Ecclesiology : The Nature of the Church

B. What the Church is. ( positively )

What is the Church? Three positions:

1. The Ekklesia of the New Testament refers only to those geographical groups of baptised believers who regularly assemble, led by Pastors and deacons, for the purpose of worship, instruction, fellowship and evangelism. This position would categorically deny the existence of a universal and invisible church.

2. The Ekklesia of the New Testament refers primarily to the that invisible body of Christ, composed of all believers, saved from the Day of Pentecost til the rapture of the church..

The extreme of this view is to downplay the worth of the local church assemblies, substituting instead swimming pool baptismal parties, coffee-house evangelism, and ecumenical dialogues.

3. The true Biblical Meaning of Ekklesia.

We will look at the following uses of ‘Ekklesia’:

1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not fit to be called an Apostle--because I persecuted the Church of God.

Church ἐκκλησία ekklēsia Thayer Definition:

1) a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly

1a) an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating

1b) the assembly of the Israelites

1c) any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance, tumultuously

1d) in a Christian sense

1d1) an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting

1d2) a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order’s sake

1d3) those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body

1d4) the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth

1d5) the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven

Ekklesia: In the New Testament it seems to be used in Three senses:

1. An assembly of Believers, saved by the Blood of Jesus, gathered for Christian Worship. This is the ‘local church’ sense. This is the assembly of believers in a certain locality.  We read of the Church in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1; the church in Antioch Acts 13:1. The local Church should be a true replica of the Church Universal.
The failure to be the True replicas is dealt with in the Parables of Matthew 13 by Jesus.

2. The Church in a Universal sense. It consists of those who have been born again of the Spirit of God, and have been baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ.

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:22  Now that, through your obedience to the truth, you have purified your souls for cherishing sincere brotherly love, you must love another heartily and fervently.

1Pe 1:23  For you have been begotten again by God's ever-living and enduring word from a germ not of perishable, but of imperishable life.

1Pe 1:24  "ALL MANKIND RESEMBLE THE HERBAGE, AND ALL THEIR BEAUTY IS LIKE ITS FLOWERS. THE HERBAGE DRIES UP, AND ITS FLOWERS DROP OFF;

1Pe 1:25  BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD REMAINS FOR EVER." And that means the Message which has been proclaimed among you in the Good News.

1Co 12:13  For, in fact, in one Spirit all of us--whether we are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men--were baptized to form but one body; and we were all nourished by that one Spirit.

3. The assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven.

Heb 12:22  On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the ever-living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,

Heb 12:23  to the great festal gathering and Church of the First-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven, and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

Rev 21:27  And no unclean thing shall ever enter it, nor any one who is guilty of base conduct or tells lies, but only they whose names stand recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life.

John Gill on the Heb 12:23

and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven; by the "church", is not meant any particular, or congregational church, nor any national one; but the church catholic, or universal, which consists only of God's elect, and of all of them, in all times and places; and reaches even to the saints in heaven: this church is invisible at present, and will never fail; of which Christ is the head, and for which he has given himself: now the persons, that belong to this church, are styled the "firstborn"; who are not the apostles only, who received the first fruits of the Spirit; nor the first converts among the Jews, who first trusted in Christ; but also the chosen of God, who are equally the sons of God, and born of him; are equally loved by him, and equally united to Christ, and interested in him: they have the same privileges, honours, and dignity, and shall enjoy the same inheritance; they are all firstborn, and are so called, with respect to the angels, the sons of God, as Christ is with respect to the saints, the many brethren of his: and these are said to be "written in heaven"; not in the earth, Jer_17:13, such writing abides not; nor in the book of the Scriptures, for the names of all are not written there; nor in the general book of God's decrees,

Ecclesiology - The Doctrine of the Church.

