Christ's Spotless Bride -- More New Testament Images of the Church (Part Three)

This is part three of a series on the doctrine of the church entitled Christ’s Spotless Bride. In the previous post, I introduced how the New Testament images of the church are but one way of approaching the doctrine of the church (attributes and marks are other such categories). To understand the value of these images, an analogy to the doctrine of God (theology proper) is in order. Scripture teaches us about God (who is incomprehensible in himself) not only by ascribing certain attributes to him (e.g., justice, knowledge, power) but also by identifying him as a certain kind of person or having a certain kind of role (e.g., king, shepherd, warrior). These New Testament images are analogical and anthropological. God is like but also unlike human kings, and being a king does not exhaust who God is.

The first half of this list of New Testament images of the church can be here. This essay picks up where I left off last time.

Bride of Christ

The imagery of the church as the bride of Christ illustrates the relationship between Jesus and his church as well as his authority to rule over it. According to Michael Horton,

This covenantal relationship [between God and his people] can also be expressed in terms of the marriage analogy, rooted first of all in the union of male and female, becoming “one flesh,” a point that will be developed more fully . . . [in] consideration of the body of Christ. It is especially in the prophets that the marital analogy is appealed to, particularly as a way of highlighting the gravity of Israel’s infidelity to the covenant.[1]

Paul describes the church as Christ’s bride in Ephesians 5:25-31. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus uses the term explicitly in 21:2, 9; 22:17 (cf. 19:9). “Bride” is the last designation used of the church in the New Testament . The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is said to await the people of God when the bridegroom returns for his bride on the last day.

This too draws on Old Testament imagery, although as mentioned by Horton, it is not as positive an image in the Old Testament as “people” is, since the Old Testament uses “bride” at times to condemn Israel as unfaithful (e.g., Hosea 1-2; Ezekiel 23). Yet, it is emphasized in the New Testament that sinful people are now cleansed by the washing of the water with the word. Horton puts it this way: “God bathed his bride and clothed her in the finest garments, and adorned her with the finest jewelry. God spared no expense for his bride.”[2]

Revelation 21 uses the image to emphasize the church’s beauty. She’s “adorned for her husband” (21:2) possesses “the glory of God” and is “radiant” (21:11). She reflects the merits of Christ and the sanctifying work of the Spirit applied to the people of God.

The notion of beauty is closely related to the church’s purity and lack of blemish that Paul highlights with the bridal image in Ephesians 5. But this image also highlights the love and sacrifice of Christ for the church as her husband. In turn, this sacrifice calls the church to proper love and submission to her head (Ephesians 5:2-27).

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

Sometimes the imagery of a house or household is closely connected with temple. In Ephesians 2:19-22 Paul speaks of a holy temple, and the “dwelling place of God.” The Spirit is the one who secures this new covenant reality. In 1 Peter 2:5, the apostle speaks of the church as “like living stones [which] are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Peter does not use the word “temple,” but he describes God’s “spiritual house” as one where a holy priesthood (all believers) offers spiritual sacrifices.

This makes sense insofar as a temple is the house of God, the place of God’s dwelling on earth among his people. But whereas we considered household imagery above in terms of a familial relationship, here we consider “house” in terms of space—sacred space where God is present and worshiped.

These themes are also present in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, when Paul writes, “do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” We are God’s temple because God’s Spirit dwells in us, and this temple is holy.

The Israel of God

In Isaiah 41:8-9, the prophet spoke of a future restoration of Israel in the following terms. “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, `You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off.’” The same promise is reiterated in the next chapter of Isaiah (42:1-7), when the LORD declares of his coming servant, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations” (v. 6). Isaiah continues to speak of this coming servant in chapters 44 (vv. 1-2) and 45 (v. 4). Based upon these passages and how they are interpreted in the New Testament (more on that momentarily), we can say with a fair bit of certainty that Jesus Christ is the true Israel because Isaiah’s Servant Songs are fulfilled in him (i.e., Philippians 2:7).

