Countryside Baptist Church, Pasig City The church’s occupation: being joined together. . .grows together. . .
being built
Baptist Ministerial Seminary
Sunday Seminary Lecture on The Church Covenant
Lesson 4: Church Covenant, Paragraph 2 (part 1) October 29, 2017
We engage therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love;
to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to
promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and
doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses
of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
We engage therefore. . .Engage = pledge = resolve
Note: This is a vow, promise, or agreement. Read: Deut. 23.21-23. Num. 30
A vow shall not be broken, but shall be kept.
God will hold the person guilty if the vow is not kept.
Point: The covenant principle in this passage promotes the deepening of the relationship
between God and His people. The purpose of the vow was for blessing, not binding.
by the aid of the Holy Spirit. . .
The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church
Note: Dominant emphasis is given today to the individual which reflects individualistic
orientation
Point: The NT gives prior significance to the church as the inhabitation of the Holy Spirit
1. The Spirit’s indwelling marks out the church’s temple identity
Read: 1 Cor. 3.16, 17
A warning against building the church with the wrong materials – wood, hay and stubble
These wrong materials refer to the product of false conversion by a wrong ministry
It is compared to the sin of temple-defilement. . .Psa. 79.1; Acts 21.28
Point: As the dwelling place of the Spirit, the Church has Spirit-defined ministry and
membership
Because it is God’s temple, its leadership must be of those whom God has called and
equipped
(a) A true Christian may yet enter wrongly in the ministry
(b) While he himself may be saved, he may cause damage to the souls of others
Because it is God’s temple, its membership must be fit ‘materials’ for the temple –
regenerate
2. The Spirit’s indwelling requires a church with proper order
Read: Eph. 2.19-22
The church is to be the place where reconciled people of the new humanity come
together as members of the household of God – for the dwelling place of God
The church is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets structured on the
centrality of Christ
together
Point: The inviolable foundation is apostolic and the irreversible orientation is Jesus Christ
Church order that is man-centered in orientation will hot have the presence of the Spirit
of God
Sadly, the happiness of the audience (seeker-friendly) has substituted for seeking the
presence of God
This is one ground for the regulative principle of the church – regulated by positive rules of
the Word
The Holy Spirit dwells in the Individual Believer
The turning point: Gal. 4.4-6
1. The Spirit’s indwelling personalizes the presence of Christ to the believer
Read: Rom. 8.9-11
This is true of every individual believer. . .note the singular
This enables the Christian to share in the mode of Christ’s life – ‘not in the flesh but in
the Spirit’
It is our claim to life now, and ultimately to the resurrection life
Point: Our experience of the indwelling Spirit is as the Spirit of Christ – Christ’s ownership
of us.
This is a positive ground for the theological argument that the Spirit is ‘of the Son’
All the works of the HS in the believer’s life have their beginning and foundation in the
work of Christ
2. The Spirit’s indwelling is the Christian’s basic enabling to live the Christian life
Read: 1 John 3.24; Rom. 8.13-15; Gal. 5.22-26; 1 Cor. 6.18-20
(a) Every Christian has the capability to live the Christian life through the Spirit
(b) The Christian life can only be lived in the chosen means and direction of the Spirit. . .
No complacency!
3. The Spirit’s indwelling in post-Pentecost period is permanent
Read: John 14.16-18
In contrast with Jesus’ temporary abiding, the Holy Spirit will be abiding permanently
In addition to just being a company (‘with you’), He will be an Inhabitant (‘in you’)
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit underscores the fact that much of the Christian life has to
do with the cultivation of the inner man. Eph. 3.16
to walk together in Christian love. . .
Note: Christian love is the very beginning of everything worthwhile.
Read: Mark 12.28-31, Read: John 13.34,35; Rom. 12.9-10
love - This Greek form for love, agapç, was used in a unique way by the early church of
God's self-giving love. This noun was not used often in classical Greek. The church
infused it with new meaning to describe God's special love. Love here is theologically
analogous to hesed (BDB 338), God's covenant loyalty and love, in the OT.