Christ is Head of
the Local Church
First
the New Testament is clear that Jesus
Christ is the Head of the church. Note
the following passages:
1 Corinthians 11:3 "But I
would have you know, that the head
of every man is Christ; and the head
of the woman is the man; and the
head of Christ is God."
Ephesians 4:15 "But
speaking the truth in love, may grow
up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ."
Ephesians 5:23 "For the
husband is the head of the wife,
even as Christ is the head of the
church: and he is the savior of the
body."
Nowhere
in the New Testament do you find any
statement that says anyone else is the
head of the local church. The bishop
or pastor is according to Acts 20:28
the "overseer" of the local
church "Take heed therefore
unto yourselves, and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath
made you overseers, to feed the church
of God, which he hath purchased with
his own blood." Ephesians
4:11-16 states:
"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: That we
henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait
to deceive; But speaking the truth
in love, may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, even
Christ: From whom the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted
by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, maketh
increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love."
Since
there are no more apostles since the
original ones that the Lord called,
and no more prophets in that God's
revelation which is the Bible is
complete, that leaves only the
evangelist and the pastor-teacher to
lead God's local assembly.
Christ is the
Word
Hebrews
1:1 explains the situation today as to
how God is speaking to and leading His
children, "God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, Hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by
whom also he made the worlds; Who
being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person, and
upholding all things by the word of
his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high."
The
passage says that God in the past
spoke or revealed himself to man in
various ways, but in the last days
(currently) "has spoken to us by
his Son" who is Jesus Christ.
Note that the statement is past tense
meaning it was spoken prior to this
time. John 1:1, 14-15 plainly identify
Jesus Christ as the "Word." "In
the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God. . . . And the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth. John bare witness of
him, and cried, saying, This was he of
whom I spake, He that cometh after me
is preferred before me: for he was
before me."
Further
Revelation 19:11-13 states that Jesus
Christ is the Word. "And I saw
heaven opened, and behold a white
horse; and he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make
war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns; and
he had a name written, that no man
knew, but he himself. And he was
clothed with a vesture dipped in
blood: and his name is called The Word
of God."
Therefore
it is plain that God is telling us
that He is directing us today by His
Word, Jesus Christ and that Word is
the "Logos" which is His
preserved Word the Scriptures, the
Bible. You cannot separate Jesus
Christ from the Word, because He is
the Word.
God
explains in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All
scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: That the
man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works."
Note
the thoroughness of the Scriptures in
stating that the Scriptures enable a
man to be perfect, and thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. In
other words there is nothing that the
Scriptures do not address and that a
man who follows them can be perfect in
all he does. There is no need for the
world and God's people to go anywhere
else but God to learn of Him and how
to receive forgiveness of sin and
eternal life. This leaves no need of
anything other than the Bible's
instruction for a man or local
assembly to follow the Lord
completely.
If
however, we follow those who deny the
sole authority of the Scriptures we
then are faced with having to
following the dictates of some
fallible group or individual instead
of going to God directly. To read and
follow the Bible is go directly to God
and get our instructions from Him.
One
critical principle that must be
understood is that we are to test
everything by the Word of God, the
Bible. It stands alone as the only
authority because it is God's own
words to us. God's written word gives
us the means to test what we are told
by men and churches. We must test the
polity, traditions, supposed
revelations and teaching of a church
by the Bible. If we do not accept the
Bible as our only authority then we
have no effective way to test the
authenticity of what we are told. (I
have an article at http://bible-truth.org/norevtod.htm
titled "Is God Still Giving Men
Revelation Today" which addresses
the issue of modern revelation.)
Many
churches do not follow the clear
teachings of the Bible yet claim they
are valid churches representing truth.
For example the Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox and most Protestant churches
baptize by sprinkling. However, the
New Testament word used for baptism
and the instruction concerning proper
baptism absolutely preclude any other
mode other than immersion. Where then
do these churches get their authority
to baptize by sprinkling? The answer
is from their church fathers and/or
its traditions. They are in clear
violation of God's word and the fact
is that some hierarchy of men in
authority ignored God's word and
instead instituted the practice based
on using human wisdom without any
biblical basis for doing so. Thus the
church or individual who follow such
teachings are not following the Lord,
but man. Many other examples could be
given, but this illustrates the point.
"Sola
Scriptura" is the Only Biblical
and Logical Position for a True Child
of God.
As
stated in the introductory comments
"sola Scripture" is not only
the only biblical position it is the
only logical position as well. A man
who follows the Bible, God's word, can
be assured that he is pleasing and
obeying God. The preacher or teacher
who teaches the Bible can know that he
is teaching God's truth. Following any
only "authority" degrades
God, His word and puts some man or man
made institution between us and God.
God instructs us not to go to some man
or church as our authority, but to
God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself:
"Seeing
then that we have a great high priest,
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need"
(Hebrews 4:14-16).
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