Christian Basic Training

What Is The Church
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The Church IS

  1. A great spiritual body of believers.   All believers enter into the Church at the point of salvation. If you are in Christ, you are in the Church (I Corinthians 1:2, 30). You may fall into carnality, but the Christian (see "What Is A Christian?") is still in Christ (Romans 8:1, 38-39; II Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 1:3, 6; I Corinthians 12:12). The Body of Christ crosses denominational lines (which were created by man, not God) and encompasses all of those who are in Christ.

  2. Because of the vast scope of the Body of Christ, the Church, and because of the need of each believer to be fed from the Word of God, the Church is formed into local Church bodies.  The Church is not a building, a social club, or a clubhouse, but it is where ever two or more believers gather together under the leadership of the Pastor (Acts 7:38; 19:25; Matthew 18:17; I Corinthians 1:2; I Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation 1-3; Philippians 1:1; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27; Colossians 1:17-18; 2:9-10).

    • The Pastor (some Churches refer to this position as Bishop, Elder, Pastor, or Preacher) is the representative of Christ in leadership and has physical and spiritual authority over that local Church (Hebrews 13:7; I Thessalonians 5:12; I Corinthians 16:15-16). You will find no place in Scripture that gives the Pastor a job description of building custodian, grounds custodian, or nanny to your kids. He is the chief servant in a flock of servants, and must emulate Christ in his behavior and service.

    • The Elders work in association with the Pastor concerning the spiritual guidance of the church and closely support the Pastor. The office of the Elder was established by the Apostles under the leading of God as those that supply spiritual guidance along with the Pastor to individual members of the church body.

    • The Deacon is the administrator of the local Church, and is the Pastor/Elders helper. The office of the Deacon was established by the Apostles under the leading of God so the Pastor/Elders would be free to dedicate themselves to the spiritual nurturing of the local Church (I Timothy 3:8-13; Acts 6:1-7). You will find no reference in Scripture that the Deacon, or Board of Deacons, are in any way the "supervisors" of the Pastor/Elders nor bosses of the Flock. The Pastor/Elders are already under extreme accountability to God (Hebrews 13:7), and God oversees the overseers. The Church that sets its people or its Deacons over the Pastor/Elders is the Church that is carnal, and destined to fail in its mission. The Pastor/Elders who fulfills their duties to the flock will receive a eternal reward in Heaven (I Peter 5:1-4).

  3. The Church is a unique institution created by Jesus Christ, and was not established until the Day of Pentecost.  The Church is not to be confused with Israel.  The two are entirely separate entities, and the Church was a mystery (or unknown to man) in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:1-6; Colossians 1:25-26; Romans 16:25-26).

  4. The Church is the only place where believers in Christ are free to exercise their spiritual gifts for the edification of that whole Body (I Corinthians 12:5-31; 14:12, 26, 31-33, 37). If you are exercising your spiritual gifts to build up yourself rather than God's Church, you are outside of the will of God.

  5. The Church is the building of God, composed of believers in Christ. Christ is it's cornerstone or main foundation. When the Body of Christ is completed the Church will be removed from the earth by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20-22; I Thessalonians 4:13-18). The building that we worship in may be a chapel, but it is not the Church. When believers assemble in any building, or outside of a building, they assemble as the Church (I Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20). After Jesus takes the Church off the earth it will be recognized as the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-8).

May God Bless You

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Last modified: 12/04/2002