Images of the Universal Church: Temple / Bride / Vine & Branches
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Image of the Temple of God: I Corinthians 3
Image of the Temple of God: I Corinthians 3
1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
V. 1- We have the power of sin broken and we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, however Paul addresses the Corinthian believers as “people of the flesh” or “carnal.”
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
V. 2- These carnal Christians are similar to infants. Notice they have been saved for a while and yet they are still spiritual infants. What theological conclusions can we make from this?
3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
V. 3- How did their carnality evidence itself in the church? Their carnality was expressed through expressions of jealousy and strife.
4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
V. 4- Fighting over Christian leaders / playing favorites with Christian leaders is an evidence of spiritual immaturity of carnality.
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
V. 5- Paul and Apollos were not superhero Christian leaders. What were they? Servants / tools to be used by God. God is the one that gave the growth.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
V. 7- Can anyone, even if they have superhero Christian status, make the crops grow? What is the only thing we can do? Provide the right circumstances (plant and water), God is the one who gives growth.
What can we learn about spiritual ministry from v. 7?
8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
What is the metric that God will use to reward Christians one day (v. 8)?
V. 8- God keeps the record straight, and He will see to it that each church leader will receive a reward according to what? LABOR!! Not “success”, not size of church, not how big and attractive the building is...
9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
V. 9- “We are God’s fellow workers.” Who is the we? Paul & Apollos. Then Paul changes metaphors. Switches from God’s field to God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
Explain the illustration of the building process according to v. 10.
V. 10- Paul names Himself as master builder in Corinth & Apollos, came later and built more...
V. 10- Illustration
11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
V. 11- The only foundation for the true church is Jesus Christ.
What does that say about those who are part of the church part of the building? Only those who have a relationship to Jesus Christ are part of the building.
How does an understanding of v. 11 effect the membership of our local church?
Implication for believing church membership.
12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
V. 12- It is possible to build with different materials.
What building is Paul talking about? The church
What are the materials? People
What are the gold / silver / precious stones? At minimum these are believers. Also Paul is dealing with what issue in the church at the beginning of the chapter? Carnality. Possible reference to mature believers.
What are the wood / hay / straw materials? Unbelievers / possibly carnal Christians?
13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
Who are the “each one’s”? Cf. I Cor 3 10- “Let each one take care how he builds upon it.” This is a reference to the pastor(s) of the church.
Be careful pastors- someday everyone will know the kind/quality of the materials you built with.
What can we learn from v. 13 about church growth?
14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
V . 14- If any church leader’s work survives the fire, then he will be rewarded.
15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
V. 15- the reward he might have received will be lost.
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Who is the “you”? The “you” is plural. Paul is addressing the church members. You together, church members, are the church? You the people are the building.
What kind of building is the church?
“God’s temple”- the holy place. The local church is the holy of holies where God makes His special habitation!
What implications do we learn about the local church from the picture in v. 16?
What is the purpose of a temple? Worship! We don’t get to decide for ourselves what the purpose of the church is. One of the main purposes of the local church is for corporate worship.
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
V. 17- What does “destroys God’s temple” refer to?
If anyone destroys the local church, God will destroy that person. God’s temple is holy.
Paul goes back to his original purpose of the chapter. He was addressing people of the flesh / carnal Christians. What were these carnal Christians doing? How were they displaying their carnality? Jealousy and strife.
What is Paul teaching that they are really doing through their carnality in the church? They were destroying “God’s temple.” They were destroying the holiest of holies.
What is the warning given in v. 17?
If you hurt God’s church—God will destroy (temporal chastening) / hurt you.
30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
How can we make application of this teaching to our local churches?
How might you use this passage to give counsel to another member causing strife in your church?
Image of the Bride: Ephesians 5
Image of the Bride: Ephesians 5
Key word in Ephesians—walk
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
One way to walk as wise- v. 18
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
“Filled with the Spirit” = “walk in the Spirit”
What does it look like when you walk in the Spirit?
