Question: Referring to Acts 10:47, 48, I thought baptism did not carry us as far as the assembly, but into the kingdom on earth. The baptizing of a household could not put them into the assembly, could it? A.
Answer: There are two aspects of the assembly or church of God in Scripture. Ephesians 4:4 is the body of Christ, and this was formed by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 12:13).
The other (Eph. 4:5) is the house of God, and this is formed by man through baptism. In 1 Corinthians 3:10, 12, 14, 15, 17, these are all builders in the house of God.
The body takes in all who are saved and sealed by the Spirit. The house takes in all who are baptized. Both of these aspects are spoken of in Scripture as the church or assembly of God (Eph. 1:22, 23; 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Cor. 1:2).
The house of God is therefore larger than the body of Christ, and because entrusted to man, becomes corrupted, and answers somewhat to the kingdom of heaven in its mysterious form. It is now likened to “a great house” (2 Tim. 2:20), nevertheless God dwells in it, and will dwell in it till the Lord takes all His people home.
In Acts 10 it had not taken that character, so we can speak of it as the house of God into which they were baptized. They had been sealed the moment they believed.
Baptism does not introduce anyone to the Lord’s Table; nor is it exact to speak of our little gathering as the assembly of God, but that we are only a few—two or three—gathered where, or how, all of Christ’s members should be gathered. In that way only can we speak of ourselves as God’s Assembly.
Question: What is the camp? Hebrews 13:13.
Answer: It is significant that this scripture is in the Epistle to the Hebrews where Christ Jesus supersedes all that was of the Levitical economy, and is more in contrast with it than comparison. We find Christ in His personal and official glories far above all that was of the law. He is now crowned with glory and honor at the right hand of the Majesty on high; yet He was rejected and crucified by the Jews down here on earth.
At His crucifixion the vail of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, signifying the setting aside of temple worship, for it was done by the hand of God; from the top where no human hand could reach, to the bottom. When Israel as a nation is restored, temple worship will again be resumed under the reign of Christ. But in Christianity, the place of worship is in the Holiest of all where the Christian enters by a new and living way (Heb. 10:19, 20), and his position on earth is rejected with Christ, who is, with man, still the rejected One.
Read carefully Galatians 2:19, 20, and notice that Paul there is dead to the law by the body of Christ. He is crucified with Christ, and in the power of the new life in Christ, he now lives. His motive the love of Christ, “who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The Christian shares in Christ’s victories, and goes inside the vail to worship, and shares Christ’s place in rejection, and this leads him outside the camp with Christ who suffered without the gate.
The profession of Christianity, which bears the name of Christ, has in principle gone back into Judaism, and puts man under the law to produce righteousness. It recognizes man in the flesh, as if good could be found in him, when Scripture says, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6. His ceremonies, his associations, his rules, his musical entertainments are all of the camp.
The worship of God is spiritual. It is the heart’s adoration of the Father and the Son, and it is by the Holy Ghost. (See John 4:23, 24. Phil. 3:3. Heb. 13:15). “We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” (Heb. 13:10). The heavenly and the earthly do not commingle. Christ cannot go with it.
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” (Heb. 13:10-16).