SOME BASIC FACTS ABOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH
The term “church” is a term that has many different meanings today. Some may use the word “church” to refer to a building. For example, “I’ll meet you at the church,” which means I will meet you at the church “building.” Another may use the term to refer to a specific denomination. A person might say, “In my church, we believe in having women preachers.” The word church, in this sense, would obviously refer to one of the denominations which have women preachers (cf. I Timothy 2:8-13).
It would be helpful for all of us to go to the Bible and consider how the word church is used in the Scriptures.
1. Church refers to the universal body of believers who have obeyed the Gospel: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus was not referring to brick, mortar, or wood. Rather, He was referring to the universal body of believers. Paul used “church” in this same sense when he penned: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25). Christ loved the universal church, all believers everywhere.
2. Church refers to local congregations: “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (Acts 9:31). Notice that the “churches” had rest. The reason was that Saul of Tarsus was no longer persecuting those congregations. The term “churches” here refers to the different congregations of the Lord’s one universal church. Paul also used the term in this way: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:1-2). Notice that the “church” to which Paul referred was the local congregation of believers which met in the city of Corinth.
However, the term church, in the Bible, never refers to a Protestant denomination. Look at pages in newspapers where the names of churches are listed. See if you can find in your Bible the list of denominational church names that you see in the newspaper. You will not find them.
The reason denominations are not mentioned in the Bible is that protestant denominations were started by men long after Jesus built His church in the first century (see Acts 2:1-47). Any church which started after Acts chapter 2 is too late to be the church of Christ. “Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you” (Romans 16:16). The Lord loves you and so do we!
