CHRIST HAS ONLY ONE KIND OF CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

And in one local place!!

 

The Greek word translated ‘church’ is Ekklesia. It has a secular meaning, that of ‘assembly’, which is found three times in Acts 19 to describe the Town Council in Ephesus (vs 32 & 41) and the Court of Law in that city (v 39).

When used in its Christian connotation, it has two meanings. Firstly, it designates a single congregation. Paul writes to ‘The church of God which is in Corinth’ but also to ‘The churches of Galatia’. Nowhere are the congregations of one area put together and called a ‘church’. Paul writes, ‘I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea…’ (Gal 1:22 ). The church in Corinth may well have been split into ‘House Groups’ for much of the time since it did not have its own building, but it was able to meet together as a body on regular occasions (cf. 1 Cor 14:23 ), and so Paul refers to it as a single ekklesia.

Secondly, ekklesia is also used to describe the whole people of God, the entire body of Christ. Paul writes that, ‘I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it’ (Gal 1:13 ), but when he met the Lord on the Damascus road, he was asked, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ This usage may be said to represent that great assembly of all Christians which is described in Rev 7:9ff.

So we can see immediately that when we speak of, ‘The Medieval Church’, ‘the Church in Europe’, ‘the Church in Iraq’, ‘the Afro-Caribbean Church’ or, God forbid, ‘the Gay and Lesbian Church’, we are using ekklesia in a way that is unknown in the Bible. We should use the plural, or speak of ‘Christianity in the Middle Ages’ etc. Nor should we speak of buildings as ‘churches’. The church is the people. There is the story of the evangelical minister of a church that met in a beautiful old building. As he was opening it up in preparation for the morning service, he was approached by two tourists. “May we see your church please,” they asked. “Certainly,” he replied. “It will be along in about an hour!”

We make a serious error if we describe denominations as churches- ‘The Methodist Church’ or ‘the Church of England.’ Far too often when people speak of ‘my church’, they are thinking of their denomination. Most denominations are utterly different from what they were when they were founded; rot and decay set in, and they rarely come in through the pew- a denomination is like a dead fish; it decays from the head down.

A church is the people described in Acts 2:41-47. They have gladly received the word of God, been baptized, and now they meet together, learning more of the faith, joining together in the Lord’s supper and in prayer, looking to each other’s needs, having joy in their hearts and praising God together.

A church is the people described in 1 Corinthians 1:2-8. They have been set apart in Christ, called in holiness, have received undeserved favour and peace from God; their knowledge of God and their witness to Him comes from the Holy Spirit, who has given them corporately all the gifts they need to function as a church, as they eagerly await the return of their Lord who will preserve them in Him until that day.

In other words, a church is Christians. There is much talk of a ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ Church, but this finds limited support in Scripture. Many commentators have tried to import the concept into the Bible, mangling most wretchedly the Parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt 13:24-30 ) by claiming that the field represents the ‘visible’ Church. It does not! Our Lord has given us the interpretation of that parable, and ‘The field is the world’ (Matt 13:38 ). The Church, as we have seen, is made up of Christians. That there will be those who join a church but are later found not to be Christians is admitted. Jude writes, ‘For certain men have crept in unnoticed’ (Jude 4 ). Those who prove themselves not to be Christians, whether by their behaviour or their doctrines are to be put out of the church (1 Corinthians 5:13; Titus 3:10 ). Discipline is an integral part of a true church. Initially it is aimed at producing repentance (2 Corinthians 2:6-11 ), but if that is not forthcoming then exclusion is made permanent, because unbelievers are no part of the Church of Christ (cf. 1 John 2:19 ).

In the first appearance of ekklesia in the Bible, the Lord Jesus declared, ‘I will build My church’ (Matt 16:18 ). The tense is future; the number is singular.. Our Lord laid the foundations of His Church during His time on earth. Ephesians 2:20 tells us that this foundation is that of the ‘apostles and prophets’, and whether we believe that the prophets were of the Old or New Testament, clearly there were no apostles before the time of Christ. If there was a church in Old Testament times, then it can have had only half a foundation! In fact it is clear that Paul is speaking of the New Testament prophets since he couples apostles and prophets a little later in the letter (Ephesians 4:11 ) in a context that is obviously New Testament.

The Lord Jesus is continuing to build her even at this present time (Eph 2:21-22 ); she is His Church, His bride; He has purchased her with His own blood and she is a chaste virgin. As it is written, ‘In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts’ (Zech 14:21 ). It is the duty of the leadership of each individual church to seek to make the assembly in its charge as pure as possible (2 Corinthians 11:2 ).

From the 1689 Confession of Faith, 26:1-2:
The universal Church, which may be called invisible (in respect of the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) consists of the entire number of the elect, all who have been, who are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ, who is the Head. This universal church is the wife, the body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all Hebrews 12:23; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:10, 22-23; 5:23-32.
All people throughout the world who profess the faith of the Gospel and obedience to Christ on its terms, and who do not destroy their profession by any errors which contradict or overthrow Gospel fundamentals, or by unholy behaviour, are visible saints and may be regarded as such 1 Corinthians 1:2; Acts of the Apostles 11:26. All individual congregations ought to be constituted of such people [so far as we can ensure. M.M.] Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:20-22.

[Largely taken from my blog post: What is a Church? ]

 

And ALL of the local believers together in the world make up the living Body and Church of Christ!

 

"When we all get to heaven, what a 'church' that will be"?

 

True, and the Apostle Paul will be showing and teaching to us in the Heaven Sunday school just how badly we ALL misunderstood Romans fully!

 

The Family of God is all believers, dead or alive.

The Kingdom of God is all Saved Saints on Earth, alive.

The churches of The Lord are Divinely Organized assemblies, made of Scripturally Baptised believers.

Satan's mileage may run very God-dishonoring-ly, & non-Biblically, different.