Notes from The Doctrine of the Church by Willmington

Satan counterfeits and deceives and lies and destroys but the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church which Christ is building. His efforts to disrupt and destroy the church have multiplied a thousand-fold since the Lord came to redeem and save His Blood - washed Church. Thank God for the Bible-Believing and Bible-preaching Pastors, congregations and Teachers all over the world who are seeing what God will do, confirming His Word with Signs following.

So we are studying the Scriptural Teaching about the church so that the “devil will not take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of His devices” 2Cor 2:11.

1. The Biblical Meaning of the Word “Church”.

The Greek word in the NT for our English word “church” is ekklesia. It is derived from ekkaleo. The compound ek means ‘out’  and kaleo means “to call or summons”. Thus, literally, it means “to call out”.

A. Its connection with the Hebrew word of the Old Testament.

The NT Greek word ekklesia has a loose connection with the Hebrew word qahal found 100 times in the OT. It is translated by “congregation, assembly, company”. Qahal  may refer to those assemblies gathered together for the purpose of:

1. Evil counsel. Gen 49:6; and Ps 26:5. In the Genesis passage Jacob is lamenting a past evil deed that Simeon and Levi, two of his sons, who plotted and carried out the cold-blooded murder of several pagans. [see also gen 34]

2. Civil Affairs 1 Kings 12:3; Prov. 5:14. In 1 Kings 12:3 the Elders of Israel are gathered together at Shechem to discuss the important civil affair, the coronation of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son.

3. War Numbers 22:4; Judges 20:2

4. Religious Worship 2 Chron 20:5

B. Its connection with the Secular Greek world.

In the secular Greek world ekklesia  eas used to refer to an assembly or meeting and never to the people who composed that assembly. Even a wild and ignorant mob could be referred to as an ekklesia. They did not use this word with a religious connection.

C. Its connection to the Theological world of the New Testament.

The New Testament shows a development of the word ekklesia from the simple non-technical term for ‘assembly’ to a full-blown technical and Theological  meaning for the “People of God”.

All but these five instances (Acts &:38; 19:32; 39; 41; Heb 2:12) the word ekklesia is used in this light.

2. The Origin of the Church.

Some believe it began in the Garden when God promised that the seed of the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman but that her seed would bruise the Serpent’s head.

Other say it began with Abraham and that the Nation of Israel was ‘the church’, the people of God’, in the OT.

Some say John the Baptist others the Apostle Paul or Christ began the church after the Resurrection.

Most Bible Scholars believe that the church began at Pentecost in Acts 2.

Lewis Chafer writes: a) There could be no church in the world …- until Christ’s death; for her relation to that death is no mere anticipation, but is wholly based on His Finished Work and she is purified by His precious blood.

          b) There could be no church until Christ rose from the dead to provide her with resurrection life..

                                  c) There could be no church until He had ascended up on high to become her Head; for she is a new Creation with a new federal headship in the resurrected Christ. He is to her as the Head is to the Body.

                                   d) Nor could the church survive without His Intercession for it in Heaven.

                                   e) There could be church without the  Coming the Holy Spirit, as she is the Temple of God, a Habitation of God through the Spirit” Systematic Theology Vol IV p.45

                                    f) Charles Ryrie suggests that there could be no church without the Pentecostal Baptizing of the Believer into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Acts 2; 11:15-16; 1 Cor 12:13.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost

3. The Nature of the Church.

Before attempting to say what the church is, let’s look at what it is not.

A. The church considered from a negative viewpoint:

1. It is a not a new name for Israel.

Covenant Theologians teach that the church has become God’s elect people, as Israel once was. But this is not the case as seen from the following arguments.:

a. The Promises are different.

The Promises to Israel are basically earthly in scope. see Ex 15:26 and Deut 28

The promises concerning the church are basically heavenly in Scope. Eph 1:3; Col 3:1-3

b. The seed is different.

Abraham’s Physical seed refers to Israel Rom. 9:7

Abraham’s Spiritual seed refers to the church. Galatians 3:7

c. The Births are different.

