The Relationship Between the Testaments: Church

What should Christians do when they meet together? What relationship should there be between the leaders of a congregation and the flock? What is the essence of Christian ministry? What place should ‘worship’ have in the Christian meeting?

These questions, and others like them, have divided Christendom for centuries. Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Charismatics, Signs and Wonders devotees—all would approach these questions from a different angle.

An incorrect or inadequate understanding of the relationship between the OT and NT is the source of much of the disagreement. In the first article in the series (last issue), Mark Strom took a broad look at how the OT and NT hang together.

In this article, we will apply that understanding to what we do in church. We will examine the subject under four headings:

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1. What did God's people do when they got together BC?
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2. What would our church look like if it wasn't for Jesus?
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3. What difference does Jesus make?
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4. What should the church look like AD?
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Before, we proceed, a note of caution: this whole subject is a little complex. In the material that follows, we have tried to be as simple and straightforward as possible, for reasons of space and clarity. This means that, in a few places, we have perhaps over-simplified or overgeneralized, and we hope you will bear this in mind as you read. The main thrust should be clear, and we hope it stimulates you to think about what we do in church.

1. What did God's people do when they got together BC?

What did Israel do when they got together? What sort of ‘ministry’ did they engage in?

The priests were dominant. In one sense, all of Israel were priests. God had said on Sinai: “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6). The people of Israel were mediators between God and the Gentile world Through them, God would bless the nations

Within Israel, a particular tribe, the Levites, had the priestly role, and within the Levites, some had special priestly functions Without going into the complex historical details of how the priesthood developed, mediation was at the heart of their role. The priests stood between the people and God and helped Israel draw near to God. The priests taught God's word and made sacrifices on the people's behalf.

Why was mediation so important? Mediation was a crucial part of the priestly function because the essence of Israelite worship was drawing near to God. And drawing near to a holy God wasn't easy. They first had to locate where he was—at the temple. They then had to deal with their sinfulness, for how can sinful man draw near to a holy God? This required a mediator—someone who could stand between sinful Israel and their holy God and offer sacrifices for the people's cleansing. Only after having been forgiven and ritually cleansed, could the godly Israelite ‘draw near’ to Yahweh.

Thus, the temple was the focus of Israel's corporate worship. There, they drew near to their God. The temple, with all its complicated rituals of sacrifice and cleansing, constantly reminded Israel both of God's nearness and his distance. They could gather around God at the temple, but they were forbidden to get too close. God was unapproachably holy.

Worship was a cultic practice. It was something Israel got together at the temple and ‘did’—in song, in praise, in dancing, in instrumental music, in sacrifice. God was there (in the Holy of Holies) and the people gathered around him.

However, the temple is nowhere described as ‘church’ in the OT. In fact, the only time that the word ‘church’ is used concerns the ‘gathering’ (‘churching’) of Israel around Mt Sinai. But more of this later.

2. What would our church look like if it wasn't for Jesus?

Imagine, if you can, that Christianity was just a Gentile offshoot of Judaism. Imagine that Jesus was important to us, but that we didn't go so far as to regard him as the fulfilment of the OT. Imagine that our Christian meetings were a modernized, Gentile version of the OT temple gathering, with a few distinctive Christian bits added in. What would they look like?

We would erect buildings that, like the temple, emphasized both the nearness and remoteness of God. When we entered these awesome edifices, we would sense something of God's presence, but also be overwhelmed by how holy and mighty he was and how much in need of a mediator we were. We would then have some sort of priest to act as this mediator, who would offer sacrifices to God on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins. He would teach us God's word, hear our confession of sins and then, as God's representative, absolve us.

Can you conceive of a church like this?

Perhaps, in different circumstances, our OT-style church would look different. Perhaps we wouldn't emphasize the mediator/sacrifice routine so much, but concentrate on worship. Just like the temple, we would gather around God and offer him all kinds of worship—in song, musical instruments, and dance. Our worship of God would be something we got together and ‘did’ by performing various acts together in his presence, for his benefit, as it were.

Can you conceive of a church like this?

These two examples are men of straw, but the point is an important one. Many churches today jump too quickly from OT temple practices to NT church practices. They do not seem to appreciate the difference that Jesus makes.

3. What difference does Jesus make?

It might be best to let the writer of Hebrews speak first:

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When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle ... He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant ... (Heb 9:11-15)

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Jesus comes to fulfil the law and the prophets (Matt 5:17). The law was only a shadow of the good things that are ours in Christ (Heb 10:1). Jesus makes a difference, because the law was not an end in itself. The OT law was a pointer to the real mediation between God and man that was to come in Christ.

