The lessons are in outline form and include all the KJV scripture references.

Below is a lesson from Course Two on the New Testament Church.

Course Two-Lesson Three
The Nature Of The Church

Remember that in the New Testament the word “church” is never used to designate a building. The word “church” refers to called out people assembled together to worship God. It would be many years before the people had the luxury of a building set aside solely for a New Testament Church.The New Testament Church was established and left here by Jesus Himself for a specific purpose. The church is also different from any other institution in the world. It will help us to understand the nature of the New Testament Church if we expect to understand how God is working through it to accomplish His purpose.

I. IT IS A DIVINE INSTITUTION:

(I Thessalonians 2:14) “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:”

The Church is referred to as “the Church of God”.

A. A Divine Person Planned It:

(Romans 16:16) “Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.”

It is also referred to as the church of Christ. The true New Testament Church is not a man made institution. It is a divine institution that God planned long before this world was. It was in the mind of God long ago that Jesus Christ would come and die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. It was in God’s mind and plans that the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ would be the payment for not only the sins of mankind, but the price laid down to purchase the New Testament Church.

(Revelation 13:8) “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

B. A Divine Architect Created It

The idea of the church did not originate in the mind of man, but in the heart of God. When He was ready to establish His tabernacle, He called Moses up into the mountain and gave him a definite plan for the structure, setting forth the dimensions, the material out of which it was to be constructed, and it’s furnishings. He then instructed Moses to be sure and build it as He commanded him to do so.

(Hebrews 8:5) “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount.”

When God was ready to establish His church, which was to replace the Temple, He also gave the pattern by which it was to be fashioned. This pattern is found in the New Testament. And God expects the New Testament church to be built according to His plan as was the Tabernacle and the Temple in the Old Testament. God’s plan is never out of date. The style of church buildings have changed and vary around the world, but God’s standard for His new Testament Church has never changed. It is as much for this century as it was for the first century and as it was in the beginning. Man may change, but God never intended for His church to stray from the way He planned it to be from the very beginning.

C. A Divine Builder Is Constructing It

Jesus said that “Upon this rock I will build my church.” Christ is the builder of the church. It is not a church unless Christ builds it. In the second chapter of the book of Acts we read where the Lord added to the church daily.

(Acts 2:47) “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

The Lord chooses the material that goes into His church. There is no rightful place in the New Testament Church for people that the Lord has not added to His church. When men are speaking about people being added to the church, it is good if they can be sure that the Lord added to the church.

D. A Divine Purchaser Bought It

Paul speaks of the Church of God that was purchased with His own blood in the 20th chapter of the book of Acts.

(Acts 20:28) “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

He spoke of how Christ gave himself for the church in the 5th chapter of the book of Ephesians.

(Ephesians 5:25) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

He reminded the believers in the Corinthian church that they were bought with a price.

(I Corinthians 6:19-20)
(vs. 19) “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
(vs. 20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

The church was bought with a great price and will always belong to God. Man may have been entrusted with the responsibilities of the administration of the church, but God will always be the One who purchased it. Some may feel like they own the church because of owning the property or the building that the church meets in, but the church always belongs to God, the One who bought it at such a great price.

E. A Divine Lord has Commissioned It

(John 20:21) “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

Jesus sent His disciples out as His Father sent Him to come to this world and become man’s sacrifice for sin. A little later He gave them what is commonly called “The Great Commission.”

(Matthew 28: 19-20)
(vs.19) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
(vs.20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

The church is the institution that the Lord has set forth as the instrument to carry out His program of getting the gospel to every creature.

II. IT IS A SPIRITURAL ORGANISM

The church is more than an organization, it is an organism. An organism is something which is alive. A machine is an organization made up of many parts, but it is not an organism. It has no life. In His message to the church at Sardis, Jesus spoke about a church that had ceased to be an organism and had become an organization. (Revelation 3:1) “And Unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”

A. The Church Is Spiritural Because It Is Composed Of Those Who Have Had A Spiritural Experience And Possess Spiritural Life

No one is a fit subject for membership in the New Testament Church unless he has been born again. Whatever way a person becomes a part of the New Testament Church, whether by a public profession of Christ as their personal Saviour, by transfer of a letter from another church, or by statement, it is necessary to profess to have been born-again in order to be a part of the New Testament Church. The New Testament Church is represented as being composed of born-again believers in Jesus Christ.

B. The Church Is Spiritural In That It Is The Dwelling Place Of God.

(1 Corinthians 3:16) “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

The Apostle Paul made it very clear to the believers at the church at Corinth that they were the temple of God and God’s Spirit dwelt in them.

(1 Corinthians 3:17) “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

Because the church is the temple of God, it is to be kept pure and clean. The Apostle James spoke about what pure religion is in the first chapter of the book of James.

(James 1:27) “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

To have pure religion and a right relationship with God, is for one to live a separated life from the sinful things that the world has to offer anyone who will follow their ways. Jesus was infuriated by those who defiled the Temple by selling animals for sacrifices and exchanging currency for a profit. He drove out the moneychangers and declared that God’s house was not to be a den of thieves, but a house of prayer.

C. It Is a Blood-Bought Band

Return again to Paul’s exhortation to the elders of the church at Ephesus:

(Acts. 20:28) “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

These words bear testimony to the deity of Jesus Christ. There was deity in the sacrifice of Calvary. Mere human blood could never redeem men from sin. The church is a blood-bought company. There is no true church except the blood-bought church. Any organization or institution, which is not based on that fundamental truth is no church of God, and has no right to call itself a church. Satan’s masterpiece in the realm of personality is a hypocrite, one who pretends to be a Christian and is not. And Satan’s masterpiece in the realm of institutions is a hypocrite church, one which pretends to be a church of God and is not. The mark of a genuine Christian is a blood-mark, and the mark of a genuine church is a blood-mark.

