Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - What is the New Testament Definition of a Church

ZNPaaneah · 10-14-2016, 12:52 PM

Matt 18:15 And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. 17 And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican. 18 Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

The context here is similar to Martin Luther nailing his paper to the door of the Catholic Church. It is David vs Goliath. Jesus is making it clear that two or three plus Jesus out weigh any monster or mega lithic church.

This thread was started in response to a post that said that 2 or 3 cannot be considered a church. As the person was questioned on this they did walk back their full assurance a little. But the context is very clear that 2 or 3 can take on a much larger group and they will succeed because Jesus is in the midst of them. At the very least it undermines the argument that there is some kind of minimum number of saints required to be classified as a church. If this verse were pictured as a seesaw you would have 2 or 3 with Jesus on one end outweighing the entire Catholic Church on the other.

10-14-2016, 12:52 PM	#7
ZNPaaneah Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 7,105	Re: What is the New Testament Definition of a Church Matt 18:15 And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. 17 And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican. 18 Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. The context here is similar to Martin Luther nailing his paper to the door of the Catholic Church. It is David vs Goliath. Jesus is making it clear that two or three plus Jesus out weigh any monster or mega lithic church. This thread was started in response to a post that said that 2 or 3 cannot be considered a church. As the person was questioned on this they did walk back their full assurance a little. But the context is very clear that 2 or 3 can take on a much larger group and they will succeed because Jesus is in the midst of them. At the very least it undermines the argument that there is some kind of minimum number of saints required to be classified as a church. If this verse were pictured as a seesaw you would have 2 or 3 with Jesus on one end outweighing the entire Catholic Church on the other.