Mature saints walking worthy of their calling to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery cannot help but see the need for others to learn the truth. When the saints in the church have been equipped with sound doctrine and are able to walk worthy, then the church grows naturally. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” – Ephesians 4:1 We practice working so we can make work our practice, and walk worthy of our vocation in the Lord (Eph 4:1, Col 4:17). There is a time when you are served, but then a time when you must become the servant. Churches produce workmen that put their doctrine to work in themselves and in others. That is that they might walk worthy (Col 1:10).Ī church that teaches Jesus Christ according to the mystery should preach the 3 steps to walking worthy.īible study alone is not a properly functioning church. There is a goal to maturing saints in spiritual understanding. They need to be faithful to God’s word rightly divided (1 Cor 4:1-2). “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” – Col 1:28įirst, they need to grow.

Sinners just saved can easily share the gospel they believe, but are not equipped to understand the Bible, grow up into Christ, know his will, or walk worthy of their new vocation. The first function in a church is perfecting/ maturing/ presenting the saints complete in Christ.Ī church is not equipped to do ministry work if the workmen are all babies in understanding. The church is filled with saints: saved persons. You might think that the first function would be evangelism, but evangelism is an activity you can only do with unbelievers outside the church, not with believers inside the church. If you are starting a church established after the Pauline pattern and don’t know the growth plan, this is it. Now that the foundation is laid, the gifts are no more, but the functions remain. They were inspired under the ordained supervision of Paul as the masterbuilder (1 Cor 3:10 1 Cor 14:37). They were confirmed by the Spirit gifted apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers when the church was formed. They were established by the foundation layers of the church two thousand years ago.

There are three functions of a Pauline church.

What is the purposes of churches