Jesus told Peter, "I will build my church" (Mtt 16:18). Soon after he died and arose from the dead, he did exactly that --He built his church, and he has been building it ever since.

What is the church?

The church is people.
Jesus built his church not of wood and stone, but of people. Peter was one of them, a part of the church's "foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph 2:20). Peter, like the other apostles, became a part of the church's one foundation. But he did this only by preaching the truth about Jesus Christ, "the chief corner stone" (Eph 2:20) so that all who follow that truth may be a part of the church too. The church is not a hierarchy of bishops and priests. All who make Christ the foundation of their lives and obey him in faith, become stones in the temple of God. All those people are the church of Christ. (Eph 2:19-21, 1Pe 2:4-8).

The church is what Jesus built.
Jesus did not say to Peter, "I will build your church". He said, "I will build my church". It is not "the church of Saint Peter". It is the church of Christ. Jesus is the true rock, and the church has "no other foundation" and no other founder. (1Co 3:11). Many denominations exist, all built and founded by someone other than Jesus. The church is not one of these. The church existed before any of these denominations. It did not arise out of them, and they did not arise out of it. They are separate "buildings" which the Lord did not build.

The church is the bride Jesus purchased with his blood.
Only the church that Jesus built was "purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28), and is the "bride" he loves (Eph 5:25). Christ doesn't have a harem. He doesn't have several different brides. He did not purchase any denomination with his blood, nor take any denomination as his bride.

The church is what we are baptised into.
The church, as S.J.Stone wrote, is Christ's "new creation by water and the word" (Eph 5:26). When a person is baptised in Christ's name, what church is that person baptised into? One of the denominations? No, one is baptised into Christ and into the church of Christ. "For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body" (1Co 12:12-13).

The church is not like ice cream.
Some people talk about "the church of your choice". They think of the church like ice cream that comes in various forms and flavours. You can choose any flavour you like. You can give it up when you are tired of it and feel like trying another sort of ice cream. But when it comes to choosing a church, what shall we choose? We can either "be tossed about by every wind of doctrine", or "build on the rock" of Christ's truth in love (Eph 4:14-15, Mtt 7:24). This applies not only to individual life, but to the collective life of the church. There is really only one church for a Christian to choose, and only one church for any church to be: the church that Jesus loved and died for.

What the word 'church' means

In Scripture, "church" never means "denomination".
The Bible confines itself to three of those meanings (B,C,E). It certainly never uses the word "church" to mean a sect, denomination, schism or ism. The Bible thus simplifies the ideas wrapped up in the word "church" and it is wise for us to untangle ourselves from the confusion of other uses. Referring to the chapel as the church is relatively harmless since it is only a metonym. However it is just as easy to call it a chapel or a "church house" as many do. Referring to a denomination, sect, schism, or ism as a "church" is misleading and confusing and is certainly not speaking as the Bible speaks.

Observe how the meaning has been distorted.
If you had asked Christians in Bible times, "Which church do you belong to?" they would have answered with place names, not with the name of a denomination. Today, when you ask that question, you nearly always get the name of a denomination. Do a survey and see. That just shows you how much things have changed. There were plenty of "isms" even then, but the early Christians never spoke of the "ism" they followed as their "church". A similar kind of distortion has happened to the word "faith" and people speak of different "faiths" referring to different isms, when clearly "there is one faith" (Eph 4:5).

The Greek word for "church".
The word "church" is commonly used to translate the Greek word ekklesia except in a couple of cases where ekklesia refers to a non-Christian assembly. The ek~ means "out" or "from" and the ~klesia comes from kaleo to call. So ekklesia simply means the "called out" people --called out of darkness into God's light. That light is the Lord Jesus Christ (1Pe 2:9 Jhn 1:4). There is nothing in this word to suggest a denomination.

The main point that I have been hammering in discussing the meaning of the word church is that it does not mean "denomination". Now I'd like to look at another point of confusion and distortion in thinking and talking about "the church" today. This has to do with the church transcendant, not viewed as a number of local congregations but as one great body composed of all God's children everywhere.

The visible church

The church we cannot entirely see.
A common idea is that the one true church of Christ is invisible. Everybody knows that there is a "universal church". This is the "general assembly" (Heb 12:22-23), the "kingdom" and "body" of saints (Col 1:13-18). This transcendant church is real, but at the same time it is ideal. We cannot see this perfect church in its entirety and full glory. God can see it, and maybe the angels, but we cannot, at least not all at once. That is a long way from saying, however, that the church is "invisible". Expressions like "the church invisible and indivisible" are high sounding gobbledegook to try to justify the fact that the church that is visible is an embarrassment.

