Spicer Adventist University

OLD TESTAMENT ECCLESIOLOGY: THE CONTINUATION OF THE OLD

TESTAMENT CHURCH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

A term paper
presented in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the subject
Doctrine of the Church – THST 640

By
Abhishek Joy Minz – 17585021
April 2019
 Table of Contents

CHAPTER I ................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................... 1
Purpose of the Study .......................................................................................... 2
Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 2
Delimitation ....................................................................................................... 2
Methodology ...................................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER II .................................................................................................................. 3
HISTORCAL HERESIES AGAINST THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST .............Error!
Bookmark not defined.
Early Heresies .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER III ................................................................................................................ 9
BIBLICAL AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATION REGARDING THE HUMANITY
OF CHRIST ................................................................................................................... 9
Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER IV .............................................................................................................. 13
ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST ................ 13
Analysis............................................................................................................ 13
Implications of the Humanity of Jesus for Our Salvation..... Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER V ............................................................................................................... 15
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ............................................................................ 15
Summary .......................................................................................................... 15
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 17

i
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The idea of a “church” seems to be a New Testament concept which is translated

from the Greek word εκκλησια (ekklēsia). The Greek term was used to describe any

group of people gathered together for some purpose.1 Because of this, people believe

that the concept of the church is solely a New Testament idea that began after the

death and resurrection of Jesus.

But, was there a church in the Old Testament? And if yes, “are the Old

Testament and New Testament churches the same?”2 There are two general beliefs

regarding this view. One group says that “the Church of the New Testament … the

continuation and heir of the true Israel”3 whereas others refute this idea and say that it

was Jesus who established the church with reference to Matt 16:18 where Jesus tells

Peter that “upon this rock I will build my church”.

Statement of the Problem

The term “Christian” according to Acts 11:26 was first used in Antioch meaning

the “followers of Christ”. The term “church” was used for the body of believers as a

whole. But, since the term church is actually to be understood as “a body of believers”

1
John Brunt, “Ecclesiological Metaphors Then and Now”, ASRS,
https://lasierra.edu/asrs/15_John_Brunt (retrieved on April 02, 2014). PDF.
2
W. Stanford Reid, “The New Testament Belief in an Old Testament Church”, The
Evangelical Quarterly 24.2, (Oct. 1952), 194.
3
John W. Miller, “The Church in the Old Testament”, replica.palni.edu/cdm/printview
/collection/p15705coll18/id/649/type/compundobject/show/646PDF,

1
or even as a gathering of a group of people for some purpose. There arises the

problem, Was there a church in the Old Testament and is the New Testament Church

a continuation of the Old Testament body of believers?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to analyze the concept of a church from the Old

Testament times and whether the New Testament Church is a totally new entity

formed by Jesus Christ or whether it is in essence the continuation of the Old

Testament body of believers.

Significance of the Study

The conclusions of this study will be significant because it will help us

understand the existence and mission of the Church in the light of the Old Testament

body of believers. Because unless we know where we come from, we will not know

where we are headed to.

Delimitation

This study will be limited to a Biblical and Theological study on the concept of

the church and its mission through the ages. The idea of a church here is a universal

entity rather than a specific denomination or group.

Methodology

The researcher will use historical and Biblical resources and will also use

resources from scholars who have written material about the church and other

ecclesiological material.

2
 CHAPTER II

UNDERSTANDING THE WORD CHURCH

The concept of a church is a very vague idea. It can mean many things and is

interpreted in many ways. Though the meaning is a gathering of people for a purpose,

it has become synonymous to the Christian structure of worship and the Christian

body of believers. In this chapter, we will observe the usage of the term for the church

in various forms.

