Doctrine of the Church

The Doctrine of the Churc h Some preliminary considerations in the doctrine of the church: • The nature of the church: What is the church? How is it defined? • The marks of the true church: How do you recognize a church? Or, what makes a church a church? • The purposes of the church: What are the functions and objectives of the church? Or, what is the church supposed to do? Ekklesia Definition of church: the community of all true believers for all time. Or, the community of all true believers since Pentecost or the coming of Christ. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25) “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body” (Eph 1:22-23) “you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven” (Heb 12:22-23) “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two… Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (Eph 2:14-15, 19) “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matt 16:18) “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt 18:17) The invisible church and the visible church: Definition of the invisible church: the church as God sees it; all true believers as a single spiritual reality. “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Tim 2:19) “the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven” (Heb 12:23) The invisible church and the visible church: Definition of the visible church: the church as Christians on earth see it; the visibility is particularly in the practice of the Lord’s Supper and baptism. “To the church of God that is in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2) “To the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess 1:1) “the church in your house” (Philem 2) The invisible church and the visible church: The visible church has the senses of an exclusively regenerate membership but also a mixed spiritual condition. “To the saints who are in Ephesus” (Eph 1:1) “To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 1:1) “God’s elect” (1 Pet 1:1) The invisible church and the visible church: The visible church has the senses of an exclusively regenerate membership but also a mixed spiritual condition. “Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth” (2 Tim 2:17-18) “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica” (2 Tim 4:10) The invisible church and the visible church: The visible church has the senses of an exclusively regenerate membership but also a mixed spiritual condition. “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30) “They went out from us, but they were not of us” (1 John 2:19) The church is local and catholic (universal): “the church of God that is in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2) “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25) “God has appointed in the church first apostles” (1 Cor 12:28) Metaphors for the church: Family “You shall open wide your hand to your brother” (Deut 15:11) “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim 5:1-2) “whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35) “and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor 6:18) Metaphors for the church: Bride “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (Eph 5:32) “I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor 11:2) “for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready” (Rev 19:7) Metaphors for the church: Branches “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5) Field of crops “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth…You are God’s field” (1 Cor 3:6, 9) Metaphors for the church: Temple “a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:21) “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:5) Metaphors for the church: Body “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body…Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:12, 16, 27) Metaphors for the church: Body “he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:22) “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped” (Eph 4:15-16) “the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows” (Col 2:19) Metaphors for the church: Priesthood “a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5) The church and Israel: 1. Dispensationalism, or classic dispensationalism • Two different groups with two distinct plans: • Israel – earthly, physical blessings in the future Church – spiritual, heavenly blessings in the future • In the millennium, Israel will be on earth reigning, enjoying the fulfillment of the OT promises. The church will be in heaven because they have been raptured. • Thus, the church is only comprised of NT believers. • The church age, which is from Pentecost to the rapture, is a parenthesis or intercalation in God’s plan. The church and Israel: 2. Progressive dispensationalism • The church is not a parenthetical stage in God’s plan. • God has a single purpose for Israel and the church – to establish the kingdom of God. • There is no distinction between Israel and the church in the future eternal state. • The church will reign with Christ in glorified bodies on earth during the millennium. The church and Israel: 2. Progressive dispensationalism • The OT prophecies to Israel will be fulfilled in the millennium by ethnic Jewish people. These Jews are Christians who will live in the land of Israel and serve as a model to all the nations. The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism • The church refers to all true believers of all time; all the elect. • This is a continuity ecclesiology, not a replacement theology. • The church is considered renewed Israel. So, there is the church during the Mosaic Covenant and now there is the church during the New Covenant. The church today is New Covenant Israel. The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism • “I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles” (Isa 42:6) • “the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jer 31:31 and Heb 8:8) • “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20) The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism “To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (James 1:1) “To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion” (1 Pet 1:1) The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism 1 Pet 2:4-10 – “4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: shame.” “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism 1 Pet 2:4-10 – “’The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ 8 and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism New temple, v. 5 New priesthood, vv. 4-5, 9 Chosen race, v. 9 Holy nation, v. 9 God’s people, v. 10 The Messiah is the cornerstone that determines whom God accepts as his people, v. 6. The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (Rom 2:28-29) “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Rom 9:6-8) The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism “the father of all who believe without being circumcised…the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (Rom 4:11-12) “the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree” (Rom 11:24) “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:29) “we are the circumcision” (Phil 3:3) The church and Israel: 3. Covenantalism “through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Eph 3:6) The Doctrine of the Churc h Some preliminary considerations in the doctrine of the church: • The nature of the church: What is the church? How is it defined? • The marks of the true church: How do you recognize a church? Or, what makes a church a church? • The purposes of the church: What are the functions and objectives of the church? Or, what is the church supposed to do? Two perspectives on the church in God’s plan of redemption: • Discontinuity perspective: The church and Israel (2 peoples, 2 plans) • Continuity perspective: The church as renewed Israel (1 people, 1 plan) The church and the kingdom The kingdom – the dynamic reign or kingly rule of God The church – the community of the kingdom; it is compromised of the subjects of the kingdom. Specific aspects of the relationship between the church and the kingdom: 1. The church is not the kingdom. Jesus and the apostles preached the nearness of and gospel of the kingdom, but not of the church (Matt 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14; Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31; etc.). 2. The kingdom creates the church. When people enter the kingdom, they join the human fellowship of the church. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5) Specific aspects of the relationship between the church and the kingdom: 3. The church is the instrument of the kingdom. The Holy Spirit manifested the power of the kingdom in the ministries of Christ and his apostles. “And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matt 10:8) “if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt 12:28) 4. The church is the custodian of the kingdom. