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What is the church?
The Christian church can be seen in two ways: the
visible and the invisible. The visible church is comprised of
all who claim the name of Christian and who gather together for
worship and participation of the sacraments: the Lord's Supper
and Baptism. The members of the visible church claim the name
of Christian (excluding the cults like the Mormons and Jehovah's
Witnesses, etc.). The visible church contains both believers
and non-believers; that is, there are people in the visible church
who are not really saved.
The members of the invisible Church are the actual body
of believers. They are the ones who are truly regenerate and
have trusted, by faith, in the true Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The true Christian is indwelt by the Lord Jesus (John 14:23) through
the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Christian church is
figuratively said to be the body of Christ.
- Rom. 12:5, "so we, who are
many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of
another."
-
Eph. 4:12, "for the
equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building
up of the body of Christ."
The word
"church" comes from the Greek "ekklesia" which means "gathering" or
"assembly."
Therefore, the church is the gathering of the believers who come
together to participate in fellowship with one another as they
worship God and hear from His Word, the Bible. The church as a
whole has been equipped by with people possessing different
spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:5-8). The purpose of the gifts is
"for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain
to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fullness of Christ," (Eph. 4:12-13).
The Christian church was founded by Jesus and He is its
head and Savior, (Col. 1:18;
Eph. 5:23). Being in the church,
the Christian is subject to the Lordship of Jesus (Eph. 5:24)
through the administration of the Word of God.
The Bible does not provide a detailed method of Church
government. But, it does state that there are to be elders who
govern in the church. These elders are appointed by the laying
on of hands (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6).
They to be able to teach sound doctrine and refute error (Titus
1:9; 1
Tim. 3:2).
The purpose of the church is to both glorify God and to
inform the world about the work of Christ as Redeemer.
Return to
Questions about the
Church
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