Dealing with Theological Confusion

Introduction

Some of you may have spent some time trying to talk to complete strangers about the gospel; others may tried to witness to friends and coworkers. If you have spent any time talking about your faith with other people especially around here you are going to come across a bunch of people who say they are Christians, but they may not actually be Christians. We have all heard stories of kids who made a profession when they were little children and then when they turned 16 they realized they didn’t know what they were doing when they professed Christ at that age.

The distinction has often been made between Professing Christians and Possessing Christians. When you talk to people of other denominations you will find that some have a pretty clear grasp of the gospel. Others just seem to be so close but something isn’t right and others have no clue what the gospel is.

What do you do when you try to witness to someone else who knows so much about Christianity but something is not quite right with their understanding of the gospel? Today we are going to look at the stories of Apollos and the disciples of John who all needed to be saved. I have been studying this for some time now asking myself were these men saved? After all, it doesn’t say Apollos had the Spirit come down, or he got baptised and then when we come to the 12 disciples of John, Paul seems to assume they had believed. All I can do is preach what I believe to be the strongest position and try to explain why I hold that position as I go, but I don’t want it to become a distraction to the overall message.

How do you witness to someone who says they are a Christian but they probably aren’t?

They pulled him aside privately

Paul has just left the city of Ephesus to return to Jerusalem but in the meantime, a church is meeting in the home of Aquilla and Priscilla who remained when Paul left. 1 Cor 16:19 “The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” One day they are in the synagogue and they hear this young new preacher talking about the Messiah. Something isn’t quite right with what he is saying though so much of his message is correct.

This Apollos was born in Alexandria, Egypt which was the second largest city in the Roman empire and the home of the Great Library of Alexandria. The city was known for its education and philosophy which explains why Apollos is so well trained in the scriptures and is such a skilled speaker. Alexandria was also nearly 2/5 Jewish.

Apollos was educated vs 25 says he was instructed in the way of the Lord. The word instructed here is the Greek word from which we get the English word catechism. I struggled studying out this phrase the way of the Lord, but I believe that Apollos knew all the prophesies about the coming Messiah. He may have even known that the Messiah was Jesus Christ because the word Lord in the book of Acts often refers to Jesus.

Apollos was fervent in spirit. There has been some debate here about the meaning of the phrase fervent in spirit. Some people believe it means that he was passionate while others believe this is referring to the Holy Spirit. I believe that this phrase refers to his passion in preaching for two reasons: 1) every indication in this text shows that he was not saved yet 2) this description is in a list of character traits describing him.

Apollos didn’t just know all these prophecies, he taught them. The word diligently in vs 26 means that he taught them accurately. Early it mentioned that he was mighty in the scriptures. Apollos knew the bible inside and out, and yet, he was not saved.

Luke explains that all Apollos knew was the baptism of John. Matt 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” Apollos had repented of his sins, he knew the Messiah was coming. As I said earlier it is even possible he knew Jesus was that Messiah, but didn’t know about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. John had once declared John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” But Apollos was from Alexandria. Is it possible he missed some of these events or their significance?

How many people have spent their whole lives in Church hearing messages every Sunday? Maybe they even study the bible at home, but something just isn’t right. Something is missing. I have known some that can even tell you the entire gospel but they have never received the gift of salvation themselves. In a way this was Apollos. He was passionately preaching what he knew but something was wrong.

As he is preaching in vs 26, Aquila and Priscilla over hear his message and notice that what he is saying isn’t quite right. So How do they handle this theological confusion? How do they try to witness to Apollos? Notice they don’t try to shout him down. They don’t get into a theological debate. They took him unto them- they pull him aside privately and try to teach him the way of God more perfectly. You see Apollos wasn’t wrong or inaccurate in what he was preaching, he was incomplete.

It is easy when immaturity sets in to jump up publically to make a criticism or correction. This is something I have struggled with, but it is always better to talk to someone privately if there is a problem that needs to be addressed. I have been meditating on James 1:19 “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” The benefit of this is that it:

keeps them from getting defensive and proud

allows you to deal in more detail with you explanation

makes it more relational

If there is any hope of convincing someone of the truth it isn’t going to come on a debate stage. I have watched some of these debates online and no one ever convinces the person they debate. The debate is only useful for those in the audience. Aquilla and Priscilla were concerned about this man who was so close to being saved but missing it.

They taught him carefully

Acts 18:26 “And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”

This is just an aside but notice that both Aquilla and Priscilla taught Apollos. This year when I started our series on the home and marriage, I taught a three message miniseries on complementarianism. The idea that men and women are equal yet different in roles in the home and church. We looked at passages that talk about women not teaching men, but those passage were always in the context of the local church. This is a private meeting in their home. It should be an encouragement to you women that you can minister and serve even in some sort of teaching capacity. Some have argued that Priscilla was just there. That would be strange because I can imagine a lot of wives were with their husbands when they taught and yet none of them got mentioned. Priscilla features pretty prominently in the text.

