The doctrine of the church is undergirded by a promise: I will build my church (Mat 16:18). The Head of the church, Jesus Christ, promises that He, Himself, will build His church. The Cornerstone, the Architect, the Builder, the Owner, the Foundation, the Lord unfolds the future course the “called out ones”, the Church, will have from Pentecost forward. The coming of the Holy Spirit will witness the Lord through the Spirit baptize (save) believers into His body i.e. the church (Acts 2:1-4, 41). This unique promise reveals a unique plan. Christ’s promise and plan for the church is focused on… building. The NT, particularly the epistles, 1 Cor 3:9-17; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:4-8, will employ various metaphors of and word pictures for building as it progressively manifests the gradual fulfillment of this promise, Christ’s promise, to build His church. The growth and development of the church is at the core of Christ’s design for His body; His ekklesia, His living stones (1 Pet 2:5).
Training men for the ministry of preaching the Word and shepherding the flock of God, of Christ, is practically speaking an application of this exhortation. Moulding leaders and future leaders of the church into Christ-like men so that they can make disciples of all the nations, so that the church consists of disciples equipped and equipping one another, mature and maturing, growing up, admonished and admonishing, taught and teaching, striving to present every man complete in Christ, is fundamentally an outworking of this promise and of this plan. At ITA, the classroom whereby the training takes place is situated within this biblical context; students study the Word with this overall narrative in mind and in view. Our stewardship in building up the body in and through Christ is never a matter of just study and passing down information; our training is never removed from the mandate and mission of the church as commanded by its Head, Christ. In Italy, this is all the more vital when the Head and the church itself at a human level have been usurped at least for the time being by a self-imposed head and a self-proclaimed church; tragically the Roman Pontiff (pope) and the Roman Catholic Church continue to hold a firm grip on the Italian people and on the Italian understanding (erroneous) of the church. ITA’s training in this regard is extremely close to the heat of the battle; Italy is the front line or battlefront. When it comes to proclaiming the truth regarding the true church and its true Head, we train our men on the line in which the opposing armies face each other.
This past month of May’s training and related events represents the continuing battle for the church; we serve to build His church on His foundation and by His grace.
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