Usage of the Term Church

In the English language, the term church is actually derived from the Greek

kuriakon “which is the neuter adjective of kurios, “Lord,” and means, “belonging to

the Lord.” Kuriakon occurs only twice in the New Testament, neither time with

reference to the church as commonly used today. In 1 Cor 11:20 it refers to the Lord's

Supper and in Rev 1:10 to the Lord's Day.”1

The terms for “the Dutch kierke, the German kirche, and the Scots kirk,” also

come from the same root. “But the word translated “church” in the English Bible is

the Greek ekklesia (from which we get “ecclesiastical”)”2 The etymology of, “ekklesia

comes from ek (“out of”) and kaleo (“to call”). Thus, by word derivation, the church

consists of those “called out” of the world by God to himself. In this sense, they

1
Robert L. Saucy, The Church in God’s Program, (Chicago, MI: Moody Press, 1972), 11.
2
W. Gary Crampton, Richard E. Bacon, Built Upon the Rock: A Study of the Doctrine of the
Church, (Dallas, TX: Blue Banner Books, 2000), 7.

3
constitute the “assembly” of God’s people.”1 This idea was used by early Christians to

denote that the place where they met together meant that the place belongs to God or

is God’s house. Interestingly, in the New Testament, the “word ekklēsia is never used

of a building or meeting place, but always refers to the people who meet together for

worship, instruction, and fellowship.”2

The Greek Word

As discussed before, the Greek word used for the church is ekklēsia. It is derived

from the verb ekkaleo, a compound of ek, “out,” and kaleo, “to call or summon,”

which together mean “to call out.”3 The term ekklēsia occurs 114 times in the New

Testament. Usually it is used for its Greek meaning of an assembly of citizens (Acts

19:32, 39, 41).4 Other times it refers to an assembly of Israelites. However, in the

biblical text it mainly refers to the group of followers of Jesus Christ, whether in a

universal sense or, more frequently, in the sense of a local group of believers who

assemble for worship.5

Secular Usage

The term ekklēsia was used by the Greeks to mean “called forth”. It was a term

for the “assembly of citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly.” The

idea of summoning, however, soon passed away in usage.6 In Athens, it signified the

1
Ibid.,
2
Michael L. Dusing, “The New Testament Church,” Systematic Theology: A Pentecostal
Perspective, ed. Stanley M. Horton (Springfield, MO: Logion Press, 1995), 526.
3
Saucy, 11.
Brian P. Roden, “Ecclesiology: The Doctrine of the Chruch”, Project Paper, Assemblies of
4

God Theological Seminary, (April 2006), 1.

5
Gordon R. Lewis and Bruce A. Demarest. Integrative Theology, Volume 3. (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 260.
6
Saucy, 12. Quotes A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of
Historical Research.

4
constitutional assembly which met on previously fixed dates and did not need to be

specifically summoned. It differs from the special assemblies summoned to deal with

urgent matters which were called sunkletoi. We can even see the reference for it in a

non-biblical context in the Bible where the mobs at Ephesus twice called an ekklesiai.

(Acts 19:32, 41) which is used in the context of “lawful assembly”.

Usage in the Septuagint

The Septuagint which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures uses

the term ekklesia almost a hundred times and is always translated from the Hebrew

qahal or a word of the same root.1 Although qahal is also translated into seven other

words including sunagoge, from which the term Synagogue comes.

Qahal means simply an assembly, convocation or congregation and

can be used for almost any type of gathering of people. It doesn’t
necessarily refer to people gathering for worshipping or praising God,
rather it also refers to assemblies gathered for evil counsel (Gen49:6;
Ps 26:5); for civic affairs (I Ki 12:3; Pr 5:14); for war or invasion
(Num 22:4; Judg 20:2); for a company of returning exiles (Jer 31:8) :
or for a religious assembly to hear God's Word (Deu 9: 10) or worship
Him in some way (2 Ch 20:5; Neh 5: 13). The word is used for the
congregation of Israel (Mic 2:5; Num 16:3), but it is also used for
angels (Ps 89:5, ASV) and simply for an assembled multitude (Gen
28:3; 35:11).”2

This suggests that the term qahal in the Old Testament or its Septuagint

translation of ekklesia didn’t have any technical meaning to it. They were just used in

a general sense for any gathering of people for a purpose. To make the context a

religions one, it needed to be connected to “Lord” as in the assembly of the Lord to

make it understood as a gathering to worship God.

1
Saucy, 12.
2
Ibid., 13.

5
Usage in the New Testament

The usage of the term ekklesia in the New Testament changes form from the

description of a general assembly to the depiction of the Christian believers of God.