Why is this important? Can a woman sit down and have a theological discussion with a man that she is trying to witness to? I think the text indicates she can. There are other implications of these verses but they are not the point of this message this morning.

But notice how Aquila and Priscilla handled Apollos? They actually didn’t get into a preaching match where I just spout off what I believe at you and demand you agree with me. They expounded unto him. The word expound here means to explain carefully, to fill someone in. They carefully showed Apollos I believe the connections between what he was preaching and the life of Jesus Christ. Maybe they filled him in on some events that he was not aware of or helped enlighten him to the significance of those events. The phrase more perfectly indicates that they built on top of what he already knew.

When you are witnessing to someone who thinks they are a Christian, it is helpful to get a grasp of what they already know. Talk to them about that and build off of that to give them the plan of salvation. Some soulwinners are so eager to give people the gospel that they steamroll right over them. The best way to give the gospel is a conversation. Find out where the confusion might lie and then go from there.

He asked questions

Our story pivots to an account of the Apostle Paul and 12 disciples of John in Chapter 19. I have included this story in the message this morning for two reasons:

The chapter starts with the word And showing that Luke intended them to go together

The topic is exactly the same

Paul is dealing with men who like Apollos only knew the baptism of John. They were theologically confused and they were not saved. Let’s work our way through the text to see how Paul dealt with these men.

Vs 1 Apollos has since left Ephesus and Paul is now on his way back to Ephesus on his third missionary journey. When he gets there he meets certain disciples. When you see the word disciples you might be tempted to think they are believers just from that word, but as we see in vs 3; these men were merely disciples of John. Possibly they were men that Apollos had influenced when he first came to Ephesus.

Vs 2 Paul immediately begins to ask questions because he knows something isn’t right. His question threw me for a loop because it almost seems to indicate that these disciples had believed on Jesus Christ. But notice, it doesn’t say what they had believed in and really the way Paul asks the question it is just an assumption not a statement of fact. We notice that something is seriously wrong from their answer: We have not heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. This statement doesn’t necessarily mean they had never heard of the Holy Ghost. John actually did preach the baptism of the Holy Ghost in Luke 3:15-16 “And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:” Most likely it means that they didn’t know that the Holy Spirit had been given yet. The same wording is used in John 7:39 “(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” Yet given is in italics in my bible because the Greek words aren’t actually there.

Paul continues his line of querry because this just doesn’t sound right. In vs 3, he asks them what baptism they had had. When they answer John’s baptism that confirms it for him.

The key observation on how Paul dealt with them from these verses is that he asked questions. If you have doubts or you want to know what they really think, ask questions. Back in the 80’s and 90’s I believe there was an evangelism program that came out called Evangelism Explosion. There was a lot of good in that method of presenting the gospel though it is just a method. This plan asked two key questions:

Do you know for sure that when you die you will be with God in heaven?

If God were to ask you, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ what would you say?

The answers to these questions do a really good job letting you know if someone truly is a Christian or not. If you are in doubt, ask more questions. This is one of the reasons we created the survey for evangelism because it gets you asking questions.

He preached the gospel

In vs 4, Paul proceeds to preach them the gospel. It is clear now that they are not truly saved. The biggest piece of evidence that they were not saved is because they did not have the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

I would love to preach on some of 1 John here but if you want to know how you can know you have the Holy Spirit ask pastor Karsies who is teaching through the book of 1 John.

Sometimes you may not be sure someone is saved or not, but it doesn’t hurt to give it to them again. I think of the song I love to tell the story. In that song he mentions that those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.

But what did Paul preach?

Repentance- a change of mind about my sin, and my savior.

faith- Paul tells them that they need to believe not on John, but on Jesus Christ.

That is it. Paul didn’t tell them they had to get baptised to be saved. He didn’t tell them to join the church or give any money. He didn’t tell them to keep the sacraments to be saved. His message was simply repent and believe on Jesus Christ. You see if you add anything to your salvation it is not all of God and you are basically saying Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection were not good enough. Salvation according to Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” is by grace alone through faith alone. Nothing you do gives you salvation except receiving his free gift.

Conclusion

Christian when it comes to mixed up Christians or professing Christians, I feel like the example of Paul, Aquilla and Priscilla should motivate us to try to help them see the truth. They will not always listen to what we have to say, but if they do, possibly they could be led to the Lord. We shouldn’t shy away from those opportunities. There are two things that stood out in the interaction between Apollos and Aquilla and Priscilla:

It took courage for them to speak up to Apollos a man of learning and passion.

It also took humility for Apollos to listen to what Aquilla and Priscilla had to say.

Maybe you are that professing Christian. Maybe you are sitting here listening to this message and all of your life you have thought that you were a Christian. You know something is missing. Maybe you have been trying to earn it on your own. If you could just be good enough. But salvation is a free gift of God given to those who repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. When the piano play, we always have an invitation to give you an opportunity to come and be saved. No one will be looking but if you don’t know Jesus as your savior would you make your way down front and I will have someone show you privately how you can truly know Jesus today.