{"id":2047,"date":"2018-09-12T00:13:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T00:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=2047"},"modified":"2018-10-23T01:57:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T01:57:17","slug":"what-constitutes-a-new-testament-church-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=2047","title":{"rendered":"What Constitutes a New Testament Church? Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1.\u00a0 Regenerate Membership<\/strong><\/p>\n

A New Testament Church is made up of Christians.\u00a0 A Christian is an individual who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit upon believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Titus 3:5-7<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Greek word translated washing<\/i> in Titus 3:5 is the word loutron\u00a0<\/em>which means\u00a0bath or laver.<\/em>\u00a0 This word loutron<\/em>\u00a0is the same word used in Ephesians 5:26 by the apostle Paul when he states: t<\/strong>hat he (God) might sanctify and cleanse it (the church) with the washing of water by the word.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Loutron is used metaphorically of the Word of God, as the instrument of spiritual<\/strong> cleansing.*<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The apostle Peter affirms this by declaring we are born\u00a0again\u00a0(to beget or bring forth again; to regenerate),<\/span>\u00a0not of corruptible\u00a0seed, but of\u00a0incorruptible, by the word of God,<\/span> which liveth and abideth for ever.\u00a0 \u00a0I Peter 1:23<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Palingenesia<\/em> is the Greek word for regeneration in Titus 3:5.\u00a0 This word is made up of two Greek words:\u00a0palin <\/em>which means again <\/em>and genesis <\/em>which means birth.*\u00a0<\/em> Does born again <\/em>sound familiar?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus answered and said unto him (Nicodemus),\u00a0Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Jesus answered,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (i.e. by the word, Ephesians 5:26\/I Peter 1:23) and\u00a0of\u00a0the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.<\/em>\u00a0 John 3:3-5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Are you regenerate?\u00a0 Have you been born again?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note: The writer of Hebrews describes the Word of God as quick<\/em>\u00a0which means living.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the word of God\u00a0is\u00a0quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and\u00a0is\u00a0a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.\u00a0 Hebrews 4:12<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Further Note: What is the meaning of the word church?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ekklesia is the Greek word for church;\u00a0ek<\/em>\u00a0meaning\u00a0out of<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0klesis<\/em>\u00a0meaning\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0call.<\/em>\u00a0 In the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the OT,\u00a0 this word was used to designate a gathering\u00a0 of Israel for any definite purpose.<\/em>\u00a0 In Christian usage ekklesia refers to either the whole company of the redeemed or to a local assembly of believers.<\/em>\u00a0 Simply put, the word for church means\u00a0the assembly of called out ones.*<\/em>\u00a0 The called out ones are the ones called out of the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The church is made up of those who have been washed\u00a0by God from their sins.\u00a0 As such, the church is unable to wash anyone else since it is made up of those who needed washing themselves.\u00a0 Only God can wash or regenerate through His Word and by His Spirit.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The candidate for washing is one who is capable of believing in God’s provision for his sin through the substitutionary death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and who is capable of realizing his own need of forgiveness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

*W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT Words<\/strong><\/p>\n

….let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1.\u00a0 Regenerate Membership A New Testament Church is made up of Christians.\u00a0 A Christian is an individual who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit upon believing in the death, burial and resurrection … Continue reading What Constitutes a New Testament Church? Part I<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2047"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2183,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047\/revisions\/2183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}