What Is The Assembly?--Part 3

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church [assembly]; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19 NASB Update).

The Greek noun ekklesia is a compound word made up of the preposition ek, meaning from or out from, and the verb kaleo, meaning to summon or to call out. The called-out assembly may be Israel (Acts 7:38), a political assembly (Acts 19:32, 41), a gathering of Christians for worship in a local or visible geographical setting (I Cor. 11:18), or the body of Christ in her universal or invisible sense (Matt. 16:18). This compound Greek noun is used 115 times in the New Testament—77 singular number and 38 plural number. (See the Greek, not English, concordance.)

Since our study is restricted to the ekklesia (assembly) that Jesus Christ is building, we are confined to what Jesus Christ is doing during the age of the new covenant of grace, the eternal covenant. In the Old Testament, two words are used to describe the people of God under the old economy: “congregation,” which denotes those who were qualified to assemble; and “assembly,” which describes a company actually meeting together at a particular time and in a particular place (Ex. 16:1-10; Num. 20:1-3; Deut. 12-17). In the New Testament, the word assembly (church) is used of both the totality of the elect at a certain time and in a certain place and the totality of those who have stepped out of time into eternity.

The unity of the body in eternity is the goal for which the local aspect of the assembly strives in time (Eph. 4:1-16). According to the context, all seven features of unity must be spiritual. Therefore, the “one baptism” must be spiritual, but not in the sense of referring to the new birth. It refers to the “one baptism” in the Spirit at Pentecost. Baptism in the Spirit applies to the invisible body of Christ. Baptism in water applies to the local or visible assembly. If the “one body” is the local assembly, then local assembly membership would be essential to salvation. Furthermore, since baptism is a prerequisite to local membership, that would make water baptism essential to salvation. Hopefully, everyone is beginning to see the importance of this study.

There are two questions that must be explored at this point in our study: (1) Does the term body always refer to the local assembly? (2) Is it wrong to use the word assembly (church) when speaking of the invisible body? As to the first question, if the answer is “no,” then one is compelled to believe in an invisible body. On the other hand, if the answer is “yes,” then everyone in the assembly has to be saved. Finally, if the reply is “all are saved,” then what about Judas and Simon Magus? As to the second question, Christ identified Himself with the assembly. He gave Himself for her; and during this age, He is calling out unto Himself the assembly which is His body. Membership in the body of Christ (the invisible aspect of the assembly) is co-terminus with salvation, and this qualifies a person for membership in the local aspect of the assembly. (See Col. 1:19-29.) The body would be impossible without the Spirit of regeneration who unites its members to her common Head. The context determines the use of ekklesia and not the word that determines the use of the context. This is an important rule in Biblical exegesis.

It is a serious mistake to reduce the body of Christ to an institutional assembly containing both saved and lost. Three questions are in order for us to get a handle on the seriousness of the subject: (1) Is an assembly required to be in perpetual session to be called an assembly? (2) What would you call an unassembled assembly? (3) Can the members of a local assembly who cannot assemble (providentially hindered) be a part of the assembly? One must understand that the invisible aspect of the assembly never replaces the necessity of the visible aspect. Moreover, the local aspect must never be de-emphasized. The term body, when referring to God’s assembly, is always singular in the New Testament, but the term assembly (church) is used both in the singular and in the plural forms.

The invisible and visible aspects of the assembly differ. They differ in nature, because one is a spiritual organism and the other is an organized institution. They also differ in formation. One is formed by the Holy Spirit in regeneration, and the other is by active consent of the regenerated. A Biblical example of the latter is given in Acts 9:26-31: “And when he [Paul] had come to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. So the church [assembly] throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase” (NASB). Although the invisible and visible differ in membership constituency, one contains only the saved. The other contains both saved and lost.

The invisible aspect of the assembly is a defense against institutional salvation. It not only protects the basic truth of union with Christ, but it guards against institutional idolatry. Where the visible assembly is stressed by some as a depository of grace, Christ is ignored as being the source of grace. Furthermore, the visible aspect of the assembly exists because the invisible finds expression in the visible aspects, as the soul of man finds expression in man’s body. Therefore, the visible aspect of the assembly is to strive to be ideally what the invisible is in reality. Paul had that in mind when he said to the Roman Christians, “I URGE you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and prefect. For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each [a person born of the Spirit] a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:1-3 NASB).

Having closed the great doctrinal section of Romans, Paul takes up the practical part by appealing to his brothers in Christ. He could not have closed the doctrinal part of his letter on a higher note. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:33-36 NASB).

God’s servants learn quickly that people find fault with what they do not understand. Thus, they stain the sovereign God’s character with their depraved thoughts and speeches, because they know not the One about whom they speak. Man’s understanding is not the measure of God’s justice. Furthermore, God’s freedom is absolute because His sovereignty is absolute. Election reveals the freeness of grace; reprobation manifests sovereignty. If all people were given grace, the freedom of God would never be known. On the other hand, if all were pardoned, the justice of God would never be known.

Beginning with Romans 12, we have the demonstration of God’s righteousness. A close investigation of the first eleven chapters of Romans will show righteousness needed, communicated, and vindicated. Now righteousness is to be demonstrated. Service is not self-effort, because it is the out-living of the in-living Christ. Therefore, the body is not to be presented to God the Father, because He is in heaven. It is not to be presented to Jesus Christ, because He has His own glorified body. The Christian is to present his body to the Holy Spirit who has come not only to regenerate, but to abide in the one made alive in Christ. The following things should be explored:

1. The fountain of service is the inward urge of the Holy Spirit motivated by the knowledge of condemnation, justification, sanctification, and glorification (Rom. 1-8).

2. There are three spheres of demonstration: (a) the assembly (Rom. 12:3-13), (b) the social (Rom. 12:14-21), and (c) the civil (Rom. 13:1-7).

3. There are three kinds of duties: (a) universal—to all Christians (Rom. 12:1, 2); (b) special—to some (Rom. 12:3-8); and (c) general—with respect to certain occasions (Rom. 12:9-21).

Jesus Christ was the dying Sacrifice that makes possible the living sacrifice that Christians are to make. Adequate power has been bestowed in regeneration. Sufficient motive has been brought to believers by justification, sanctification, and glorification to induce such a sacrifice. It is wonderful that our bodies, which were once the vehicles of fleshly lusts, can now by grace be held as acceptable to God. The body is to be presented to the Holy Spirit. We are not to ask Him to infill us. He is in us by right of regeneration. We acknowledge His right by presenting ourselves once-for-all. Service is not for the business of making money, but it is for the purpose of making the Father known. Dedication of the body is an act, and the renewing of the mind is a process. Since the faculty of discernment functions faultily, there must be a continual renewing which strikes at the stagnation, complacency, and price of achievement so often manifested. Televised religion is a demonstration of the apostate condition of our nation.

The invisible assembly is the vital principle. The visible assembly is the assembly presented in testimony. Although Christ was cast out of the world nearly 2,000 years ago, He has a place in His assemblies on the earth during this apostate age. He said, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst” (Matt. 18:20 NASB). Christ’s presence is manifested by the doctrinal content of the message, not by the noise and fleshly activity of the service.