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PART 1
Doctrine of the Church
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CHAPTER 1 Origin Of The Church
1. The church is God’s purpose and His intention. It is not man’s desire or thought. God through Jesus Christ is the Author and divine orchestrator of its structure, operation, and achievements. It is His covenant with man (Hebrews 9:15 NKJV).
2. Man is a mere instrument in God’s hand as He builds His church (Matthew 16:18), and man is the vehicle through which God passes His divine message to the saved and His call to the lost. The sooner people realize that it is God through Jesus Christ who is in charge of building the church, the sooner people will stop dividing this glorious body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13) into segments called denominations, and return to the structure, intentions, and operational procedures as blueprinted in His Word.
3. There can be no excuse for man’s selfish behavior and the abuse of God’s precious Holy Writ in the humanistic approach and construction of building the church. Because of such behavior and abuse, the thought and process God has invested in His church has been torn to shreds. There is no respect for God’s eternal purposes He intended for the church in the new covenant (Hebrews 8:13). Neither is there any reason why man has not conformed to His purposes since God proposed the most divine and precious organism for His beloved Christian sons and daughters, and painstakingly recorded it in His Word.
4. God has provided the essence, the structure, and the operation in full view of all who seek His will for the church. Jesus said, I will build my church (Matthew 16:18). He did not say, “I will help men who make plans to structure a church that suits their culture, ethics, and lifestyles.” This is His church; and men called of God, separated by the Holy Spirit and sealed under the anointing, should be examining the Holy Writ to find the structure and operation Jesus gave to mankind.
5. In an effort to detail the church’s structure and operation, one must study the origins of the first members of the church and their application of the instructions given to them by Jesus Christ. The earliest records of the church that started in AD 36 present it as Apostolic in its inception and functioning. These members live(d) and move(d) and have (had) their being in Him (Acts 17:28). Only one church was in operation, and it was Apostolic. Therein, all members functioned under the leadership of the five-fold ministries. All members were committed to the Holy Spirit’s operation in the church even if it led to their martyrdom.
6. It must never be removed from thought, neither be abandoned for ease of adaptation, that God has always dealt with mankind through a covenant relationship. This has always been God-originated and designed.
7. The covenant relationship is not man’s idea, but God’s method and the manner in which He implicates Himself into man’s wellbeing. Wayne Grudem in his book Systematic Theology, sums it up like this: “Man can never negotiate with God or change the terms of the covenant: he can only accept the covenant obligations or reject them. This definition also notes that covenants are ‘unchangeable.’”
8. The covenant conditions are not an offer to be manipulated and adjusted to meet man’s satisfaction. Instead, this is God making a covenant with man, and it embodies God’s conditions and methodology; it is outside of man’s contribution. All God requires of man is to obey and follow His covenant.
9. The church age is the new covenant age (Luke 22:20), which God through Jesus Christ made with mankind. For the most part, this covenant is immersed in the church’s structure and operation and is perfectly detailed in the Holy Writ. As with all covenants, and in particular the new covenant, every jot and tittle (Matthew 5:18) are heaven sent, God-ordained, and Christ-led. In stating this, it must be understood that it is what God wants for His church; and as such, those entrusted with this responsibility must work according to Jesus’ instructions and follow His statement: I will build my church.
10. Therefore, the study of the covenants that God has established between Him and man is vital to ensure that man submits and obediently applies himself to the covenant. The Greek word hypotasso, meaning “submission and obedience,” relates to the application of God’s conditions in the covenant. This word originates from the Greek word diatheke, meaning “covenant.” Without the hypotasso, there will be no covenant relationship. When obediently and submissively following a covenant with God, man is justified in partaking of the benefits of the covenant.
Covenant Beginnings
11. A biblical covenant is a holy, divine agreement and relationship God makes with mankind. (Genesis 15:18) At the outset, every covenant made between God and man, according to the Bible, is a covenant introduced, detailed, and proclaimed by God to the people. He made each covenant (Genesis 17:2), and He established each covenant (Genesis 17:7).
