Introduction
- James Collazo
- Jan 14, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: 10 minutes ago
First Century Christian Fellowship (FCCF) Ministries exists to help believers encounter Jesus Christ more deeply through Scripture understood within its first-century Jewish, historical, and cultural contexts, while remaining rooted in historic Christian orthodoxy. FCCF Ministries values the witness of the historic church while affirming Scripture as the final authority for faith and practice. Founded in 2013, FCCF seeks to unite historical study, spiritual formation, and faithful discipleship so that believers follow the risen Christ with both heart and mind. Through biblical and historical study, the ministry encourages believers to rediscover the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and understand Scripture within its original world.
FCCF Ministries proclaims Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture: fully human and fully divine, crucified, risen, and present with his people through the Holy Spirit. We affirm the historic Christian confession of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: one God revealed in three persons (see "Trinity: Jewish & Gentile Views"). The ministry emphasizes a living relationship with Christ that shapes worship and service. While historical study helps us understand Jesus within his first-century setting, faith encounters him as the risen Lord proclaimed by the apostles and worshiped by the church throughout the ages. FCCF Ministries provides resources for biblical study, historical understanding, discipleship, and spiritual formation to help believers grow in their knowledge and devotion to Jesus Christ.
Introduction to First-Century Discipleship
FCCF Ministries employs the historical-grammatical method to understand Scripture within its historical and literary contexts. This ministry approach developed through years of visiting churches across various traditions while seeking expressions of first-century discipleship. Our goal is to encourage believers to rediscover aspects of first-century discipleship while remaining firmly rooted in historic Christian orthodoxy. The fifth-century theologian and monk Vincent of Lérins summarized this principle well:
Moreover, in the catholic church itself, all possible care must be taken to hold the faith that has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is truly and in the strictest sense "catholic," which, as the name itself and the reason of the thing declare, comprehends all universally. This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, consent. We shall follow universality if we confess that one faith to be true, which the whole church throughout the world confesses; antiquity, if we in no wise depart from those interpretations which it is manifest were notoriously held by our holy ancestors and fathers; consent, in like manner, if in antiquity itself we adhere to the consentient definitions and determinations of all, or at the least of almost all pastors and theologians (Lérins, Comm. 2.6; translation adapted).
Vincent's statement reflects the historic Christian commitment to the faith handed down by the apostles. Scripture describes the church as the body of Christ and as "the pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). The church is more than an association of denominations; it is a dynamic community committed to worshiping God "in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23). The church is united, holy, multiethnic, and mission-driven while remaining subject to the authority of Scripture. FCCF Ministries seeks not only to deepen believers' understanding of Scripture but also to equip them to bear witness to Christ in their communities.
Reading with First-Century Eyes
We often view the New Testament through the lenses of later historical periods, such as the Protestant Reformation (1517–1648) and the Enlightenment (c. 1715–1789), rather than through the historical, literary, and cultural world of the first century. Anglican biblical scholar N. T. Wright declared, "For too long we have read Scripture with nineteenth-century eyes and sixteenth-century questions. It's time to get back to reading with first-century eyes and twenty-first-century questions" (Wright, 2009, p. 37). Historical context does not replace spiritual application; rather, it strengthens it. FCCF Ministries encourages believers to read Scripture in its historical, literary, and cultural contexts, considering the meaning of its words, themes, and teachings within their original setting. Therefore, reading Scripture through first-century eyes helps believers understand the call of Jesus more clearly and follow him more faithfully in every generation.
Heritage of Faithful Disciples
FCCF Ministries aligns with movements throughout church history—including the desert fathers, the Franciscans, the Anabaptists, the Holiness movement, and Messianic Jewish renewal—in which believers have sought to recover aspects of biblical discipleship and the church’s apostolic heritage (see "Paleo-Orthodoxy & Apostolic Succession" and "Israel: Election & Identity"). Wright observed:
I suspect that the Wesleyan emphasis on Christian experience, both the "spiritual" experience of knowing the love of God in one's own heart and life and the "practical" experience of living a holy life for oneself and of working for God's justice in the world, might well be cited as evidence of a movement in which parts of the church did integrate several elements in the gospels, a synthesis that the majority of Western Christians have allowed to fall apart (Wright, 2012, p. 37).
