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God wanted there to be no confusion regarding the identity of the New Testament church. Therefore, He graciously provided a number of descriptive concepts and figures that serve to distinguish the heavenly church from its worldly simulation.
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Some of the distinguishing concepts and figures of the New Testament that describe the ecclesia of God include: |
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Household of God
The ecclesia of God is described in the New Testament as a house. It is referred to as the house of Christ (Hebrews 3:6; 2x), the house of God (Hebrews 10:21), and “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). The English word “house” is translated from the Greek word oikos. Literally speaking, it is translated “dwelling” or “house.” Nevertheless, oikos is never used in the New Testament to indicate that the church is a literal house or building. Instead, the Greek word oikos is used figuratively in the New Testament to describe the church as a spiritual house. Indeed, the Apostle Peter referred to the New Testament church as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). In addition, the Apostle Paul clarified that the ecclesia of God is “being built together into a dwelling of God "in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:22) Thus, both apostles indicate that the New Testament church is a spiritual house, created as a spiritual habitation. The church is also described in the New Testament as “the household of the faith” (Galatians 6:10), “God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19), and “the household of God” (1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Peter 4:17). The word “household” is translated from the Greek word oikeios (oy-ki'-os), a derivative of oikos. While a household may be inclusive of a physical house and its contents, it is often used figuratively in reference to the inhabitants of the house. Indeed, “the household of the faith,” “God’s household,” and “the household of God” are examples of figurative language. Consequently, the ecclesia is not only a spiritual house for the habitation of God but also for the human members of His family made alive in spirit by the redemptive work of the Savior. Family of God Family is an important theme in the New Testament. It is a concept often used in relation to God and His people. First, the New Testament uses familial language to describe the members of the Godhead. For example, it calls heavenly God “Father” (236 times), and God incarnate “Son” (233 times). In addition, the people that comprise the New Testament church “household” are an eternal family. Resurrected to new life, Jesus is called the “firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) Thus, He is the head of a new race of eternal beings born after His kind. The “many brethren” are the redeemed of the New Testament church. They enter a familial relationship with Christ and one another by spiritual birth. As a result, the “many brethren” of the church are joined to God in a union of shared life and referred to as the children of God. (John 1:12-13; 11:52; Romans 8:16; 21; 9:8; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 3:1-2; 10; 5:2) The children of God relate to one another as brother and sister. They are called brothers and sisters 236 times in the New Testament. In familial union, the brothers and sisters of the New Testament church are an eternal household. |
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Field and Building
The Apostle Paul figuratively described the New Testament church as “God’s field” and “God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9) Through his use of these two metaphors he clarified that God is the grower and builder of the New Testament church. While its elect members are servants and fellow workers, it is God who cultivates and constructs the church. He alone is capable of assembling the elect members of His ecclesia into one spiritual body. Temple The Apostle Paul also said of the New Testament church, “Do you know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16; cf. Ephesians 2:21-22) Accommodative of the living (zoe) presence of God, the New Testament church is a holy temple or sanctuary, suitable to accommodate the very presence God on earth. Bride of Christ The New Testament refers to Jesus Christ as a bridegroom. (cf. Matthew 9:15; 25:1, 5, 6, 10; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29) It is implied that the ecclesia is His bride. (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:6-9; 21:9-22:5, 17) Through instrumentation of the New Testament church, the elect of the Gentile nations are “grafted in” to the eternal, redemptive family of God as the espoused bride of Christ. Thus, elect Gentiles are privileged to partake of the wedding promises of God illustrated by ancient Jewish tradition. First, the espousal (2 Corinthians 11:2); second, the process of sanctification or maturing of the bride (Ephesians 5:25-27); third, the marriage (Revelation 19:6-9); fourth, the marriage feast (Revelation 19:9); and fifth, the bride existing in her eternal abode with Christ (Revelation 21:9-22:5). Few concepts elicit greater anticipation than that of bride and bridegroom. The New Testament church is utterly privileged to anticipate its future entrance into the presence of its heavenly bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Hamilton Smith, “In the Church as the Bride we see, not only a company of people who find in Christ a satisfying Object for their hearts but a company of people who become a suited object for His love. This is the marvel and blessedness of the Church viewed as the Bride of Christ - the Father’s bridal gift to His Beloved Son. It is little wonder that the Church should find in Christ an Object of love, but that in the Bride an object should be found entirely suited for the Son to love is indeed a great wonder.”[1] Pillar and Support of the Truth Paul described the church as “the pillar and support of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) While God is the source and disseminator of the truth, the church is the instrument through which He has chosen to communicate His truth to the world during this present age. The head of the church, Jesus Christ, is the embodiment and messenger of God’s truth. The New Testament says that He is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14); through Him “grace and truth were realized” (John 1:17); His truth sets free (John 8:32); He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6); He came “into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37); “truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21); He is the “belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:13); His message and teaching is “the word of truth” (Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15); and He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Additionally, the New Testament reveals that the ecclesia of God has “been established in the truth” (2 Peter 1:12); is “of the truth” (1 John 3:19), and has the truth abiding in it (2 John 2). |
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