Isn't the idea of church outdated?

-


The church exists in and through Jesus Christ, and so is a distinctive New Testament reality. At the same time, it is continuous with Israel, the seed of Abraham and God's covenant people. The new covenant under which the church lives (1 Cor. 11: 25; Heb. 8:7-13) is a new form of the relationship in which God says to His chosen community, "I will be your God, and you shall be my people" (Jer. 7:23; 31 :33; cf. Ex. 6:7).

Under the new covenant, the Old Testament priests, sacrifices, and sanctuary have been superseded by the mediation of Jesus (Heb. 1-10). Believers in Christ are the seed of Abraham and the people of God (Gal. 3:29; 1 Pet. 2:4-10). Second, the limitation of the old covenant to one nation (Deut. 7:6; Ps. 147:19, 20) is replaced by the inclusion in Christ on equal terms of believers from every nation (Eph. 2; 3; Rev. 5:9, 10). Third, the Spirit is poured out on the church, so that fellowship with Christ (1 John 1 :3), ministry from Christ (John 14:18; Eph. 2:17), and foretastes of heaven (2 Cor. 1: 22; Eph. 1: 14) become realities
in the experience of the church.

The unbelief of most Jews (Rom. 9-11 ) and the majority of Gentiles in the church are depicted by Paul as God's breaking off the natural branches of His olive tree (the historical covenant community) and replacing them with wild olive shoots (Rom. 11: 17 -24). The new covenant does not exclude Jews, and Paul taught that their general rejection of it will one day be reversed (Rom. 11: 15, 23-31 ).

The New Testament teaches that the church is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hopes and patterns, brought about by Jesus Christ. The church is the family and flock of God (John 10:16; Eph. 2:18; 3:15; 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:2-4), His Israel (Gal. 6:16), the body and bride of Christ (Eph. 1 :22, 23; 5:23-32; Rev. 19:7; 21 :2, 9-27), and the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. Eph. 2:19-22).

The church is a single worshiping community, permanently gathered in the true
sanctuary, the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22-24) and the place of God's presence. The church is one, although the worshiping community consists of the church militant-those who are still on earth- and the church triumphant-those who have died and entered glory. On earth, the church appears in its local congregations, each one a microcosm of the church as a whole. According to Paul the one church universal is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-26; Eph. 1: 22, 23; 3:6; 4:4), but so is each local congregation (1 Cor. 12:27; "The Local Church" at Rev. 2:1).

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. Th...
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness....
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, bu...
Read more