The law had an important function. It provided categories of thought which made the gospel comprehensible. However, its forms and regulations were temporary. They belonged to a particular phase in salvation history, and with the coming of Christ that phase drew to a close—or should we say, found its fulfilment.

In the NT, Jesus is the temple. He is the place where God meets man. His body is the temple where the Holy Spirit dwells—it was destroyed and rebuilt in three days. And in Jesus, we have also become the temple of God. In the new age of the Spirit, there is no need for a physical temple, for God lives within each Christian and within the church as it gathers together (see 1 Cor 3:16 for the church/assembly as God's temple and 2 Cor 6:16 for the individual believer as God's temple). It is worth noting that in Rev 21, when we see the heavenly Jerusalem, there is no temple in the city because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev 21:22).

In the same way, Jesus is the great and final High Priest, procuring complete and eternal forgiveness for God's people (Heb 8-10). By being united with Christ we are also part of a new, royal priesthood called to serve God and declare his praises. We do not offer sacrifices for sins—that has been done, once for all—but we do offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, presenting our very selves as living sacrifices, which is our spiritual worship (see 1 Pet 2:9; Heb 13:15-16; Rom 12:1).

World history is rightly divided into BC and AD—“Before Christ” and “In the Year of Our Lord” (Latin: Anno Domini). Christ was the turning point of world history. After him, nothing could be the same.

Down through the centuries, Christians have failed to appreciate this. They have jumped from OT patterns of worship straight to their own, without filtering it through the NT. Applying OT temple patterns to 20th Century Christian churches is a serious error; so serious as to effectively deny the gospel message. It is the very error that the epistle to the Hebrews was written to combat. This false application of BC practices to AD churches comes in several forms, some of which we have already hinted at. Catholicism (in all its forms), with its mediatorial priests and sacrificial masses is perhaps the classic and extreme example, but there are other more subtle forms. Any church which regards the Sunday gathering in the church building as the supreme place of worship is still operating on the OT model. Unlike the Israelites, we no longer need to gather at a certain place in order to ‘draw near’ to God and perform acts of worship. We are all—individually and corporately—God's temple, and our spiritual worship is unlimited in its scope. We are now permanently in God's presence, unlike the Israelites who were only able to draw near to God occasionally at the temple.

In deciding whether we should dance in church, or sing in church, or even get into some festal shouting, we cannot simply say, “Well, it was good enough for the psalmist, so we should do it too.” Jesus makes a decisive difference. We cannot base our AD churches on BC practices.

4. What should the church look like AD?

In Deut 10:4, the gathering of Israel around Mt Sinai is described as “the day of the church” (NIV “the day of the assembly”). Israel ‘churched’ around God to hear what he would say to them.

Heb 12 takes up this image of Israel gathered around Sinai and transforms it into a picture of the church AD:

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You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast ...

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But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb 12:18-23)

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Christians are part of a heavenly church, gathered around God. We have been raised_up to sit with God in the heavenly places, through being united with Christ (cf. Eph 2:6; Col 3:1-3). This is the church—gathered in heaven, and in different locations and times on earth. In the future, at the end of age, the reality of that heavenly gathering will become plain to all people, when Jesus appears, and we with him (Col 3:1-4).

That is why the NT does not simply import OT words like ‘temple’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘priest’ and ‘worship’ into the NT church. The word ‘church’ (Gk. ekklesia) is an ordinary, everyday Greek word for ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’. The AD church is an assembly of God's people, reflecting and expressing and foreshadowing the heavenly gathering. If anything, it is modelled on the synagogue, rather than the temple.

What happens in the NT church? Again, we could turn to Hebrews:

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Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb 10:24-25)

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Christians gather to build one another up. In 1 Cor 12-14, Paul urges the Corinthians to allow the Edification Principle to determine what happens in their meetings. Whatever they do, it must be done “for the strengthening of the church” (1 Cor 14:26).

Therefore, practices like dancing, singing, drama, shouting, and handraising should be evaluated according to the Edification Principle. If something spurs us on to love God and obey his word, then it is a good thing to do when we gather. Of course, most of the abovementioned activities are promoted in churches today not as means for edification, but as ways to offer worship to God. This is BC thinking.

What we do in church and the way we conduct our ministries flow from our understanding of the Bible. Our understanding always affects our practice.

Although it is not often recognized as such, the relationship between the testaments is a key part of this understanding. Many of the controversies raging within Christendom revolve around how the OT relates to the NT, and how, therefore, we should use OT patterns and examples.

With regard to ‘church’, the adoption of OT patterns of temple, priest and worship can betray a serious misunderstanding of what Christ came to do.