Israel celebrated its birthday at the base of Mt Sinai Ex 19-20

The church celebrated its birthday at Pentecost. Acts 2 The Writer to the Hebrews brings out the great contrast between the two entities Heb 12:18  You have not come to something that you can feel, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, to a storm,

Heb 12:19  to a trumpet's blast, and to a voice. When your ancestors heard that voice, they begged not to hear it say another word.

Heb 12:20  They couldn't obey the command that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death."

Heb 12:21  The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said he was trembling and afraid.

Heb 12:22  Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together

Heb 12:23  and to the assembly of God's firstborn children (whose names are written in heaven). You have come to a judge (the God of all people) and to the spirits of people who have God's approval and have gained eternal life.

Heb 12:24  You have come to Jesus, who brings the new promise from God, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel's.

Heb 12:25  Be careful that you do not refuse to listen when God speaks. Your ancestors didn't escape when they refused to listen to God, who warned them on earth. We certainly won't escape if we turn away from God, who warns us from heaven.

Israel became what they were by physical birth.

Believers become what they are by Spiritual birth.

d. The nationality is different.

Israel belonged to this earth and to a NATIONAL SYSTEM.

The church is composed of all nations and has no citizenship down here. Here we are strangers and pilgrims 1 Peter 2:11.

e. The relationship with the Father is different.

1) God is not presented as the Father of individual Israelites in The OT.

2) But God is presented as the Father of all individual believers in Christ in the NT

Rom 8:15  You haven't received the spirit of slaves that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the spirit of God's adopted children by which we call out, "Abba! Father!" GW

1Jn 3:1  Behold what manner of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

3) Israel is now under God’s Judgment. Rom 10:21  But to Israel He says, "All day long I have stretched forth My hands to a disobeying and gainsaying people."

Rom 11:8  even as it is written, "God gave to them a spirit of slumber, eyes not seeing, and ears not hearing" until this day.

Rom 11:9  And David said, "Let their table become for a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense to them.

Rom 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and their back always bowing."

Rom 11:11  I say then, Did they not stumble that they fall? Let it not be! But by their slipping away came salvation to the nations, to provoke them to jealousy.

4) The Church is free from all present Judgment.

Col 2:13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Col 2:14  blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.

Col 2:15  Having stripped rulers and authorities, He made a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it.

5) Israel was God’s servant.Isa 41:8  But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

6)  In the church - each believer - is God’s son.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

f. The Relationship with the Son is different.

1) Israel is pictured as an unfaithful wife. Isaiah 54 :1-17

Jer 3:1  They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

Jer 3:20  Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

2) The Church is Pictured as a chaste virgin Bride yet to be married in Heaven.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

3) Christ was a stumbling stone to Israel.

1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; stumbling block σκάνδαλον Strong’s

skandalon skan'-dal-on  A “scandal”; probably from a derivative of G2578; a trap stick (bent sapling), that is, snare (figuratively cause of displeasure or sin): - occasion to fall (of stumbling), offence, thing that offends, stumbling-block.

4) Christ is the Foundation and Chief Cornerstone of the Church.

Eph 2:20  You are a building which has been reared on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself,

Eph 2:21  in union with whom the whole fabric, fitted and closely joined together, is growing so as to form a holy sanctuary in the Lord;

Eph 2:22  in whom you also are being built up together to become a fixed abode for God through the Spirit.

Jesus Christ being that corner stone, or ακρογωνιαιος, the chief angle or foundation corner stone, the connecting medium by which both Jews and Gentiles were united in the same building. Elsewhere Jesus Christ is termed the foundation stone. Behold I lay in Zion a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, Isa_28:16; but the meaning is the same in all the places where these terms, foundation and corner stone, occur; for in laying the foundation of a building, a large stone is generally placed at one of the angles or corners, which serves to form a part of the two walls which meet in that angle. When, therefore, the apostle says that Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone, it means such a foundation stone as that above mentioned.

http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/christ-cornerstone/     

g.The Relationship with the Holy Spirit is different.

