THREE KINDS OF BIBLICAL NEW COVENANT CHURCHES (Part One):

The essence of the new covenant is fellowship which is possessed and enjoyed between God and His people and fellowship which is possessed and enjoyed among the people of God. In a world that is littered with broken relationships, we are called to demonstrate the love of Christ in a loveless world.

God has designed that fellowship (the obvious connectedness to Christ and others of His people which they enjoy) be demonstrated  to principalities and powers in heavenly places and to a lost world through  the "churches", a "called out company" of the redeemed! (Ephesians 3:9&10) God has designed three kinds of churches through which to make known His manifold wisdom:

1. Across the entire planet, God is calling out one church, "the church which is Christ's Body". (Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18,24) (This first church is the “big one” and the other two are subsets within the first.)

2. In every city or community where there are believers, God has one church which includes every child of God in that community. He calls it "the church of God". (Acts 20:28; I Cor.1:2; 10:32; 11:16&22; 15:9; II Cor.1:1; Gal.1:13; I Thess.2:14;  II Thess.1:4; I Tim3:5,15;

3. Scattered across every community are homes of believers which are to be beacon lights of hope to next door neighbours and  the folks down the block.  Maybe it is God's desire that there be a  "church in your house"!!!  (Acts 8:3; Rom.16:5; I Cor.16:19; Col.4:15; Philemon 1:2)

-Scriptural churches are never defined in scripture by ACTIVITIES (although believers and  churches are instructed and commanded to DO many things.)  

-Nor are they ever defined in scripture by DISTINCTIVES  (i.e. doctrines, creeds, practices, rituals, forms, meeting places,  stated purposes or reasons for gathering, or their favourite teachers which distinguish or divide them from others!)

-Rather, scriptural churches are defined by the relationship or the fellowship (the obvious connectedness to Christ and others of His people) which they enjoy.  (see Romans 12:4,5 “members in one body”; I Cor.1:2 “them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints”, “all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours”; 12:12-31 “the body is one and hath many members”; Ephesians 1:22,23 “the church which is His body”;  Philippians 1:1“all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi”; Colossians 1:2 “the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which  are at Colosse”;  II Thessalonians 1:1 “the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” etc)

 THESE CHURCHES MAY BE CLEARLY DISTINGUISHED BY THE FOLLOWING:

1. THEIR SCRIPTURAL SUMMARY STATEMENTS:

I believe that every scriptural doctrine is stated in the very words of scripture and contains the word or expression by which the doctrine is known. It will be one complete sentence and also the most comprehensive statement of that doctrine found in scripture. On this basis, the summary statements in scripture for the doctrines of "the church which is His Body", "the church of God" and "the church in thy house" are as follows:   (It is interesting that the largest church , The Body, has the longest summary statement while the smallest church, the church in thy house, has the shortest!)

   A. The church which is His (Christ's) Body:

        Colossians 1:21-29And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:  to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:  whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

  B. The church of God:

      I Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,  unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:  grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and  from the Lord Jesus Christ.

   C. The church in thy house:

        Philemon 1:1-3 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and  fellowlabourer,  and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:  grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. THEIR NUMBER:

   A. The church which is Christ's Body is one: Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 10:17; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13, 20; Ephesians 2:16; Ephesians 4:4; Colossians 3:15 

   B. Churches of God are plural in number: 

         There is no example of more than one church of God per city:

         Ephesus: Acts 20:17,28  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church....Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church  of God, which he  hath purchased with his own blood.

         Corinth: 1 Corinthians 1:2  Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

          2 Corinthians 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of  God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

        Jerusalem:1 Corinthians 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted  the church of God.  

       Galatians 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the  church of  God, and wasted it:    (The church which Saul persecuted was the church of God at Jerusalem. Acts 8:1-4)

        There are multitudes of churches of God and there may be several churches of God in a region:        I Corinthians 11:16  But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

       “The churches of Asia”       I Corinthians 16:19; Rev.1:4,11

       “Churches of Galatia”  I Cor.16:1;

       “Churches of Macedonia”  II Cor.8:1

       “Churches of God in Judea”   Galatians 1:22; I Thessalonians 2:14 

       

      C. Churches in houses are also plural in number:

     There was a church in Aquila and Priscilla's house: Romans 16:3-5;  1 Corinthians 16:19 

      There was a church in Nympas' house: Colossians 4:15 

      There was a church in Philemon's house: Philemon 1:1,2 

(How does what we have considered today compare with what you have been taught or believed about the church previously? Click on “Comments” below to leave your comments, suggestions or questions.

(To be continued in Parts 2 and 3.)

Are we gathering in His name?

A friend, Jay Nehme, wrote an email response to my first blog post of November 26, 2011.  (I felt that Jay had clarified an important idea in connection with the word, “ekklesia” . So it is with his permission and in keeping with my desire that this blog be as interactive as possible that I post his email here.)

^{Thank you, Bruce. I read your piece on "ekklesias" and it's good.
From my research there is one more dimension to the word "ekklesia", and it's inferred in the passages you cite.
Ekklesia was a concept familiar to the first-century mind, especially in secular terms, as some of your references show.
At various times people were called out, or called together for a specific reason, or purpose. That is ekklesia, true enough.
But were they called out merely to listen to (or follow) someone? Were they merely spectators or providing an audience for someone else's show, someone else's display of authority? NO ! They were called together for the purpose of making decisions!
They were part and parcel of the decision-making process. Their full participation was assumed and regarded as indispensable. They were not mere appendages to the nucleus of the action. They WERE the action (humanly speaking). That is WHY they were called together - just like the Sanhedrin when they gathered to decide what to do with Jesus.}

