Lesson 35 - The Church: Her Members

The Church: Her Members

     The word church is a translation of the Greek word ἐκκλησία ekklesia, which means called out ones, assembly, congregation, or community of Christians.[1] The word ἐκκλησία ekklesia is applied in a general sense to any assembly, such as an assembly of residents of a city (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). The word is also applied to Israel as a general assembly or congregation (Matt. 18:17; Acts 7:38). When applied to Christians, ἐκκλησία ekklesia takes on a technical meaning and refers to those who have been joined to “the body of Christ” (Eph. 1:22-23). Though both are the people of God, the NT church is distinct from the nation of Israel (1 Cor. 10:32). Though God’s current plan in human history is being worked out through His church, He has not abrogated His covenants to Israel, which covenants point to a future regathering of the nation of Israel in the Promised Land, a King and kingdom, and a righteous rule for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-6).

     The first reference to the Christian church occurs in Matthew 16:18 after Peter had confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), and based on the rock-solid truth of that statement, Jesus said, “I will build [future tense] My church [ἐκκλησία ekklesia]; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18). Jesus’ future tense statement reveals a church that was not in existence when He spoke. The Christian church began on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit began His baptizing ministry of placing believers into union with the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-4; 11:15-17; 1 Cor. 12:13).

     The NT church is understood both in a universal and local sense, as an organism and organization. The universal church refers to the global existence of the body of Christ (Acts 9:31; Eph. 1:22-23), and the local church of those who regularly meet at a specific location (1 Cor. 1:2; Col. 1:2; Rev. 2-3). The Christian church consists of believing Jews and Gentiles, who have been spiritually united with Christ by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 2:11-16). The church, as the body of Christ, was fully revealed to the apostles in the New Testament (Eph. 1:22-23; 3:1-12; 5:32; Col. 1:24-27).

     In the first century, local churches were small, as believers met in people’s homes (Acts 20:20; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15). The members of the local church consisted of Jews and Gentiles (Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 2:11-16; 3:6), men and women (Eph. 5:22-23), parents and children (Eph. 6:1-4), slave and free (Eph. 6:5-9), rich and poor (1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jam. 2:2-5), spiritual and carnal (1 Cor. 3:1-3; Gal. 6:1). Home churches were generally small because of the size of the homes (probably not exceeding 50 people) and the fellowship probably tended to be personal, with an emphasis on learning God’s Word and enjoying Christian fellowship (Acts 2:42).

[1] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, rev. and ed. Frederick W. Danker, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 303-304.