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you The kingdom is both present and future, “already/not yet”: The presence of the kingdom “the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21) “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17) The future kingdom, not yet fully here “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34) “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9) The kingdom is both present and future, “already/not yet”: Commonly called the inaugurated form of the kingdom and the consummated form of the kingdom. The kingdom is both present and future, “already/not yet”: Christians experience now some measure of final kingdom “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14) “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet” (1 Cor 15:24-27) The advancement of the kingdom of God impacts the kingdom of the world: Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World The advancement of the kingdom of God impacts the kingdom of the world: • Outlawing of infanticide, child abandonment, and abortion in the Roman Empire by AD 374 • Abolished gladiatorial fights to the death • Ending the punishment of branding the faces of criminals in 315 • Institution of prison reforms, including the segregation of male and female prisoners by 361 • Ending the practice of human sacrifice among the Irish, Prussians, Lithuanians, Aztec, and Mayan • Outlawing of pedophilia The advancement of the kingdom of God impacts the kingdom of the world: • Granting property rights and other protections to women • Banning of polygamy in many places • Prohibition of the burning alive of widows in India in 1829 • Ending the practice of foot binding in China in 1912 • Beginning a public school system in Germany in 16th century • Advancing the idea of compulsory education of children in many European countries The advancement of the kingdom of God impacts the kingdom of the world: • In 1932, of the 182 US colleges and universities, 92% were founded by Christian denominations • Abolishing slavery in the Roman Empire, Ireland, most of Europe, and ending slavery and slave trade throughout the British Empire by 1840 The advancement of the kingdom of God impacts the kingdom of the world: • In 1932, of the 182 US colleges and universities, 92% were founded by Christian denominations • Abolishing slavery in the Roman Empire, Ireland, most of Europe, and ending slavery and slave trade throughout the British Empire by 1840 The mark or signs of a true church: 1. A group of true believers: Regenerate membership 2. The right preaching of the Bible and the gospel 3. The administration of the ordinances/sacraments 4. The practice of church discipline (?) Purpose of the church: Discipleship “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19) Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship requires the church to proclaim the gospel message “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matt 24:14) “truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:9) Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship requires the church to proclaim the gospel message A wholistic, compassionate approach to outreach Feeding of the 5,000: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matt 14:14) Feeding of the 4,000: “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat” (Mark 8:2) “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship requires the church to proclaim the gospel message A wholistic, compassionate approach to outreach “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matt 14:14) “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34) Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship requires the church to build up itself. “that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col 1:28) “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:12-13) “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19) Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship requires the church to build up itself. Build up in a wholistic way “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18) “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and…they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:42, 45) Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship requires the church to build up itself. The inadequacy of “seeker-sensitive” churches Purpose of the church: Discipleship Discipleship is ultimately about worship “to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:12) The Doctrine of the Churc h The marks or signs of a true church: 1. True believers (thus, not Liberal churches) 2. The right preaching of the Bible and the gospel (thus, not pseudoChristian groups like Mormonism, Jehovah Witness, Christian Science) 3. The administration of the ordinances/sacraments (thus, not Roman Catholicism or Salvation Army) 4. The practice of church discipline (thus, not underdeveloped/irresponsible churches) The purity of the church Just as there are true churches and false churches, among the true churches are more pure and less pure churches. As a NT example, there seems to be more pure churches at Philippi and Thessalonica. But there seems to be less pure churches in Galatia and Corinth. Purity – the degree of freedom from wrong doctrine and conduct, and its degree of conformity to God’s revealed will for the church Church purity is the work of God sanctifying his people: “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:26-27) The purity of the church is part of the process of maturity: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col 1:28) “since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor 14:12) 1. Doctrinal purity “They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (Titus 1:11) “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) 2. The proper use of the sacraments “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat… Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor 11:20, 28) 3. Church discipline “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed…For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Cor 5:6-7, 12-13) 4. Spiritual worship “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:18-20) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16-17) “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23) 5. Witness to the world “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19) “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:44-47) 6. Proper church government “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be…Deacons likewise must be…” (1 Tim 3:1-2, 8) 7. Personal holiness “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality” (1 Thess 4:3) “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14) 8. Benevolence “no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common…There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:32, 34-35) “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem” (Rom 15:26) 9. Love for Christ “Though you have not seen him, you love him” (1 Pet 1:8) “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Rev 2:4) The unity of the church While the church should pursue purity, it must do so while also pursuing unity; we don’t want the church dividing over every issue of purity. Unity – degree of freedom from divisions among true Christians The unity of the church is in both the indicative and the imperative Church unity in the indicative: “there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16) “that all of them may be one” (John 17:21) “that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:23) “called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:2) Church unity in the indicative: “There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:4-6) “we who are many are one body” (1 Cor 10:17) “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit…one body” (1 Cor 12:12-13, 19) “God has put the body together…so that there should be no division Church unity in the imperative: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor 1:10) “make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Phil 2:2) “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3) “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of We are warned against division: “watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught” (Rom 16:17) “before certain men came from James, he [Peter] was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party…their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:12, 14) “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions” (Gal 5:19-20) “It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 19) Reasons for church separation: 1. Groups with false teaching regarding the gospel “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works” (2 John 10-11) 2. Groups lacking evidence of saving faith “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?...Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor 6:14-15) Reasons for church separation: 1. Groups with false teaching regarding the gospel “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works” (2 John 10-11) 2. Groups lacking evidence of saving faith “‘Come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord” (2 Cor 6:17) “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people…these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith” (2 Tim 3:4-5, 8) Questions & Comments