When Paul speaks of the Old Testament being a “shadow of good things to come,” he’s saying that we find in the OT a physical form of the spiritual reality. The church is neither confined to a physical place for worship as was the Jewish and pagan religions (John 4:21) nor does it have a sacrificial animal and physical altar upon which to slaughter it. Instead, Jesus died once for all for sins and the Lord’s Supper is our post-sacrificial meal. Paul writes, “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Figures of speech, like illustrations in parables, are designed to illustrate the principle being taught. The figure doesn’t prove the truth of the thing being taught; it only illustrates it. For this reason, one can use the clarity of an illustration to teach error. Most any figure can be broken down to make it senseless and, therefore, useless. These figures are intended to give clarity to the principle thought or idea of the ekklesia.
- TEMPLE & HOLY PRIESTHOOD
The “called out” saved people are described with imagery that illustrates some features of their nature. Many such terms are employed in the Scriptures that reflect this relationship. For example, they are likened to a temple. The saved do not go to the temple. They are the temple. If you were a Jew living before 70 A.D., you could go to the temple to worship. The closest I have ever heard of anyone thinking of going to the church as a literal house was when a man was trying to exhort me to discipline my two-year-old to not run in the church (building) and then quoted this passage written by Paul:
“but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Paul’s description to Timothy does not describe the actions performed in a church building. Paul is not describing a local church organization with its official meeting times, working fund, and appointed officials to keep business running. This same mistake is made in other texts of scripture where prayer, worship, and the submission of women are discussed (1 Tim. 2:8-12). It is assumed that the teaching is applied in a church building or when you “go to church.” Yet, neither the “headship,” the “praying and prophesying” of 1 Corinthians 11, nor the “teaching… over a man” of 1 Timothy 2 is limited to the activities of congregational worship or a public gathering. It is easy to make this unwarranted conclusion when individual lives equate prayer and teaching to “church time” rather than a daily part of life. Christians are like ”living stones” built to form a spiritual house (or temple) and they are a holy priesthood that offers spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Pet. 2:4-5). So, Peter likens Christians as being both a temple and priests. Paul teaches that the saved are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16f; cf. 1 Cor. 6:19). In other words, God is seen as dwelling in his people, i.e. in each individual stone who makes it up.
This description is neither fulfilled when we suit up to “go to church” nor is our identity defined by our many gatherings. God’s people are described, here, as the temple of God whether physically gathered or not gathered. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) is not accomplished by performing membership duties in the corporate institution. The sacrifice of which Paul speaks is not confined to a church building any more than a cow would be confined to a corral. The descriptive figures describe a way of life each and every day. It is through the use of this imagery that the concept of “living sacrifice” finds its meaning. The Israelites of the Old Testament offered sacrifices of a dead animal and the priests served in the temple. In the New Testament, the concept is chosen and applied in a spiritual context. The temple is a type of the church, meaning, saved individuals who are separated unto God as saints. The saved are also priests. These are different figures for the same purpose even though it is difficult for us to imagine how the saved can be both a temple and a priesthood. In the same way that Jesus is likened to both a shepherd and a lamb, the church can be likened to both the temple and the priests. The significance of one is that God indwells his people whether physically assembled in a meeting of two or more or unassembled as individuals. In the illustration of cattle, bulls that sire a herd have calves that show noticeable characteristics of their father. The expectation is that a whole herd of calves show the same character traits. He is in them but you don’t have to see the entire herd to see him in one calf. Whether the calf is in the herd or separated in the barnyard from the rest, the traits of his father are visible. As His people, we bear the image of our Father.
- THE BODY
The church is also described as a body (Ephesians 1:22, 5:1-33) to emphasize its oneness (1 Cor. 12:13) and it’s guidance from its head (Col 1:23). Paul uses this imagery to also emphasize the mutual help and care of the members for each other (1 Cor. 12; Rom.12). This figure is not used to describe an institutional organization, or that there is just one such organization. Rather, the figure is used to describe the workings of a functional organism. Paul teaches that God has arranged the called out body of saved individuals by placing each member where He desires (v.18, 24). He concludes by writing, “you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it” (12:27). This context is not discussing local churches. Looking at the big picture, the body of Christ is the collectivity of all the saved. Viewing the body by focusing on individual members breaks it down into its component parts or units. We may see the body as one whole or we may view it by looking at its many members. Each member is necessary, works harmoniously, and contributes toward the well-being of the body. This is explained in two passages. First, he writes,
“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that, miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).
Similarly, he wrote,
“And he gave some to be apostles; and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
The application of these two texts are not to be found in a local church organization but in the working of each part of the body.