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Spiritual songs-
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Giving thanks
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Submitting yourselves-
6:5- slaves to masters / masters to slaves
6:1- Child to parent / parent to child
5:22- wife to husbands / husbands to wives
Wives submits to her husband as the church submits to Christ.
Husbands are to love their wives sacrificially as Christ loved the church and gave (over to death) Himself. Christ gave Himself to sanctify His bride.
Husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
Christ loves the church as His own body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Man leaves all other relationships behind and devotes himself completely to his wife, the marriage oath binds the two together into one flesh.
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
This is union of a man and a wife is a mystery. The union between Christ and the church is similar to the union between husband and wife. Both are mysteries.
What problems arise from the image of the church as the Bride of Christ?
Problems
OT declares that Israel is the bride of God, then Israel must be the church.
New Jerusalem is called the bride of Christ.
What are some helpful solutions to these problems?
Solutions
Don’t press imagery in every detail.
Don’t press imagery beyond the boundaries intended.
Don’t be surprised to find similar imagery being used to describe similar things.
Image of the Vine and Branches- John 15
Image of the Vine and Branches- John 15
This is a picture of Christ’s relationship to the individual believer.
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Christ is the vine—only one vine in this picture. The Father is the farmer.
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Fruitless branches removed, fruitful branches pruned. There is cutting in both places—some form of suffering.
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Not speaking of salvation- speaking of fruit bearing readiness.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
What kind of union does the individual believer of the church have with Christ (v. 4)?
This verses assumes a true organic union between Christ and the believer. It also shows the unique existence of the inseparable relationship between Christ and the church. Christ is not the stem or the roots, but the vine. The disciples are the branches. It is difficult at times to tell when the vine ends and the branches begin. There is a close, inseparable, organic union between the two.
Then there is the matter of abiding in Christ. What is abiding?
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Make our home = abode = dwelling with him. Same word as abiding in Christ.
Similar to a husband and a wife learning to dwell together. They must learn each other’s likes and dislikes. He is no longer a bachelor. He must learn how to dwell with his bride.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
How do individual believers, as members of the church, bear fruit (v. 5)?
What is the fruit?
Fruitfulness in the life of a believer is natural of abiding in Christ.
“Thus, when Christ refers to the believers, the members of His church, as branches, He is teaching them their major responsibility—fruit bearing; and their potential productivity is immeasurable because of the infinite resource of life flowing through the Vine” (Radmacher, The Nature of the Church, 311).
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
Maybe an allusion of the chastening to death.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
What other essential part of the believer’s life does an abiding relationship with Christ effect (v. 7)? How?
Not just fruit-bearing but also Jesus teaches that an effective prayer life grows out of our abode with Christ. Abiding means learning how to live with Christ. It is beginning to keep house with Christ in the household. It means I am constantly concerned with His likes and dislikes—just like living together as husband and wife.
The abiding life is the source of our fruitfulness and it is the heart of our prayer life. Prayer is more of an awareness of Christ than simply mouthing the words.
Summary of the Images
Summary of the Images
These different images of the church emphasize all kinds of different relationships in the church.
All of these different relationships begin to describe what Christian fellowship looks like.
Levels of Christian Fellowship Illustration
Each circle represents a different kind of fellowship. The question is not whether we can have fellowship with one another, but at what level can we fellowship.
At minimum we can have personal fellowship with another believer.
At maximum is church leadership- must meet strict qualifications.
Separation is a recognition of limitations upon fellowship. Fellowship is limited by the extent upon which we share the faith.
Three Questions of Separation
Three Questions of Separation
1. What is the purpose of the fellowship?
1. What is the purpose of the fellowship?
2. What is the nature and gravity of the doctrines on which we disagree?
2. What is the nature and gravity of the doctrines on which we disagree?
Disagreement—You must limit: 1). Fellowship / 2). Message
3. What is my brother’s attitude toward the disagreement?
3. What is my brother’s attitude toward the disagreement?
How clearly is my brother identified with the belief? Will I be identified with him?