Rather than dwelling in temples made by man’s hands, as He did in the Old Testament, in the New Covenant, God has chosen to dwell in temples not made by man’s hands. Today, He dwells in the hearts of humans who have submitted themselves to God and been cleansed of sin by the blood of His Son. When God dwells in the heart, He places His name there. Thus, disciples of Christ are most appropriately designated as “Christians” – followers of Christ. Other terms are used metaphorically to refer to Christians like brother and sister, friend, etc. But, no designation identifies a follower as clearly and as accurately as the name “Christian.” The name shows that God/Christ dwell in us; that they have authority over us; we belong to them. So, it is an honor to be called a Christian (1 Peter 4:16).
When God chose to bring these Christians together into one group, He chose a word out of man’s vocabulary – ekklesia – to identify them. This word’s original meaning was “assembly.” In the Septuagint, it referred to the Jewish assembly. In the New Testament, it is the word translated church or assembly or even congregation at least 112 (NASV).
Out of the 27 books of the New Testament, it is found in 17 of those writings. We see the secular meaning of the word (“assembly”) in Acts 19:32, 39, 41. In these verses, it denotes a civic assembly. We see the Jewish meaning in Acts 7:38 – the “congregation [NASV]” of Israel in the wilderness. But, of course, most often it refers to the aggregate body of Christians.
The ekklesia that is in Christ is different than the ekklesia of civic matters or the ekklesia of the Jewish faith. This ekklesia, or assembly, bears the name, the character, the reputation of the God of heaven. “The congregation or Church of God always stands in contrast and even in opposition to other forms of society” (K. L. Schmidt in TDNT; III:505).
The church is often identified by its location, such as the “churches of Galatia” (1:2) or the “church of the Thessalonians,” (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1), that is, the church composed of Thessalonians. Relative to deity, the church is identified most often as “church of God” (11 times). It is never referred to as the “church of the Spirit” but it is designated once as the “churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16). However, there are other passages that identify the church as “in Christ:” 1 Thess. 2:14; Gal. 1:22. I believe that Schmidt is correct when he writes: “in the Fourth Evangelist, ecclesiology is simply Christology, and vice versa” (512). I would argue it is true in the entire New Testament, not just the Gospel of John. That being the case, often when we find the expression “in Christ Jesus,” (over 100 times) indicating we are to see a reference to the ekklesia / assembly / church of Christ.
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Yet, in the context of Christian writings, “church” (even without the definite article, “the”) came to be used almost as a proper name (Schmidt, 506). At that time, it was not necessary to say which church. There was only one church and it was the church. It was the assembly that in all ways belonged to God/Christ. He was the owner. They submitted to His authority and they honored God/Christ through their worship, work, and daily lives. The church was understood / assumed to be of God, in Christ Jesus.
There are obviously other metaphorical terms the New Testament writers used for the aggregate believers: family, flock, temple, body, etc. But God chose one designation to be used above all: ekklesia / church. It is found well over 100 times in the New Testament. But, no designation identifies an ekklesia as clearly and as accurately as the designation “church of God” or “church of Christ.” Identifying the body as an assembly denotes the corporate nature of this body. What we do, we are to do together. Out of the 27 writings composing the New Testament, at least 17 of them are addressed to churches / ekklesia. It can be easily argued that others were as well (like the Gospel accounts and 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus).
So the church of God in Christ Jesus is the corporate body which God has chosen to bear His name. That means this body / assembly belongs to God. It is under His authority. It honors Him as long as it submits to His will.
Next time, we will consider one last thought: Men’s names for their churches.
–Paul Holland
