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The New Testament church was not a complex religious organization. To the contrary, it was a living (zoe) organism suitable for animation by the indwelling life (zoe) of God.
In contrast to organizational complexity, the New Testament church was simple in function, form, emphasis, manifestation, cultivation, government, doctrine, order, and practice. Relative to the simple nature of the New Testament church, its spiritual fruit was profoundly abundant. Simple Function and Form God created the simple function and form of the New Testament church before the foundation of the world. The function of the New Testament church was to facilitate fellowship with God. Its corresponding form was a spiritual body. The simple function and form of the New Testament church provided for the body of Christ to collectively pursue fellowship with God in Christ. The form of the New Testament church allowed for spiritual fellowship with God. It accommodated the manifestation, ministry, and fellowship of the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 12:4-7; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 2:1) As stated, the New Testament church had a simple function and form: |
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Simple Emphasis
The simple, singular emphasis of the New Testament church was Jesus Christ. He was the head of His church body and the animating life (zoe) source for its small group communities. Without Him the communities of the early church would have been headless and lifeless (zoe). As a result, they would have been indistinguishable from the religious groups of the world. The purpose of the gatherings of the New Testament church was not merely to perform religious activity for God. Instead, church gatherings allowed for the collective pursuit of the living (zoe), indwelling Christ. The gathered were privileged to experience His edifying ministry of life (zoe) and the resultant cultivation of living (zoe) community. Today, believers too often view the activities of the gathered church, such as the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, prayer, worship in song, fellowship, and time spent in the word of God, as the goal of collective church gatherings. They are sadly missing the point. God graciously designed every activity of the ecclesia with one extremely important purpose in mind; to support the unparalleled practice of intimate fellowship with Christ. (cf. John 5:39-40) Jesus was the purpose for every church gathering. Each activity of the church was eternally designed to point to Him. Jesus demanded, deserved, and desired the full attention of His ecclesia. Concordant with the fullness of His indwelling Spirit, the collective gatherings of the New Testament church were designed to recognize Him as the immediate head and animating life (zoe) source of His body, by grace through faith alone. The simple function and form of the New Testament church are fulfilled by a simple emphasis: |
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Simple Manifestation
The early New Testament church was almost exclusively manifested on earth in small group community from house to house. Relative to its union of shared life with God, its manifestation in the intimacy of small group community was conducive for it to be representational of divine life (zoe) on earth. The small group communities of the early New Testament church were comprised exclusively of believers and their children. They presented as safe, secure place where spiritual family could grow together in the Lord without distraction. Unbelievers were not typically a part of the small group, family gatherings of the early ecclesia. Instead, outreach occurred outside of church gatherings when the collective community cooperated as a team to share the love of God with their friends and neighbors. The representational small group communities of the New Testament church allowed spiritual family the privilege to collectively submit to the immediate headship of Christ in accordance with the fullness of His indwelling Spirit. As a result, they are accommodative of spiritual life manifested by the fellowship, governance, ministry, and fruit of the Spirit. Representational of divine life (zoe), the small group communities of the New Testament church were inviting, flexible, mobile, cross-cultural, inexpensive, and capable of surviving persecution. Thus, they were ideal for the reproduction of eternal life (zoe) around the world. The simple function, form, and emphasis of the New Testament church are accommodated by a simple manifestation: |
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Simple Cultivation
The New Testament church does not grow in accordance with organizational principle and precept. Instead, it grows by the simple cultivation of eternal life-based (zoe) through intentional, interactive cooperation with the Spirit of God. The simple function, form, emphasis, and manifestation of the New Testament church are accommodated by simple cultivation: |
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Simple Government
The simple government of the New Testament church was theocratic. Therefore, its small group communities were governed by the immediate headship of Jesus Christ through the fullness of His Spirit. It was designed to occur in agreement with the gracious rule of indwelling life (zoe), the ordered equality of its brothers and sisters and, when necessary, the supporting counsel of eldership. The simple function, form, emphasis, manifestation, and cultivation of the New Testament church are recognized by a simple government: |
