Church

By Nick Bibile

Today even Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons believe that the church is not a building but people of God. But let me give you the true definition of the true church.

Our English word church comes from the Scottish word kirk, the Greek word is ekklesia, meaning assembly of people gathered to worship the Lord. There is oneness in the true church, meaning the church is composed of all the redeemed in every age, who are saved by grace through personal faith in the sacrificial work of Christ. It is the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) and the suffering Messiah (Isaiah 53:5-10)

In the Old Testament, the church was called the assembly or the congregation. The sovereign Lord dwells in the midst of the people when they assembled before him.

Numbers 20:6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

Exodus 12:3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.

As God dwells among the midst of his people when they assembled together, in the New Testament, God became a man, he redeemed a people for himself with his precious blood. And He is the master builder of the church.

Ephesians 2:20-21 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

This church cannot be conquered, the very gates of hades, the power of death will not prevail against it, as He build the church on Himself. Jesus is the head of the church and the true believers are the body of the church.

Believers are called the temple of God. The church is made of the true believers in Christ Jesus from different parts of the world, they are empowered by the Holy Spirit, to live the true life of a believer and to make disciples of all nations.

The church is militant and triumphant. The church on earth is militant as the world is on warfare with the church as we are fighting against the spiritual darkness. The church in heaven, those who have died in Christ, called the triumphant church as they replaced their sufferings on this earth, the battles on this earth against the enemy and now in heaven they have a crown, they became victorious because of the blood of the Lamb. God’s elect people are the true church.

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