The Church Part 7

VII. Consider the nature and structure of the N.T. gospel church. A. The local church is the house of God. 1TI 3:15. B. It is a spiritual house. 1PE 2:5. 1. This house of Peter's first epistle is the church. 2. Instruction is given for the management of church gifts. 1PE 4:10-11 c/w 1CO 12:28. 3. Warning is given concerning the primary focus of the judgments of God, the realization of which is seen in Christ’s oversight of the seven churches of Asia. 1PE 4:17 c/w REV 2-3. 4. Instruction is given for pastoral duties. 1PE 5:1-3. C. The local church is God's dwelling-place. 2CO 6:16; EPH 2:22. D. The local church is built upon a heavenly foundation. EPH 2:19-22. 1. The saints to whom this epistle is addressed (EPH 1:1), are obviously church members. ACT 20:17, 28. 2. EPH 2:19-22 is not only referring to the doctrines and teachings of apostles, prophets and Christ but also their persons since they were as persons promised exaltation and the immediate guidance of the Spirit. MAT 19:27-28; JOH 14:26; 16:13. a. If the spiritual foundation stones of EPH 2:19-22 are only the doctrines and teachings upon which the church is built, one could conclude that the spiritual lively stones of 1PE 2:5 imply ongoing building of the church by the doctrines of different church members. The Church 6-9-24 Page 13  b. If the term “Jesus Christ himself” is only referring to His teaching, should we therefore assume that He will simply send back a copy of Scripture in the day of the resurrection? 1TH 4:16. c. Foundation stones are obviously referring to the persons of note in the church. c/w GAL 2:9; REV 21:14. E. As such, it is obvious that there is a link between the church/kingdom on earth and the church/kingdom in heaven. The house of God is indeed the gate of heaven. GEN 28:17. 1. When a person is graft into the local church on earth, his fellowship and communion is not just among his brethren on earth. It goes much higher than that. ACT 2:41-42 c/w 1JO 1:1-3; 1CO 12:13. 2. The active approach to God in worship that the church observes on earth meets and blends with the on-going worship of the general assembly/church in heaven. HEB 10:19-25; 12:18-24. 3. Unlike the O.T. church service where only the high priest entered into the holiest on earth, we now in service enter into the holiest in heaven by Jesus Christ. HEB 9:24. 4. Much of the book of Hebrews is dedicated to the “coming” of the Lord's people to Him in service, worship and prayer. HEB 4:16; 10:1-2; 11:6. 5. Our coming to the Lord begins with being built up a spiritual house, the church. 1PE 2:4-5. F. This order of common approach unto God through Christ is all part of His new creation for His new creatures. 2CO 5:17; EPH 2:10. 1. The first creation was formed from nothing (ex nihilo): no expense. 2. The new creation is formed from the great expense of Himself. It cost God dearly to make us fit to come unto Him. 3. The cost we pay in personal sacrifice to come to God through Christ in every good sense, including our coming to Him in church worship, is nothing compared to what it cost Him. VIII. The local church is built by gospel ministers preaching the word of God exhorting men to repentance, faith and baptism in continuance of the model of the fountainhead of Christianity in Judea. 1TH 1:6-10; 2:13-14. A. At Pentecost, a universal pattern for initial addition to a local church was established. This pattern involved the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and His doctrine, men receiving that testimony, repenting, being baptized and added to the local church the same day. ACT 2:37-47. 1. ACT 2:37-41 is setting forth a cause/effect sequence. The word “then” in vs. 38, 41 is a conjunctive adverb, which is an adverb which joins two elements of thought together while acting as a modifier at the same time. Other examples of conjunctive adverbs are: therefore, however, consequently, likewise, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise and accordingly. 2. In v. 38, “then” modifies “said” but in v. 41, “then” modifies two verb phrases: “were baptized” and “were added” which are joined by the conjunctive coordinate “and.” Thus, the final outcome of being added to “them” (the church) is a direct result of their baptism upon responding to the preached word. 3. Some would divorce the cause/effect sequence by denying the grammatical role of “then” in v. 41, maintaining that it only modifies the action “were baptized” but cannot modify “were added.” a. This assumes that the adding was a separate event independent of their The Church 6-9-24 Page 14  baptism by some action or process not even mentioned. b. However, compare the use of conjunctive adverbs in the following verses and ask yourself if they only modify the first clause in the verse or if the secondary clause is also modified by them. 1SAM 1:11; PSA 16:8-9; HAG 1:9-10. 4. Some maintain that the colon following “baptized” in v. 41 separates the two clauses joined by “and” and, as such, the thought sequence is not connected. Observe similar grammar in these verses and ask yourself whether the colon logically interrupts the thought sequence: GEN 1:3; 31:54; 32:7. B. Some maintain that the directive for the Spirit to make a person a member of the Lord's church is only by the vote of church members, who decide whether the repentant sinner who has been baptized is worthy of church fellowship. In the same breath they acknowledge that God has deemed him worthy of fellowship with Himself in an “unchurched state” by blessing him with “...the personal ministry of the Spirit of God (given) to individual believers regardless of church affiliation.” (Baptism & Church Membership, p. 15, J.R. Crosby, outline of 4/90) 1. This assumes that someone who has met sufficient criteria (repentance, faith, confession and baptism) to satisfy God's conscience needs to exhibit more proof to a church to gain their approval. 2. This brings up an interesting consideration: the testimony of Scripture is that baptism is a testimonial washing away of sin (ACT 22:16), and that God deems baptism as the answer of a good conscience (1PE 3:21). If that is the case, a position which questions what God has deemed clean is on shaky ground. ACT 10:15. 3. If a church member cannot be made without the consensus vote of other church members to direct the Spirit to add a person to a body of believers, how could a pastor start a church somewhere else where there are no church members? Who is going to direct the Spirit to make baptized candidates into church members? If the pastor can declare them as members, why can't he do the same at his home church? C. Some maintain that the “gift of the Holy Ghost” in ACT 2:38 can only be objective- genitive, i.e., God gives the Holy Ghost. 1. The fact is that it is also subjective-genitive, i.e., the Holy Ghost gives something. 2. God the Holy Spirit gives the gift of membership in the church which He indwells. 1CO 12:13; EPH 2:22. D. God desires/commands His children to identify with Him in a local church, where they submit to the godly rule of an elder and are accountable to each other (and God) in gospel duties. 1. However, where is the direct command or admonition for someone who has never been properly added to a legitimate church to do so, if it is not found in the commandment to “repent and be baptized?” All other verses about the importance and necessity of congregational identity, duty and assembly (e.g. HEB 10:25) are contextually applied to people who already are church members. 2. If baptism has nothing to do with church membership except it being only a prerequisite, would a gospel minister holding that position baptize someone who met the necessary criteria but stated that he did not intend to ever become a member of a church? On what basis would he deny the ordinance, if baptism has no relation to church membership? a. Could this minister justly conclude the candidate to be an impenitent rebel, The Church 6-9-24 Page 15  when he (the minister) has no law which he believes would apply to this person? Remember, “...where no law is, there is no transgression” (ROM 4:15). b. This minister would be obligated to baptize this person in spite of his rejection of N.T. church membership and duty, assuming him to have all the blessing of God that attends fully committed believers who are members of a true church keeping His ordinances and submitting to His discipline. 3. Such are the implications of divorcing baptism from church membership and inventing a spiritual kingdom of God consisting of baptized folks other than the gospel church. The Church 6-9-24 Page 16