B I B L E S T U D Y C O U R S E L E S S O N 1 0
What Is the Church?
esus Christ establishedHis Church and gave it amission. The Scripturesindicate He intended it tobe a warm and loving fellow-ship of His faithful disciples,a source of strength andpurpose for them.Yet most people see theChurch as playing little or norole in their everyday lives. Tomany even the concept seemsantiquated. The very word
church
carries,for some,adistasteful connotation.For others
church
conjuresup images of quaint countrybuildings with steeples andcrosses,or maybe massivemedieval cathedrals in theheart of Europe. When theythink church,they think of a
place
for worship services.An excellent example is thecathedral of Notre-Dame deParis. It represents,for many,the essence of the meaningof
church.
Begun in 1163,its construction continuedthrough several lifetimes until1345. Its 115-foot soaringinterior,flying buttresses andgreat rose windows obviouslywere all designed for other-worldly purposes.The
Encyclopaedia Britannica
notes that thecathedral “is situated on a spotthat Parisians have always reserved to the practice of religious rites”and “was built on the ruins of two earlierchurches,which were themselves predated by a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter”(Internet edition,“Paris,”“Notre-Dame de Paris”).This is not an unusual practice. Throughout historypeople have ascribed religious significance to
places
and
buildings
where they,and often their ancestors,feltcloser to God or to the god or gods they worshiped.Church buildings,cathedrals,temples,altars and shrineshave long been the focal point of worship.Like the faith it represents,the cathedral of Notre-Dame it has suffered through the centuries.
Britannica
explains:“After being damaged during the FrenchRevolution,the church was sold at auction to abuilding-materials merchant.Napoleon came to power intime to annul the sale,and heordered that the edifice beredecorated for his corona-tion as emperor in 1804”(“Notre-Dame de Paris”).The ravages of time anddisbelief have not been sokind to many other greatEuropean cathedrals. Shrink-ing church attendancethroughout most of Europehas,in recent times,raisedthe question as to what to dowith enormous church edi-fices that are no longer usedenough to justify the highcosts of their maintenance.Is a church building thatis no longer used for churchservices still a church? Aneven more important ques-tion:What does the Biblemean when it talks aboutthe Church?
THE CHURCHIS NOT THEBUILDING
When the New Testamenttalks about the Church,itspeaks of an
assembly of people.
In the Bible theword
church
is a translationof the Greek word
ekklesia,
meaning “a calling out.”(See “The Historical Background of the Word
Church,”
page 4.) It never refers to a building or meeting place,but always to
people,
the ones “called out”of theworld’s society by God
calling them into
His service.The Church of the Bible is not a cold,stone building,but a group of warm and loving people speciallychosen by God.In the Scriptures
church
can refer to the group of believers in a particular location,such as a city orregion,or to the entire body of believers God has called.So a building with no worshipers cannot really be achurch in the biblical sense. The New Testament Churchis a group of people called out of this world’s society byGod,even if they meet in a rented hall or on a grassyhillside. For example,the apostle Paul greeted the
Cover, clockwise from top left: Corel Professional Photos; Corbis Digital Stock (3). This page: Corbis Digital Stock
What Is the Church?
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Bible Study Course Lesson 10
“... I will build My church,and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
—Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18)
For many people
church
conjures upimages of quaint country buildingswith steeples and crosses, or maybemassive medieval cathedrals in theheart of Europe.
church—the congregation of people—that met in thehouse of Priscilla and Aquila in Rome (Romans 16:3-5).What are the roots,the history,of the Church? Whatsets apart people whom God calls His own? How doesGod use the Church to achieve His purposes? What doesthe Church do for us,and what should its members dofor the Church? How can we be part of what God isdoing through His Church?When Jesus said,“... I will build My church,andthe gates of Hades shall not prevail against it”(Matthew16:18),He was saying the Church—His chosen people—would not die out. It would be alive—a warm andcaring body of believers striving to serve God,do Hiswork and support each other. Today,with so many con-flicting doctrines and practices,how can we recognizethe Church Jesus built?In this lesson let’s learn what the Bible teaches aboutGod’s Church and what it means for us.
A CHOSEN PEOPLE
As we’ve seen in previous lessons,God has a planfor bringing mankind to salvation in His Kingdom.Since His creation of Adam and Eve,God has workedwith people in various ways but always with the samegoal in mind.Before Christ came,God called only a few peopleout of their societies to serve Him and further His work.Many of them are mentioned by name in Hebrews 11,achapter in the Bible we could call the faith hall of fame.Even as He called and worked through individualleaders and prophets to do a spiritual work,God estab-lished a physical nation to help fulfill His plan. Thisnation,the descendants of Abraham through his grand-son Israel,was also known as God’s
congregation
(Acts7:38) or
“church,”
as it is translated in the King JamesVersion. Understanding how God worked through peo-ple in the Old Testament is important background forunderstanding why and how God established the Churchin the New Testament.
Has God worked with people in different ways?
“God,who at various times and in various waysspoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,whom He has appointed heir of all things,throughwhom also He made the worlds”(Hebrews 1:1-2).
God spoke to Adam and Eve directly,as He latercommunicated with Moses. However,He often con-veyed His message in other ways—through dreams andvisions,through prophets and priests,and through Hisinspired written Word,the Holy Scriptures. But themessage always fit into the same overall mission.
Why did God call Abraham?
“Now the L
ORD
had said to Abram:‘Get out of your country,from your family and from your father’s house,to a land that I will show you. I willmake you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I willbless those who bless you,and I will curse him whocurses you; and in you all the families of the earthshall be blessed’”(Genesis 12:1-3).
God had a plan for Abraham. In His mission toextend His love to all humanity,God chose a man whowas faithful and obedient to serve as a physical and spir-itual role model. Abraham set an example of obediencein leaving his home country at God’s command,noteven knowing the final destination (Hebrews 11:8). Hebelieved God would fulfill His promises,in spite of theseeming impossibilities involved. He was even willingto give up his own son (Genesis 22),prefiguring the sac-rifice of Christ. Why was Abraham willing to do this? Infaith he knew that God could raise Isaac from the dead(Hebrews 11:17-19).
Why is Abraham so important?
“For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abrahambelieved God,and it was accounted to him for righ-teousness’... that he might be the
father of all thosewho believe ...
[and] that righteousness might beimputed to them also”(Romans 4:3,11,emphasisadded throughout).“And I will make your descendants multiply asthe stars of heaven; ... and in your seed all thenations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments,My statutes,and My laws”(Genesis 26:4-5).“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promisesmade. He does not say,‘And to seeds,’as of many,but as of one,‘And to your Seed,’who is Christ”(Galatians 3:16).
Not only did Abraham become the father of manynations,including those that descended from Israel,buthis example of faithfulness to God led God to call him
the father of the spiritually faithful.
Over the years Godextended the promises He made to Abraham not only tohis physical descendants (Genesis 13:16; 15:5; 17:3-6)but to the whole world through the promised Seed,Jesus Christ.The faithful—all those called and chosen for a
T
o gain the most from this lesson, be sure tolook up all the scriptural references listed andnot directly quoted in the text. They are cited toexpand your understanding of this crucial sub- ject. You can enhance your understanding evenmore by looking up, in your own Bible, the scrip-tural references cited in each lesson and seeinghow each reference is used in its original context.If you have questions not answered in this lesson,you may forward them to us through a personalletter, fax or E-mail. Members of our staff will behappy to assist you by answering your questions.
A Reminder
What Is the Church?
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