The church is made up of individuals, and if the church is to be a blood-bought church, the individuals which make up the church must be blood-bought individuals. There is no place in the church of God for unsaved men and women. They must be clothed in garments, which have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. In the parable of the great supper, Jesus told of a king who made a marriage feast for his son. The guests were invited, and the hall was filled. When the king came in to greet his guests, he saw a man who did not have on a wedding garment. He said to him, “Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?” And the man was speechless. When our Lord comes into his church and finds those in its membership who have not been redeemed in the blood of Christ, he puts that same searching question: “How came ye in hither not having wedding garments, garments washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb?” There has never been a time when we needed to emphasize the necessity of a blood-bought membership in the church of God more than we need it now.

D. It Is a Democratic Organization

The churches of the New Testament were established on democratic principles. Each church was a self-governing body, and the members enjoyed equality of privileges. There were no super-organizations to dictate, and no overlords to rule. Something of the nature of the church is set forth in the figures or symbols which are used to describe it. There are three of these which deserve special consideration.

III. A Building:

Christ thought of His church as a spiritual building. He said, “Upon this rock I will build my church.”

(1Corinthians 3:9) “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”

(II Corinthians 6:16) “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

He calls the church a temple.The word which is translated temple in these passages literally means the sanctuary, including the holy place and the most holy place where God had promised that his presence would abide. So the church is the place in which the Spirit of God dwells.

(Ephesians 2:20-21)
(vs.20)“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
(vs.21)in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the habitation of God through the Spirit.”

In this passage, as in the preceding, the church is described as a holy temple for the habitation of God. Peter makes use of the same figure.

(I Peter 2) “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, and holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

The church is a spiritual temple, in which all believers are priests unto God, and they are to offer spiritual sacrifices to God.

The Bible speaks of three sacrifices which are to be offered.

(a) The sacrifice of a broken spirit:

(Psalm 52:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”.

God sometimes despised the sacrifices which the people brought to the altar, because they were blemished, but He never despised the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

(b) The sacrifice of praise:

(Hebrews 13:15) “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

That is another sacrifice with which God is always pleased.

(c) The sacrifice of dedicated lives:

(Romans 12:1) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

IV. A Body:

Several times in the New Testament the church is described as being the body of which Christ is the head:

(Ephesians 1:22-23)
(vs.22) “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
(vs.23)which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

(Colossians 1:18) “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

(Romans 12:4-5) “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: and we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

(1 Corinthians 12:12-27)
(vs.12) “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
(vs.13) For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
(vs.14) For the body is not one member, but many.
(vs.15) If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
(vs.16) And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
(vs.17) If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
(vs.18) But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
(vs.19) And if they were all one member, where were the body?
(vs.20) But now are they many members, yet but one body.
(vs.21) And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
(vs.22) Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
(vs.23) And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
(vs.24) For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.
(vs.25) That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
(vs.26) And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
(vs.27) Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

The above passage is the longest passage in the Bible in which the church is described as a body. In these verses, Paul tells of how the body is made up of many members, differing in size and functions, but each doing its part, and all working together. In like manner, the church is made up of many members, differing in talent and place, but each is to do his part, and all are to work together without divisions under the direction of Christ, the head of the church.

In each of these figures, the church as a building and the church as a body, two truths are emphasized-diversity and unity. The building is made up of many stones, differing in shape and size, but they all fit together, each one in its place, and make one building. The body is made up of many members, each in its place, and all working together as one body. So, in the church, there is diversity and unity, there are many living stones, but one spiritual house; many individual members, but one body.

V. A Bride:

This figure is brought over from the Old Testament. Hosea the prophet represents God as saying to his people Israel:

(Hosea 2: 19-20)
(vs.19) “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
(vs.20) I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.”

Isaiah used the same figure to set forth the vital relationship between God and his people:

(Isaiah 54:5) “For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name.”

Forsaking the Lord for idols was considered spiritual adultery:

(Jeremiah 3:8)“And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce.”

(Jeremiah 3:14)“Turn, O backsliding children {Israel}, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you”

(Jeremiah 3:20). “Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with; me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.”

In the New Testament we find the church represented as the bride of Christ:

(Romans 7:4) “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto God.”

(2 Corinthians 11:2) “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

The figure of the church as the bride of Christ refers more especially to the glorified church. The classic passage is found in (Ephesians 5:25-32)
(vs.25) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
(vs.26)That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
( vs.27)That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
(vs.28)So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
(vs.29)For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
(vs.30) For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
(vs.31)For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
(vs.32)This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

In all three of these figures of the church-a building, a body, and a bride-the truth of the close and vital relation between Christ and his church stands out. Each one emphasizes some particular truth concerning that relationship.

VI. In the figure of the building the idea of strength and security prevails.

The church is built on a sure foundation. It is founded on a rock, and the storms cannot destroy it.

VII. The church, likened to a body, suggest service.

The members of the body are the tools by which work is accomplished, all responding from directions which come from the head or mind of the body. It is through the church, His body, that Christ does His work in the world. Each member has his own place for his own work under the leadership of Christ.

VIII. The figure of the bride suggests purity.

As a bride is to be faithful to her husband, so the church is to be faithful to Christ. God’s word is very plain that those who make up His bride are to live holy and separated lives that bring honor to Him.

Conclusion:

One cannot study the nature of the church without being aware of the fact that church membership is not to be taken lightly. It calls for clean living and dedicated service to God through His church. No real Christian wants to be a crumbling stone in the spiritural house, a sick or deceased member of the body of Christ or an unfaithful bride in the bride of Christ. It is an honor to be part of the greatest institution in the world. The church was bought at a great price, the very best we can give to it is only our reasonable service.