Though, as seen before, in two instances it is used with reference to an unruly mob

and for a lawful assembly (Acts 19: 32, 41 and 39).

Though it seems that the understanding of ekklesia as an assembly of God is

growing, there are several uses in the early writings of Paul where the idea is still not

concrete. Paul addresses his first letter “unto the church of the Thessalonians which is

in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 1:1). In the same letter he

writes, “The churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess 2:14),

while in the second epistle to the Thessalonians he uses the address: “Unto the church

of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 1:1).

These phrases indicate that ekklesia still carried a general meaning of "assembly”.

The term ecclesia is used 114 times in the New Testament. Out of those, five

references do not refer to the New Testament Church whereas the other 109 do. It is

interesting to note that it is not found anywhere in the Gospels except in three

instances in Matt 16:18 and Matt 18:17.

The usage of the term ekklesia are as follows,

1) Used to describe the local church. Most of the times, ekklesia refers to those who

profess faith in Christ and is used to denote a specific church or assembly. The plural

ekklesai is used to denote a group of churches or assemblies in a particular region

6
(Gal 1:22); or a nonspecified number of churches (2 Cor 11:8); or for all the churches

together (1 Co 7:17).1

2) Used to identify the universal church. Ekklesia is also used to mean the universal

church. All those who believe in Christ regardless of the geographical area are

considered as the church. Even when believers are scattered abroad and in their

homes, they are “the church” (Ac 8: 1-3).2 There is no literal gathering in this sense

but all are united by the Spirit in the body of Christ (Eph 4:4). This is sometimes

termed as the ‘invisible church’. Yet there is no reference to the invisible church in

the New Testament. This can only understood as those who profess or believe to be

Christians yet do not gather in an assembly. Due to this, the exact membership of the

church cannot be determined and therefore is called invisible. Yet in the New

Testament there was no membership in the invisible church without fellowship in a

local assembly. The universal church was the universal fellowship of believers who

met in visible local assemblies.3

Modern Usage

As seen before, the use of ekklesia was limited to a local and universal church.

At the local, it meant an assembly at a city or as a body of believers, or an assembly in

a particular region. Titles such as “Church of Ephesus” for believers in a place was

never used. Modern uses vary in terms such as, using the church to describe a solid

structure or edifice, using it as a title to describe a particular denomination such as the

“Catholic Church” or “Baptist Church”. Or even using it to name the church of a

following region such as the “Church of England”. Thus we see how the usage of the

1
Saucey, 16-17.
2
Ibid., 17.
3
Ibid., 17.

7
term ekklesia has changed through the ages and how it was used to emphasize

different things at different times.

Conclusion

We have observed how the word church comes from, the Greek kuriakon which

denotes belonging to the Lord and how it is translated in place of the Greek term

ekklesia. The original meaning was used to describe a gathering of people for a

purpose and didn’t have anything to do with the church assembly. Over time it

became attached to the believers of Christ who met at a particular place. It then also

began to be understood as the believers and professors of Christ in the invisible sense.

Finally in the modern age, it has been used to describe a Christian structure of

worship or even as a noun for Christian denominations.

8
 CHAPTER III

BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF THE CHURCH

The concept of the church is understood to have begun in the New Testament but

this chapter will examine the concept of the church as a body of believers even in the

Old Testament and see how it continues in the New Testament.

The Concept of the Church in the Old Testament

The church is always considered as the people of God. This imagery is very clear

in the verse 2 Cor 6:16 where God declares, “I will be their God, and they shall be my

people”. The concept of the church in the Old Testament as the people of God

emphasized God choosing them. God chose the Israelites as His people. Not only

does the Bible say that He chose them but it also says that He “created a people for

himself”1 After God chose Abraham as His representative, His descendants were

identified as God’s people and as His representatives.

There are a number of texts that specify that the Israelites were God’s people.2

These signified that the people were a group of believers who worshipped God just as

the New Testament Church does. In Romans 9:24-26 Paul applies the statements in

Hosea to God’s taking in of Gentiles as well as Jews.

