Grace Institute: Systematic Theology: Ecclesiology: The Nature of the Church

Ecclesiology Grace Institute for Biblical Leadership Winter 2006

I. The Nature of the Church

A. The Church Defined

The Greek word translated as church is ekklesia ( e?????s?´a ), which literally means an assembly or gathering of people. This meaning is most shown in Acts 19:32, where the Ephesians dragged Paul before the entire assembly of the city. However, most of the time the bible uses the word ekklesia, it is referred to as the ekklesia of God (1 Corinthians 10:32) or in Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:1).

1. The Confessing Church

The word is first used by Christ in Matthew 16:18. Jesus asks the disciples who they believe Him to be. Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus then declares that Peter is right and that upon this rock (in Greek, petra) He would build His church. While the Roman Catholic Church has considered this the proof text that Peter would be the first pope of the church, Protestants believe that it is Peter's confession of faith (i.e. Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God) which is the rock upon which the church would be built. Therefore, the church is any assembly of people who confess together that Jesus is the Christ.

2. The Universal Church

Throughout scripture the term ekklesia is used both in a local and universal manner. Throughout the book of Acts and the Pauline epistles, “church” is used to refer to small local assemblies, usually meeting a home (Romans 16:5, 23, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:16). However, the term also referred to all the local assemblies as a whole (Acts 9:31). Therefore, the church is both a local assembly of believers, but also the universal group of believers together as a whole.

3. The Visible and Invisible Church

So far our definition of church would be the visible, organized local assemblies who confess Christ. This is often referred to as the visible church . However, the bible also seems to refer to the church as the sum total of all believers throughout history (Ephesians 5:25ff, Hebrews 12:23). This is known as the invisible church . The invisible church is the universal church for all time and its membership can only be known by God himself.

The membership of the visible church can be determined by looking at membership roles or seeing who attends church functions. However, it is very likely that not all who are members of the visible church are members of the invisible church. That is to say, there are those who are not true believers who attend and participate in the visible church.

Jesus alluded to this in the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30. In this story, a farmer plants wheat in his field. However, at night his enemy came and planted weeds in his field as well. The farmer decides not to pull the weeds out of the field while it is growing for fear that it would disrupt the wheat. However, at the harvest the wheat and the tares are separated, and only the true wheat enters the barn, while the tares are burned.

So it is with this visible church. It is difficult to determine the membership of the universal or invisible church by looking at church roles. But God knows, and at the judgment the true church will be revealed.

B. The Bride of Christ

1. The Mystery of Christ and the Church

In Ephesians 5:22-33, the apostle Paul outlines the proper relationship between husband and wife. Paul tells the wife to submit to the husband as the church submits to Christ. Likewise, Paul tells the husband to love his wife as Christ loves the church. As he continues to explain the marriage relationship, he quotes the definitive marriage passage in Genesis 2:24, saying that a man shall leave his parents and “the two shall become one flesh.” But then Paul changes the meaning of the verse, saying that this verse isn't about the husband-wife relationship at all:

(Eph 5:32) This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Human marriage was ordained by God to help us to understand the great mystery of the relationship between Christ and His church. There is no deeper human relationship than between that of a husband and wife, and nothing else in our experience can come close to showing the intimacy and unity of Christ and His church.

2. Purchased by Christ, Sanctified by

The depth of love that Christ has for his church is revealed in what He has done for her. Christ redeemed His bride with His own blood (Acts 20:28), giving Himself up for her so that He might sanctify her and make her holy, blameless, and pure (Ephesians 5:26-27), so that He can present her in all her glory.

3. The Marriage Feast

In New Testament times, marriages were arranged ahead of time [1]. The bride's family would bring a dowry and the bride and groom would go through a betrothal ceremony, often while they were still children. The bride would continue to live with her family until the groom had completed getting his household ready. At that time, he would return for his bride and they would be wed in an elaborate wedding feast. He would then take his bride home to the house he had prepared and the marriage would be consummated.

The betrothal ceremony was more than just an engagement. It was binding as marriage, and required a divorce to break the relationship. This was the status of Mary and Joseph when Mary became pregnant with Jesus. The marriage had not been consummated, but the betrothal was completed.

This is also the status of Christ and His church. However, having no dowry of our own, Jesus paid the dowry himself with his blood. To not have a dowry would be a shameful thing, but by providing it himself, He now has gone away to prepare His household for the arrival of His bride.

In the meantime, the church awaits His return (Matthew 25:1-13) when we will be brought to the final wedding feast (Revelation 19:7-8) and Christ will present his bride in her full glory, pure and without any shame or blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27), and the marriage will be finally consummated.

C. The Body of Christ

In Paul's advise to the Christian husband, he tells the husband to love his wife like his own body (Ephesians 5:28). Again, the analogy with Christ and the church is maintained, for Christ nourishes and cherishes the church, for “we are members of His body” (Ephesians 5:30). Christ is the head, and the church is the body of Christ (Colossians 1:18).

As His body, we are the hands, legs and feet of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27-28). As the head, Christ directs and controls the body. But the body of Christ is the physical manifestation or presence of Christ to this world, carrying on the ministry of Christ on the earth until His return.

The church is a body, not a business. The church is an organism, not an organization. Therefore, the church functions on the basis of spiritual gifts not organizational positions.

Footnotes

Ralph Gower. The Essential Bible Manners and Customs. (Chicago: Moody Press. 2000), 51-56.

[Next: II. The Purpose of the Church]