Expert: Marvin Howard - 5/16/2007

Question
QUESTION: Marvin,

Under the New Testament, what is the house of God?

Thanks,

Ernie
ANSWER: Hi!

Brother Ernie (I assume it is you), let me see if I can put this in a cogent form for you. However, I must first ask, when you say "New Testament," are you referring to when it was being given (Matthew through John), when it was in effect (after His death), or both?

When you specifiy this for me, I will work on an answer for you.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Heh, yeah, its me.  Sorry for the lack of clarification.  I mean during the New Testament period, in essence, after Christ was crucified and nailed the Old Covenant to that cross.
ANSWER: Hi!

Brother Ernie, thank you for the clarification. "The house of God" is a phrase with which all the Jews were familiar; having its origins in the Old Testament, and being a reference to the temple, and even earlier with the tabernacle. For a refresher, tabernacle can be translated as tent, and its definition is, "a dwelling place."

The phrase is used three times during the period for which you seek an answer. First, I will give you all three Scriptures, and include their context for you. Then we will endeavor to see what the common thread of these passages is, so that we may get the full idea.

1st Timothy 3:15, "Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

Hebrews 10:16-25, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

1st Peter 4:12-19, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

In Timothy, Paul is finishing up the qualifications of the elders and deacons. The purpose of these offices was to keep things from going askew doctrinally in his absence. This passage has a definite reference to corporate worship. Things must be done in a uniform manner, so that all who see may make a proper identification. In other words, we are to behave while in the house of God. This seems to carry a possibility that the church is a place. Nevertheless, before we draw any conclusions, let's look further.

The Hebrew writer compares the Old and New Covenants, showing how one derived from the other. Those who are in covenant today are those who have been baptized (Colossians 2:12), for it is our equivalent of the Abramic circumcision. From here, a reference is made to the tabernacle/temple worship of Israel with the use of the terms "holiest," "veil," and "high priest." Again, this is an obvious reference to corporate worship. Please notice here, that our hearts are rhontized (sprinkled) with the blood of Jesus at the point of our washing with water, which is our circumcision; baptism (immersion). The use of your phrase is applicable to individuals whose corporate worship is acceptable because of obedient faith.

Peter firmly declares that Christians are the house of God, and that judgment must begin with us. One thing is obvious from these passages. The house of God has moved from the physical realm of the temple, to the spiritual realm of our hearts. How then, can the phrase refer to both individuals and to corporate worship? I submit to you that the two are inseparable.

1st Peter 2:4-5, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

We are now, as individuals, living stones. We are related to, and fit together perfectly with, the cornerstone which is Christ. 1st Corinthians 6:19 says our body is now the temple (dwelling place or house) of God. If we are corrupt (sinful), the whole building is corrupted. It is the same as with any other house. If one stone is cracked, the whole thing can crumble and fall.

Nevertheless, the body of Christ is singular, yet is made of many branches. When Christians are together for corporate worship, we are the "house of God." Likewise, when we are separated, we are still the "house of God."

Colossians 3:17, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

Whatever we do, whether corporately or individually, we are to do it in the name of the Lord; we are to behave appropriately. We are the ambassadors to the world, both in how worship is conducted, and in how we live our lives. The "House of God" is both us as individual Christians, and us as the church: the house of God is us in every situation.

Brother Ernie, I pray I have answered this to your satisfaction. If I raised more questions in your mind, I want to try to help with them.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962

P.S.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to my newest video sermon. Here is the web address:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9118840870056918783

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Wow...and again, wow.  That was an awesome answer!  Best I've ever seen in fact on that question.  Thank you very much.  I have no doubts others who see your answer to that question will be edified.

But that question was asked as a precursor to this one:

In John 14:2, where are the mansions?  (Grk. mone' - "rooms, places to dwell" - used only one other time in the entire Bible in John 14:23).

Answer
Hi!

Brother Ernie, this is an excellent question. In fact, it is one that I debated to a degree with another man who once served in the eldership with me at Braswell.

Before we begin, we need some etymological background. Μονή is a noun. According to Thayer, It has a root word that is a verb. Quite surprisingly, from the meaning of the root, it is not used in Scripture. That is why Strong does not give it. Nevertheless, Thayer uses additional, classical Greek texts to derive his definitions. I am not going to give you the definition just yet; I want that idea (a root verb) to simmer in your head for a while longer.

Please consider the following passages.

John 18:36, "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."

