Restoration of the Church
Ecclesiology: The Theology of the Church
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Here we suggest DOCTRINE and PURPOSE statements for the Assembly of Christ in the world today.  This reflects years of careful study and reflection, trying only to draw from Biblical sources and not from the traditions of men.

Ecclesiology--basic doctrine of the Assembly of Christ

 

What is the Church of Jesus Christ?

The Bible teaches that the Ekklesia is, among other things, the following:

 

I. The Ekklesia (church) is the gathered ASSEMBLY of God’s people in the name of Jesus Christ; they are the members of the Body of Jesus Christ, a living organism, whose membership is established by those 

(1)   who are chosen by God,

(2)   who place their faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah sent from God,

(3)   who repent of their sins,

(4)   who are baptized into His name,

(5)   who are filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus,

(6)   who forsake all else to follow Jesus Christ, and

(7)   who obey the commands of Jesus Christ (and His Father) and His apostles. 

 

The Assembly refers to (a) each local congregation of the righteous, (b) each regional/city Assembly, (c) the world-wide Assembly of Christ and (d) to the transcendent Assembly of all Believers of All Time and Eternity. (Matthew 16:17-19, 24; 29:19-20; Romans 8:9b, 16; 29-30; I Corinthians 3:11; I Peter 2:7, 9-10; Ephesians 1:4-14; Mark 16:16; Acts 1:5; 2:38; 3:19; 11:16; Galatians 3:26-27; I Peter 1:2; 2:9,23; Hebrews 9:12; 10:10;)

 

II.  The Head of the Ekklesia Body is Jesus Christ, Himself.  He, alone, is the sovereign and complete Lord and Ruler of His Assembly.  He establishes the Assembly and chooses its members.  He rules by His Word written upon the hearts of each member and by His Spirit that indwells and empowers each member.  (Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 7:14; Matthew 16:18; John 18:37; I Thessalonians 2:14; I Corinthians 3:11; 8:6; 15:25 Acts 2:36; 3:11; Ephesians 1:22; 4:15-16; 5:23;Colosians 1:18; 2:19; I Peter 3:22; Hebrews 1:3)

 

III.  The primary purpose of the Assembly of Christ is to magnify and worship God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  The Assembly of Christ on earth is on-the-job training for our eternal vocation of serving and worshipping Him forever. The Assembly is to regularly remember the body and blood of Jesus in a memorial meal. (Psalms 9:11; 29:2; 34:3; 57:5; 107:32; Isaiah 25:1; Hebrews 13:15; I Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:11-12; 19:7)

 

IV.  The Assembly of Christ is indwelled and led by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself and through His appointed apostles, teachers, prophets, and shepherds/elders of the flock. (John 14:15-25; 16:5-15; Acts 11:30; 15:2; 20:28; Ephesians 4:11-12; I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; I Peter 5:2)

 

V. The Assembly of Christ is established by a covenant relationship with the Father God and with each individual member of the Body of Christ, through the blood and body of Jesus Christ, who is the covenantal Lamb of God, (Jeremiah 31:31-34; 32:37-41; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Romans 4:16; Galatians 3:16-29; Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; I Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 8:6-13; 7:22; 9:12-15; 12:24; 13:20; 2 Corinthians 3:2,6,8; Galatians 3:14)

 

VI.  The Assembly of Christ is comprised of many individual members, with differing and complementing parts united in participatory fellowship and action with Christ and with each other. The Assembly of Christ is to encourage, disciple, train and equip its members to become strong and mature in the faith so they can serve the other members of the body and the lost and needy in the world around. The emphasis is on the Assembly more than its individual members, since the Whole is more than its individual parts. (Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:18;)

 

VII.  The Assembly of Christ is the tangible organism (not organization) by which the Kingdom (Rule) of God is realized on earth and in the world to come.  The church is the host in which the mystical body of Christ tangibly dwells and lives out its Kingdom purposes.  The church is not the Kingdom of God, but it is a tangible manifestation of the spiritual Kingdom rule of God on earth. (Matthew 4:17, 23; 6:9-10; 12:28; 18:18-19; 28:18; Mark 1:14015; Luke 4:43; Matthew Luke 1:33; 12:20, 32; Luke 22:29-30; John 18:33-37; Mark 9:1; Ephesians 1:13-14; 20-21; 5:5; Acts 8:12; 28:23,31; Colossians 1:12-14; Hebrews 12:23,28)

 

VIII.  The Assembly of Christ is to advance the Kingdom of God by speaking the words of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus.  The Spirit grants gifts and callings to enable the individual members of the Body to do Kingdom ministry of Jesus Christ on earth.  Every member of the Assembly is a Minister of the Assembly. (Matthew 12:28; 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; John 14:12; 15:16; Romans 4:20; I Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 5:30; Romans 12:4-8; I Peter 4:10-11)

 