Furthermore, looking ahead to the “latter days,” Israel’s prophets speak of Gentiles being identified with Israel. In Isaiah 19:24-25, we read, “In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, `Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’” Similar expressions are found in Isaiah 56:3, 6-8; 66:18-21; Zechariah 2:11. Notice the inclusion of former Gentile foes among the people of God at some point in the future. The church does not “replace” Israel, but is the fulfillment of the inclusion of Gentiles among the people of God in the messianic age.

As the gospel goes out to all the earth (a reference to the Gentile nations), all Christians become members of Israel through union with Christ–the true Israel (Isaiah 44:1-5). Those who are of faith are children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7-9, 21). For Paul, every believer in Jesus, whether they be Jew or Gentile, is a member of the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). In Philippians 3:2-3, Gentile Christians are said to be “the circumcision.” In Romans 9:25-26, the Gentiles are even called “my people.” This is a rather impressive list identifying Christ and his people with Israel.

In Matthew 12:15-21, when Jesus withdrew from the crowds who had followed him, Matthew reports that this event fulfilled what had been spoken in Isaiah the prophet–the gospel going to the Gentiles. This event demonstrates that Jesus is the promised servant of the Lord. When Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick, Matthew saw in this the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies of a suffering servant who would take upon himself our infirmities and carry our diseases (Matthew 8:17 with Isaiah 53:4).

In his gospel, Luke speaks of both Israel (cf. Luke 1:54) and David as the servant of God (Luke 1:69). Yet in Acts, Luke pointedly speaks of Jesus as the servant of God (Acts 3:13). After his crucifixion, God raised Jesus from the dead so that people everywhere might be called to repentance (Acts 3:26). The conclusion is obvious—Jesus is the servant of YHWH and the true obedient son of God, Israel.

When the Ethiopian eunuch hears Isaiah 53:7-8 read aloud (the account of the suffering servant) and asks Philip about to whom this prophecy refers, Luke tells us that Philip informed the Ethiopian that this passage does indeed refer to Jesus (Acts 8:34-35).

In Hosea 11:1, Hosea predicted a time when “Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” But in Matthew 2:15, the evangelist tells us that Hosea’s prophecy was fulfilled when his parents took Jesus to Egypt to protect him from Herod’s “slaughter of the innocents” (Matthew 2:3-18). Yet, after Herod had died, God called Jesus and his family to return to Nazareth. Matthew takes a passage from Hosea (11:1), which clearly refers to national Israel (as YHWH’s son), and informs his readers that this passage is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus is Israel, YHWH’s son. Matthew’s goal is to prove to his largely Jewish audience that Jesus is the servant of the Lord, foretold throughout the Old Testament (especially Isaiah).

Pillar of the Truth

In 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul tells Timothy, “if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” The passage has an important context. The preceding material indicates that having well-qualified officers is essential for being a pillar of the truth (1 Timothy 3:1-13), while the verse that follows gives one of the great biblical summaries of doctrine (v. 16 — “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory”). The Church is the pillar of the truth because God has entrusted it with the gospel as summarized in verse 16, and has given it officers to serve in the name of Christ.

According to Louis Berkhof, Paul is telling us that the church is a citadel, guardian, and defender of truth against God’s enemies.[3]

The text is cited in the Catholic Catechism (under the heading of the Moral life and the Magisterium of the Church sec. 2032) as a proof-text for the Roman church to speak authoritatively in the arena of saving truth and morals:

The Church, the “pillar and bulwark of the truth,” “has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth.” “To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls.”

But on Rome’s reading of Paul’s imagery, Christ’s authority and his gospel are superseded by the Roman church, contrary to Paul’s point to Timothy.

Witness

According to J. A Heyns, “particularly in view of their task in this world, believers are also called witnesses.” This is a “juridical concept” as witnesses speak about the facts which they are familiar as though in a courtroom setting.[4] When this title is used of the church and its members, when the gospel is preached, the church is giving testimony to the truth and the efficacy of the gospel.

