Searching for Truth

The church of Christ is a community of the Holy Spirit. The community of believers “live by the Spirit,” reflect the “fruit of the Spirit,” and “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-26). As disciples of Christ we are Spirit filled, Spirit led, and function according to the Spirit’s gifts (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12). The presence and power of the Holy Spirit characterized the early church. The Holy Spirit is the life principle who animates, enlivens, and empowers the body of Christ. Without the Spirit the church is dead. As the Spirit’s love is poured into us (Romans 5:5), we are identifiable by our love for one another as the Jesus community (John 13:34-35). A community characterized by love for one another is a wonderful thing indeed, and it will be attractive to others. A community of love will bring healing, help, and hope as it lives out the gospel in the world in which it resides. Such a community brings Jesus into the lives it touches, as it is the body of Christ ...

The challenge for God’s people today is to recognize the effects of their present culture on their church communities and adopt a model or structure that best supports the level of fellowship that is true to biblical principles and directives. When discussing “the biblical model of the church,” we must be careful to understand that cultural and societal differences are normal and acceptable to the extent that they respect the scriptural concepts and principles of what a church is and why it exists. It is doubtful that a first century church in Jerusalem was an exact representation of a first century church in Philippi, Corinth, or Rome. We are very naïve to assume all the churches throughout the world were cookie cutter churches. It is also unlikely that churches in the first century were identical to churches of the second, third, or other centuries that followed. History bears this out. The important thing for us is to grasp the vital elements that matter to God regarding...