IX.  The Assembly of Christ is the chosen army of the Lord which is to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God on earth by destroying the works of Satan through truth encounters and power encounters, in anticipation of the eventual fulfillment of the Kingdom to come when Christ returns to reign triumphantly on earth as He does in Heaven. (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 11:12; Luke 16:16; John 3:8; Acts 10:38; Romans 4:20; I Corinthians 15:23-28; Galatians 1:4; I Peter 5:8,9; Revelation 11:15)

 

X.  The Assembly of Christ is to evangelize the lost into the Kingdom of God, by its spoken, written and living witness to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Assembly is to aggressively send witnesses/messengers to the lost.  The lost and hurting will come into the Kingdom by the working of the love of Christ in the hearts of the members of the assembly. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8;  )

 

XI.  The Assembly of Christ is the Bride of Christ who is waiting for the return of the Bride Groom.  The Bride of Christ is being made pure and ready for the Christ through sanctification by Christ’s blood, Christ’s Spirit and the Truth of Christ. (Matthew 25:1-6; John 3:29; 14:1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7; 21:2; 22:17)

 

Ekklesia

What's in a name?  Ekklesia is the Greek word Jesus chose in Matthew 16:17, "...and on this rock I will build my ekklesia, and the gates of hell will not overcome it."  Everyone hearing Him make that statement must have fallen off their chairs in shock, because he chose a concept that was very unlikely, yet one they all knew.  He didn't choose sunnegoge, or temple, but a term common in the Greek and Roman social/civil/political life of the day.  The term, ekklesia, literally means assembly.  The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament popular in Jesus' time, used ekklesia to translate the Hebrew word gahal, which stood for gathering, assembly or congregation.     Every city and civil unit of government had an assembly, much like we would call a town meeting to plan, legislate and manage the civil affairs of a community or state.  We still use the term today when we elect state legislative members to work for us in the "general assembly" in the state capitol.  It is a participatory, lay-operated gathering of interested citizens.  Similarly, Jesus said he would build such a particpatory, lay gathering, where every member of the assembly is a minister.  The popularly advanced etimology for ekklesia is from ek, "out of", and kleo, or "called out", forming the so-called "called out ones".  This is probably a weak interpretation although it seems reasonable.  However, that meaning simply cannot be seen in the context of the 113 usages of the word ekklesia in the New Testament.  None of these passages suggest either called or coming out of anything, but quite differently, the ekklesia is embedded and is a gathering together of member citizens or their appropriate representatives.  There certainly are other passages that indicate believers are called and chosen by God (Ephesians 1:1 and 2) but not in the particular usages or the actual deployment of the word ekklesia.  It is best interpreted literally and in the context of the social/cultural setting of the day, ASSEMBLY.  An appropriate blend to designate the gathering of Christ's disciples would be, therefore, something like The Assembly of Jesus Christ.

The Purposes of the Assembly

It would appear, therefore, that specific purposes of the Assembly are at least as follows and comprise important "piecies of the pattern":

 

  1. To praise and worship our Lord and Father with all that we are and all that we have.
  2. To provide members of the Assembly a means of fellowship, teaching, healing, support and encouragement.
  3. To regularly gather together on the Lord’s day.
  4. To regularly celebrate the Lord’s body and blood in a memorial meal together.
  5. To disciple members to become strong and mature in faith and in holiness of life.
  6. To train and equip every member of the Assembly for Kingdom ministry and warfare.
  7. To remain in loving unity with one another by obeying the teachings and commands of our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
  8. To love and support the Assembly of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.
  9. To hate the things of the world and aggressively resist the rule of Satan.
  10. To teach and preserve sound doctrine and to avoid false and unsound doctrine.
  11. To protect and guard the members (flock) of the Assembly.
  12. To actively search and rescue the straying and lost members of the Assembly.
  13. To reach the lost for Jesus Christ and to baptize them into the name and assembly of Jesus Christ.
  14. To destroy the works of Satan through Kingdom warfare by doing the works of Jesus (proclaiming the Good News, witnessing to Kingdom truth and power, setting captives free, lifting the fallen, healing the broken hearted, casting out demons and healing the sick)
  15. To minister love, grace and hope to the poor, the hungry, the helpless, the powerless and the forgotten.
  16. To prayerfully intercede for the things that grieve the heart of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
  17. To willingly suffer, as necessary, for Jesus’ sake.
  18. To encourage faithful obedience (and to provide correction as necessary) of all members of the Assembly in keeping with the stated will and Word of God.
  19. To prepare to be a beautiful and sanctified Bride of Christ, without spot or wrinkle, for the anticipated and immediate return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Key Scriptural concepts in our growing understanding of the church are:

Ekklesia or assembly, called/chosen, fellowship, love, unity, holiness of life, praise, worship, simplicity of life and simplicity of church, purity, servant leadership, Kingdom of God, kingdom of this world, old and new covenant, salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, repentance, obedience/faithfulness, discipleship, warfare, Bride and Bridegroom, persecution and suffering, prayer, intercession, members are ministers, elders are shepherds.

 

 

RESTORING THE ASSEMBLY TO THE NEW TESTAMENT PATTERN