Chapter 71

Ppt by Mark E. Hardgrove

The Greek word for church is ekklesia,

from which we get the word,

ecclesiastical.

The term ekklesia occurs some one

hundred and fifteen times in the NT

It usually refers to the local church, but

many refer to the universal church, or

both the universal and the local.

Most texts that deal with the universal

church are found in Paul’s writings,

particularly the later prison epistles.

Some are found in the Gospels (Matt.

16:16-18).

Some in Paul’s earlier writings (1 Cor.

12:13)

And again, some pertain to both the

universal and the local church (1 Cor. 1:2)

Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-27)

Bride of Christ (Rev. 21:2; 19:7; 22:1; 2 Cor.

11:2)

Wife of Christ (Eph. 5:24-25; cf. Rev. 21:9)

Firstborn of Christ (Heb. 12:23)

Building of Christ (Eph. 2:20; cf. 1 Pet. 2:7)

A Spiritual House (1 Pet. 2:5)

A Holy Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5)

A Royal Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10)

A Chosen People (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. Eph. 1:4)

The People of God (1 Pet. 2:9-10)

The Flock (John 10; 21:15-17; Acts 20:28)

Christ is eternal, and the universal church

was chosen in Christ before the

foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4),

therefore in the mind of Goe, the church

of God is eternal.

Christ’s body is “the joyful assembly,”

“the church of the firstborn, whose

names are written in heaven’ (Heb.

12:22-23). The heavenly Jerusalem refers

to the invisible church, the heavenly

body of believers.

Luke records that “the Lord added to the church” (Acts 2:47); the universal church grows both in number and in quality.

Ephesians 4:15-16 (NKJV)

15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Jesus said that hell (hades) would not

overcome His church (Matt. 16:18).

A local church may fold, but His universal

church will never fail.

The purpose of all creation is to bring glory to God. Speaking of the church, Paul wrote:

To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves . . . in order that we, who were the frist to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. . . . To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Eph. 1:6; 12; 3:21)

Along with Christ (the Chief Cornerstone), the church was “built on the foundation of the apostles” (Eph. 2:20).

The apostles played and authoritative role in the government of the local churches, and gradually they established self-governing local churches under the leadership of elders and deacons chosen by the congregation.

The universal church, of which the local

church should be a reflection, is

composed of all who belong to Jesus

Christ, for in Him all are one.

Galatians 3:28 (NIV)28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor

free, male nor female, for you are all one in

Christ Jesus

Not only are all saved persons in the

universal church, but only saved people

are in it. Unlike the local church which

contains both wheat and tares (Matt.

13:24-30), the universal church has a

totally and completely regenerate

membership.

Believers are spiritually equal in Christ,

and again, the real mystery, given God’s

unconditional election of Israel as His

chosen nation (Gen. 12:1-3), is how

Gentiles could be brought into the

redemptive community on the same

ground (Col. 1:27).

Other than the early post-Pentecostal

church in Jerusalem, there never has

been and never will be a truly catholic

(universal) church on earth.

Only the invisible church is truly universal.

Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s

response:

The church was not known in the OT (Eph.

3:3-6).

Response: As with topics such as the

Trinity, hell, life after death, and so forth,

while the full-blown theology of the church

may not have been in the OT, it can

certainly be argued that it is intimated (Acts 7:38~”ekklessia in the wilderness”)


response:

Christ declared that the church was yet

future (Matt. 16:16-18).

Response: The fact that Jesus said He

would build His church does not deny

continuity between Israel and the church

any more than it can be denied that there

is no continuity between a seed and a tree

and a seed. There is no Messiah without the OT, no new covenant without the old.


response:

His phrase “my church” indicates that it

did not begin until after Christ’s time (Matt.

16:16-18).

Response: The phrase “my church”

indicates ownership, not a point of origin.

Even if one argues for continuity between

the OT believers and the church, both belong to Him.


response:

The church’s foundation was not

completed until after Christ’s time (Eph.

2:20).

Response: Just as David gathered the

material for the Temple that Solomon

would build, the material for the church comes from the OT.


response:

The use of ekklesia of Israel in the OT does

not identify it with the NT church.

Response: The NT authors were not

ignorant of the use of ekklesia in the

Greek version of the OT. They never seek

to draw sharp lines of distinction between

the ekklesia in the OT and the NT. There is

a distinction, but not as sharply defined as Geisler argues.


response:

The church did not begin until after Christ

died and rose (Acts 20:28; Eph. 4:8-11).

Response: This is certainly the

dispensationalist view. However, before

Abraham was, Jesus said, “I am.” If Jesus

is present in the OT, then the incipient church was present in Him.


response:

The church (the body of Christ) began at

Pentecost by the baptism of the Holy Spirit

(1 Cor. 12:13; cf. Acts 1:5).

Response: This is argument of non-

Pentecostals. They view the baptism of the

Holy Spirit as a baptism into the church

rather than an enduement of power. The

baptism was to empower the church that already existed in the believers (Acts 1:8).


response:

Peter pointed to Pentecost as the

“beginning” of the church (Acts 11:15).

Response: Peter nowhere mentions the

church in this quote. It is certainly the

beginning of Pentecost and the

empowered church, but not necessarily the beginning of the church.


response:

The gifts needed to operate the church

were not given until after Christ ascended

(Eph. 4:11-12; cf. 1 Cor. 12:4ff.).

Response: The empowering of the church

with the gifts and the offices that would be

employed in the church reflects a new

dynamic in the relationship of believers

with God, but does not negate the

continuity of the church with the OT believers.

True to a dispensationalist and non-

Pentecostal view of the church, Geisler

makes a sharp distinction between the

church and Israel. Unfortunately for

Geisler, Paul seems to argue that the

continuity between true Israel and the

church is, and has always been, true

faith in God (Rom. 9:6; Gal. 3:26-29; 6:16).

Education

Chapter 71