New Testament Churches Of God - Introduction

by G. Prasher, Manchester, England | Category: New Testament Churches Of God | Jan 1999

'Church of God' - what a remarkable expression! Of course it is a New Testament term, as when Paul wrote to the Church of God in Corinth, or referred to the churches of God in Galatia.

Scriptural use of the word 'church'

How important to be clear that the word 'church' never refers in Scripture to the building in which a congregation meets. That is one of the modern usages of the word, but in the New Testament it always refers to a group of people. The literal meaning of the Greek word ekklesia is a called out and called together company of people. So when Paul wrote to the Church of God in Corinth his letter was received by a group of Christian disciples in that city. They had heard God's call in the gospel, and were also called out by Him from all of contrary principle; they had expressed their loyalty to Christ by baptism in water, and were identified together for worship and witness according to the will of their risen Lord.

This explains why such groups of disciples were given the name 'Churches of God'. They had been brought together through the power of the Spirit in the message of the gospel. They were organized according to principles which had been given to the apostles by the Lord Himself. They are seen in the New Testament as the divinely ordained venue for the spiritual service of the people of God.

The study of these New Testament churches of God teaches us many truths of great practical usefulness in our Christian experience, besides offering spiritual encouragement from the dedication of those first-century Christian disciples who had such careful regard to the commandments of the Lord Jesus. These truths can be discerned from the record of churches of God in widely different backgrounds in apostolic times.

However, let us first distinguish another important use of the word 'church' in the New Testament. This is seen for example in Matthew chapter sixteen, when the Lord Jesus said to Peter: '... thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it' (v.18).

Attention is drawn to four points from this passage:

1. 'I will build'. At the time the Lord was speaking the building had not yet begun. Nor would it begin until the Holy Spirit was outpoured on the Day of Pentecost.

2.'Upon this rock I will build'. This could not refer to Peter (from petros - a stone), for he was but a failing man. The 'rock' (from petra - a large rock) refers to Christ Himself, God the Son, the everlasting Rock; as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:4, 'and the rock was Christ'.

3.The Builder of the Church is Christ. Its security is vested in His almighty power. Just as He is both Shepherd and sacrificial Lamb, so He is both the foundation rock and Builder of the Church in Matthew 16:18.

4.'My Church' is composed of persons who like Peter have been enlightened to understand and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The first of these four points perhaps calls for further explanation. We learn from 1 Corinthians 12:13 that 'in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free'. It follows that baptism in the Holy Spirit is essential to membership of the Body of Christ. Since no one was baptized in the Holy Spirit until the Day of Pentecost, the building of 'my church' by the Lord Jesus could not have commenced until then. It includes all those who have since believed the gospel, for each person saved through faith in Jesus is at once baptized by Him in the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:13-17) into the Body.

What the Lord Jesus described as 'my church' in Matthew 16:17 is referred to in Ephesians 1:22,23 as 'the church which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all'. Its numerical growth continues as the Lord Jesus builds up those who are being saved. The majority of believers who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit into the one Body are already with Christ, having 'fallen asleep in Jesus'. Nevertheless the manifold wisdom of God is being manifested through the Church to principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10). How these beings must marvel as they witness the varied workings of divine grace in bringing guilty sinners to saving faith in Jesus, so that they become identified with the Church which is His Body.

Moreover their membership of the Body of Christ is highly relevant to believers who respond to God's call to fulfil their spiritual service in churches of God. Their mutual relationships in service will be greatly benefitted when they view one another as fellow-members of the Body of Christ, as shown in Romans 12:4-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:17-27. Similarly Ephesians 4:11-16 shows how the varied gifts bestowed on members of the Body are exercised for spiritual edification, 'unto the building up of the body of Christ' (verse 12), 'for the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love' (verse 16).

It becomes clear, then, that the term 'church of God' is not seen in Scripture as an alternative name of the Church, the Body of Christ. They are distinctly different concepts. The formation of the Church, the Body, is an age-long process. By contrast the term 'church of God' is in the New Testament applied to a group of Christian disciples in a particular locality. In each locality they were associated together under the care and government of elders or overseers. Again Ephesians 4:4 makes clear that there is only one Body, whereas by contrast many churches of God were established through the work of the apostles.

Foundation principles

The apostles' mandate from their resurrected Lord was summarized in His declaration on the mountain in Galilee:

All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Mat. 28:18-20).

In these words we have the foundation principles which guided the apostles as they proclaimed the gospel from the Day of Pentecost onwards. Being men under authority, the teaching and methods of the apostles were not of their own design. They worked from the blueprint given by their exalted Lord. Their message was 'the commandment of the Lord' (2 Pet. 3:2). A primary result from their activities was to be the founding and shepherding of churches of God. It follows that the Lord Jesus must have spoken in great detail about such matters as He instructed them in the things concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). For the kingdom of God is the rule of God among His people, and this was to find expression through the association of disciples of Christ in churches of God.

The Day of Pentecost featured in Acts chapter 2 has clearly a special significance in relation to New Testament churches of God. For on that day the Holy Spirit was poured forth in fulfilment of 'the promise of the father' (Acts 1:4). For the first time in human history believers were baptized by the Lord Jesus in one Spirit into one Body. Or in terms of the metaphor used by the Lord in Matthew 16:18, on that day He began to build what He described as 'my church'. On that same day the first of the New Testament churches of God was established in Jerusalem. But membership of the Church, His Body, through faith in Jesus did not of itself qualify a believer for a place in the Church of God in Jerusalem. That was only the first requirement. There must also be baptism in water, formal addition to the disciples already numbered together, and steadfast continuance in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:41,42). The Day of Pentecost marked the beginning of the present dispensation of the grace of God. Right from the start we discern clearly the principle that association in churches of God was not on the ground of being fellow-members of the Body of Christ, though that was an essential prelude. It was on the ground of obedient discipleship in faithful fulfilment of the commands of the Master. The divine plan is clear, that those who become members of the Body of Christ through faith in Jesus should show a spirit of discipleship, leading through obedience to the Lord's commands to service in a church of God. There, in fellowship with other disciples, there is opportunity to give practical expression to scriptural teaching based on the marvellous truth that we are members of His Body.

G. Prasher, Manchester, England | Jan 1999
New Testament Churches Of God