The Nature of the Ekklesia

I have spent my time this week writing that the first-century church (ekklesia) should be viewed as a voluntary association. In particular, it is a messianic association. I believe the church/voluntary association linkage is critical to understanding correctly the instructions and descriptions contained in the Epistles to the churches. Once the connection is made, things get much clearer. I also believe this will become the scholarly consensus among NT scholars within the next decade.