Church and Sacraments 2

7/30/2019 Church and Sacraments 2

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THE CHURCH


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5/16/2013 Church and Sacraments 2 2

DEFINITION: Hebrew

qahal, an assembly, gathering, used asnoun 123x; translated by ekklesia in LXX

In 36 instances, translated by sunagoge

Verb used 39x Used to refer to groups in general, such as

those gathered for military purposes, judicialpurposes

eda, assembly, congregation, multitudepractically synonymous with qahal


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DEFINITION: Greek

ekklesia, gathering or assembly,church;

Prior to NT used almost exclusively for

secular assemblies From ek(out of) and kaleo (call)

Focus is on the gathered body, not the actof coming out

The calling out of citizens to attend to thediscussion of public business


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DEFINITION: Greek In a local sense nearly 40 times; e.g.,

Acts 5:11, And great fear came upon the wholechurch and upon all who heard of these things.

In a generic sense, i.e., of an institution: Matt. 18:17, If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the

church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church,let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

I Cor. 12:28, And God has appointed in the churchfirst apostles, second prophets, third teachers, thenmiracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating,

and various kinds of tongues. I Tim. 3:15, if I delay, you may know how one ought

to behave in the household of God, which is the churchof the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth.


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DEFINITION: Greek James 5:14, Is anyone among you sick? Let him call

for the elders of the church, and let them pray overhim, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

In a collective sense, i.e., an organized mass ofbelievers (later theologians, the Visible Church);

Acts 8:3, But Saul was ravaging the church, andentering house after house, he dragged off men andwomen and committed them to prison.

I Cor. 15:9, For I am the least of the apostles,unworthy to be called an apostle, because I

persecuted the church of God. Gal. 1:13, For you have heard of my former life in

Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violentlyand tried to destroy it.


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DEFINITION: Greek

Phil. 3:6, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as torighteousness, under the law blameless.

To the Church extended abroad, Acts 9:31, Sothe church throughout all Judea and Galilee and

Samaria had peace and was being built up. Church is used in the broadest sense: all

believers (later theologians, the Invisible Church)

Eph. 1:22, And he put all things under his feet and

gave him as head over all things to the church, 23which is his body . . .

Col. 1:18, And he is the head of the body, thechurch.


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DEFINITION: Greek

Miscellaneous uses:An assembly in the desert (O.T.), Acts 7:38, This isthe one who was in the congregation in thewilderness with the angel who spoke to him at MountSinai . . .

An unrulymobgathering, Acts 19:32, Now somecried out one thing, some another, for the assemblywas in confusion, and most of them did not know whythey had come together. See also vss. 39,41

To refer to kingly gathering for liturgical praise,Hebrews 2:12, saying, I will tell of your name to mybrothers; in the midst of the congregation I will singyour praise.


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DEFINITION: Greek

Some difficult usages: Matt. 16:18, And I tell you, you are Peter, and

on this rock I will build my church, and the

gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Perhaps the Church Militant

Acts 20:28, Pay careful attention toyourselves and to all the flock, in which the

Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to carefor the church of God, which he obtained with

his own blood. (the assembly in Ephesus)


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DEFINITION:

Three basic meanings:Local gathering of believers and

their children, The Visible Church

Collective number of professingChristians and their children, The

Visible Church

Sum total of all in union withChrist, The Invisible Church


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DEFINITION: Other Words

circe, Saxon

kirk, Scottish

kirche, German

All of these are most likely

derived from kuriakos, of theLord, the Lords


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DEFINITION: Confessional

L.C.# 62, The visible church is asociety made up of all such as in all agesand places of the world do profess the

true religion and of their children.WCF,25:2

L.C.# 64, The invisible church is the

whole number of the elect, that havebeen, are, or shall be gathered into oneunder Christ the head.WCF, 25:1


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THE CHURCH IN SCRIPTURE

The Church is a mystery of faith in

history

The Church and the mission of God:redemptive work

The Church as a reality of faith The Apostles Creed (in its structure) relates the mission of

Church to the mission of God

The Church cannot be understood as a self-containedreality, but only from the perspective of belief in God andas a result of the Trinitarian life in history

The Church does not have a mission of itsown


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CHRIST AND THE CHURCH

As victorious Lord of the Covenant, Christassembles his people Calling the disciples, Mark 1:17,20; Matt. 4:19

The building of the New Israel, Matt. 16:16-8

The Church is united with Christ as his body This Union is not first and foremost mystical

This Union is primarily covenantal

Each individual is united directly to Christ There is no salvation without union in Body of

Christ, hence the importance of koinonia


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Christ is the builder of the ChurchAs Priest, he offers the perfect sacrifice of

himself and meets the demands of thecovenant

As Prophet, he calls his own and teachesthem how to live

As King, he establishes order in the Church

He has the authority to give it the keys to the Kingdom He gives offices to the Church and institutes its government

He established its sacraments and grounds of worship.