In Luke 24:48, Jesus tells his disciples, “You are witnesses of these things, and repeats this assertion in Acts 1:8: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” In John 15:27, he informs the disciples “you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” The notion of bearing “witness” applies specifically to the apostles (their testimony), and its efficacy depends upon the gift of the Holy Spirit (for conviction of the truth), and explicitly relates to the proclamation of Christ to “all nations” and the “ends of the earth.”

Revelation 11-12 extends the image of “witness” to the church as a whole. Revelation 11 portrays the church as “two witnesses” who prophesy for 42 months. These are the two olive trees of Zechariah 4, which point to the power of the Holy Spirit. When God asked Zechariah if he knew what the menorah imagery meant, and he said he did not know, the angel replied: “not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:3-6). This testimony gets the witnesses killed in the last days of this history. In Revelation12:17, it is the woman and her offspring who “keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” This too has unpleasant consequences: the dragon is furious and makes war on them.

Closely related is the idea of the church as God’s embassy on earth from which Christians serve as “ambassadors” sent by Christ into all the earth. Paul uses this image in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21,

all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

What authority does an ambassador possess? Only that of a messenger sent from his government to those in whose land the embassy is located. As it relates to Christ’s church,the ambassador (the preacher) is sent by the embassy (the church) to bring the king’s message (Jesus and the gospel) of reconciliation to the world.

The Jerusalem That Is Above, the New Jerusalem, or the Heavenly Jerusalem

The church is described as such in Galatians 4:26. “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” We find the same image mentioned in Hebrews 12:22, “but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.” This is also found in Revelation 12:2. “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

According to Berkhof,

in the Old Testament Jerusalem is represented as the place where God dwelt between the cherubim and where He symbolically established contact with His people. The New Testament evidently regards the Church as the spiritual counterpart of the Old Testament Jerusalem, and therefore applies to it the same name. According to this representation the Church is the dwelling place of God, in which the people of God are brought into communion with Him; and this dwelling place, while still in part on earth, belongs to the heavenly sphere.[5]

Remnant

In the course of redemptive history, remnant refers to those who survive an act of divine judgment, and who remain faithful to God’s promise of restoration. According to Michael Horton,

another analogy for the church is that of remnant . . . . In the New Testament as well as the Old, the church cannot take its identity for granted but must always receive it anew in faith. Throughout biblical history, the people of God surrender their missionary identity either by failing to bring God’s Word to the nations or by accommodating their faith and practice to the nations to such an extent that they become virtually indistinguishable from the world. Yet God always reserves a remnant, called out of the world, to belong to him.[6]

Horton continues,

The Word creates the church, and where this Word is received, proclaimed, taught, and applied in baptism and Eucharist, the church continues to exist and grow in this world. The remnant idea keeps us from an immanentistic [God as present within the churches institutions] and self-confident ecclesiology, with the church seen merely as a historical institution. The church’s status as church is always questionable, because it is simultaneously a historical institution and the result of an eschatological irruption from heaven, by the Spirit working through the Word.[7]

Horton concludes, tying this idea back to the “people of God.”

The notion of Israel being saved through a remnant is hardly a New Testament innovation. God’s prerogative in election has always been upheld in redemptive history, separating not only Cain from Seth, but Ishmael from Isaac and Esau from Jacob. Therefore, it is important not to confuse the national election of Israel (conditional) with the personal election of Israelites (unconditional). This, it seems to me, is the backbone of Paul’s argument in Romans 9–11. Thus, the designation “people of God” refers to a visible community identified by baptism, the proclamation of the gospel, and the Supper. It has formal offices for the administration of God’s covenantal blessings. And yet, “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Ro 9:6), and not all who belong outwardly to the people of God actually belong to God. “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Timothy 2:19).[8]

The use of the image of a remnant is fitting for the church as it lives out its pilgrim journey between the two ages—this age and the age to come.

To read the next essay: The Marks of the Church

___________________________________

[1] Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Christians on the Way, 724.

[2] Horton, The Christian Faith, 725.

[3] Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 558.

[4] Heyns, The Church, 62.

[5] Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 558.

[6] Horton, The Christian Faith, 721-722.

[7] Horton, The Christian Faith, 722.

[8] Horton, The Christian Faith, 722.