Ecclesiology 101 Part 5

Today we are discussing the second part of the foundation of the church. As a review, we have already discussed that Christ is the head of the church and that if a church does not follow His teachings or claim that He was something that He was not, then they are not a biblical church. Last week, we looked at the apostles and realized that there are three qualifications that an individual had to meet in order to have this title. They had to be chosen by Jesus, they had to perform signs, and they had to have witnessed the resurrected Christ.

Now, we will be discussing prophets, which is a topic that many disagree on and is something that has caused countless false religions to appear. The word “prophet” means “one who speaks in the place of”, they are a spokesman. Therefore, basic understanding would say that to be a prophet of Jesus Christ means that they must speak His word. As mentioned, there are many false prophets not just in the original church but even today. This is why Scripture gives us a way to identify those who are false prophets. The way to identify a false prophet is by examining what they are saying to Scripture.

“20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name, a word which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How will we recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you are not to be afraid of him.”

Deuteronomy 18:20-22

If anyone makes a claim regarding God’s word, and cannot back it up with Scripture then what they are saying is false. Unfortunately, there are many churches out there that fit this description and the only way to combat it is for believers to study God’s word and then speak out against the false teachings. Anyone can be fooled if they do not know what the Bible teaches.

There is an aspect of prophets that some disagree on. There are those who state that the age of prophets was completed once the New Testament was completed. However, I do not think this is true. If you followed along for our study on the gifts of the spirit, you would remember that Paul, who was an apostle and would be considered an authority by the early church, identified the gift of prophecy among the spiritual gifts. As mentioned above, a prophet is someone who speaks in the place of another. For those claiming to be prophets of Jesus Christ, they would need to have their statements being upheld by scripture. Christ is always the ultimate authority in the church, if someone is speaking something that goes against His word, they are no prophet of Christ.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex