Ecclesiology

As we enter into Palm Sunday and Passion Week, it is appropriate that we focus our attention on the discourse that Jesus gave His disciples in the Upper Room—most of it after Judas left (John 13:30)—on the night before His death.

I asserted in the previous installment that Jesus took this opportunity to reveal many new truths associated with the church age to His apostles.

Evangelistic outreach and missions is of prime importance to the church. But neither the Westminster Confession (WCF) nor the Second London Baptist Confession (2LCF) gives much expression or emphasis to the church’s responsibility to take the gospel to all the nations. The chapter “Of the church” (WCF, ch. 25; 2LCF, ch.

What is the church’s mission? How does the mission of the church relate to the mission of God? Are they the same, or different?

The rich symbolism prescribed for the ancient Hebrew celebration of Pentecost culminated in the inauguration of a brand-new entity in the program of God. It all occurred, according to His perfect plan, on the Pentecost Sunday which was the 50^th day following the resurrection of Christ.

Christians throughout the world will celebrate Pentecost Sunday and the coming of the Holy Spirit—in a new and fresh way, to begin the church age—this coming Sunday.

Interestingly, these celebrations may not involve many of our readers, as oftentimes the churches in our circles do not make much of this day on the calendar.

I want to talk about what “the church” is. This will be a high-level discussion, not a defense of a particular kind of church (Baptists v. Methodists, etc.). I want to talk about this because I fear we forget just how important it is to get this right. As sectarian battles light up social media and the news (with no end in sight), this deceptively simple issue deserves some consideration.

There are different ways we use the word “church:”