FOR THE
CHILDREN:
New Hampshire Confession of Faith #13
Matthew 16:18; Eph. 3:21
XIII. OF A GOSPEL CHURCH
We believe that a visible Church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by his laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only Scriptural offices are Bishops, or Pastors, and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
- A GOSPEL CHURCH IS VISIBLE
- The English word "church" is derived from the Greek word kyrikon, which means house. This is not really a good translation of the word in the New Testament that is translated "church." The Greek word in the N. T. is ekklesia, which means assembly or congregation.
- For this reason, we must always mention in our studies that the church as revealed in the N. T. is a VISIBLE church. It is a local assembly. Every time the Greek word ekklesia is mentioned in the N. T., it should be translated in some way to relate the idea of a local assembly.
- As a result, we do not believe in a universal visible or universal invisible church.
- We believe that the term "body of Christ" designates a local assembly unless it is speaking of Jesus' own personal body (See Eph. 1:22-23; 4:12; Col. 1:18, 24; 1 Cor. 10:16; 12:13, 27)
- Every member of a visible church must be saved - 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.
- To be a member of a gospel church one must be scripturally baptized. We will speak more of this in the next lesson.
- A GOSPEL CHURCH HAS A PURPOSE
- To have fellowship in covenant of belief, which is intelligent and voluntary - 1 Peter 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
- To obey Christ in association among the membership.
- To observe the ordinances, which will perpetuate the message to future generations (See Matt. 28:18-20).
- A GOSPEL CHURCH MUST HAVE A SCRIPTURAL GOVERNMENT
- Christ is its Head - 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.
- Members Are Subject To Christ And To One Another - Ephesians 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
- Members May Claim The Gifts, Rights and Promises of God.
- After dealing with the gifts in the church in 1 Cor. 12, Paul deals further will the gift of love in chapter 13. At the end of chapter 13, he says, And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
- Faith abides in the church now, but it will fade as soon as we see the shores of Heaven, for faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- Hope abides in the church now, but it will fade as soon as we see the shores of Heaven, for Romans 8:24 says, For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
- Love, however, abides in the church now, but it will continue to abide in Heaven. "Love never fails."
- So, whatever gifts the Lord gives the believer, he should use them to his glory in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- There Are Only Two Offices In The Church
- Bishops, or Elders (Pastors) Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: - Titus 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
- Deacons - 1 Timothy 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
- The Church's Organization
- In order to be a church of the Lord Jesus, a church must be formed after the pattern of the New Testament churches in principle, polity, doctrine, and character.