Welcome back to week 20. In week two of ecclesiology we will briefly examine the role of the church. What role does the church play in the believer’s life and counseling process?

The church plays several roles in the lives of believers. The church serves as a place where believers can corporately give glory to God (Eph. 3:21). The church is also where believers are fed the Word of God by the Shepherds whom God has placed over them (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28). When believers are consistently fed on God’s Word in the church they are edified by its proclamation (Eph. 4:15-16). So, the church also plays an edifying role in the life of believers.

The church is a place where believers are taught how to live. No, living right in the sight of God does not come naturally. Thus, it is in the church believers are taught how to live their lives and worship God in a biblical orderly fashion (1 Cor. 14:40).

The church plays a role in fellowship and exhortation. The church provides a unique place where believers can fellowship and identify with the visible body of Christ through participating in the Lord’s Supper, and in baptism (Acts 2:38-42; 8:36-39; Rom. 6:1-11; 1 Cor. 10:16; 11:28-32). In the church believers can exhort one another to stay faithful to Christ by living holy lives, and learning sound doctrine (Heb.10:24-25; 1 Tim.1:3; 2 Tim. 3:15-17). 

The church plays a role in discipline and reconciliation. The church is a very valuable tool that the Holy Spirit uses to convict people of their sins (Tit.1:3, 9). The church also plays the role of disciplinarian, in cases of unrepentant-willful sin, in the lives of believers and counselees (Matt.18:15-20). The end goal of church discipline is to win people to the Lord and bring about reconciliation between brothers and sisters in the Lord (Matt.18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4).

The church plays a role in biblical counseling. Biblical counseling is about what the church is about. Since the church is about worshiping God, helping believers grow into Christlikeness, and confronting our sin, it is obvious that it plays a central role in biblical counseling. Biblical counseling is not just in an office with a biblical counselor. When the pastor preaches, he is biblically counseling the congregation (Matt. 24:14; Tit. 1:3).^[1] Jay Adams asserts “…set up counseling for every new convert who comes into your congregation…every convert should be encouraged to obey Jesus Christ immediately.”^[2] The church must see that believers no longer walk as unbelievers (Eph. 4:17-32). The church’s role is to guide people into God glorifying lives.

We hope our short time considering ecclesiology and its role in the believer’s life was helpful. Lord willing, next week we will consider the question of female ordination as officers in the church. Until then may our Lord bless you and keep you.

^[1] Repentance is preached (Matt. 3:1-3; 4:17), the resurrection (Acts 4:2), the gospel (Rom. 10:15; Eph. 2:17).

^[2] Jay Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), 281.