Organization of the Church - Part 5
By Allan E. McNabb

We continue our series on the organization of the church, studying God’s word concerning teachers and saints.

Teachers
The word “teacher” means one who instructs and trains.  The word is used of God, Christ, apostles, pastors, people who instruct others in the church, and parents.

Like first century Antioch, teachers are in local congregations (Acts 13:1).

Teachers receive a stricter judgment, held accountable for the things they teach (Ja. 3:1), which may cause some Christians to shrink from their responsibility.  But, all of us have a responsibility to grow and mature, becoming teachers in whatever capacity God blesses us (Heb. 5:11-14).

Qualities of Teachers
Although there aren’t specific qualifications for teachers, there are qualities teachers should possess.

  • Not dull of hearing (Heb. 5:11).
  • Learned the elementary principles of the oracles of God (Heb. 5:12; 6:1-2).
  • Accustomed to (skilled in) the word of righteousness (Heb. 5:13).

Senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:14).

  • Faithful (2 Tim. 2:2).
  • Able to teach (2 Tim. 2:2).

Work of Teachers
The work of teachers includes:

  • Equipping the saints, building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12).
  • Older women teaching younger women (Tit. 2:3-5).

False Teachers
Peter tells us there will always be false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1).  Therefore, every generation must watch out for people who teach false doctrines, drawing Christians away from God (Acts 20:28-30).

Anyone who teaches a false doctrine is “accursed,” meaning doomed to destruction.

Paul says, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9)!

Saints
The word “saint” denotes one who is sanctified and holy.

In many churches, saints compose a special sub-group of people who’ve meritoriously met a prescribed criteria.  But this is not the case in God’s church, in which every member is a saint.

From Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians, we learn the following about saints:

  • Saint are people who believe — Christians (2 Th. 1:10).
  • They are people who know God and obey the gospel (2 Th. 1:8).

And from Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, we learn that saints are all who are “in Christ” (Eph. 1:1).  These people were baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27), and have the free gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23).

Review
Today in the church we have:

  • Christ as the head.
  • Elders as the spiritual overseers of the church.
  • Deacons who manage the affairs of the church under the elders’ oversight.
  • Evangelists who preach the word of God.
  • Teachers who instruct and train.
  • Saints, a term used of all Christians.

We don’t have apostles or prophets upon the earth.

  • Paul was the last person qualified, and appointed as an apostle.
  • God no longer gives people miraculous power, so there can’t be apostles or prophets.