Autonomy and Authority -5
Autonomy and Divine Ownership
The autonomous character of the NT assemblies derives form the fact of the divine ownership (Acts 20.28). They belong to God and not man. Founded in the will of the Father from eternity past (Eph. 1.3-6), redeemed by the sacrificial work of the Son (Eph. 1.7-12), and united to Him by the energy and indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1.13-14), they are entirely of God and exist for divine purposes. These purposes are worship Godward (John 4:21 -24), and witness manward (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), while awaiting the divine consummation the "glory of God" ( Rom. 5:1-2; Phil . 3:20 -21), when God's eternal purpose will be realised (Eph. 3:20 ,21).
There is nothing human about the true NT assembly save only its membership, and these are now a spiritual and heavenly people, "saints in Christ Jesus" and "strangers and pilgrims", indwelt by God's Spirit, the purchased possession of Jesus Christ whose citizenship is in heaven ( Phil . 3:20; Heb. 12:23).
The very name given to describe the assembly suggests this divine ownership - it is called the "house of God" (1 Tim. 3:15); its essential nature is spiritual as indwelt by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 3:16); and its purpose is to proclaim the Gospel of God centred in the Person and work of Jesus Christ the Son of God. All of this establishes the absolute fact of a divine control or lordship over the assemblies whose name, nature, and purpose reflect the glorious work of the ineffable Trinity - a work central to the eternal purpose of God and carried out in this dispensation through the privileged medium of the assembly (Eph. 3:9-11 etc.).
Being a divine possession and part of so glorious and eternal a purpose, it is unthinkable that this holy assembly should come under the presumptuous hands of any controlling group of men. The assembly is "My assembly" said Christ, and must come under His authority as Purchaser and Lord. He has absolute purchase rights to impose His own terms governing its life and welfare to fulfil the purpose of His purchase. The principle of Matt. 20:15 is fully applicable here, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" And the prerogative of divine ownership is divine rule over His own purchased possession, with no mandate for any intermediary rule by human hands other than those appointed by the Owner. The only rule He has sanctioned for His assembly is local and through the group leadership of elders or under-shepherds (whose role we will discuss further on in this paper).
It would be presumption of a daring nature indeed for any to enter another's house and begin commanding the servants, changing the order of the home, and imposing his will on the children. That would soon call down the displeasure of the owner! So it is with God's house (1 Tim. 3.15), and we have no right to impose or introduce anything in His house inconsistent with His lordly rights and manifest will.
Autonomy-Three Constituents
As it relates to the local assembly, autonomy embraces three important constituents all comprehended under the basic concept of "independence" or "local responsibility": that is to say, independence of government or rule, independence of support or maintenance, and independence of testimony or propagation. Thus, NT assemblies were self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating, reliant upon and responsible to no outside authority or source whatsoever, but cast entirely upon the living Lord from whom they derived their existence.
The essence of the concept of independent local assemblies is that they are able to sustain their own existence and witness in an alien world, and stand on their own spiritual feet. This is the pattern seen in apostolic times where the Apostles, after preaching the Gospel and consolidating the fruit of their work by confirming the souls of the disciples and appointing elders in every assembly, "commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed" (Acts 14:21 -23), and then moved on. It is significant they did not organise them into a confederation of national, provincial, or even district churches, with a centralised system of control and assembly headquarters and group name—but rather each assembly was responsible for the development and maintenance of its own administration and life under the Headship of Christ.
Next:- Definition Of An Independent Assembly