We see the church like we see an ocean.
Many times I have walked on the golden sandy shores of the great Pacific ocean. I have seen the Pacific ocean from places in Australia two thousand kilometres apart. I have seen the Pacific ocean from small islands of the South Pacific. I have seen the Pacific ocean from high up in the air. I have seen it below the surface. But I've never seen it all, and certainly not all at once with the naked eye. Because I can only see the ocean locally, does that mean that the Pacific ocean is invisible? It may be that some parts of that ocean are so deep or so remote that no human I will see them. However that does not make the ocean invisible, does it?

Sometimes we see trash.
Occasionally I have seen rubbish polluting the portion of the ocean I am looking at. Imagine you were there and I said to you that it was a shame to see that mess. Now suppose you told me that I was looking only at the visible Pacific and I should understand that the "invisible Pacific" --the true Pacific-- is pure and perfect and cannot be polluted. I would have to laugh at you, wouldn't I? When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, or Rome, these ancient local churches were each visibly Christ's one true church in a particular place. This was true even though these were not perfect churches.

We see the church locally.
Our sight, as far as the church is concerned, is to be sure presently limited to the locality. Nevertheless, what we are looking at is the church. When you look at my body, would you say to me that I am an invisible man because you cannot see all parts of my body? In the same way, the body of Christ, his church, cannot be properly called invisible. Now we may see something wrong with the part of the church we are looking at. It does not help to babble about an "invisible" church --and babble is not too strong a word because such talk is quite unscriptural and unhelpful. It's a way of explaining away the problems instead of solving them by helping to clean up the pollution.

From invisible to impossible.
So thoroughly has the idea of an "invisible church" permeated our thinking, that some even believe that we must have denominational or sectarian organisations in order to provide a local and visible church. The idea goes like this:

That's how some people think. But they are wrong.

Undenominational churches today.
The Bible narrative tells us that in the beginning, when Jesus built his one true church, it was quite visible and the congregations were quite undenominational. The first church of Christ in Jerusalem was visible. As the gospel spread, similar churches were set up in other cities around the world (Acts 1:8) and they too were visible. But in that early church there was not a denomination to be seen anywhere. When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, or Rome, not one of today's many denominations yet existed. These ancient local churches were each visibly Christ's one true church in a particular place. This was true even though these were not perfect churches. When Paul said, "The churches of Christ greet you" (Rom 16:16), he had in mind visible local gatherings of the world-wide church. Nothing has changed. The church of Christ is no less visible today than it was in New Testament times. It is possible to have such undenominational churches today. Indeed all congregations of Christians ought to be undenominational.

Take special note Here is something for you to think about. Read it several times until it sinks in. The "different churches" of Bible times were the same church in different towns --not different churches in the same town.

Denominations? Who needs them?
People will argue for the existence of their own sectarian organisation, whilst recognising that other believers, even a congregation of them, can be true Christians, in the true church, without belonging to that sectarian organisation. So why have denominations at all? Why indeed? There is no good reason. Yet there seems to be opposition to forming churches that are actually undenominational. Churches of one denomination will often fellowship, and have respect for, churches of another denomination more readily than they will the churches of no denomination. It's ok to have an undenominational look and feel. It's not ok to be genuinely undenominational and to be against denominationalism.

'I will build my church'

We conclude and sum up this lesson by briefly looking at the statement of Jesus, "I will build my church".

The first word of the statement is "I". This marks the Lordship of Christ.
Nobody else is in a position to say what follows this "I". Jesus is the only rightful founder and head of the church, not you or me or someone else no matter how eminent. It's the same "I" as in "I am the way the truth and the life" (Jhn 14:6). Who else can say that?

When Jesus says "will", he expresses his authority.
His will is supreme except for the will of his Father. Again I shall speak somewhat harshly, yet I hope appropriately. It is surprising how many believers in Christ proceed according to what pleases them, without bothering to ask if it pleases Christ and seeking their Master's authority. We have his authority to build nothing in his name, save that which he would build. When was it ever his will to build a denomination? Whatever is not according to his will is contrary to it.

When Jesus says "build", he expresses his work.
Promoting a denomination is not the work of Christ. Only in building the church Christ died for are we doing Christ's work. In building a denomination, we are working for somebody else and doing somebody else's work, not the Lord's.

When Jesus says "my" he expresses his ownership.
The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. There is no other foundation (1Co 3:11). Only he is the chief corner stone, no one else (Eph 2:20). Only his blood purchased the church of God, nobody else's (Act 20:28). The church is his bride whom he loves. She belongs to no other (Eph 5:25-27). Christ does not own any denomination.

When Jesus says "church", he expresses his calling.
Jesus calls everyone into his one true church the "called out" people (ekklesia). Jesus calls nobody into any denomination.

In every word of the statement "I will build my church" we find the promise that Christ's church is what we should be restoring and establishing in the world. We should not replace it with anything else nor join ourselves to a "church" that someone else has founded. Let's work together in going back to the one true church of Christ. No other "church" will do.

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