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Simple Doctrine
The doctrine of the early New Testament church was divine in origin. Although it was received from God without adulteration, the New Testament revealed that it was soon distorted by the unwarranted contribution of mankind. The early New Testament church could not turn to the Bible to resolve doctrinal distortion contributed by man. It did not yet exist. Instead, the first-century church received the Word of God through the foundational teaching of the apostles and prophets in the ruins of the ancient temple of Solomon. (Acts 2:42; 6:4-5a; Ephesians 2:20) The purity of church doctrine was initially protected by the Spirit of Christ and the willing, Spirit-filled cooperation of the apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 2:20) Afterward, God entrusted it to “faithful men” to teach to the early small group communities beyond Jerusalem. (2 Timothy 2:2) In time, the responsibility to protect the doctrine of the New Testament church was given collectively to the Spirit-filled brothers and sisters of each small New Testament church community. In case of doctrinal question or dispute, the mature men of the ecclesia, the elders, provided prayerful support. (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9) Today, as the members of each New Testament church community grow together spiritually, they learn to trust God to keep them from drifting into doctrinal error. However, if or when they do, they know He will gently guide them back to the truth. It will be confirmed by His indwelling Spirit in agreement with scriptural truth, the protective framework of the Spirit indwelt brothers and sisters of the community, and, if necessary, the supportive counsel of the elders. (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-15; Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 2:2; 3:2; Titus 1:9; 1 John 2:27) Dependence on the Spirit to protect and preserve doctrinal truth requires a lifestyle of active faith, fervent prayer, and sensitivity to the indwelling Spirit of God. It is a collective, faithful, Spirit-filled endeavor. In contrast to the early church, the New Testament ecclesia of today has the luxury of being taught from the completed canon of Scripture. Nevertheless, Bible teaching continues to be effective only to the extent that faithful men understand they are not the source of the teaching. By faith, the spiritually mature teacher recognizes that the indwelling Spirit of Christ is the only source of teaching that is eternally significant. The simple function, form, emphasis, manifestation, cultivation, and government of the New Testament church are recognized by a simple doctrine: |
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Simple Order
The gatherings of the New Testament church were subject to an eternal order. Congruent with the revelation of the New Testament, it included mutual submission to the headship of Christ and one another; the fullness, ministry, manifestation, and fruit of the indwelling Spirit; dependent faith; and fervent prayer. (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:18-21; Colossians 3:16; etc.) According to the Apostle Paul, “…all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.” (1 Corinthians 14:40) The simple function, form, emphasis, manifestation, cultivation government, and doctrine of the New Testament church are characterized by a simple order: |
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Simple Practice
Central to early New Testament church practice was the celebration of life shared with God. Therefore, its primary activity was the observation of the Lord’s Supper together as a full, celebratory meal. The early church referred to it as the “Love Feast.” (cf. Matthew 26:26; Acts 2:46; 20:11; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; 2 Peter 2:13; Jude 12) All other activities related to church practice were generally considered part of the “Love Feast.” In agreement with the teaching and tradition of the apostles, the celebratory meal of the Lord’s Supper was characterized by the joyful pursuit of the living (zoe) God through the fullness of His indwelling Spirit. Among other things, it was inclusive of purposeful prayer; intentional community interaction; the fellowship of the Spirit; reading and discussing scripture; participatory praise and worship in song; spiritually gifted interactive ministry to one another; the joyful giving of material goods and finances to meet actual needs; corrective spiritual discipline; cooperative discipleship and team-oriented outreach. (2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 2:1; etc.) In addition, the gatherings of the New Testament church were intergenerational. Rather than being segregated in special classrooms, children were integral. The simple function, form, emphasis, manifestation, cultivation, government, doctrine, and order of the New Testament church are recognized by a simple practice: |
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Simple Fruit
The quantitative, spiritual fruit of the New Testament church was simply profound. It was not produced by the addition of individual members through organizational growth. Instead, it was created by the reproduction and multiplication of shared life, small group community in New Testament quality and quantity. The simple function, form, emphasis, manifestation, cultivation, government, doctrine, order, and practice of the New Testament church is characterized by abundant fruit: |
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© 2025 James Hiatt |
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