EARLY CHRISTIANITY

SEVEN IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY

- VICTORY OVER SIN ! (Holiness [that is , the process of getting more and more holy] is a spiritual development through which man , because of becoming more and more victorious over sin , is getting closer and closer to God . ) . - Not to be victorious over sin (egoism , self-will , disobedience to God's will) is characteristic of the passive Christian faith or the pseudo-Christian faith (Rev.3:1b ; James 2:26) , and/or of unbelief and atheism .
- OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH ! - The day of rest prescribed by God is not Sunday but Saturday (Sabbath , see 4th commandment : Ex . 20:8 - 11 ; Gen . 2:1 - 3) !
- PROHIBITION OF DIVORCE AND RE-MARRIAGE AFTER DIVORCE ! (Mk . 10:11 - 12 ; 1.Cor . 7 : 39) . Today even in Christian circles divorce and re-marriage after divorce are allowed !
- SPIRITUAL GIFTS (healing of sick people , deliverance from demons , signs and wonders , ... ; cp.1 . Cor . 12 : 7 - 11) . - Unfortunately , even today there are Christians who no longer trust God for powerful deeds like signs and wonders (Mt . 13 : 58) !
- SPIRITUAL SOBERNESS , SPIRITUAL CLEARNESS OF THINKING , DIVINE KNOWLEDGE , DIVINE UNDERSTANDING AND DIVINE WISDOM . - Spiritual guidance by (pseudo-) pious spirits and other false spirits (cp. 2 . Cor . 11 : 13 - 15) has nothing to do with spiritual guidance by God's spirit (2 . Tim . 4 : 5a) .
- LIVING A SAMPLE AND MODEST LIFE IN SELF - DENIAL (Lk. 14 : 33) . - True Early Christian faith is incompatible with a gospel of prosperity (1 . Tim . 6 : 6) !
- JESUS IS MESSIAH AND SON OF GOD ! HE IS MAN THROUGH AND THROUGH ! - However , Jesus is not God in the absolute sense of the word (cp. Moses : Ex . 4 :16 ; 7 :1) ! Rather Jesus is the representative of God , and as such He identifies Himself with the revelation of God  , that is , with the Word of God (identity of revelation) , not with the nature of God , that is , He is not identical with God by nature (identity of nature) ; cp. Moses (Deut . 18 : 15 ; Acts 3 : 22 ; John 5 : 46) and other prophets of the Old Testament !