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

Evangelical · 10-31-2016, 04:43 PM

OBW,

There is two aspects to the church, the spiritual and the practical. There is a spiritual oneness that I believe Jesus's prayer was talking. I agree with you that the Scripture does not define (that is, state clearly in a prescribed format) what the practical oneness should look like, there is no rule etc. But it is a mistake to think that because Scripture does not state any rule, that there is no rule.

In one sense it is correct there is no rule. However that is not to say there is no structure, no meetings, no format. This is not to say believers can meet however they like. Because how believers meet should be constrained by the spiritual oneness. This (should) manifest in practical oneness.

The spiritual oneness defines who the church is, but the practical oneness is necessary to accomplish God's will for the church.

The view that church is just 2 or 3 believers meeting together is wrong from the point of view of God's purpose of the church. It is also wrong from the point of view of history, where we can find that the effectiveness of the church was because of the large united visible gatherings and not scatterings of two's and three's.

I found this sermon about the unity of the early church, it is fairly short so people can read it for themselves:

http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/cur...rly_church.htm

In summarizing, practical unity requires:

one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32)
having all things in common
having faithful leaders and faithful people (this rules out groups without leaders, c.f. my past comments on a genuine church having elders).

And the results of this (from the sermon):

1. Great spirituality. Scatter the embers of a dying fire and it goes out. Rake them together and you have warmth and glow. So with a divided and a united Church.

2. Great power. "A city set on a hill," etc. Such a Church can make the powers of darkness tremble. Keep this ideal before us and we shall be a united, spiritual, and aggressive Church.

From this it should be clear that the early church was practically united as one large visible entity, and not a scattering of "embers of a fire".

The view that some here propose that church is just two or three, me and my sister, or me and my brother, having a prayer time together, is ignoring the weight of evidence showing that practical church unity was for a definitive purpose, that two or three cannot by themselves easily accomplish. God's purpose for the church rules out the idea that two or three can be a church. The fact that Jesus often spoke to crowds of people rules that out.

10-31-2016, 04:43 PM	#121
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: What is the New Testament Definition of a Church OBW, There is two aspects to the church, the spiritual and the practical. There is a spiritual oneness that I believe Jesus's prayer was talking. I agree with you that the Scripture does not define (that is, state clearly in a prescribed format) what the practical oneness should look like, there is no rule etc. But it is a mistake to think that because Scripture does not state any rule, that there is no rule. In one sense it is correct there is no rule. However that is not to say there is no structure, no meetings, no format. This is not to say believers can meet however they like. Because how believers meet should be constrained by the spiritual oneness. This (should) manifest in practical oneness. The spiritual oneness defines who the church is, but the practical oneness is necessary to accomplish God's will for the church. The view that church is just 2 or 3 believers meeting together is wrong from the point of view of God's purpose of the church. It is also wrong from the point of view of history, where we can find that the effectiveness of the church was because of the large united visible gatherings and not scatterings of two's and three's. I found this sermon about the unity of the early church, it is fairly short so people can read it for themselves: http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/cur...rly_church.htm In summarizing, practical unity requires: one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32) having all things in common having faithful leaders and faithful people (this rules out groups without leaders, c.f. my past comments on a genuine church having elders). And the results of this (from the sermon): 1. Great spirituality. Scatter the embers of a dying fire and it goes out. Rake them together and you have warmth and glow. So with a divided and a united Church. 2. Great power. "A city set on a hill," etc. Such a Church can make the powers of darkness tremble. Keep this ideal before us and we shall be a united, spiritual, and aggressive Church. From this it should be clear that the early church was practically united as one large visible entity, and not a scattering of "embers of a fire". The view that some here propose that church is just two or three, me and my sister, or me and my brother, having a prayer time together, is ignoring the weight of evidence showing that practical church unity was for a definitive purpose, that two or three cannot by themselves easily accomplish. God's purpose for the church rules out the idea that two or three can be a church. The fact that Jesus often spoke to crowds of people rules that out.