Matthew 16:18-19, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

According to Matthew, the kingdom is the church. Luke records the present tense existence of the church in Acts 2:47. Yet, John declares that the kingdom is not of this earth. From this, one might ask, "Is the kingdom here, or is it not?"

Further thought will allow one to realize that a more accurate question would be, "Is the kingdom present tense, or future?" The answer must be that both are right in both cases. The kingdom is here in the present tense, and will continue in the life hereafter.

Next, we must consider the following passage.

1st Corinthians 15:42-44, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

Since the kingdom is already present and on earth, it is a physical, finite body; the church. As time progresses and ends, the church will become a Spiritual, infinite body in Heaven. That which is physical will not remain physical when there are no more physical elements to comprise it (c.f., 2nd Peter 3:10-12). Just as our bodies will change "in the twinkling of an eye" (1st Corinthians 15:52) into that which is spiritual, so will that of which our bodies are a part.

Trust me, I do see the import and obvious thrust of your question. Basically, you are seeking to discover how we are the dwelling place of Christ, and yet He had to go to Heaven to prepare our dwelling place with Him. Your question distills to one of time.

You must remember, Jesus is God (John 1:1-14. Moreover, the same passage declares that He was active in the creation. Now we will return to the definition of the root word from which μονή is derived.

Μονή is derived from μένω. This is pronounced (menō). Here is Thayer's entire definition for it:

1) to remain, abide
1a) in reference to place
1a1) to sojourn, tarry
1a2) not to depart
1a2a) to continue to be present
1a2b) to be held, kept, continually
1b) in reference to time
1b1) to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure
1b1a) of persons, to survive, live
1c) in reference to state or condition
1c1) to remain as one, not to become another or different
2) to wait for, await one
Part of Speech: verb
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: a root word
Citing in TDNT: 4:574, 581

Please notice the eternal nature of this word, present in every aspect of the definition. Eternal aspects from the root will automatically transfer into its derivatives. Therefore, the mansions which Christ will build are eternal. Now we can turn to answering your question directly.

John 14:2 declares that the mansions are yet to be built. They are eternal, and Jesus will be in Heaven when He builds them. However, nothing is said of the location of the mansions, yet. Location is not even discussed until verse 23. Christ could build them on earth while in Heaven, and I contend that this is the case as verse 23 says the same, eternal dwelling (same word, used nowhere else) we will share with Christ will be within us. This was at the time of the promise still strictly future tense. If Christ had not yet built the mansions, they could not be present or past tense.

Again, remember that Christ is God. Look what He did in 7 days in the creation accounts of Genesis. Now, look to the fact that Jesus walked in His resurrected body for 40 days after His resurrection, where He did not leave. The context of the dissertation continues into chapter 15, where the promise of the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) is given (15:26). Well, when Jesus left to prepare the mansions, instead of 7 days to create the whole world, He had 10 days with which to build these mansions.

Moreover, the arrival of these mansions had a connection with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. They are here, within us, while we are here on earth. We cohabit these mansions with Christ, if we are His. Such has been the case since the first of the physical mansions were inhabited by the Godhead at Pentecost.

The physical cannot transcend into the Spiritual. Therefore, when we depart, there will be no more physical bodies to contain and place limits upon the size and location of these mansions. Just as the kingdom will switch from physical to Spiritual status, likewise will the mansions in which our souls dwell.

In summary, before time ends, our bodies are the mansions, as they contain our souls; plus Christ, The Father, and The Spirit all cohabit our bodies. When our physical bodies vanish and become Spiritual bodies, these eternal mansions must translate to Heaven with us, in a Spiritual state, in order for God's Word to remain true; that the mansions are eternal, and that they will be with Christ. Just as the kingdom is both present and partly physical while here on earth, so are the mansions. Just as the kingdom is future and totally Spiritual after it leaves earth, so are the mansions. Heaven, not being physical, has no location such as we are used to dealing. Rather, it is more of a different plane of existence.

Being mortal, it is hard to wrap our minds around concepts that transcend our limited dimensions. The best we can do is to trust God, and take Him at His Word. There are eternal and glorious mansions, of which we can only partially witness in our present state. Once we receive our glory from Him at the resurrection, the mansions, like the kingdom, will be fully accessible. I, for one, can hardly wait to experience such magnificence.

Brother Ernie, trying to put Spiritual, eternal things into mortal words is quite difficult. I pray that I was able to do the task at least a modicum of justice. Let me know if you see where this needs any fine tuning.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962