Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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The One True Church
Chapter 12 – The Word “Church”
Since we prize the word of God above the word of men, let’s go to the Bible to make sure we understand what the word “church” means. After all, we won’t be able to correctly identify “the one true church” if we don’t even have a clear sense of what the Bible means by the word “church.”
Our effort to understand the word “church” is complicated by almost two thousand years of Christianity. Those two thousand years have included using the word “church” in ways different from the way it was used in Bible times. For instance, it’s commonplace today that the word “church” can refer to a building, but it never refers to a building in the Bible. It always refers to people. And this is but one example of how modern views can distort biblical views.
Recall that the New Testament was originally written in Greek. The English word “church” is usually a translation of the Greek word “ekklesia.” This word was used by the Greeks to describe any assembly, congregation, or gathering – whether it was Christian or not, whether it was religious or not. Any assembly, congregation, or gathering.
Recall next when Jesus announced to His disciples that He was going to build His church.
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
What the disciples heard that day was:
- “…I will build My assembly…” or
- “…I will build My congregation…” or
- “…I will build My gathering…”
This is the first time in which the word “church” shows up in most English translations of the Bible. However, it is not the first time it appears in the original Hebrew Bible. Throughout the Old Testament, Moses and the prophets had Hebrew words to relate the concept. And when the Old Testament was translated into Greek a couple of centuries before Christ, “ekklesia” was the Greek word that the translators used.
Consider, for example, this verse from the Psalms.
Psalm 22:22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
The word “assembly” in this verse was translated from the Hebrew into the Greek word “ekklesia.”
When Psalm 22:22 is quoted by Paul in the book of Hebrews, it is translated into English in the following way.
Hebrews 2:12 saying,
“I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN,
IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.”
Consider also that “ekklesia” is the word being translated as “congregation” in the following verse from Stephen’s testimony. He was speaking of Moses.
Acts 7:38 “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.”
What all this demonstrates is that when we read the word “church” in the Bible, we should not be thinking of a building or an institution. Rather, we should think simply of people: assembled, congregated, gathered.
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