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WCF,25:6, There is no other

head of the Church but theLord Jesus Christ; nor canmere man in any sense be the

head thereof.


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REALITY OF THE CHURCH

The Church is simultaneously visible andinvisible (2 aspects, not 2 churches) The visible church should not be interpreted

as a reflection of some more real, invisible

Church (shades of Plato!) The Holy Spirit always works on some

material- in this regard, he works on thevisible Church

The visible Church which we see points usto the invisible Church which we cannot seebut know to be real


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TRINITARIAN IMAGES OF CHURCH

It is called The People of God- II Cor. 6:16,What agreement has the temple of God withidols? For we are the temple of the living God; asGod said, I will make my dwelling among them

and walk among them, and I will be their God,and they shall be my people.

It is The Body of Christ- Eph. 1:22-23, And he put all things under his feet and

gave him as head over all things to the church, whichis his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

I Cor. 12:27, Now you are the body of Christ andindividually members of it.


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The Body of Christ, cont.

Col. 1:18, And he is the head of the body, the church.He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in

everything he might be preeminent.

It is the Temple of the Holy Spirit- I Cor. 3:16-17, Do you not know that you are God's

temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone

destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's

temple is holy, and you are that temple.

I Cor. 6:19, Or do you not know that your body is atemple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have

from God? You are not your own,


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Temple of the Holy Spirit, cont. I Cor. 12:13, For in one Spirit we were all

baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks,

slaves or free- and all were made to drink of

one Spirit.

I Peter 2:5, you yourselves like living stonesare being built up as a spiritual house, to be a

holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrificesacceptable to God through Jesus Christ.


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ADDITIONAL BIBLICAL IMAGES

The Bride of Christ

II Cor. 11:2, I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you toone husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Eph. 5:23, For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ isthe head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

Gods Building

I Cor. 3:9-15, For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field,God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like askilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else isbuilding upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For noone can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is JesusChrist. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver,precious stones, wood, hay, straw- each one's work will becomemanifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed byfire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If thework that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receivea reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though hehimself will be saved, but only as through fire.


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Gods Building, cont.

Eph. 2:19-22, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of thehousehold of God, built on the foundation of the apostles andprophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom thewhole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple inthe Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwellingplace for God by the Spirit.

The Fellowship of the Spirit, Eph. 2:22, In him you alsoare being built together into a dwelling place for God bythe Spirit.

Branches on a Vine, John 15:5, I am the vine; you arethe branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it isthat bears much fruit, for apart from me you can donothing.


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ADDITIONAL BIBLICAL IMAGES An Olive Tree, Rom. 11:17-24, But if some of the branches were

broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted inamong the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olivetree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, rememberit is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might begrafted in." That is true. They were broken off because of their

unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud,but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches,neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity ofGod: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness toyou, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too willbe cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief,

will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For ifyou were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted,contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more willthese, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olivetree.


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Gods Field, I Cor. 3:6-9, I planted, Apollos watered, butGod gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor hewho waters is anything, but only God who gives thegrowth. He who plants and he who waters are one, andeach will receive his wages according to his labor. For we

are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God'sbuilding.

A Harvest, Matt. 13:1-30, (vs. 17,18), And then he willsend out the angels and gather his elect from the fourwinds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branchbecomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know thatsummer is near.


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The Pillar and Ground of Truth, I Tim. 3:15, if Idelay, you may know how one ought to behave inthe household of God, which is the church of theliving God, a pillar and buttress of truth.

ARoyal Priesthood, I Peter 2:5, you yourselves like living stones are being

built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, tooffer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God throughJesus Christ.

I Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen race, a royalpriesthood, aholy nation, a people for his ownpossession, that you may proclaim the excellencies ofhim who called you out of darkness into his marvelouslight.


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AFFIRMATIONS OF THE CHURCH

The Church is not God: We are the face of God The Church comes from Gods grace as it is

made present in individual and communal acts offaith

From the perspective of faith and theology, theexact limits and boundaries of the Church cannotalways be identified

As a faith reality, the Church eludes definition in

a rigorous sense and is grasped moresatisfactorily by the use of images, models, orperspectives


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THE CHURCH

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Church and Sacraments 2