Different Meanings: Church has come to mean different things to different people, depending on their association with, or knowledge of, a particular denomination. With more than three hundred different kinds of churches, it has become necessary for each to be identified by some word other than just “the church.”
This was not always so. During New Testament times, and for several centuries, there were no religious divisions since the church of Christ existed in its purity.
Bible Definition of “The Church:” Church is first used in the Bible in Matthew 16:18 when Christ said, “Upon this rock I will build my church…” It occurs again in Acts 2, and from there is used often to the close of the New Testament. It literally means “the called-out body.” This body consists of people who have been “called out” of the darkness of sin and into God’s marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). The primary plea of the churches of Christ is for religious unity of all the “called out.” In a divided religious world, the Bible is the only possible common basis upon which people who love God can unite.
How People Are “Called Out:” Paul states that God …called you through our gospel… (2 Thes. 2:4). When the apostles preached the Gospel or “good news” of Christ, they “called” for people to believe and obey God’s Word. When a person did so, he was added to the Lord’s church, which was composed of the body of believers and followers of Christ. He became thereby a member of the body of Christ, which is the church of Christ. The Bible nowhere teaches that a person was saved and then later joined the church of his choice. When one obeyed the Gospel, he was saved from past sins and became a member of that group of people who belonged to the Lord.
Salvation and membership in the Lord’s church were obtained by the same action—obedience to the terms of Christ as stated in His Gospel. Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…” (Mark 16:16). This is God’s calling us through the Gospel. Each apostle preached the same Gospel. One did not teach one thing and another something different. Therefore, when people heard the Gospel, all obeyed identical commands in order to become Christians and were added to the same church, for there was only one body, one church—not a multiplicity of religious divisions.
What Is the Church? The church is the body of believers in Christ who have been immersed into Christ. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26,27). The church is composed of those who wear only the name of Christ. “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). The church consists of those who believe and teach only the doctrine of Christ. God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Mt. 17:15). The church is that body of believers who obey only the commands of Christ, their Savior. “And being made perfect, he (Christ) became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:9).
—William Kughn