1) The Holy Spirit only rarely came upon individuals in the Old Testament.

Example. Jdg_15:14  When Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, so that the ropes that bound him were like flax that's been burned by fire, and his bonds dissolved. ISV

Samson breaks his cords

2.) The Holy Spirit Lives inside or abides in every New Testament believer.

1Co 6:19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own,

1Co 6:20  for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

h. The temple is different.

1) Israel had a temple

Exo 25:8  And let them make Me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them.

Tozer -  Man, a Dwelling place for God.

2) The church ( the assembly of the saints) is a temple.

Eph 2:19  Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,

Eph 2:20  and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

Eph 2:21  in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord;

Eph 2:22  in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God

2. The Church is not the Kingdom.

In Matthew we have the “kingdom of heaven” thirty-three times. This is different to ‘the Kingdom of God’. The Kingdom of heaven seems to refer to the Millenial kingdom yet to come, or to the mixed condition of Christendom today.

God promised the Kingdom to David.

2Sa 7:10  And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more. Neither shall the sons of wickedness afflict them any more, as before.

King David

2Sa 7:11  And even from the time that I commanded judges to be over My people of Israel, so will I cause you to rest from all your enemies. Also Jehovah tells you that He will make you a house.

2Sa 7:12  And when your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall come out of your bowels. And I will make his kingdom sure.

2Sa 7:13  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2Sa 7:14  I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men.

2Sa 7:15  But My mercy shall not leave him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.

2Sa 7:16  And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

Psa 89:3  I have cut a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant,

Psa 89:4  Your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

The Mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven.

Matt 13 and the Parables of the Kingdom refer seem to refer only to the saved of all ages. Sometimes ‘kingdom of heaven’ is equivalent to ‘Kingdom of God’ Mark 1:15 and Matt 4:17.

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent! For the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

At other Times ‘Kingdom of God’ refers to the saints or the saved, of all ages.

Luk 13:28  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrust out.

The new Birth is absolutely essential for entrance into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

The Church and the Kingdom of God have much in Common.

The admission by the New Birth or regeneration is common. But the main difference is this, that the Kingdom of God is much larger than the church. It includes the saved of all ages and has an eschatological aspect, whereas the church is confined to the believers of this present age.

3.The church  not a building structure of wood, bricks and nails etc.

4. It is not a national or state organisation.

In many European Countries the state supported the national church.eg. The Anglican Church in England; the Roman catholic Church in Belgium; The Dutch Reformed Church in Holland.

These state churches persecuted other churches that believe in complete liberty.eg The Russian Orthodox.

5. The Church is not a denominational organisation.

Men say, “the Anglican church or the Presbyterian Church" but this is a completely UnScriptural use of the word ‘church’.

Headquarters of the AOG in Springfield Missouri USA

6. It is not what the Roman Catholic Theologians say it is.

“ It has been stated that the Roman Catholic doctrine of the church falls into two divisions, namely, the mystical body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church on earth. These do not refer to two different churches, for the constituency of each one is the same: but they refer to two aspects of the church.

Because of the identification of the mystical body with the visible church, their conclusion is that there is no salvation outside the visible church. Although there are numerous books on Protestant Catholic Dialogue and their Ecumenical interests, it has been noted that any return of protestants to  Rome must involve the recognition of the Pope as the Vice-Regent of Christ. The Nature of the Church p.368. Quoted by Willmington p.694

7. It is not what Liberal Theologians say it is either.

“ Liberalism, being strongly influenced by the ‘social’ Gospel, saw little need for the local churches which simply impeded the progress of the transformation of society by feverishly clinging to their ecclesiastical dogmas and traditions. The church was regarded as being extraneous to the Christian Faith, and a strictly human, mundane organisation.” The Nature of the Church p. 369