BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH IN THE PAULINE EPISTLES A Paper Presented to Dr. Burer Dallas Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course NT430 Seminar in New Testament Theology by David Young April 2017 File #1629
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH IN THE PAULINE EPISTLES The Apostle Paul frequently makes mention of the church and the issues which arose in these early churches. 1 The ecclesial Pauline literature which is most often taught or examined addresses orthopraxy, or how the church should act. 2 With each issue that he writes about, Paul instructs the church how they ought to act in light of their identity and purpose. His understanding of the church defines his practical theology. Before addressing the ecclesial issues of sacraments, ordinances, leadership, spiritual gifts and the myriad of other issues, a proper foundation must be established of who the church is and what their purpose is. These are the two primary issues which this paper will address. First, how the church is defined in the Pauline writings, and second, what the purpose of the church is in Pauline writings. When Paul uses the word ἐκκλησία, it is most often describing a church or a group of churches and the situations surrounding them. 3 However, in the few instances when he uses ἐκκλησία and define the church, he uses two specific analogies: the body of Christ and the household of God. 4 He uses these analogies to describe who the church is as the body of Christ, and what their purpose is as the household of God. As the body of Christ, Paul shows the church to have unity without uniformity. 5 As a body which is composed of a vast variety of members each performing a unique task, the body of Christ is a mosaic of individuals. Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, male and female are all part of the body of Christ. 6 Not only does Paul shows that the people are diverse in their racial, socioeconomic and genetic makeup, but also in the spiritual gifts which they receive and how they operate within the church. Despite the vast differences between all the members of the body of Christ, they are all unified. 7 Just as many members of a body work together in harmony to each play their part in sustaining life, so each member of the body of Christ is unified together to advance the kingdom of God. This distinction is important as Paul points out that body is made up of those who are uniquely Christ, and one cannot partake of the Lord and partake of demons. 8 (1 Cor. 9:6) Paul s analogy of a body clearly defines who the church is: a vastly diverse people united together through their faith in Christ and his redeeming work. As the household, the purpose of the church is to be a place for God to dwell among his people. Similar to the concept of the temple in the Old Testament, Paul speaks of the church as the household of God, or even the temple of God. 9 Rather than being a building which is built by men, the church is a household made up of the people of faith. It is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ being the cornerstone. 10 Being interjoined together in community, the church is to be the place where God works among his people. 11 Out of this framework, Paul addresses the individual issues as they arise, and gives advice to others who are overseeing a local church. 12 When dealing with issues of division in a church, Paul urges the church toward unity as one body. 13 When dealing with the spiritual gifts, Paul reminds the believers that each member is serving a unique function for the building up of the whole body. When sin creeps into the community, he urges that it be dealt with, since there is no place for sin in the dwelling of God. 14 When writing to Titus and Timothy, he also encourages them to appoint leadership to help the community grow into a flourish place where God can dwell among his people. Therefore, to develop a practical ecclesiology through the writings of Paul, it must first be established that the church is the unified and diverse body of Christ which exists for God to dwell among his people in community. All issues of Pauline practical theology must be filtered through this lens. 2
1 Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 712-717. The scope of studying the church for this paper has been set in passages where Paul deals with the universal church as a whole. The principles of the universal church pass down to the local church. Schreiner notes that Paul fluidly moves between using church in reference to a local assembly, a plurality of local assemblies, and the universal church which will culminate in heaven. Paul spends the most time addressing the universal church in Colossians and Ephesians, however he also mentions it in Romans, 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. Since this paper is primarily focused on defining Paul s understanding of the church, the majority of passages which handle specific incidents or issues within a given local church will be set aside to focus on defining the church. 2 Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 853-1090. Both Wayne Grudem and Charles Ryrie in their respective works of systematic theology devote less than 10% of their writing on ecclesiology to defining the church and the remainder to dealing with practical ecclesiology or special issues regarding the church. The issues surrounding the gifts of the Spirit, the role of women in church and paedobaptism often receive more scrutiny and discussion than what it means to be the unified body of Christ. See also Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 455-508. 3 Of Paul s 62 uses of ἐκκλησία, only 22 refer explicitly to the universal church, while the other 42 refer to specific local bodies of believers or to a group of local bodies within a given city or region. These 42 references of ἐκκλησία do not having significant bearing on the purpose of this paper, however the other 22 reference which speak of the universal church provide a better understanding of the identity and purpose of the church. 4 Schreiner, 714-719. Schreiner highlights these two metaphors for the church as foundational for Paul s ecclesiology. There are five occurrences of ἐκκλησία in the letters of Paul which he uses to draw special attention to these metaphors in relation to the church. Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23, and Colossians 1:18, 24 each equate the church to the body of Christ. 1 Timothy 3:15 equates the church of the living God to the household of God. Both of these metaphors and mentioned or alluded to throughout Paul s writing. He mentions σῶμα in relation to the church 31 times in his epistles, most frequently in 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians. Paul also uses dwelling or building metaphors throughout his writing in regard to the church. In 1 Corinthians 3:9-14, he speaks of his own work of church planting as laying a foundation which others have built upon. In Galatians 6:10 he mentions the members of the church as members of the household of faith. From the root οικος, he also speaks of the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 14 as being for the building op of the church, which has heave house/building imagery tied in. 5 Schreiner, 714-716. Paul uses the body metaphor to convey several things about the church. His first use in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 is primarily concentrated on unity. In verse 17, Paul uses εἷς three times to emphasize the unity of the body. He focuses on the unity of the one bread which all partake of in communion as a sign of their unity. Later in 1 Corinthians 12, he uses the body metaphor to highlight the diversity of gifts given to believers. The body metaphor captures his idea that each member of the church is uniquely wired for certain functions, because of the gifts they have received. Verses 4-6 state that there are a variety of gifts, services, and activities, but it is the same Spirit, Lord and God of all. Both of the times Paul uses the body metaphor in 1 Corinthians, the focus is on unity. First there is a unity that is distinct from those outside, and second there is a unity that thrives on diversity. In his later letters, Paul develops 3
this metaphor. In Ephesians 2:16 Paul uses the body to show that both Jews and Greeks are united in one body. Then in Ephesians 4:4-16, he restates his view of the body from 1 Corinthians 12. This passage, however, develops the idea to include Christ as the head. Paul shows that is Christ who actively unites the body together and makes it work to build itself up in love. Finally, while discussing Christian marriage, Paul again uses the body analogy to show that husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church, which is his body. In Colossians, Paul only makes brief mention of the body metaphor highlighting unity in 3:15 and Christ s headship of the church in 1:18 and 2:19. Schreiner mentions the arguments against Pauline authorship of Ephesians and Colossians on the basis of the difference in the body metaphors used. However, as he rightly points out, Paul is doing something different with what he is saying in each book. Because he is trying to address issues of unity without uniformity in 1 Corinthians, he focuses on the relationship of different body parts working together for the whole. In Ephesians and Colossians, where Paul focuses on the role of Christ as the head, he is using the metaphor to highlight the position of Christ in relation to his church. The same metaphor can accomplish both goals, but it will be presented in a different way to communicate clearly. 6 David K. Lowery, A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, ed. Roy B. Zuck and Darrell L. Bock (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 286. Dr. Lowery makes not that this diversity is also seen in the diversity of different churches in different locations, yet each local body will be a part which forms the whole body of Christ, the universal church. Thompson draws attention to the uniqueness of this diversity for ancient associations akin to the church. The unifying factor among these Jews, Gentiles, males, females, rich, poor, slaves, free men is that they all submitted themselves under the teaching of Paul and the apostles. See also James Thompson, The Church According to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ (Grand Rapid, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014). 7 Edmund P. Clowney and Gerald Lewis. Bray, The Church (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 63-64. In Galatians 3:26-28. Paul emphasizes the close-knit bond believers have as the body of Christ. He states that believers are all sons of God. Akin to a familial relationship where there is a genetic bond which unites members of a family, there is a uniting bond among all members of church. Therefore, Paul can state that there are no longer, Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. While these genetic, social and physical identities are still true in the world, within the body of Christ, all are subsumed under Christ. The most important aspect of the believer s identity is not the gender race or class, but their union with Christ. Therefore, there can be great peace among a widely diverse group of people. 8 Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2012), 39-40. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, states that believers are members of Christ, specifically, that their bodies are members of Christ. This becomes important because members of Christ cannot be joined with a prostitute or engage in sexual immorality because that makes them members of another. The same idea transfers where Paul talks about the unity of the body in 1 Corinthians 10:17-20. He speaks of the church being one, symbolized by the one bread they eat together in communion. This bread is participation in the body of Christ, something unique to the church. It is important to note that there are boundaries about what is part of a body and what is not. If something which is part of a body departs from the body, this is severely damaging, as it is when something that is not part of the body attempts to break into the body. There are those who are part of the church, united with the body of Christ and those who are 4
