The People of God

THE PEOPLE OF GOD

GETTING STARTED

Alyssa is a thirty-two-year-old single woman who is a member of your church. By all appearances, Alyssa would make a great wife and mother, and she deeply desires to get married and start a family. Mr. Right hasn’t come along yet, but she keeps hoping.

One day, you find out that she is seeing someone. When you ask her about it, the conversation reveals that he is not a believer. She knows the Bible speaks against this, but she’s tired of waiting. Things are getting pretty serious, and they are even talking about marriage.

1. What do you do when you find out about Alyssa’s relationship?

2. Do you think that the church should do anything about this? Is it the business of members to stick their noses in people’s private lives?

Independence and Autonomy

In the modern West, we like to think that we don’t depend on anyone else and that we can do whatever we want. We like to think of ourselves as both independent and autonomous.

Do you see how these two things go together? We like to be free from entangling commitments to others (independent) so that we are free to do what we want (autonomous, literally, “a law unto oneself”). Think of how American culture glorifies the rugged individualist or the self-made millionaire who grows so powerful that he gets to make his own rules.

So most people would say of Alyssa’s relationship, “What she does with her life is her business, and the church should stay out of it.” But as we’re going to see from Scripture, God’s claim on our lives demands much more.

MAIN IDEA

Through Jesus Christ, God is saving not only individuals but also a people. The church is the people of God. This means that, as Christians, we are neither independent nor autonomous. Rather, we belong to God and to the people of God. So we are to submit to God’s will and to one another.

DIGGING IN

In , Paul speaks about how our salvation as individuals incorporates us into God’s one redeemed people. Then, let’s read what Paul writes in :

17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1. What phrases does Paul use in verses 17 and 19 to describe what we were as non-Christians? What do those phrases mean?

2. In verse 19, what two phrases does Paul use to describe our new state as Christians? What does this teach us about what happens to us when we become Christians?

3. Given our new identity which Paul describes in verses 19 through 22, should we Christians view ourselves as autonomous, independent individuals? Explain.

Let’s read ...

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

17 Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

18 and I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty.”

4. List the different terms and images that Paul (quoting and ) uses to describe the church in relation to God:

5. In verse 16 God says of Christians, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Christians are possessed by God. What obligations do the people of God have because of this special relationship to God? (Hint: Notice the “therefore” in v. 17.)

6. Whose character are the people of God to represent? What does this say about our desire to be autonomous?

7. Have you ever thought about how becoming a Christian means becoming part of a new people, the people of God? In light of the two passages we’ve discussed, how should this truth change?

a) Your relationship to other Christians?

b) Your relationship to non-Christians?

8. If we better grasped this idea of being “a people,” how would that affect our interactions in the local church?

9. Once we grasp the fact that, as a church, we are the people of God, both an encouragement and a challenge follow.

The encouragement comes from knowing that we’re God’s treasured possession, the people He has specially loved and called to Himself (; ; ). This is not because of any goodness in us, but because of His sheer grace (; ). Further, it means that God is committed to being our God. He will be with us in the present and will one day bring us to live in perfect, face-to-face fellowship with himself (; ; ; ).

On the other hand, the challenge of being the people of God comes from the fact that God calls us to submit, to obey, and to reflect His character to the world. What are some specific ways that being part of the people of God encourages you? Challenges you?

10. Think back to Alyssa from the beginning of the story. In view of the Bible’s teaching that we as Christians are the people of God,

• How would you personally counsel Alyssa about her relationship?

• What should the church do about Alyssa’s relationship?

ANSWERS...

1. Paul teaches that we were “far off” (v. 17), and were “strangers and aliens” (v. 19). Both images communicate that in our lost state we were not only alienated from God, but also were separated and excluded from God’s people.

2. In verse 19 Paul teaches that we are now “fellow citizens with the saints,” and members of God’s household. These phrases indicate that when we became Christians, we were not only reconciled to God but also brought into the fellowship of his people.

3. As Christians, we should not view ourselves as autonomous individuals. Rather, we should view ourselves as fellow citizens of God’s people and members of God’s household. While we still retain our individual identity and responsibilities, we also take on the new identity and responsibilities that belong to the people of God. For instance, Paul says we “are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” That means God’s Spirit dwells among us specially through our togetherness. There are things we are together that we are not apart.

4. teaches that Christians are:

• The temple of God (v. 16)

• God’s people (v. 16)

• God’s children (v. 18)

5. The term “people of God” signifies that Christians are possessed by God and that the world will identify us with him. His name is on us, and what we do will make the world think one way or another about him.

In light of this, we are obligated to separate from what is unholy. More broadly, we are obligated to obey God, to pursue holiness, and to reflect God’s character to the world. See, for example, , where God tells Israel that he redeemed them from Egypt so that they would become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” They were to show the world what he is like.

6. The people of God are to represent God’s character. This contradicts and overturns our desire to be autonomous (“a law unto ourselves”) because it means that we are called to submit to God’s will in all things.

7. Possible answers for question (a): we’re no longer autonomous but are to commit ourselves to other Christians by joining a local church and living faithfully in that church; we’re to bear one another’s burdens and rejoice with one another (see ; ; ); we’re to seek not our own good but the common good because we recognize that, as a people, we belong to one another.

Possible answers for the question (b) include: we would recognize that we are to witness to non-Christians by being distinct from them; while we should love and care for non-Christians, we should not partner with them in any ways that compromise the gospel.

8. Possible answers include: we would be more diligent to pursue unity; we would strive together for holiness; we would bear with one another patiently.

9. Answers will vary.

10. Answers will vary, but they should reflect that, since Alyssa is a member of God’s people, she has a special obligation to obey God in every area of life. This includes breaking off this relationship with a non-Christian (see, for example, ). Therefore, in appropriate ways, both individual church members and, if necessary, church leaders, should be involved in helping Alyssa to obey God in this area of her life. In other words, what Alyssa does with her so-called “private” life is the church’s business, because Alyssa is a member of the people of God. Our lives reflect on one another, and all of us are called to reflect God’s holy character every area of our lives.