1
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1985),
1035.
2
Exodus 15:13,16; Numbers 14:8; Deuteronomy 32:9-10; Isaiah 62:4; Jeremiah 12:7-10; and
Hosea 1:9-l0, 2:23

9
 The Old Testament uses the imagery of the grapevine and vineyard to symbolize

Israel. Isaiah explicitly says that Israel is God’s vineyard (Isa 5:7). But because Israel

didn’t observe God’s laws. He stripped them and scattered them among the

Babylonians and among the Assyrians.

God is described as the builder of Jerusalem who not only laid the foundations of

the earth but also for Israel. In the wilderness, God instructed Moses to build a

structure so that He may dwell among His people. (Exod 25:8). God dwelt among His

believers and they worshipped Him as one dwelling among them.

The New Testament Image of the Church

The New Testament Church is denoted by various images. One of the most

significant ones is the imagery of the church as the body of Christ.

The Church as the Body of Christ

The most apparent image of the church is that it is the body of Christ. This

imagery suggests that the church now is the center of Christ’s activity on earth just as

He was ministering bodily on earth. Paul explicitly says in 1 Cor 12:27, “Now you are

the body of Christ and individually members of it”. Because of this, every individual

is also pictured as connected to Christ through the body of the Church. Paul writes

that “Christ is in you” (Col 1:27).

The image of the body of Christ not only unites the .believers with Christ but

also unites each believer to each other. Every believer is connected to one another

through the unity that is brought by Christ. In fact Paul states, “all the members of the

body, though many, are one body”.1 Though each member is unique and different

1
1 Corinthians 12:12.

10
from the other, together, they can use their gifts for the edification and for the growth

of the church.1

The Church as Spiritual Israel

One of the underlying ideas of the New Testament Church is that it is spiritual

Israel. Paul wrote about this in Romans, Galatians and 1 Corinthians. Paul wrote to

the Galatians in chapter 3 verse 29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s

offspring, heirs according to promise.” Even in 1 Cor 10, Paul says that the warnings

and the experiences that Israel went through are “examples for us”. The New

Testament Church is admonished not to follow the mistakes that the Israelites did

because all those “are written for the admonition upon whom the end of the world are

come”.

The Church as the Bride of Christ

The imagery of marriage is applied to Christ and the church. Christ is the

Bridegroom who has chosen the church to be His bride (Eph 5:25-27). And using the

imagery of the Old Testament betrothal, Christ separates from His bride, the church

and the bride has to wait eagerly for His return. The church is asked to be faithful to

Him and remain spotless till the wedding supper of the Lamb when Jesus will come as

her bridegroom and take her with Him.

The Church as a Vine

Just as the Old Testament believers were likened to a vineyard and vine, so the

New Testament Church is also likened to a vine. Jesus Himself said, “I am the vine

and ye are the branches.” Those who remain in the vine will prosper but those who do

1
John K. McVay, “Biblical Metaphors for the Church and Adventist Ecclesiology” AUSS Vol
44, No. 2 (2016), 285-300.

11
not remain in the vine will be thrown away into the fire. This is very similar to Old

Testament imagery regarding Israel.

The Church as a Temple

The New Testament believers are called the Temple of the Holy Ghost. Just as

God dwelt among His people in the Old Testament, in the same way God dwells

among His church through the Holy Spirit. The idea of God as a builder is used the

New Testament in several places. Paul calls Him “the master builder”. 2 Cor 6:16

describes us as “temples of the Living God.”1

Conclusion

There are many parallels between the imagery used for God’s people in the Old

Testament and for the New Testament Church. The imagery of family and marriage is

one that unites the Old Testament believers and the New Testament believers with

God. Also, other images such as that of the Body and the Vine and as a temple of God

are also other uniting factors. The warnings for judgement are also similar for both the

ages. Thus we see a lot of similarity between the Old Testament believers of God and

the New Testament church by going through the imagery parallels.

1
McVay, 295.

12
 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS OF THE PASSAGES

This chapter is an analysis of the resources that deal with the idea of the Church

in the Old Testament and whether the concept of the Old Testament Church continues

in the New Testament Church or not.

