Jerry Shugart
Well-known member
Paul Sadler, the President of the Berean Bible Society and one of the chief spokesmen in the Neo-MAD community, teaches that those who received the Jewish epistles were not members of the Body of Christ. He gives the following criteria for determining exactly who belongs to the Body of Christ and who doesn't:
With that in mind let us examine the life of Apollos to see if Sadler is correct when he limits those who are in the Body of Christ to those who were saved after Paul's conversion. At one time Apollos was a believer "knowing only the baptism of John":
But later, after Aquila and Priscilla had "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (v.26) we see Paul saying that Apollos watered what he had planted and they are both "one":
Apollos was watering what Paul had planted because both were members of the Body of Christ and both were ministering to those in the Body of Christ. It is inconceivable that Apollos was not a member of the Body of Christ since Paul says that "he that planteth and he that watereth are one." In the following passage Paul speaks about that oneness:
Here we see the Apostle Paul speaking about the Jews and Gentiles being made "one" and reconciled in one Body. It is inconceivable that Paul would say that both he and Apollos were "one" but yet they were not "one" because Paul belongs within the Body of Christ but Apollos did not.
Despite these facts Sadler teaches that because Apollos was saved prior to the time when Paul was converted then he could not have been a member of the Body of Christ.
Where do those in the Neo-MAD camp come up with such foolishness?
"The company of saints who make up Christ's Body consists of 'only' those who are saved from the conversation of the Apostle Paul until the sound of the trump at the Rapture (I Tim. 1:15,16; I Cor. 12:27; I Thess. 4:13-18). 'Only those who have been saved under the terms of salvation found in Paul's epistles make up the true church of this dispensation (I Cor.15:1-4)'" (Paul M. Sadler, Exploring the Unsearchable Riches of Christ [Germantown, WI: Worzalla Publishing, 1993], 103).
With that in mind let us examine the life of Apollos to see if Sadler is correct when he limits those who are in the Body of Christ to those who were saved after Paul's conversion. At one time Apollos was a believer "knowing only the baptism of John":
"And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John" (Acts 18:24-25).
But later, after Aquila and Priscilla had "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (v.26) we see Paul saying that Apollos watered what he had planted and they are both "one":
"Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one" (1 Cor.3:5-8).
Apollos was watering what Paul had planted because both were members of the Body of Christ and both were ministering to those in the Body of Christ. It is inconceivable that Apollos was not a member of the Body of Christ since Paul says that "he that planteth and he that watereth are one." In the following passage Paul speaks about that oneness:
"For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (Eph. 2:14-16).
Here we see the Apostle Paul speaking about the Jews and Gentiles being made "one" and reconciled in one Body. It is inconceivable that Paul would say that both he and Apollos were "one" but yet they were not "one" because Paul belongs within the Body of Christ but Apollos did not.
Despite these facts Sadler teaches that because Apollos was saved prior to the time when Paul was converted then he could not have been a member of the Body of Christ.
Where do those in the Neo-MAD camp come up with such foolishness?
Last edited: