What Is
The Church?
by Gery Schmidt
The following article is taken from a free publication called Content for the Faith by Providence Strict Baptist Assembly in Canada. Anyone wishing to get on their mailing list can do so by contacting Gery or Mike Schmidt at 104-1138 Yates Street Victoria British Columbia Canada V8V 3M8.
This
question will undoubtedly be thought of by many professors of Christ as
unnecessary. Surely, every Christian knows what the church is'. But is this so?
If we investigate the matter in depth, it will not require much time to
discover that not only is there a great deal of confusion as to what the church
is, but that the subject of ecclesiology is one which is regarded as of
secondary importance, and is consequently neglected. The truth of the matter is
that there are as many views of what the church is as there are "cities in
Judah." Different materials, different officers, different Christs,
different gospels, and different ordinances represent some of the divergencies
in ecclesiology presently extant, and which have existed for centuries. But let
us consider briefly what the Scriptures themselves declare concerning the
church.
First,
we turn our attention to the origin and founder of the church. The church, according
to God's word, is of divine origin and its founder is Jesus Christ. Christ
declares in Matthew 16:18, "1 will build my assembly." This text
declares that the church (or more accurately, assembly) is not man-made. Hence,
for any church to claim a founder other than Jesus Christ is to disqualify it
from being a true church. This text also reveals that the church began In New
Testament times. Christ states that he will build (future active
indicative) his assembly. Hence, no New Testament church existed prior to the
first one at Jerusalem, as found in the book of Acts.
There
is also in this text the implied concept of church perpetuity. This is seen in
the fact that Christ is the builder of his church. This fact cannot be
restricted simply to the first church at Jerusalem, but must refer to every
assembly which comes into existence. For no true New Testament assembly can
originate outside of the grace and power of God (cf. I Cor. 3:6). To deny church perpetuity and argue that
a certain church (or denomination) began at a certain period in history, which
possesses and claims no spiritual connectedness by way of a succession of
churches back to the Jerusalem church, is to argue for a different builder somewhere along the historicial
line, and is a tacit denial of Christ's unbroken presence with his people (Mt.
28:20). No true church of Christ can emerge ex nihilo or out of the
bounds of some false church, such as Rome.
Secondly,
we will consider the foundation of th church. It is critical that any so-called
church be certain its foundation is the right one. To erect a building upon a
false, or poorly laid, foundation is exceedingly dangerous, for the building
will collapse sooner or later. The Scriptures make it clear that Jesus Christ
himself is the foundation of hie church. Paul declares that "no man can
lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ"
(I Cor. row this may sound simple enough to most professed disciples of Christ,
but the matter of a true foundation is more than just verbally reciting the
name of Jesus. Which Jesus Christ are we talking about? In the days of the
apostle Paul, there were such things as "a different gospel" and
"another Jesus” (Gal. 1:6; 2 Cor. 11:4).
In
order for a church to be a true New Testament assembly, its foundation must be
the true Jesus Christ. In other words, a true church must have right views
concerning the person and work of Christ. To err on the person and work of
Christ is to have a false Christ, and consequently a false foundation. And a
true New Testament assembly cannot be erected upon "another Jesus." A
church cannot be a true one which denies either, or both, the full deity and
humanity of Jesus, Christ. The Scriptures clearly enunciate that the Lord is
both God and man. A church also cannot be a true assembly which holds that
Christ shed his blood for the entire human race. A universal, or hypothetical,
atonement is a false gospel and a false hope. Christ came to "save his
people from their sins" Mt. 1:21), not every
sinner, but only his elect. None of the churches we read of in the New
Testament could be called Arminian.
Thirdly,
there are the materials of the church to be considered. What sort of materials
are used in the building of an assembly? The Lord himself answers this question
in Matthew 28.:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
immersing them into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit." The commission of Jesus Christ to his apostles reveals that an
assembly consists of immersed disciples and none else. The book of Acts
confirms this fact many times over. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand
souls were added to the church at Jerusalem, but not before they had
"received his word" and were "immersed" (Acts 2:41). And
the church at Jerusalem itself consisted of at least one hundred and twenty
brethren who were Christ' a disciples and who had been immersed. None but disciples
of Christ, regenerate and immersed, are proper materials to be built upon the
foundation of Christ. Peter-speaks of the church as a "spiritual
house" consisting of "living stones" (I Pt. 2:5 Such stones are
not dead ones, that is, unregenerate sinners, but God's elect who have been
regenerated and have openly professed their faith in Christ, and have been
immersed.
What
then are some of the solemn ramifications of these Scriptural facts? Any
so-called church which alters the commission of Christ, so as to introduce
alien materials in the building of an assembly, or changes the mode of Christ's
ordinance from immersion to something else, or ignores Christ's ordinance
altogether, cannot be a true New Testament assembly. Consequently, all churches
which sprinkle water on infants are false churches. Not only do such assemblies
wrongly substitute sprinkling for immersion, they willingly and obstinately
disregard Christ's commandment in Matthew 28:19 by building their assemblies
with the wrong materials. This latter fact would also include all churches
which immerse infants. Unregenerate Infants are not included in Christ's
commission. All churches which bypass the ordinance of immersion altogether
also cannot be true churches. To ignore Christ's commandment to be immersed, or
to build assemblies with the unregenerate, is open rebellion against the King
of kings. A true church must be established according to Christ's stipulations.
To add or take away from these stipulations is to disqualify one from
possessing the New Testament characteristics of a church.
Fourthly,
we shall consider the location of Christ's church. The concept of a universal
or mystical church is a common one. But an examination of the New Testament
texts wherein the word ekklesia occurs reveals that such a concept is quite
unwarranted. The assembly, with respect to that which Christ builds, is never
anything more than a particular congregation of immersed disciples gathered
together in one place for worship. If the church of Matthew 16:18 were a
mystical or universal one, one would be at a lose to explain on what grounds
local assemblies were established in the book of Acts. Even in passages like
Acts 7:38 and 19:32 ekklesia refers respectively to no more
than the assembled nation of Israel and the mob. The church at Rome Is not the
church at Jerusalem. They are distinct and separate* In Revelation chapters two
and three the Lord deals with the seven churches of Asia separately and
distinctly. They are not styled the Church of Asia, but as the churches
of Asia. Christ's assembly is not universal, mystical, national, provincial,
conventional, or associational. The Roman Catholic Church Is an unscriptural
concept. The Church of England and the Presbyterian Church of America are both
equally unbiblical concepts. For such concepts inevitably lead to
hierarchalism, which in turn leads to officers, governments, and practices
which New Testament ecclesiology knows nothing of. In the scheme of such
concepts the New Testament ekkliesia ceases to be and becomes little more than
a cog in the greater machinery of priestcraft.
Fifthly,
we will consider the purpose of the church. The chief end of the church is to
glorify God. All the pertinent information in how God is to be glorified by the
assembly, in terms of doctrine and practice, is to be found in the Scriptures,
particularly in the New Testament. And this glorification of God is rightly
achieved only when the life of the assembly is conducted according to God's
word. No true assembly has any right to add, take away, or modify any aspect of
doctrine and practice as found in the Scriptures. Whether we consider the
worship service, evangelism, or any aspect of church life, to the degree God's
word is obeyed, to that degree is God glorified. The converse of this is
equally true. And these facts hold true only for true New Testament assemblies,
not for false assemblies, for a false church cannot glorify God as such.
In summary, a true church of Christ is of divine origin whose founder and
builder is the Lord Jesus. The Lord is also the only foundation of a true
assembly, and this Jesus is both God and man, and shed his blood for none but
his elect. A true assembly is built of immersed disciples of Christ and none
else, and its location is restricted to wherever a particular congregation is
to be found. And the chiefand of Christ's assembly is to glorify God, both in
doctrine and practice.
Please direct your comments to Mike
Krall.
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