Jesus and His apostles
kept?
A closer examination of the Scriptures reveals many other
differences between the teachings and practices of Jesus and His
apostles and what is commonly taught. For example, the belief that
obedience to God's law is unnecessary is directly contrary to
Jesus' own words (Matthew 4:4; 5:17-19) and the teachings and
examples of His apostles (Acts 24:14; 25:8; Romans 7:12, 22; 1
Corinthians 7:19; 2 Timothy 3:15-17).
Jesus and the apostles never taught that the righteous ascend to
heaven at death (John 3:13; Acts 2:29, 34), and they understood
that man does not possess an immortal soul that would spend
eternity in either heaven or hell (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Matthew 10:28
). Rather, they followed earlier Scripture passages in referring to
death as being like an unconscious sleep in which the dead await a
future resurrection (compare Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Daniel 12:2-3;
John 11:11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 15:6, 51; 1 Thessalonians
4:14-17).
Nowhere in the Bible do we find any mention of, or hint of approval
for, today's popular religious holidays such as Christmas and
Easter. Though the Greek word pascha is once incorrectly translated
"Easter" (Acts 12:4, KJV)and that only in one Bible
translationthis is a flagrant mistranslation. Pascha always means
"Passover," never Easter!
Instead of approving such celebrations rooted in paganism, God
condemns them even when they are used in attempts to worship Him
(compare Deuteronomy 12:29-32; 1 Corinthians 10:19-21).
These are some of the major differences between the Christianity of
Jesus and the apostles and the Christianity commonly practiced
today. But don't simply take our word for it. We encourage you to
follow the example of the Bereans (Acts 17:11) and look into your
Bible to see whether today's popular beliefs and practices agree
with what Jesus and His apostles practiced and taught.
