What the Church mean in all its contexts. How it relates to God.
Church is a term carrying a lot of weight and meaning in the New Testament. So defining and using it correctly is important.
Unfortunately many do not do so. They give it a single definition that they carry throughout the Bible. And that leads to many false doctrines and errant thinking. Or they give multiple meanings but carry portions of each into each other giving another set of false doctrines and errant thinking.
So, what does Church mean?
CHURCH Strong's Number: 1577 Original Word: ekklhsia Transliterated Word: Ekklesia Phonetic Spelling: ek-klay-see'-ah Parts of Speech : Noun Feminine Definition
a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly
an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating
the assembly of the Israelites
any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance, tumultuously
in a Christian sense
an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting
a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake
those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body
the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth
the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven
As you can see church has several definitions that do not demand Christianity. Nor do they demand exclusively New Testament application.
For clarity here, when using church to mean whole assembly of Christians, it will be capitalized. When used for any other meaning it will not.
One common error is to claim the Church existed in the Old Testament times. In fact has always existed.
This error comes in part from incorrectly defining the Body of Christ. But since that issue is covered on another page it will not be restated here. All that will be said here is that Israel and Church are two distinctly different covenant bodies within the Body of Christ as is shown on that page.
This error is also based heavily on Acts 7:38 in the KJV translation.
Acts 7: (KJV) 38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Well, the problem here is that the KJV does a poor translation. While technically an acceptable translation it does not carry the clearest of meaning.
It does not mean Church or even church in the New Testament sense of the word at all. It means assembly or congregation in the Old Testament sense as it is so translated in other Bible translations.
Among the other most used translations you do not find the word church used.
Acts 7: (NIV) 38He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
Acts 7: (NASB) 38 "This is the one who was in (1) the congregation in the wilderness together with (2) the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received (3) living (4) oracles to pass on to you.
Acts 7: (NKJV) 38"This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,
So the natural question then is, “When did the Church come into existence?”
To answer that we turn to what Christ said on the issue.
Matthew 16: (NIV) 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[ 16:18 Peter means rock.] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[ 16:18 Or hell] will not overcome it.[ 16:18 Or not prove stronger than it]
The Roman Catholic issues concerning this verse will be dealt with independently.
First, note the Church will be built. Not added to. Not finished. Not rebuilt. But the future tense will be built.
And what will it be built upon? The rock. And what is the rock?
Here we must look at the Greek or it could appear to some in English Peter is the rock. That is just not the case.
PETROS Strong's Number: 4074 Original Word: etro Transliterated Word: Petros Phonetic Spelling: pet'-ros Parts of Speech : Noun Masculine Definition
Peter = "a rock or a stone"
one of the twelve disciples of Jesus
PETRA Strong's Number: 4073 Original Word: petra Transliterated Word: petra Phonetic Spelling: pet'-ra Parts of Speech : Noun Feminine Definition
a rock, cliff or ledge
a projecting rock, crag, rocky ground
a rock, a large stone
metaph. a man like a rock, by reason of his firmness and strength of soul
Strong's Number: 4073 Original Word: petra Transliterated Word: petra Phonetic Spelling: pet'-ra Parts of Speech : Noun Feminine Definition
So the Church was not built on Petros but Petra. And you can see the size, significance, and power differences between the two.
So who or what was petra? It is Christ. And Christ is called Petra several more times in the New Testament. Here are a few.
1 Corinthians 10: (NIV) 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Romans 9: (NIV) 33As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[1]
1 Peter 2: (NIV) 8and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall."[1] They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.
So this clearly established Christ built the Church upon himself. But he did not start his ministry until he was 30 years old. And could not turn to the Gentiles until the nation of Israel rejected him in full and he rose from the grave.
Therefore per Christ’s own words the beginnings of the Church were with him and his gathering of the apostles, preaching, and ministry in general. So the Church could not and did not exist or even begin to come into existence prior to Christ’s ministry.
Yet while laying these foundations the Church could not exist while Israel existed as the covenant body. So the Church actually began when Israel was cut off at the close of the 69th Week of Daniel. And this was at the cross.
The Church's beginnings can be compared to the beginnings of Israel. While beginning with Abraham Israel did not come to full fruitation until the Promised Land.
It can also be compared to the Tribulation Period which is the 70th Week of Daniel. It takes 7 years from its start for the offering of the New Covenant by the Two Witnesses and the awakening and restoration of Israel to be completed. So while beginning at the First Seal Israel does not truly gain the New Covenant and is not fully restored as the covenant nation until the Second Coming.
Never is the Church called Israel. Never is Israel called the Church. Never is the New Covenant as offered to Israel ever spoken of as belonging to the Gentiles or being in existence now.
So the Church indeed is separate and distinct from Israel. And has not always existed.
So, what is the Church? It is all the believers that are and were born-again while in the flesh. This excludes everyone before the resurrection. Non were born-again prior since that requires the blood of Christ, which did not exist until his death. And was not used until his resurrection.
Yet a church can be Christians, non-Christians, and saints before Christ, and so on. That requires one to understand in the usage when it only means an assembly of people for a common purpose.
And the Church will come to an end in the flesh at the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. But that is another subject for another page.
