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ASSOCIATE
WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS (CHURCH)
The
idea of a solitary Christian is really an oxymoron.
The
lure of Satan and sin is powerful, and without the encouragement
of other believers, all of us quickly fall back into the things
that separate from God. Jesus established His church based
on the solid foundation of faith and confession, telling His
disciples, "the gates of Hades
will not overpower it." (Matthew 16:18).
His church can withstand Satan, but individual Christians
cannot.
The
Greek word translated church is ekklesia, which simply
means an assembly of a specific group of people—those
called out for a particular purpose. In ancient Greece, the
citizens were called out by a herald to democratic assemblies
where they would consider matters of common concern (see Acts
19). The term was applied to Christians as those who were
called out by God for a special purpose. Any group of assembled
believers is therefore an ekklesia, or a church.
In
the New Testament, the ekklesia refers to one of two groups:
(1) all believers worldwide, such as in Ephesians 5:23-30
and Hebrews 12:23, or (2) a specific group of believers. The
ekklesia could refer to all believers in a particular city
or region, such as Jerusalem (Acts 11:22), Antioch (Acts 13:1),
Galatia (1 Corinthians 16:1), Asia (1 Corinthians 16:19),
Macedonia (2 Corinthians 8:1), or Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians
1:1); or a small group that met together in the home of one
of the believers, such as Prisca and Aquila in Rome (Romans
16:5) and Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:19), Philemon in Colossae
(Philemon 1:3), or Nympha in Laodicea (Colossians 4:15).
Collectively
and individually, Christians are referred to by many other
titles in the New Testament:
o saints (hagios) or holy (made so by the blood of
Christ), such as Acts 9:13 and 1 Corinthians 1:2
o the faithful (pistos), e.g., Colossians 1:2
o children of God, e.g., 1 John 3:1
o heirs of God; e.g. Romans 8:17
o a chosen race (1 Peter 2:9)
o a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)
o a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9)—or
the King James translation, a peculiar people
The
nature of the church is that of a living body (Ephesians 1:22-23)
with Christ as its head (Ephesians 5:23). Each of the members
of the body (the ekklesia) has his or her unique contribution
to make to the overall work (1 Corinthians 12:12-30). Paul
compared the relationship of Christ to the church as that
of husband and wife (Revelation 21:9 refers to the church
as the “bride of Christ”).
The
first believers clearly understood that the church was a collection
of believers, each called out for service to God. Furthermore,
the church is an organism, as Paul described in 1 Corinthians
12, with each individual dependent on others and equally valuable.
As he commended the individual believers in Rome (Romans 16:1-15),
he was probably thinking of them in precisely those terms.
Do
not confuse the church with the organized religion of today.
Certainly, many operating under the banner of "the church"
have failed to live up the standards Jesus and the Apostles
established. This is the result of flawed people, not a flawed
concept. There are countless examples through the ages of
organizations that wantonly violate the Word of God, yet the
church of Christ remains and even within groups misrepresenting
God's Word, there are many faithful believers.
In
the early days of the church, believers gathered on the Lord's
Day in private homes but as the church grew, it was inevitable
that larger facilities would be needed. Even within the New
Testament, there is evidence that larger meetings were held.
Paul notes that Gaius, for example, hosted the entire church
in Corinth (Romans 16:23). There is nothing inherently wrong
with large gatherings as long as the church fulfills its God-given
purposes.
Purposes
of the church
o Stimulating one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews
12:24)
o Encouraging one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13)
o Psalms/Singing (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16)
o Teaching (1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Timothy 4:13)
o Revelation/Testimony (1 Corinthians 14:26)
o Exercising Spiritual Gifts (Romans 12:6-8)
o Admonishing (Romans 15:14, 1 Thessalonians 5:14)
o Charity (Romans 15:26)
o Spiritual
Development (Hebrews 6:1)
Most
of these can only be done effectively by groups; that is,
the church.
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