The New Testament church is the one having a scriptural organization

In a universal sense

There are as many church organizations as there are religious denominations in today's world. Most are ecclesiastical in nature. This form of governmental structure gets its name from the Greek word ekkiesia (or) ecclesia, which originally meant "a general assembly of citizens of a state coming together for any purpose, but in this instance, it takes a religious meaning that refers to the organization of "a church and/or its clergy." An ecclesiastical government or church is one that is organized by its citizens or members, and, with majority or unanimous voting, originates and empowers the governing structure under which it is to function. From a religious standpoint, it is a self-governing body that establishes, and from time to time, adds to, takes from, or alters its governing doctrine, as it deems necessary to accommodate the current opinion of its membership. In various religious organizations, these legislative bodies are referred to as "councils," "synods," "assemblies," "conferences," "presbyteries," "delegations," or, sometimes, "general assemblies." It is from this legislative body that power and authority is vested in individuals, triumvirates, or various governing bodies that are responsible for initiating and/or carrying out the doctrine of the entire religious group.

Those that are privileged to live in a democratic society seem to have gravitated toward, and accepted, this type government in their individual religious bodies. From a broad sense, the church of Christ could be defined as ecclesiastical in the sense that it is an assembly or a congregation of God's people. However, the church does not profess to have an ever-changing doctrine that is amended from time to time to accommodate its members. The doctrine of Christ's church comes directly from the unabridged word of God,without being changed or compromised by any individual unilateral decision or by the majority voting of any "religious" democratic assembly of people. The body of Christ was not in its beginning, is not in the present age, and never, in future times, shall be an ecclesiastical body such as is found in, so-called Christian organizational bodies known to represent Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, or any Protestant denomination. The church of Christ is a monarchy, and it is the subject of the next topic of discussion. My opinion, your opinion, and the opinion of any other person during any age of history, has no authority to originate, nullify, or alter the organization of Christ's church.

In an individual congregational sense

First of all, there can not be found in the New Testament a multi-level governmental structure in Christ's church. There are no congregations, councils, synods, conventions, boards, or any other theological organization or body that is to rule over, or determine the doctrine of the entire, universal body of Christ referred to in Romans 16:16, as the churches of Christ. Neither are there any such "religious hierarchies" that has scriptural jurisdiction over any individual congregation of God's Christian family. Each body of Christ is to be under the scriptural, shepherding oversight as originally designed by God and recorded in pages of His Holy Spirit-inspired New Testament.

There is no specific scripture that can be referenced which established the leadership of the New Testament church of Christ. However, this we have assurance: under the Holy Spirit-inspired guidance of the apostles of Christ Jesus, the oversight of Christ's church was placed in the hands of an eldership consisting of a plurality of elders. This seemed to be inherent to God's plan for the church whose Head it Christ Jesus. Certainly Jesus designated His apostles the authority to establish His church and oversee its direction. But when apostolic oversight ceased, it was replaced byelders within each congregation of Christians. Other names given to those placed in the position of elders are overseers and bishops. However, the position of an elder is inferred to also as a presbyter, due to the fact that the office of the eldership is referred to in 1 Timothy 4:14 as the presbytery.

It is possible that the basic description of "elders" was carried over from the ruling "elders" referred to under Jewish law, considered to be the members making up the Jewish Sanhedrin. However, the duties of the "elders" of the Old Testament and those termed "elders" (bishops, presbyters, or overseers) of the New Testament church had duties and responsibilities that were significantly different from one another.

In order to understand that form of church government as it is found in the New Testament, one must not be confused with the modern form of religious government referred to as episcopacy. Episcopalism refers to a hierarchical system of government which has the jurisdictional oversight over all of the individual congregations that make up the entire religious body. Such is not the case within the New Testament church of Christ. An elder is not a diocesan, or one having the authority to govern a certain district of churches termed a diocese. Elders of Christ's church have authority over, and are responsible for, only a single congregation of God's people. The eldership of each church of Christ is responsible for only the membership that makes up its own body of Christians. It should be added here also, that each body of Christ is to be governed by a plurality of elders, referred to as the eldership. This is firmly established by numerous scriptures, such as: Acts 11:30, 14:23, 15:2, 20:17, 21:18, 1 Timothy 5:17, and James 5:14, as well as other scriptures using the term bishops in the place of elders.

Using the terms elders and bishops interchangeably, the apostle Paul, in his letters to both Timothy and Titus, gives us a full description of the qualifications required for one desiring to be, and appointed as an elder of Christ's church (See 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9). Based on these qualifications, not only must elders have sufficient wisdom gained by secular and family experience and possess an unimpeachable character both within and without of the church, but they also must have the scriptural ability to rightly teach, lead, and serve the congregation over which they are given oversight.

The only other office or position within the church of Christ is that of deacons. This title is only mentioned in Philippians 1:1 as offices within the church established in the city of Philippi, and in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 in which are found the qualifications required for this position. Although not referred to specifically as deacons, in general terms this office was first described in Acts 6:1-6. Here, a designation similar to that of deacons, was deemed necessary by the apostles of Christ in order to relieve them from serving the temporal, physical needs of the church members and allow the apostles to devote their time to instruction and filling their spiritual needs. Such are the basic responsibilities of the office of deacons in today's body of Christ, but only under the oversight of the elders of the congregation.

Preachers, teachers, song leaders, and others chosen assist in any manner within worship services and bible studies, are not considered to be under the heading of "church offices." Rather they are facilitators that are selected, and deemed qualified, by the elders of a congregation to carry out specific duties and responsibilities necessary for the spiritual benefit of the entire membership of the church over which they serve as leaders.

Note this commentary regarding this scripture: The origin of the office of deacon is usually related to the events described in Acts 6:1-6. The young Christian church in Jerusalem was experiencing growing pains, and it had become increasingly difficult for the apostles to distribute charitable gifts to its needy members without neglecting their ministry of prayer and preaching. The widows of Greek or Gentile background complained to the apostles that they were not getting their just share of food and money. To meet this critical need, seven men were chosen by the congregation and presented to the apostles (Acts 6:1-6). Although these men were not called deacons at that time, the Greek word used to describe their work comes from the same Greek root word.

While these "table servers" were appointed to relieve an emergency and their assignment may sound somewhat menial, these men possessed the very highest moral and spiritual credentials. They are described as "men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" (Acts 6:3). They were formally installed or commissioned in a service of prayer and the "laying on of hands" by the apostles (Acts 6:6) - a practice regarded as the scriptural precedent for the ordination of deacons as church officials. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Go to part six

By Keith Holder from his Rays Of Light Bible Lessons website

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