not. It is important as the church that this line becomes clear. In attempting to placate seekers and make the church a carefree place to be, much damage can occur by not protecting those who are part of the body from straying and by not protecting the body from those outside the body seeking to do harm. 9 Schreiner, 717-719. Schreiner notes the importance of the temple imagery to those coming from Judaism, and even to those coming from pagan religious with a temple. Having a religion without a temple would be strange and out of place for people. There would be no place for priests to go and make sacrifices to God. Now, the Spirit dwells in believers as seen in 1 Corinthians 3:16. The believers offer their own bodies as living sacrifices of service to the Lord (Rom. 12:1). Paul clarifies in 1 Corinthians 6:16, that it is within the people of the church corporately that God makes his dwelling. 10 Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 397-407. Much ink has been spilt over the difference between 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, where Christ is the foundation, and Ephesians 2:20 where the apostles and prophets are the foundation, and Christ is the cornerstone. Hoehner makes the comment that the interpretation of one passage, such as 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 cannot be imposed on another like Ephesians 2:20, because the author is addressing different issues. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is speaking about a foundation which he himself laid. He is speaking of the local church as a building in this instance. Paul along with his fellow workers were doing the work of God in laying the foundation of the church in Corinth. He is stating that he laid the foundation of Christ upon which the church must be built. In Ephesians 2:20, a similar metaphor is being employed to raise a completely different point. The union of Jews and Greeks brings all believers together into the household of God. This is not just about the local church in Ephesus, but this is what God was doing throughout the work of Paul and to this day. Here, the people are not building on the foundation, but they are the building themselves. Paul is showing how starting with the foundation of the apostles and prophets, a community is being knit together, built up together into the dwelling place of God. For this analogy to work, as Hoehner states, Christ as the ἀκρογωνιαῖος should be interpreted as cornerstone and not capstone. He the beginning off which the whole building is founded. See also Schreiner, 717-719. 11 Part of the purpose of the Church as shown in Ephesians 3:10 where Paul states that through the Church God will make known his manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. The actions of the church as the unified body of diverse leaders declares the great wisdom of God to the heavens. This is according to God s eternal purpose, to demonstrate his right to rule, which he accomplished and brought to realization through his Son. The church is part of making the great wisdom of God known not only here on the earth so that all might believe, but on a grander scale to all the powers and authorities in the heavenly places. 12 My future plans to be involved with a parachurch organization are also greatly impacted by Paul s ecclesiology. As someone who is seeking to train the next generation of leaders in the church, it is important that I not lose my focus on the importance of the church and that I not elevate the parachurch organization I work with above it. The role of a parachurch should be to serve the church. As many churches do not have the capacity to train up their own future pastors, I want to engage with those seeking to work in the church and train them to be leaders in church. The church is where God is at work, and the tendency of some parachurch organizations is to see the way that God is using their work and draw resources and focus off the church and toward their ministry. In some ways it is easier to work in a parachurch because 5
you are able to pick your own people. It is easier to have unity when each person must have an acceptance letter to enter. But in the church, each person brings their own uniqueness to what God is doing. It is in the messiness of the church that God moves among his people. 13 While the issue in Paul s day was largely a divide between Jew and Greek, today in America the divide is between black and white. The church must make a stand following in the footsteps of Paul, that there is neither Jew nor Greek, African America nor Caucasian, nor Asian, nor Hispanic. The primary banner we all stand under is the banner of Christ. Each culture will bring its own uniqueness to the table, but this is no reason to only be in a church which conforms to your culture. The church in America should be a uniting force as Paul urged the church in Ephesus to be. 14 Since the church is the place where God dwells among his people, sin is a very serious thing within the church. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6, urges the church in Corinth to take sin seriously and remove the member who was unrepentant in their sin. In the church today, there is a battlefield over the sin of homosexuality. In an effort to love and accept people of diverse backgrounds (since the church is the body), many churches have begun to overlook the sin of homosexuality and treat it as just another piece of humanity which makes us all unique. The church must be diligent to hold to God s standard of sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they were removed from the presence of God. The church today must be willing to take a stand against sin in their midst. The church should love all, but to build its members up into the dwelling place of God, the sin must be dealt with. 6
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY Clowney, Edmund P., and Gerald Lewis. Bray. The Church. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995. Dever, Mark. The Church: The Gospel Made Visible. Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2012. Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000. Hoehner, Harold W. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999. Schreiner, Thomas R. New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Thompson, James. The Church According to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ. Grand Rapid, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014. Lowery, David K. A Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Edited by Roy B. Zuck and Darrell L. Bock. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.