The Church As One Body

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."

John 17:20-21

What is a church?

Webster’s dictionary defines it as: a building set apart for Christian worship. But the Bible defines it as: a group of “called out” Christian believers.

Here the Bible differentiates the church as people, a people of certain characteristics and demeanor, while the world views the church based upon its material nature, and there are a few churches that operate based on a material nature, treating it more like a business and profit center than a house of worship and Godly teaching.

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.

Psalm 89:7

In this verse the Psalmist is letting us know that those of us that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done for our salvation, we do so as one body, an assembly. And the Word of God not wanting us to miss this point tells us again in Psalm 111:1

“I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.”

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:9 that the believers in Christ are the church of God. At that time, Paul, then known as Saul, went to people’s home to persecute them for their belief in Christ Jesus, this was before we had church buildings like this.

So, you see what I am trying get across? God’s church is a group of chosen people, called out for his glory. God is truly wonderful, as He has removed the limitations on what a church is and gave it it’s best definition…a collection of people called by Him for His glory, and for our benefit of having life eternal through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Since God’s church is not a physical building, but it is the people that gather in it. It becomes hard for the evil one to tear down the church. If he causes a problem to the church building, we can find another place and continue to gather for the glory of the Lord, and/or God will give us the resources to rebuild the building…but the loss of the building will not stop us from gathering and praising the Lord. If the evil one brings in people to wreak havoc in the congregation, we know that God can remove that party from the gathering of His people…better yet, He can change their hearts to no longer abide under the influence of the evil one. God can do that in two basic ways: by giving the children of God the patience to show love, kindness, and the preaching of the Word of God to them. The other way is that God can and will change their heart and mind to see the love He wants to give them. And these two cases we can find in the book of Acts: where the persecution of the church caused people to scatter, but in their scattering, it did not cause the church to crumble, but to grow under the power of the Holy Spirit. So, when you look at the big picture, God used Satan to grow His church…so as a church we have no fear of the evil one because all his activity will only cause us to grow stronger.

Also let us take note of a husband and wife named Ananais and Sapphira who tried to bring lying, deceit, and greed into the new church, and how God quickly took them out. Yes, the Holy Spirit convicted them of their actions and took their lives.

So, are you part of the group called out as Christian believers or are you just a person sitting in this building that the world views as a church? If you are the one that is just sitting in this building with no or a half-hearted relationship to Christ Jesus, then be careful, because you may become the next Ananais or Sapphira. Christ is going to bring His church home with Him one day…will you be in that number? When the saints go marching in, where will you be?

So just as Christ was one with the Father, let us also be one, coming together in one accord lifting the name of Christ Jesus.

The Church as One Body has a Structure.

Jesus is the head of the church.

“For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”