Analysis

There are four main images that show the continuity of the Old Testament

Church to the New Testament Church. The first is the translation of the Hebrew qahal

which meant the congregation of Israel to ekklesia in Greek in the New Testament

which is used to refer to the church. “This establishes a very firm link of continuity

between the testaments.”1 The way Paul and Peter also employ Old Testament

imagery to the New Testament church also shows a continuity where the New

Testament Church now replaces the Old Testament covenant to Israel. The ethnicity is

no longer a factor to be chosen but rather belief in Jesus Christ.

The image of the church as the body of Christ may be the most recognized

metaphor for the new covenant believers. The Apostle Paul describes the body as

many different parts working together for a common purpose, with no part being

independent of the others (1 Cor. 12:12–27). While each individual member of the

1
Roden, 2.

13
church must have a personal relationship with Christ, there cannot be an

individualistic relationship that is separate from other believers.

A third image for the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks of both

individual believers (1 Cor. 6:19) and the corporate body of believers (1 Cor. 3:16) as

being the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament believers built a sanctuary for

God to dwell among them but the New Testament believers are a vessel in which the

Holy Spirit itself dwells.

The final imagery is that of marriage and family. The New Testament church is

the bride who waits for her groom whereas the Old Testament people were also brides

but they had defiled themselves by adultery and whoredom. The New Testament

churh is therefore admonished to keep herself pure until the return of her bride Lord

Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven.

Conclusion

This chapter analysed the Scriptural basis of the continuity of the church from

the Old Testament to the New Testament and found that there indeed is a continuation

in the idea of the believers of God from the Old Testament church to the believers of

the New Testament Church.

14
 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This chapter offers a summary of the research done by the researcher with regard

to the church and its continuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament by

going through Biblical and Theological resources.

Summary

The idea of the church is actually very vague and the researcher outlined the

historical development of the idea of the church and the various meanings that it had.

That was in the first chapter. The next chapter reviewed the various imagery used for

the people of God in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. The researcher

found various parallels between the imagery used. The next chapter analysed the

findings of the second chapter and saw that these ideas were used because the

members and leaders of the New Testament Church saw the New Testament body of

believers as a continuation of the Old Testament body of believers though under a

new covenant. They also used imagery from the Old Testament to describe the New

Testament Church.

Conclusion

This research aimed to find evidences for the continuation of the Old Testament

church in the New Testament and though there is no explicit mention of the “church”

in the Old Testament, there was always the idea of the church as a group of God’s

people who gathered together.

15
 According to the research, the researcher has found ample evidence that there

indeed is a continuation of the Old Testament idea of the church in the New

Testament and though they are not the same and are under different covenants, they

share the same imagery and also are under the same God. Thus, according to the

evidence, the New Testament Church is the continuation of the Old Testament body

of believers in God.

16
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brunt, John. “Ecclesiological Metaphors Then and Now”, ASRS,

https://lasierra.edu/asrs/15_John_Brunt (retrieved on April 02, 2014). PDF.

Crampton, W. Gary, Richard E. Bacon, Built Upon the Rock: A Study of the Doctrine
of the Church. Dallas, TX: Blue Banner Books, 2000.

Dusing, Michael L. “The New Testament Church,” Systematic Theology: A

Pentecostal Perspective, ed. Stanley M. Horton. Springfield, MO: Logion
Press, 1995.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1985.

Lewis, Gordon R. and Bruce A. Demarest. Integrative Theology, Volume 3. Grand

Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994.

McVay, John K. “Biblical Metaphors for the Church and Adventist Ecclesiology”
AUSS Vol 44, No. 2 (2016), 285-300.

Miller, John W. “The Church in the Old Testament”, replica.palni.edu/cdm/printview

/collection/p15705coll18/id/649/type/compundobject/show/646PDF,

Reid, W. Stanford. “The New Testament Belief in an Old Testament Church”, The
Evangelical Quarterly 24.2, (Oct. 1952), 192-204.

Roden, Brian P. “Ecclesiology: The Doctrine of the Chruch”, Project Paper,

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, (April 2006).

Saucy, Robert L. The Church in God’s Program. Chicago, MI: Moody Press, 1972.