a Thing of the Past?

Some thoughts for listeners of Family Radio

By Rev. Jim McCune

© 2003 All Rights Reserved

 

Unless you have been a listener to Family Radio in recent months, the term "corporate church" most likely has little meaning to you. On the other hand, regular listeners to the Open Forum program, which airs the teaching of Mr. Harold Camping, have heard the never-tiring refrain that God is finished with "the corporate church."

 

The term "corporate church" is not in the usual repertoire of theological vocabulary Christians use when discussing the church. You won’t find the term used in the Bible. Nor do you find it mentioned in the historic creeds of the church. For this reason, when pastors, theologians, and educated Christian laymen hear the assertion that God is finished with the corporate church, these believers conclude that Mr. Camping is speaking of the end of the church itself. Yet, if you listen long enough to his teachings, you find that Mr. Camping still believes in an invisible church made up of elect believers who gather with other "like-minded believers."

 

It would probably be more accurate to say that when you hear Family Radio speaking of the corporate church, what is being described is the church as a visible organization with office bearers (pastors, elders and deacons) and with sacraments (the Lord’s Supper and Baptism). It is this "organizational" (or "corporate") character of the church that is said to be now a thing of the past. True believers are still to gather for worship. But there are to be no pastors to teach or elders to keep watch over the flock. Nor, according to the teaching, are the sacraments to be any longer observed. This, with the addition of the assertion that the Holy Spirit has left the "corporate" church (meaning that God will no longer bring people to faith in Christ through the church), has been the teaching heard on the airwaves of Family Radio for more than a year.

 

But is it true? Does the Bible speak of the church as existing without office-bearers or without sacraments? The answer is, "no."

 

Scripture teaches that the church is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). Christ himself gave the offices to the church as a gift of His love, as we read in Ephesians 4:11-13:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . (KJV)

What is interesting about this passage is that little word "till" in verse 13. The offices of the church, given for the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body of Christ, were to remain in effect "till (until) we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man." Clearly, that has not yet happened. That kind of perfection among the people of God will not take place until Jesus returns. Until then, the offices play an important role in the church of Christ. This is not to say that all of the offices remain until the return of Christ. The office of apostle, for instance, was foundational and pertained to the church in its infancy. The Bible makes clear that God provided other offices to succeed the office of apostle, namely, the offices of pastor, and elder, and deacon. This is why we find detailed requirements for those offices in the New Testament, along with the command of the Apostle Paul to Titus:

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee . . . Titus 1:5 (KJV)

There is not a hint anywhere in the New Testament that the offices of pastor and elder and deacon would cease before the return of Christ. On the contrary, the Scripture itself expressly says that the offices of the church shall remain until "we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . ."

 

Likewise, the assertion that the sacraments are no longer to be observed goes contrary to the plain statement of the Apostle Paul who says of the Lord’s Supper:

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 1Cor 11:26 (KJV)

Again, clearly, the remembrance of Christ in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is to be observed "till He come."

 

Jesus’ last words before He ascended to heaven were:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20, KJV)

Baptism, as ordained by Christ, is something that is to be administered along with the preaching of the gospel "to the end of the world." It is only as we go and teach and baptize that the promise that Christ will be with us to the end of the world is fulfilled.

 

You see, friend, the assertion that Christ is done with the corporate church, in the sense that He has abolished the offices and the sacraments of the church is contrary to the plain teaching of scripture. No amount of allegorical interpretation can get around it. If you’re tempted to leave a true church of Christ that preaches the Bible, has the offices laid down in Scripture, and seeks to rightly administer the sacraments, because of the teachings you’ve heard on Family Radio, I implore you to examine the Scriptures yourself. A true church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as defined in Scripture, is a church that truly preaches the Word of God, has the offices ordained by Christ, and rightly administers the sacraments also ordained by Christ.

 

There is one more thing that needs to be said, and it is a very serious thing. It concerns the charge that God has taken his Holy Spirit from the visible, organized church. Now this is a very serious charge indeed. If it is true, there must not be a single true church of Jesus Christ on the face of the earth that still has the Spirit and where people are being transformed by the Spirit into new creatures in Christ. If there is even one such true church, then those who assert that the Holy Spirit has been taken from the church are committing a grave sin against the Holy Spirit. They are attributing the work of God to the work of the devil. And that, friend, is the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, a sin, which Jesus said, has frightening consequences.

 

Friend, if you’ve been listening to Family Radio and are familiar with the teachings I’ve described, consider these things. Pray about them. Read over again the Scripture passages presented here. And return to Jesus Christ. He is the only King and Head of His church. And His church shall continue on earth with its offices and sacraments in the power of His Holy Spirit until He comes again. For He Himself has said that He would be with His followers until the end of the world.

 

Rev. Jim McCune is Pastor of Congregational Life at Cottage Grove Christian Reformed Church in South Holland, IL

 

http://www.cottagegrovechurch.com

 

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