The document discusses the origins and nature of the church according to the Bible. It examines the Greek word "ekklesia" used in the New Testament to refer to the church. While ekklesia usually refers to local churches, some texts refer to a universal church composed of all believers. The document also explores different metaphors used in the Bible to describe attributes of the church, such as the body of Christ. It considers perspectives on whether the church began during Jesus' time or after his resurrection and ascension.

1. Ppt by Mark E. Hardgrove

2.  The Greek word for church is ekklesia,
from which we get the word,
ecclesiastical.
 The term ekklesia occurs some one
hundred and fifteen times in the NT
 It usually refers to the local church, but
many refer to the universal church, or
both the universal and the local.

3.  Most texts that deal with the universal
church are found in Paul’s writings,
particularly the later prison epistles.
 Some are found in the Gospels (Matt.
16:16-18).
 Some in Paul’s earlier writings (1 Cor.
12:13)
 And again, some pertain to both the
universal and the local church (1 Cor. 1:2)

4.  Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-27)
 Bride of Christ (Rev. 21:2; 19:7; 22:1; 2 Cor.
11:2)
 Wife of Christ (Eph. 5:24-25; cf. Rev. 21:9)
 Firstborn of Christ (Heb. 12:23)
 Building of Christ (Eph. 2:20; cf. 1 Pet. 2:7)
 A Spiritual House (1 Pet. 2:5)
 A Holy Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5)

5.  A Royal Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10)
 A Chosen People (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. Eph. 1:4)
 The People of God (1 Pet. 2:9-10)
 The Flock (John 10; 21:15-17; Acts 20:28)

6.  Christ is eternal, and the universal church
was chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4),
therefore in the mind of Goe, the church
of God is eternal.

7.  Christ’s body is “the joyful assembly,”
“the church of the firstborn, whose
names are written in heaven’ (Heb.
12:22-23). The heavenly Jerusalem refers
to the invisible church, the heavenly
body of believers.

8.  Luke records that “the Lord added to the
church” (Acts 2:47); the universal church grows
both in number and in quality.
 Ephesians 4:15-16 (NKJV)
 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up
in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit
together by what every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which
every part does its share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in love.

9.  Jesus said that hell (hades) would not
overcome His church (Matt. 16:18).
 A local church may fold, but His universal
church will never fail.

10.  The purpose of all creation is to bring
glory to God. Speaking of the church,
Paul wrote:
To the praise of his glorious grace, which
he has freely given us in the One he loves .
. . in order that we, who were the frist to
hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his
glory. . . . To him be glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever! Amen (Eph. 1:6; 12; 3:21)

11.  Along with Christ (the Chief
Cornerstone), the church was “built on
the foundation of the apostles” (Eph.
2:20).
 The apostles played and authoritative
role in the government of the local
churches, and gradually they
established self-governing local churches
under the leadership of elders and
deacons chosen by the congregation.

12.  The universal church, of which the local
church should be a reflection, is
composed of all who belong to Jesus
Christ, for in Him all are one.
Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus

13.  Not only are all saved persons in the
universal church, but only saved people
are in it. Unlike the local church which
contains both wheat and tares (Matt.
13:24-30), the universal church has a
totally and completely regenerate
membership.

14.  Believers are spiritually equal in Christ,
and again, the real mystery, given God’s
unconditional election of Israel as His
chosen nation (Gen. 12:1-3), is how
Gentiles could be brought into the
redemptive community on the same
ground (Col. 1:27).

15.  Other than the early post-Pentecostal
church in Jerusalem, there never has
been and never will be a truly catholic
(universal) church on earth.
 Only the invisible church is truly universal.

16. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 The church was not known in the OT (Eph.
3:3-6).
Response: As with topics such as the
Trinity, hell, life after death, and so forth,
while the full-blown theology of the church
may not have been in the OT, it can
certainly be argued that it is intimated
(Acts 7:38~”ekklessia in the wilderness”)

17. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 Christ declared that the church was yet
future (Matt. 16:16-18).
Response: The fact that Jesus said He
would build His church does not deny
continuity between Israel and the church
any more than it can be denied that there
is no continuity between a seed and a tree
and a seed. There is no Messiah without
the OT, no new covenant without the old.

18. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 His phrase “my church” indicates that it
did not begin until after Christ’s time (Matt.
16:16-18).
Response: The phrase “my church”
indicates ownership, not a point of origin.
Even if one argues for continuity between
the OT believers and the church, both
belong to Him.

19. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 The church’s foundation was not
completed until after Christ’s time (Eph.
2:20).
Response: Just as David gathered the
material for the Temple that Solomon
would build, the material for the church
comes from the OT.

20. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 The use of ekklesia of Israel in the OT does
not identify it with the NT church.
Response: The NT authors were not
ignorant of the use of ekklesia in the
Greek version of the OT. They never seek
to draw sharp lines of distinction between
the ekklesia in the OT and the NT. There is
a distinction, but not as sharply defined as
Geisler argues.

21. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 The church did not begin until after Christ
died and rose (Acts 20:28; Eph. 4:8-11).
Response: This is certainly the
dispensationalist view. However, before
Abraham was, Jesus said, “I am.” If Jesus
is present in the OT, then the incipient
church was present in Him.

22. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 The church (the body of Christ) began at
Pentecost by the baptism of the Holy Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13; cf. Acts 1:5).
Response: This is argument of non-
Pentecostals. They view the baptism of the
Holy Spirit as a baptism into the church
rather than an enduement of power. The
baptism was to empower the church that
already existed in the believers (Acts 1:8).

23. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 Peter pointed to Pentecost as the
“beginning” of the church (Acts 11:15).
Response: Peter nowhere mentions the
church in this quote. It is certainly the
beginning of Pentecost and the
empowered church, but not necessarily
the beginning of the church.

24. Geisler position followed by Dr. Hardgrove’s
response:
 The gifts needed to operate the church
were not given until after Christ ascended
(Eph. 4:11-12; cf. 1 Cor. 12:4ff.).
Response: The empowering of the church
with the gifts and the offices that would be
employed in the church reflects a new
dynamic in the relationship of believers
with God, but does not negate the
continuity of the church with the OT
believers.

25. True to a dispensationalist and non-
Pentecostal view of the church, Geisler
makes a sharp distinction between the
church and Israel. Unfortunately for
Geisler, Paul seems to argue that the
continuity between true Israel and the
church is, and has always been, true
faith in God (Rom. 9:6; Gal. 3:26-29; 6:16).