"Of God"

by Doodson, A. T. | Category: Churches Of God - Their Constitution And Functions | Feb 1951

The words which head this article occur quite frequently in the Scriptures, and it is of some importance to be quite clear as to what is involved in them. Strictly speaking they imply possession. A church of God is something which is God's, it belongs to Him, but something more is usually involved where these words are used.

Consider a similar construction in the words "a man of Macedonia" (Acts 16. 9). The man was evidently to Paul a man belonging to that country, but if we enquire how Paul knew that fact we see that there could be many ways of judging. There might have been a distinctive dress, or a distinctive speech, or the man might have revealed the fact himself. In English we would distinguish between a man from Scotland and a man of Scotland. There is something deeper than speech or dress involved in the latter construction. A man of Scotland has characteristics associated with that country, in mode of thought, as well as of expression. He is representative of his country, and is typical of his countrymen.

We see something of the same kind in the words "a man of God." He is God's man by possession, and by appointment. He is under the influence of God, and that which he says and does bears the mark of His Master and Owner. His life is a continual revelation of the fact that he is directly under the influence and teaching of God. As a man he does a man's work, but that work differs from the work of other men, and he is in the world as a man to do the will of God and to live a life on earth for God. It is not simply that he is doing something for God, but all men can see that he is God's man.

In the same way a child of God is such by the will of God. He is God's child, and we wish to stress this fact of possession, for too often we use the words "a child of God "when all we wish to convey is that the person has been "born again" and has received remission of sins. A child of God should show out as a child that he belongs to God, and by simple faith and trust in God he can live a childlike life upon the earth. He should never be mistaken for the child of another than God.

There are many other phrases with the same construction, and all imply the fact of possession by God. It is delightful to think of what we are supposed to be, characteristically, whether it be as child of God, son of God, man of God, but we wish to consider now what is involved in the expression "church of God." We see that a church of God is something which belongs to God in a special way. It is not merely a name given to one of many churches just for the sake of distinction. It was never God's purpose that there should be many churches in a town or city. Consider the following titles in the light of what we have said: Church of England, Church of Rome, Wesleyan Church, Congregational Church, and so on. Was it ever the intention of God that in place of the title divinely given, church of God," we should have a title which emphasizes the name of a country, or of a man, or of any system of government? Surely not! Such churches may embody things characteristic of English thought and custom, or the mode of worship introduced by an eminent and pious man, but that is very, very far from what is involved in being "of God." Lip service to God, standing for certain aspects of the truth of the Scriptures, setting forth good works, all these cannot make up for the loss sustained in not being able to stand boldly as "church of God."

If any of our readers are in any church which is not divinely called "church of God" we trust that they will ponder the reason why they are there. What God desired as a church for Himself was intended by Him to be devotedly His, so that its constitution should be of His making and decree, and those gathered into it should be there according to His calling. It was to do what a child of God as such, or even a man of God as such, could not do. If God had been content to possess children and men of God, He would not have gone further and decreed the existence of a church of God. It was because He desired, and even needed, something of a collective nature, that a church of God was called into being according to His own will, according to His own decrees as to who should be in it, and according to His own desire to see such a people functioning on earth, not as a mere collection of pious men, but as a people called together "of God." Such a church was to be known on the earth as distinctively God's so that in it the word of man would find no place; all that the church did would be manifestly in accordance with the revealed will of God, and such a church would operate among men in a collective way as a man of God would do as an individual.

There can be no question that the Scriptures show clearly that the first church of God which was called into being was manifestly of God, and that other churches of God in other cities than Jerusalem in like manner showed the same thing in the places where their service was rendered. It was a direct consequence of being "of God" that all these churches of God had the same constitution and origin, the conditions under which they were brought into existence were exactly the same. Those who were brought into those churches were called "of God," for without such a call they could not he in that which was wholly of God. Their doctrine was the same in all the churches and so was their practice, as we see from such scriptures as 1 Corinthians 7.17, 4.17, and Ii. 16. It was absolutely impossible that two churches of God could exist and differ in teaching and practice, at any rate so far as fundamental things were concerned. If there were serious differences, as distinct from minor variations in men's understanding and expression, for all men are not equal in gift, then one of those churches was in a false position. It may have been right originally, and truly of God in its calling, but if false teaching has gained a foothold the day must come when that church would cease to be "of God." It could not be recognized. by other churches of God as functioning according to the divine decrees, for man has a place of responsibility in some measure in these things. It is not to-day a personal revelation by a voice from heaven which is instrumental in calling a man to a place in a church of God, but there is the word of God, given once for all, and never to be added to by men, which contains all that is necessary to touch the heart and conscience, and to instruct the enquiring child of God. Such an one will be led to a church of God and will find there men of God standing together, themselves having been called in a past day, and now acting for God to receive, after due enquiry and satisfaction as to his spiritual history, the seeker after God, into the church of God. This is as it should be, for God is a God of order and not of confusion. After reception into the church, that child of God will henceforth stand with others in testimony for God, and we close by stressing the fundamental fact that those who stand for God must be "of God."

Doodson, A. T. | Feb 1951
Churches Of God - Their Constitution And Functions