The
Church
Course
3 of 4
The
Church Of The Lord
Before
Jesus Christ died on the cross, He promised that He would build His church
(Matthew
16:18). This promise was fulfilled in Acts
2. The gospel was preached, the conditions for salvation
were given, and those who obeyed were added to the church by the Lord
(Acts
2:37, 38, 41, 47).
Just
what is the church? The word “church” means “called out”.
Colossians
1:13-14 tells us, “He
has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom
of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins.” Thus,
in the New Testament, the word “church” refers to people who were called
out of sin and darkness and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Those
who are saved are the Lord’s church. They are the people
who have been purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts
20:28). This being true, it is vital that we understand
some things about the Lord’s church.
First, the Lord built only one church. Ephesians
4:4 tells us, “There
is one body”. Earlier,
this body is identified as the church: “And
He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in
all” (Ephesians
1:22-23). Since the body is the church, and there
is only one body, then it is true that there is only one church.
In other words, there is only one universal body of people who
will be saved. The Lord did not build many churches based
upon many faiths. Rather, He built one church based upon
one faith (Ephesians
4:5).
The word “church,” as it refers to God’s people, is used in a couple of
different ways. It is used in the universal sense, meaning
all of the called out people of God without reference to time and space
(place). This refers to all of God’s people at all times,
those whose names are “registered
in heaven” (Hebrews
12:23). Thus, whether people live in Europe, the United
States, or any other country, if they have obeyed the gospel, they are
added to the Lord’s church by the Lord Himself.
The word “church” is also used in a local sense. This refers
to a group of Christians who have joined together to worship and work
as a local congregation governed by the word of God. For
instance, Paul wrote a letter “to
the church of God which is at Corinth”
(1
Corinthians 1:2). It is in this sense that the word “church”
can also be used in the plural. Paul wrote, “The
churches of Christ salute you” (Romans
16:16). This does not refer to different denominations,
but to several congregations of the church that Jesus built.
The church in the universal sense
has no organization. There are no headquarters on earth,
no councils, synods, or groups that meet to decide what everybody else
is supposed to believe and practice. The only organization
of the church is found in the local congregation, stated so simply in
Philippians
1:1, “Paul
and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ
Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”
Within this verse we see the entire organization of the local church.
A local church is to come together to fulfill certain commands of God. For example, the disciples met together as a church on the first day of the week (Sunday) in order to partake of the Lord’s Supper. We see this in Acts 20:7. When several Christians meet and decide to work together, then they become the church of Christ in that location. Every person who has obeyed the gospel and been added to the church (universal) by the Lord needs to find a faithful local group of Christians who are following God’s word. Unless this is done, they will be unable to obey certain commands that are to be done as a church.
With
so many churches existing today you may be asking, “How do I recognize
the Lord’s church?” The answer is “Go back to the Bible.”
Each of us has the responsibility to “test
the spirits, whether they are of God”
(1
John 4:1), and to “Test
all things; hold fast what is good”
(1
Thessalonians 5:21). God’s word is the only standard
for truth in religion. Therefore it is our duty to search
the Scriptures, making sure that what is taught and practiced is the truth
(Acts
17:11). If we are deceived, it is our own fault.
It
is the plea of every Christian, in a world of conflicting doctrines, to
go back to the Bible. This is so for several reasons:
- God
tells us not to go beyond His word. We are not to think
beyond what is written (1
Corinthians 4:6), and we are told in 1
Peter 4:11, “If
anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.”
If we transgress the doctrine of Christ, we lose fellowship with
God. 2
John 9 tells us, “Whoever
transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have
God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the
Father and the Son.”
- It
is the only way we truly have faith because “faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans
10:17). Therefore, in order to be pleasing to God we
must abide within His word (John
8:31-32).
- It
is the only way we can maintain unity among God’s people. God
desires unity. This is not a unity based upon an “agree
to disagree” mindset, but upon the objective truth of the Bible.
In John
17:17 Jesus, in praying to the Father, said, “Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
In verses 20–21
He prayed, “I
do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in
Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are
in Me, and I in You: that they also may be one in Us, that the world
may believe that You sent Me.”
- We
must go back to the Bible because of judgment. Notice what
Jesus said in John
12:48: “He
who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges
Him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
The standard by which we will all be judged is God’s word.
In Matthew
7:21-23 the Lord said, “Not
everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will
say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name,
cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in
Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Unfortunately, there will be many surprised people on the Day
of Judgment. The only way we can have confidence and not
be ashamed when Jesus comes again is to abide in Him and His word (1
John 2:28).
- Going
back to the Bible is the only way we can truly be Christians.
If we do what the Bible tells us the Lord’s church did in the
first century, then we will be nothing more than simply Christians.
To
be just a Christian, one must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, repent
of his/her sins, confess Jesus as the Son of God, and be buried with Christ
in baptism for the remission of sins (Hebrews
11:6, Acts
3:19, Romans
10:9-10, Acts
2:38). We will examine this more closely in lesson 4.
Once a Christian, one must find a local group of God’s people with whom to work and worship. Paul showed us how important this is, and set the example, in Acts 9:26. There we find, “And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.” Together Christians worship God and exhort and encourage one another. Our goal is to please God and go to heaven. It is our desire to help as many as we can to do the same. Therefore, we must urge others to go back to the Bible, follow only what is written therein, and be simply Christians. Faithful churches of Christ do exist today, but the only way to know for sure is to test what is believed and practiced by the Bible.