Quote:
Originally Posted by A little brother
I am just curious, did Paul ever tell someone to leave the existing believer group and form a separate group for whatever reason?
|
Could we not draw reasonable conclusions, however, after the Acts 15 accord was never upheld and the Galatians apparently were lost to the Judaizers?
The fact that Paul, in the city of Corinth, forsook the Jews and "
from now on went to the Gentiles," (Acts 18.6) is telling. It was quite a strong message, both then and throughout history, to forsake those who reject the truth of the Gospel. It seems that every city Paul went to had opposition from the Jews, bringing some of the converts into the fold of Judaism. Obviously some places had Messianic converts meeting together, who had received the gospel, but later rejected Paul and those working with him, and joining with these super-apostles connected with Jerusalem.
I would say definitely, yes, Paul did tell some to leave an existing believer group and form a separate group, whether I can find it recorded or not. Paul constantly warned the churches to "beware of dogs," yet even to the end he hoped the differences would not cause a permanent divide, and hoped to minimize the differences. (ref. Romans 14)