WHAT IS THE CHURCH (ECCLESIOLOGY)

The term church comes from the Greek word ekklesia. That term means "those who are called out" (Biblical Doctrine, John MacArthur & Richard Mayhue, p. 740). As Dr. MacAthur and Dr. Mayhue rightly highlight, "in the ancient world, the ekklesia referred to a group of citizens who had been 'called out' to administrate civic affairs or to defend a community in battle" (Biblical Doctrine, p. 740).

Therefore, to define the church, or the body of Christ, we express it this way: “a people called out of a lost condition into another a righteous condition for the purpose of administering Christ's rule in their community.” Colossians gives this picture when it says, “He [God the Father] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (1:13). God delivers people from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Christ so that Christ will administer his life through his body into the community through those people, i.e. his body. Christ, as the second or last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), functions as the head of his body and through his body he administers his rule. Christ through his body administers his love by using his people as visual lights of quality character, articulation of ideas through logic, and applying his law of grace and justice in all spheres of society. Through discipleship (the Great Commission) Jesus extends his mission into history through his body of believers.

The Scriptures teach us four truths about the church. We can categorize these truths in the following ways: (1) the historical beginning of the NT church; (2) the universal nature of the church; (3) the local geographical regional bodies of Christ of each region, and (4) the multiple organized bodies within each region with disciples under specific leaders. Each of these four exists in Scripture. So I will define, defend, and delineate each of those points from Scripture.

First, the body of Christ came into existence in a distinct time and era of history. Jesus Christ established his body of believers at his coming, death, and resurrection. The twelve Disciples of Christ, who were commissioned as the senior NT apostles (with the unique role of receiving and delivering God's revelation), became the first people in human history to experience the immersion of the Holy Spirit into their lives. Jesus promised this in John 14 when he said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and WILL be IN YOU" (14:16-17; emphasis mine). Until the full and unique coming of the Holy Spirit after the life of Christ the Spirit of God did not indwell a believer like he does in this era. This unique empowerment of the Holy Spirit began after Christ arose (see John 20:22; Acts 2:1-47). At this time the "one new man" [organism] (Eph. 2:15) came into existence.

Second, the church or body of Christ is made up of all who come to true or eternal faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior (John 3:16). All those God regenerates and who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, wherever they exist, make up the body of Christ. As noted above, they are transferred from one kingdom into another and become a "light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8) and are to "walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:8b). I love the succinct definition Dr. Charles Stanley gives on this matter. He says, "The church is made up of those who have placed their belief--their faith--in the person of Jesus Christ" (Handbook for Christian Living: Biblical Answers to Life's Tough Questions, p. 8). The family of God, which includes multiple historical members in it, has only one Savior. All who ares redeemed in this age after the coming of the Holy Spirit become a unique member in the history of God's one redeemed family, the church in the sense of the body of Christ. The NT speaks of this portion of God's family as "the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven" (Heb. 12:23). This body of believers, the NT form of the family of God, are distinct from the "spirits of the righteous made perfect" (Heb. 12:23b).

Third, the Bible speaks of not only the universal body of Christ (point # 2) but it also speaks of the singular geographical body of Christ in each region. For example, in 1 Corinthians 1:2 the text reads, “To the church of God that is in Corinth.” Likewise, we read Paul saying that he is writing “to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1). Scripture speaks of a singular body of Christ in one smaller geographical region, like a city. That contrasts the larger regions, like a country or province, where God defines his body as multiple bodies. For example, in the province of Galatia (like a country or continent) God spoke of multiple churches in that region. When Paul wrote to them he said, “To the churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2).

Fourth, the Bible then speaks of smaller units of the body of Christ that has a particular leader over it, such as an elder or ministry team. In the NT we see many of these assemblies meeting in a house. These are smaller units of the one local geographical body of Christ. Numerous texts in Scripture speak of this. Romans 16:5 says, “Please give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.” 1 Corinthians 16:19 says, “The churches here in the province of Asia greet you heartily in the Lord, along with Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings.” Colossians 4:15 says, “Please give my greetings to our Christian brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that is in her house.” Philemon 1:1b-2 says, “It is written to Philemon, our much loved co-worker, and to our sister Apphia and to Archippus, a fellow soldier of the cross. I am also writing to the church that meets in your house.” It even seems likely that Apostle John wrote to a church meeting in a home when he wrote to the lady in 2nd John. These house church bodies are a part of the one single body of Christ in a local region and these believers normally gather together under a particular leader or set of leaders that were a part of the one regional team of ministers in the one local church of one geographical region.

Those four facets of the body of Christ teach us how God defines and sees his believers under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is a single body of Christ that spans all regions. In this body are multiple bodies of churches. In each local geographical region, such as with a city or other like regional zone, God has one body of Christ. In these one regions are smaller units that often have a ministry leader or set of leaders that disciple those under their care. This unique work of Christ began after Christ arose from the grave and poured out his Holy Spirit in a unique way unknown to the saints prior to this age.