Introduction
- Acts 8:1-3 – The church was the people. Not a building!
- Romans 16:5
- Acts 20:17, 28-30 – The trouble to come was that people would be drawn away. This was spiritual work to guard the people.
The word “church”
- The word translated church in the New Testament simply means, “a called out group” or “assembly.” The word itself does not have a spiritual connotation.
- Acts 19:32 – The word “assembly” here is ekklesia, often translated “church.”
Universal sense (all saved people everywhere)
- Ephesians 5:22-28 – Christ died to save the church.
- Ephesians 4:4 – There is one body (one church) because there is one savior.
- Matthew 16:16-19 – Jesus was establishing a group of people who were saved.
- Acts 2:38
- Hebrews 12:22-23 – The people’s names are written in heaven.
- Luke 10:20
Local sense (saved people working together as a congregation)
The church does not save; it is the saved.
- Acts 4:12 – Jesus is the savior – not the church!
Don’t think of the “church of Christ” as a denomination with a creed.
- “Church of Christ” is a description – not a name.
- Churches are described with many names in the New Testament:
- Acts 8:12
There should not be such a thing as “church of Christ” doctrine.
- There is only the doctrine of God.