Rediscovering the Jewish Context
FCCF Ministries embraces a "Messianic commonwealth" understanding of Scripture, recognizing the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ, the shared inheritance of God’s people, and God's faithfulness to his covenant purposes concerning Israel (Rom. 1:16; 3:28; Eph. 2:8–9). Paul declared that God has not abandoned the Jewish people and has included Gentiles in his plan (Rom. 11:25–26). Several developments, including the rediscovery of the Didachē and the Dead Sea Scrolls, have contributed to renewed interest in the Jewish context of the Bible and early Christianity. We affirm the Jewish context of Scripture while rejecting any teaching that makes Torah observance a requirement for salvation. The Reformed theologian Jürgen Moltmann observed: "We stand today in a remarkable period of transition . . . the Christian faith is experiencing what I would like to call a 'Hebraic wave'" (in Wilson 1989, p. 125).
An Instrument of Peace
FCCF Ministries seeks unity between Gentile Christians and Messianic Jewish believers, emphasizing the shared inheritance in Christ. We follow a ministry of service and love, affirming Israel's calling (Rom. 11:29) and the unity of all believers in Christ (Gal. 3:28). We also identify with the one holy, universal church confessed throughout Christian history (Eph. 4:4–6). Let us pray in the words traditionally attributed to Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is error, truth; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood, to understand, to be loved as to love. Because it is in giving that we receive, in forgiving that we are forgiven, and in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Conclusion
This statement is often attributed to Richard C. Halverson, a Presbyterian minister and the sixtieth United States Senate chaplain:
In the beginning, the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on the living Christ. They had a personal relationship with the Lord, which transformed their lives and the world around them. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. Finally, it moved to America, where it has become an enterprise (in Dunnam 2005, pp. 31–32; Larson 1984, p. 50).
The goal is not to recreate the first century but to recover the apostolic faith in every generation (Jude 3; 2 Tim. 1:13–14). Whether through biblical study, historical research, worship, or daily discipleship, FCCF Ministries exists to help believers know Jesus Christ more deeply, love him more faithfully, proclaim him more clearly, and make disciples until he comes again (Matt. 28:19–20; Phil. 3:8–10).
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Holmes, Michael W., ed. The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.
Vincent of Lérins. Commonitorium. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1894.
Commentaries
Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014.
Monographs
Beale, G. K. A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.
Dunnam, Maxie D. Cultivating a Thoughtful Faith. Nashville: Abingdon, 2005.
Evans, Craig A. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2010.
Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 4th ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2014.
Juster, Daniel C. That They May Be One: A Brief Review of Church Restoration Movements and Their Connection to the Jewish People. Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2009.
Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. Revised ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978.
Larson, Bruce. Wind and Fire: Living Out the Book of Acts. Waco, TX: Word, 1984.
Oden, Thomas C. Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009.
Osborne, Grant R. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Rev. and expanded ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2006.
Rea, Robert F. Why Church History Matters: An Invitation to Love and Learn from Our Past. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014.
Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. 5th ed. Edited by Marshall Shelley. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020.
Soulen, R. Kendall. The God of Israel and Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996.
Stern, David H. Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel: A Message for Christians. Rev. ed. Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2010.
Strauss, Mark L. Four Portraits, One Jesus: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020.
Wilken, Robert Louis. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.
Wright, N. T. How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2012.
Wright, N. T. Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2009.
Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2019.
Wyschogrod, Michael. The Body of Faith: God in the People Israel. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.
Edited Volumes
Danker, Ryan N., ed. The Faith Once Delivered: A Wesleyan Witness to Christian Orthodoxy. Alexandria, VA: John Wesley Institute, 2022.
Goldberg, Louis, ed. How Jewish Is Christianity? Two Views on the Messianic Movement. Counterpoints. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.
McDermott, Gerald R., ed. Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Essays on the Relationship Between Christianity and Judaism. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2021.
Reference Works
Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Revised and edited by Frederick William Danker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Dobson, Kent. NIV First-Century Study Bible: Explore Scripture in Its Jewish and Early Christian Context. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.
Rubin, Barry, and David H. Stern, eds. The Complete Jewish Study Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2016.
Online Resources
Cochran, Joey. "The Vincentian Vision of Classical Christianity."↗ Center for Pastor Theologians. September 28, 2022.