^{So, to correctly define ekklesia as a called-out people without pointing out it's intrinsic God-given authority, is akin to defining Parliament merely as a called out assembly who meet in Ottawa ... (and then what?) - without explaining the purpose for which they meet and the authority to see it through (with as much co-operation as possible).}

^{The implication here is that the ekklesia is called out and vested with authority by God to make decisions in accordance with Jesus' prayer; namely that "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven ..."  So the purpose of the ekklesia is to be active participants in bringing heaven to earth. That could mean various things such as singing His praises in this cursed world, practicing mutual love and submission in His Body, setting captives free, helping people in trouble, visiting the infirm, speaking truth in love, giving and receiving correction, invigorating and motivating other believers, learning together to recognize His leadings (like when the Holy Spirit separated Paul and Barnabas for a specific task), learning to deal with tensions, and a myriad of other things for which full participation in mutual submission is indispensable. I am not talking about "Kingdom theololgy", or "Dominion theology" which is a political fiasco. We're talking about being God's vessels used in a corporate way to make inroads in reversing the effects of the curse brought upon us by Adam's sin. We're talking about  groupings of people who cluster together and respond in unison to an invisible Spirit just like schools of fish do when they all swish and turn  AS ONE. They have learned to accurately respond to that spirit without bumping into each other and causing damage, which in our case is more difficult. With me(n) this is impossible, but with God ....}

^{God bless you,
  Jay}

^{Thank you Jay!  For far too long many Christians have been lead to believe that, if they are not on “the ministry team”, they are simply passive spectators when the church gathers. But nothing could be further from the truth! Each is to be an active participant. Hebrews 10:24,25 is often quoted as the basic reason why “Christians should go to church”, but I am firmly convinced that this passage rather outlines for us what is on God’s agenda for the normal assemblies of His people!  It is all about “one anothering”!! “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”}

^{So too every believer is also to be a good steward of the manifold grace of God, i.e. to minister to others whatever gift has been given them (I Peter 4:10,11) “As every man (the generic term “everyone”, NOT every “male” or every “clergyman”!) hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man (any one) speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man (any one) minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”}

^{Not only is our ministry (service) one to another to be done that God would be glorified through Jesus Christ, but that service and the decisions that are made in obedience to God’s Word have the authority of heaven behind them!   Gathering in His name, praying in His name, giving a cup of cold water in His name, preaching in His name,  baptizing in His name, asking in His name or anointing the sick with oil in His name is to do such things with His authority! Many have claimed to do great things “in his name”, but such claims without His actual authority are empty and void! (Matthew 7:22-27)  Those who have his authority are those who do what He says. They are like those who build on the rock. Those who do not do what He says are likened to those who build on sand.}

^{So to sum up:  An ekklesia (as the word was used and understood in the Lord Jesus’ day) was “a company of people called out for the purpose of making authoritative decisions together.” Examples of such ekklesias would be “town councils”, men of the city who “sat in the gate” to pass judgments and make decisions relative to their community (Gen.19:1; 23:10&18; Joshua 20:4 etc) and courts of law called together to make authoritative decisions (Acts 19:39).  Thus the Lord Jesus took this well known concept and introduced it in the context of His own people being called out under His authority to live their lives and make authoritative decisions so that the will of God in heaven would be done in the earth!}
It is precisely for this reason that it is crucial for us, the Lord’s people, to evaluate whether our practices are simply derived from human traditions or are truly practices which are obedient to apostolic traditions received from the Lord, Himself! Are we building on sand or on the Rock?

^{(Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions or questions below!)}

Introduction: How is the word EKKLESIA used in the Bible?

The word “ekklesia” simply designates an out calling (ek- “out” and kaleo “to call”) a group of people who are called out for a purpose.

(1)In Acts 7:38 we read of the “the church (ekklesia) in the wilderness” .  This refers to the use of the word “ekklesia” in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the OT:

In its noun form it is translated “assembly”  and designates:

(1) the nation of Israel. (See Numbers 20:8; Deuteronomy 23:1,2,3,8; Joshua 8:35) and

(2) gatherings of the people of Israel together : Deuteronomy 9:10; 18:16;

In its verb form it is translated

- “assemble” or “assembled”. (See Numbers 20:10; Deuteronomy 31:12 & Joshua 18:1)

- “gather together”. (See Deuteronomy 31:28)

So the first usage of the word “ekklesia” in the Bible designates not a gathering of Christians at all but simply the nation of Israel after they were called out of Egypt and of the gatherings together or assemblies of the Israelites.

(2) In Acts 19:24-41 we read of a gathering of silversmiths who made idols of  the goddess Diana. They were concerned that the preaching of the Gospel of Christ was threatening their business. Their shouts, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”  stirred up the whole city which was gathered together,  but most didn’t even know why they were gathered! Thus they are referred to in Acts 19:32 and 41 as a “confused assembly (ekklesia)”.   So any mob of people who were gathered together, even though they don’t know the reason for the gathering were also an “ekklesia” or “a called out company”.

(3) Also in the same context as the above, (Acts 19:35-41) the town’s clerk, after two hours of commotion,  calmed the people and reproved Demetrius and advised him that, if he had a genuine dispute, it should be settled in “a lawful assembly (ekklesia)”.

Thus a court of law gathered together to settle a dispute was also an “ekklesia”  or a called out company”.

So when the Lord Jesus began to use the word “ekklesia”  of the “church” that he would build (Matthew 16:18),  He took a word that had no religious connotation and used it of the ekklesia or assembly which He would build. A company of people called out of the world of men to follow Him and to make Him known in the world.

It is primarily this “/assembly”, the smaller “/assemblies” of which it is comprised and the practices of those ekklesias which we will be considering in detail in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by and please take the opportunity to add your own comments, and questions. I’ll try to include them in our future discussions.

If you wish to contact me personally, you can email me at bwood4d@gmail.com.