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Note: Text that are in grey are transcribed during the lesson and is not part of the physical lesson notes supplied which are rendered in black.
THE CHURCH
Mat 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
As a disciple of Christ, we need to focus upon growth in spiritual maturity. One basic area of christian growth is this particular area of growing in our knowledge of the meaning of the church as the people of God, the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit.
This knowledge refers to both our intellectual understanding and our personal experience of the full implications of being a part of the church community. Christian maturity can only be attained through this two-fold growth. Faith needs to transform both the head and the heart.
Module 5
Lesson 1 - The nature of the church
Lesson 2 - The marks and purposes of the church
Lesson 3 - The purity of the church
Lesson 4 - The power of the church
Lesson 5 - The governance of the church
Lesson 6 - The means of grace within the church
Lesson 7 - The ordinance of baptism
Lesson 8 - The ordinance of the Lord's Supper
Lesson 9 - The gifts of the Holy Spirit I
Lesson 10 - The gifts of the Holy Spirit II
Lesson 1 - The Nature of the Church
The church is the community of all true believers for all time. This definition understands the church to be made of all those who are truly saved.
Eph 5:25
".......Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,......."
The term church(ekklesia) is used to apply to all those whom Christ died to redeem, all those who are saved by the death of Christ. But that must include all true believers for all time, both believers in the NT age and believers in the OT age as well.
Question 1
What is the relationship between Israel and the church?
Answer
The church is the new Israel. It occupies the place in the new covenant that Israel occupied in the old. Whereas in the OT the kingdom of God was peopled by national Israel, in the NT it is peopled by the church. The church is hence spiritual Israel. Israel was not simply succeeded by the church; Israel was included within the church at Pentecost.
* Some of the OT promises directed to literal Israel are regarded as being fulfilled in spiritual Israel (church).
Eg Acts 1:6
So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
This question is asked by the Jews. It is not about the church but about the Davidic kingdom. My position is that these are the Christian Jews (Israelite with Faith) who will be ruling with Christ during His Millenial rule. Then only do we have the Eternal State.
The reply from Jesus.
Acts 1:7-8
He said to them:“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Did Jesus answered them? He actually bypassed the question. The OT always says there will be a restoration of the earthly kingdom for the Jews. The Millenium about the 1,000 reign of Christ.
Rom 2:28-29
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code...."
Gal 3:29
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Rom 4:11-12
And he received the sign of the circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Rom 9:24-25
Even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea: "I will call them my people who are not my people; and I will call her my loved one who is not my loved one
* Paul applies this passage of Hosea (referring to the Jews) to the Gentiles.
Eph 2:14-16
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Question 2
How were the Israelites in the OT saved ?
Answer
The OT sacrifices prescribed by the Mosaic Law prefigured Christ's ultimate sacrifice. Their efficacy was grounded on the death(sacrifice) of Jesus on the Cross. The OT believers were saved, like us, on the basis of Christ's redemptive life and death.
How does the OT believers enters heaven? Christ has not come and died yet. This is an important question.
The Mosaic/Levitical sacrificial system alone cannot save. The keyword is the shadow but the good thing (realities) is that the law looked forward. See the following verses.
Heb 10:1
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
Heb 10:9-10
Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once forgot all.
The first is the Mosaic Law and the Second is Jesus' perfect sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice of Jesus replaces all previous sacrifice.
The OT sacrifices are important because it allows the sacrifice of Jesus to be applied to them.
Before the sacrificial system there are a few group, the people before the flood, the people after the flood and then people after Abraham. Abel and Cain offered their offerings. Abel offered blood sacrifice. The altar(the presence of God) was set up before the sacrifice and the altar later was replaced by the Tabernacle. Whatever was instituted before Exodus 24, was already being practiced. It has to be a blood sacrifice.
Heb 10:15-16
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "
This is the covenant I will make with them
After that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
And I will write them on their minds."
Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more."
And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Question 3
"in a local church congregation there are bound to be members that are unbelievers."
Evaluate the above statement.
Answer
In its true spiritual reality as the fellowship of all genuine believers, the church is invisible. This is because we cannot see the spiritual condition of people's hearts.
These are not about visitors but members who are baptised, integrated into the body and may even be leaders. This we will be looking at the visible a church and the invisible church.
How did this doctrine came about?
Institutional priority and Personal/Individual priority.
Institutional Priority
The Roman Catholic Church sees themselves as the first church descended from Peter. Your salvation revolves around you being a member of the RC, the one true church. They stress on the liturgy, the government etc the institution. To receive salvation, you have to be a member of the institution. This is as man sees it. The institution before the personal.
Personal Priority
Then came Martin Luther. Protestanism. They saw the state of the church and felt some of these are not believers. Their emphasis is Personal Priority, your direct relationship with God. Here the condition is conversion. This is as God sees it. The personal before the institution.
Now we have a third view which we subscribe to.
The Parish View
The institution and the Individual in balance. You have to be a Christian to be a member. If you are a Christian, you have to be a member of a church. There are some who call themselves inter-denominational. This is not correct.
2 Tim 2:19
"......."The Lord knows those who are his,"....
The invisible church is the church as God sees it.
However, when we view a local church congregation, we are seeing the visible church i.e. the church as Christians on earth see it. Within this local church there may be only professing believers.
Mat 7:15-16
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.....
Matthew 13:36-43
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable:“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? ’
28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up? ’
29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters:First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. ’”
We are told not to pull out the weeds.
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