12. Once He declares that He is making a covenant with man, God gives the contents of the covenant to them. He gives express and implicit instructions man must follow to be a worthy partner in the covenant. The best example of this bond is found in Exodus 20:1-17.
13. What now follows is one of two things: man’s acceptance of the covenant or his rejection of it. This was done by the Israelites when they made a pledge: And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient (Exodus 24:7). It was God’s “presentation” of His desire to enter into an unbreakable agreement (covenant) with the Israelites that encompassed many promises and blessings if they were obedient to His commands in the covenant.
14. The other part of the covenant was the acceptance of the contents of the covenant by the people who gave their word to God that they were prepared to enter into the covenant with Him, and also keep the contents inviolate and with reverence.
15. God gives untold promises to those who uphold the agreement. However, because He is a just and fair God, there are resounding consequences for those who disobey His conditions in the covenant and break or sever the covenant relationship (Deuteronomy 28).
16. Before moving into the depths of a covenant, it is vital for mankind to know that, when God enters a covenant with man, He keeps every aspect of that covenant and never breaks it; for He has promised, My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psalm 89:34). Matthew Henry says, “The being and essence of a divine covenant lies in the promise. Hence are they called the covenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:12). Mankind, though, have a reputation of not always upholding their part of the covenant (Jeremiah 11:10).
17. The validity of the covenant is divinely sealed. Matthew Henry continues, “The term ‘established’ signifies legally established, formally established as by a law. All is now fixed in the church by divine arrangement and secured by inviolable sanctions. The covenant to which the priesthood of Christ refers has also been established by law. It has been promulgated by divine authority.”
18. To give clearer perspective on the establishment of covenants between God and man, the question that must be asked this: Why would God make covenants with man? The explanation can be summed up as follows: God loves man with such a deep agape that He wants the very best blessings and promises for His creation; He desires to guarantee the contents of the covenant with a holy decree which He “seals” with an oath. It is with the divine intention to draw, point, and guide mankind towards His holiness; and He desires that man commit to the covenant with the same fortitude and deliberateness that God does. In essence, it is the highest and strongest guarantee that God can make with mankind. He promises that He will deliver whatever He guarantees within the covenant if people uphold their part of the covenant.
19. The covenant is more than an “agreement” between God and man. It is a sworn oath from God that cannot change, and it is a commitment from the people that they will abide by the contents of the covenant.
20. While there are more biblical references to the established “covenant relationship” God has with man, in this volume, only four major covenants are referenced: The covenants with Noah, with Abraham, and with Moses, and the covenant with the born-again believer known as the new covenant. Particular reference is made between the two covenants--Moses and the new covenant--because it was here that Jesus referenced His inauguration of the new covenant when He broke bread on the night He was betrayed.
21. Jesus introduced the Age of Grace when He said, This is the new covenant in My blood. From the moment He was raised from the dead, God’s grace through Jesus Christ stepped into the world and replaced the “old” covenant of works instituted by God to Moses for the Jews.
22. The first time the word “covenant” is recorded in the Bible is in Genesis 6. However, it is considered by many theologians that from the first encounter God has with man, Adam, He entered into a “covenant relationship” with him. God set parameters for Adam to follow and fulfill, and established consequences if Adam did not follow these parameters. In this context, from the very outset of His dealing and relationship with mankind, God has always had a “covenant” relationship with mankind.
23. God’s covenants embody various declarations, guidance, and resultant consequences if man does not keep the covenant with God. First, there is the enactment of the covenant by identifying the parties involved. They are God as the Originator of the covenant and mankind as the “joint-owner” of the covenant.
24. Second, the detailed application of the Author’s intentions contained in the covenant are clearly established. The specifics of these intentions and conditions have to be accepted and applied by mankind. Third, as Scripture explains, God assures mankind that He will never renege on H...
