Foundations for a Biblical Church

BAM/MAM041

Rev. Emmanuel Kiwanuka, B.A., Religious Studies, M.A.T.S.

Westminster Christian Institute Uganda, Kampala, Uganda

Tel 256-772.409438

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL SEMINARY

14401 Old Cutler Road Miami, FL 33158

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LESSON ONE: The Church

LESSON TWO: Philosophy; Purpose of the Church

LESSON THREE: The Nature of Members in Christ’s Church

LESSON FOUR: Church Members Called to Support and Serve

LESSON FIVE: Call to Submit to the Leadership and Discipline of the Church

LESSON SIX: Evangelism in the Local Church

LESSON SEVEN: Discipleship in a Local Church

LESSON EIGHT: Foundational Teachings

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this course is for students to grasp the centrality of the local congregation in the overall ministry of the Church worldwide. The course focuses on the fundamental practices in a local church that need not be neglected if we are to witness a multiplication of biblically based churches in Africa and the world at large. We live in a world where church membership is no longer an taken seriously; the topics covered in this course are necessary for one to know before vowing to be part of a local congregation.

COURSE CONTENT

The course is divided into eight lessons, students are expected to study them in detail looking up all the scriptural passages.

COURSE MATERIALS

The students are required to read the lecture notes thoroughly along with the cited Scriptures. Students are also required to read books written about the church. I recommend that students choose from selected Bibliography at the back of this course.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

  1. To study the theology of the church with other students;
  2. To acquire the basic doctrines of the ones who constitute the church;
  3. To be able to understand the practices of the local church;
  4. To be able to participate in the overall ministry of the local church individually and corporately;
  5. To be able to build up the church into the image of Jesus.

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE

This course has been organized into eight consecutive lessons. Students are expected to study them consecutively.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

  1. Participate in the formal class time instruction.
  2. Complete reading the lecture notes as contained in the eight lessons.
  3. Read Zugg, The Church -A Presbyterian Perspective, online MINTS course
  4. Read Packer Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God and one more book from the bibliography provided in the course.
  5. Masters students must read Dever;Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and Clowney: The Church in addition to (3) above.
  6. Complete the exam that is based upon the questions at the end of the lessons.
  7. Develop a fifteen page outline on the basics teachings and practices you would provide for any person intending to join a local church.

COURSE EVALUATION

  1. Student attendance (15%): One point will be given for each class hour attended.
  2. Student homework (25%): Points will be given for completing the questions at the end of each lesson.
  3. Student Readings (25%): Students will be given credit for completing the required reading.
  4. Student course work (25%): Students will prepare a fifteen page paper outlining the basic teachings for one intending to join a local church.
  5. Student Exam (10%): Students will complete an exam drawn from the questions at the end of each lesson.

BENEFITS OF THIS COURSE

This course will provide the basic knowledge so one can better develop the skill to ground the church into Christ. It will set the foundation upon which to build a Christ-centered Church.

Lesson One: The Church

This lesson will focus on the theology of the church.

1. General Definition of the Church

The word church comes from a Greek term Ekklesia. This term originally meant the called out to an assembly. This same term is used in the Greek Old Testament translation (the LXX) of the Hebrew word,qahal, and it describes an assembly. Jesus used the same term in Mathew 16:18 after Peter’s confession and said “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (ekklesia), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Both ekklesia and qahal denote an actual assembly, rather than a ‘congregation’ (which may or may not be ‘congregated’). Is the church, then, called an assembly only because it meets together, as any group might? In that case the term has no actual significance. Certainly Paul does use it to describe the actual gathering of Christians (1Cor. 14:19, 28, 34). Luke reports its use by the city clerk at Ephesus, who reminds a mob a ‘legal assembly’-a proper town meeting (Acts 19:39).[1]

If the church is the Assembly of God, then Peter is right to call the church the people of God. The Bible speaks of them as the chosen ones of God. 1Peter 2:9-10:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

We notice Peter recalling the Old Testament relationship that God had with his people. In spite of the sin problem that severed this relationship God provided mercy to call his people back to himself, not only the Jews but also the gentiles are included here. Even those who were ‘not his people’ are now a special people to him. They belong to him, they are a special possession to God. The church are the chosen people of God from the Old Testament to the present day of the New Testament period.

The church is not only the people of God, but the dwelling place of God. “When God shifted his assembly from Sinai to Zion, he taught us another principle: God came not only to meet with Israel, but to dwell with them… But already at Sinai, the picture of God’s dwelling is given. It is found in the tabernacle, to which twelve chapters of Exodus are devoted.”[2] When we come to the New Testament, Jesus makes it even more clear that he tabernacles within or among his people (Jn. 1:14). Since the tabernacle was a manifestation of the very holy presence of God, in the same way the holy one dwells in the church. Paul would go further to admonish the Corinthians of the importance of keeping their bodies separate for holy use because God makes his dwelling in their lives (1Cor. 6:19).

The Bible provides us with images for the church. Several commentators have come up with a list varying from three and beyond depending on how one interprets the passages that speak to this concept of church. Let us try to list them down with some explanation.

1.1 Family of God.

We have the household formula in the Bible suggesting a family belonging to God. It is common practice in the church today and it has been to refer to the church as the family of God. We refer to God as a father to us all who are in Christ. We are a people that have been born again not by human desire but by the Spirit of God (Jn. 3:1-8). God has special claims over Christians. They were born from above.

1.2 The Church as Body of Christ

We have Christ as the head of the church with many parts that make up the church a Paul teaches us in 1Corinthians 12. Each part plays its role for the vital wellbeing of the whole. “Jesus created the church. She has been chosen in Him (Eph. 1:4), created by Him (Matt. 16:18), she is His body (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 1:18-19), and He is called her head. The idea that Christ has a body and that He is the head of the body, shows both the importance of the doctrine of the church and that the church is under Christ’s rule.”[3] Since all believers have the vital union with Christ, they in turn have union with each other in the same body, the church.

1.3 The Church as a Bride[4]

This image points to the status of uniqueness the church holds in the site of God. It shows how much Christ loves the church. God explicitly declares Himself to be Israel’s Husband in several places in the prophets (Isa. 54:5). The Prophets also spoke of Israel as God’s Bride and the Lord as Israel’s Bridegroom (Isa. 62:5). This typified the church as the Bride. The Old Testament also points to the promises of the Savior to come and die for the Bride. This same picture isreflected in a marriage union (Eph. 5:25-27).

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spotor wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

1.4 Church as Temple/ Building and field.

In the Old Testament the tabernacle was the place where God’s presence was manifested. During that time people experienced the presence of God when he appeared in the temple. The New Testament picks up the same idea as Paul writes in 1Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (2Corinthians 6:16) “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” This image is related to that of the “building of God” in 1Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” Notice also the other image here of the church as God’s “field.”

Related to this image is the church referred to as living stones. Stones in this sense are used to build up a house. Believers are individual stones used to build up the church (1Pet. 2:4-5).

1.5 The Church,a Royal Priesthood

The church is referred to as a royal priesthood meaning that as priests we pay our allegiance to the great High Priest Christ Jesus. 1Peter 2:9 “You are royal priesthood…” This also presupposes our identity as belonging to the sheepfold of God with Christ as our Chief Shepherd. That church constitute his flock.

2. The Church is not a Human Institution

We have observed that the church is a divine institution. The church being a divine institution is not operated on human principles. We cannot rule out the involvement of man in it but again we affirm that the church is run on divine power and provisions. Jesus said that he will build his church (Mat.16:18). The church as an institution belonging to God does not implement human strategy either. The owner sets the goals for the church. Since everything exists for the glory of God, the church does too. It is not a physical object or building as some taken it to be, it is but a spiritual house.

Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14, 22-23; 3:21 To the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved… so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory… who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it , to the praise of his glory… And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fill all in all… to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever Amen.

2.1 Church Operatesnot on Human Principles

The church is operated on divine strategy and plan. It pursues divine goals and purposes. The power at work in the church flows from the owner. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came said to them “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The owner designated the equippers in Ephesians 4:11-12 “And he gave the apostles, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up the body of Christ.” There are a number of passages to consider pointing to the fact that the church is supposed to operate on divine principles and power.[5]

God has the right to set the rules for the church. This what Zugg says in his course on “The church:”

As the church is so important, God has given rules to govern it. Paul writes to Timothy so that he may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). Any house has rules, ways that it operates, and the church as God’s house also has rules. In our own homes we do not allow children to run the home, or it will be chaos and collapse, in the same way, we are not to allow spiritual children, those young in the faith, to run the church, or it will soon be in chaos. In running His church, God has given clear rules so that His house runs well. [6]

3. The Church in Making

Something must be said about the future glory of the church. The church is not fully constituted as for now. There will come a time when God will gather the church and make her his own forever. The Old Testament speaks to this truth so is the New Testament (Ezek. 34:11-12, 23-24).

“The final festival assembly will welcome the gentiles with the people of God (Isa.2:2-4; 25:6-8; 66:20-21; Jer. 3:17). God’s own presence will replace the Ark of the Covenant (Jer. 3:16)… Not all who bear the name of Israel are true children of Abraham (Rom.9:6), but the servant of the Lord is his chosen, and he will bring back the remnant of Israel and become a light to the Gentiles (Isa. 49:6).”[7]

This shows us that there will be a time when the church will fully be constituted. Jesus starts his ministry by telling his audience to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand. We see Christ coming with the kingdom but not fully established here[8]. And he promises as he leaves to return in the fullness of his kingdom. At the final day he promises to gather in all his sheep into one flock. God is in the business of building his Kingdom as he prepares the kingdom citizens. He is in the work of purifying them. Paul says in Ephesians 5:27 “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor; without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

Conclusion

A proper understanding of the church helps in determining how to approach ministry. The uniqueness of the church sets a challenge to us to be cautious and dependent on God the overall owner of this divine institution. Let everyone who serves seek guidance from the author and owner of the church.

Lesson One Questions

  1. Why is it important for believers to keep their bodies separate for holy use?
  2. How do believers qualify to belong to the family of God? Cite scriptural proof.
  3. What is the implication of the church being referred to as the “body of Christ?”
  4. Which image of the church represents a uniqueness the church holds in the site of God? Cite scriptural basis.
  5. What is the church’s responsibility as a royal priesthood?
  6. Why is the church not allowed to operate on human principles? Cite biblical evidence.
  7. The owner of the church not only tells us that he is the primary builder but also provides what it takes the church to operate. What are some of the provisions available for the church to operate? Refer to biblical evidence,
  8. Julian Zugg points out another important aspect of church governance when it comes her daily operation. What is it in reference to biblical evidence?
  9. What do we mean by “the church in making?”
  10. What does Ephesians 5:27 imply to the present state of the church?

Lesson Two: Philosophy; Purpose of the church

In this lesson the focus will be on brief description of the biblical foundation for the existence of the church. We will try to narrow it to a local church’s philosophy of ministry.

1. Purpose of Church (Local)

The church must have some given principles to guide her to reach God designed goals. There are must exist certain stipulated commitments if at all growth is to be achieved. As the church strives to get into the lost world and its twisted culture with the compassion of Christ; the church must strive to provide justice; the church is to strive to serve as ambassadors of Christ. Christ must be evident in the life of the church with the purpose of making the Savior known. This is to be done to show the world that Christ is a friend of sinners; he pleads through the church calling sinners back to himself. Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”