pauline evangelism session 14: paul’s ecclesiology
DESCRIPTION
This is the fourteenth session’s Power Point slide show from the ’Using Pauline Studies for Evangelism’ course taught at the Light Project, Chester.TRANSCRIPT
Paul’s Ecclesiology: Exegeting Key TextsPaul’s Ecclesiology: Exegeting Key Texts
The Light ProjectSession 14
Clint Heacock
The Light ProjectSession 14
Clint Heacock
St Paul’s Gate, Rhodes, Greece
Learning Outcomes
1. To gain a better understanding of the NT concept of the church.
2. To explore Paul’s understanding of the relationship between the church and evangelism.
DefinitionsWhat does the term ‘ecclesiology’ refer to?
It can refer either to: a) the study of the doctrines of the church,
or b) the study of the nature, purpose and
mission of the church itself.
• The Concise Dictionary of Theology defines ‘ecclesiology’ as: “That branch of theology which systematically reflects on the origin, nature, distinguishing characteristics, and mission of the church” (Collins and Ferrugia, 71).
How would you define the word ‘church’?
• “The Greek word used by Paul and the early Christians for the messianic community of believers is ekklesia, a term used in both political and religious senses.”
(Pate, The End of the Age Has Come, 165).
• Politically: Refers to a group of people gathered to conduct the affairs of the state (Acts 19.32, 39). In classical Greek ekklesia refers to a gathering of the citizens of a polis (city).
• Religiously: The term is used both in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the OT, and in Jewish intertestamental writings to translate the Hebrew word qahal.
• Qahal refers to ‘the occurrence of assembling’ and can have religious significance attached to it.
Can you name some of the main biblical images of the church used
in the NT? • The people of God (Heb.4.8-10; 1
Pet. 2.9-10)• The body of Christ (1 Cor. 12.27;
Eph. 4.11-12)• The spouse of Christ (Eph. 5.25-27) • The family and the household of
God (Eph. 2.19-22)• The temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.
3.16; 6.19)
For Paul (and other NT writers), is each local church only a component part
of the overall church?
BaptistChurch
LutheranChurch
PentecostalChurch
MethodistChurch
AnglicanChurch
CatholicChurch
The Church
Each community of gathered believers in a particular location, no matter how small, represents the total
community: the church.
“We should note that the individual congregation, or group of believers in a specific place, is never regarded as only a part or component of the whole church. The church is not a sum or composite of the individual local groups. Instead, the whole is found in each place.”
Erickson, Christian Theology, 1043.
NT Conception of the Church
1. Churches in the NT clearly have a local sense—Gal. 1.2; 1 Thess. 1.1; Acts 13.1, 14.23, etc.
2. Churches met in people’s homes: Rom. 16.5; Col. 4.15
3. Sometimes a larger geographical sense is in view: 1 Cor. 16.19
4. Each local church represents the total community of the church: 1 Cor. 1.2, ‘the church of God in Corinth.’
Historically, what are known as the ‘4 Functions of the Church’?
1. Worship2. Edification3. Evangelism4. Social concern
Fellowship
Worship
Edification
Instruction
Focus upon: •God•Individual believer•Other Christians
Evangelism
Social Concern
Focus upon: •Non-believers
What is the relationship in Paul’s thought between the church and
evangelism?
• The claim being made is this: that for Paul, if the church truly functioned as it was intended to do so—as a functioning and healthy organism—then evangelism would more or less take care of itself.
• Put in other terms: if believers in the church were living, serving and ministering in terms of their gifts and passions, then church growth by conversion would become much more organic and natural.
What are some key Pauline passages that develop his notion of how the
church should function and its growth?
1. Eph. 1-2-32. Eph. 4.1-163. 1 Cor 124. 1 Cor 135. 1 Cor 14
In all of these passages, note the emphasis Paul places upon:
• Church unity (Eph. 4.1ff; 1 Cor. 12)• The variety of gifts given by the Spirit to the
church• One Spirit—and what is the purpose of giving the
gifts, both to those in leadership and in the congregation? Mutual edification (1 Cor. 12.7; Eph. 4)
• The various parts of the body. What is the point of creating, gifting and placing all the different gifts within the one body?
• Love and spiritual gifts? Why place I Cor. 13 between 2 passages on ‘spiritual gifts and their usage’? Why does Paul refer to this as ‘the more excellent way’?
• The use of spiritual gifts and the edification of the church (1 Cor. 14.12, 26)?
1 Cor. 12: The Message
Can anybody in the church say: “I’m better than YOU because my gifts are superior to yours….”
OR, “You’re better than ME because your gifts are superior to mine…”?
“For Paul the church, even in its universal dimension, was not an institution but a collection of redeemed sinners, called saints, and bound together as mutual recipients of the powerful grace of God. According to Paul the discernible evidence of God’s grace was the manifestation of the different gifts of the Spirit as different, but complementary, functions in the church.
The purpose of these gifts was not to provide a means for ranking or comparing one Christian to another; rather, the gifts were given in their different forms for the upbuilding of the church—local and universal.”
Soards, The Apostle Paul, 197-198.