Christ's Church

Two Ideas

The word church is used to describe anything which resembles religious structure. The word is trite and common. We go to church. We see church buildings. But neither of these expressions capture the biblical view of the church. There are two basic ideas behind the word “church.”

First, there is the church universal. The church is made up of all who have come to faith in Jesus and have come into contact with God’s grace through baptism. The universal church is made up of all nationalities past, present, and future who have heard the gospel, believed in Jesus, and been baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Hebrew writer in 9:22 says that the shedding of blood is necessary in order for there to be forgiveness of sins. In verse 28 we are told that Christ was sacrificed in order to take away sin. In Acts 20:28, the Bible says that Christ bought the church with his blood. It is through the sacrifice of Jesus that one has sins forgiven. It is through the same sacrifice that the church is a reality.

Thus, it is the death of Jesus which makes both the church and forgiveness of sins possible. Peter says in Acts 2:38 that it is in our baptism that we receive forgiveness of sins. Paul in Romans 6 says that our baptism is demonstration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. All who come to faith in Jesus and are baptized receive not only the forgiveness of sins, but become a part of Christ’s church. We do not join Christ’s church. According to Acts 2:47, we are added to Christ’s church. God adds us as we demonstrate our faith in baptism.

This view of Christ’s church is often lost. The church then is composed of individuals who have heard the gospel, trusted in Jesus’s death for salvation, and been baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Christ’s church has no boundaries or divisions.

The second idea is found in a specific location being called a church. This location has boundaries. These boundaries are geographical. For instance, in ancient Corinth we know that a number of house churches existed but participation in these churches or congregations was based upon the individual adhering to the gospel and having submitted to Christ through faith expressed in repentance and baptism. But not all boundaries are geographical. Some boundaries are doctrinal or preference generated. These boundaries are designated by denominational names. But such did not exist in Paul’s day. According to John 17, such was never in the mind of Christ. While congregations had problems, the ideal of God was constantly held out for how Christians were to live and to think of themselves in relationship with God and others.

Turn to Ephesians. This letter was written to a congregation which is uncertain about who they are and what they are about. Paul is writing to the saints or believers in Ephesus. Individually and collectively, Paul lets this congregation know what its role is in this world. Great things happen in the church: God blessings, God chose us, God adopted us, God’s hope and inheritance, God’s reconciliation, God’s dwelling, God’s revelation, God’s wisdom, God’s fullness, God’s power, and God’s glory. God’s new creation happens in the church as well.

These things happen in the church. Do you think the church is important? Do you think that God wants his people to have an elevated view of what it means to be in his family? Some get confused about the church. Some reject organized religion. Some find assemblies boring; some feel that the routine of meeting together has little impact on their lives. This is to confuse the two meanings of church. Christ’s church exists in great glory. Congregations try to meet the ideal of God’s church but often fall short. But make no mistake—to reject congregational life is to reject Christ’s church. That is to walk away from congregational life is to walk away from Christ’s church. Christ’s church is not about individualism but about cooperation and communion with others as well as God.

Do you think Paul wrote these great things about the church because of the perfection of his brethren? Do you think he wrote these things because he had never been disappointed by his brothers? Do you think that hypocrisy didn’t exist in his day? Do you think Paul’s high view of the church was because he had always been treated fairly? The sinfulness of God’s people does not diminish the importance of Christ’s church. The church is glorious not because it is composed of likeable and perfect people but because of the One who gave his life for the church. Look at Ephesians 5:25 & 29. In this text about the way husbands and wives are to regard one another, Paul states that the marriage analogy finds its basis in the relationship of Christ to his church. Christ loves his church. He gave himself up for the church. He feeds his church. The glory of the church is in Christ. The glory belongs to Christ.

This is why denominational thinking is wrong. It distracts from Christ. It limits God’s ideal into boundaries which were never intended. The church is the plan of God in action. The church is people honoring Christ. The church are those who in faith have given their lives to God. The church is not buildings, pews, carpet, and a hundred other things that we think of when we think of church.

So what does this mean? First, it means that we must change the way we think about Christ’s church. You, of course, realize that in the 1st century there were congregations but only one church. Congregations may have practiced things which were counter to the will of God but those individuals still belonged to Christ’s church. The Corinthians who had a difficult time separating from their pagan culture were still regarded as God’s children and associated with and fellowshipped with other congregations in other localities (2 Cor. 8 & 9). We must begin thinking of Christ’s church in broader terms seeing that all who have confessed Christ and demonstrated their obedient faith in baptism have been added to Christ’s church.

Second, we must change the way we present ourselves to this community. Because Christ is to receive the glory, then whatever may distract from that needs to be given up. Perhaps it is time that we changed our sign out front to reflect a conscious decision to honor Christ rather than to be caught in the trap of trying to explain that we are trying not to be denominational when the religious world sees us as just another group. Perhaps it is time that our sign simply say Christ’s church meets here or The Way meets here. Perhaps it is time that we opened dialog with surrounding congregations and see if we could come to a common understanding about Christ’s church. Even those two suggestions are enough to frighten us. But if God’s ideal was that his people would celebrate Jesus; if God’s ideal was that his church would reflect God’s glory then we must get in tune with God’s ideal.

This really has to do with our minds and how we see ourselves. Developing an us vs. them mentality goes against the thinking of God. We present truth; we uphold truth; but we do so for the sake of Christ not so that we can add another notch to our spiritual belts. God wants all to come into his church. Let us do all we can to bring people to Christ not to a set of religious practices. Let us do all we can to point people to Jesus.

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