THE CHURCH OF GOD

A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce to be found in the English language. It is sometimes taken for a building, set apart for public worship; sometimes for a congregation, or body of people, united together in the service of God.

THE WORD CHURCH is often thought of as meaning a building where people come on Sundays; or the people in a congregation; or a denomination or ecclesiastical organization such as the United Methodist Church or the Roman Catholic Church. There are denominations and church fellowships that call themselves Church of God, but the biblical church of God is something entirely different.

The biblical church of God is three things. It is (1) a living entity; (2) a doctrine; and, (3) a visible fellowship of people that comprehend the doctrine and are part of the living entity.

The word entity may be difficult to understand. It is derived from the Latin word esse, to be. The simple definition of entity is "being, existence." An entity is something characterized as independent, separate, or self-contained existence. The Apostle Paul described the church in the terms of entity in the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians. He did not use the word church in this chapter but he writes of people being baptized into the church by the Holy Spirit. He writes that people who are baptized into the body of Christ take on the attributes of members of a body, such as an eye or an ear. Each person becomes a particular member of the body with a specific function needed by the body. As the members of a human body receive nourishment from the blood and direction from the brain, the members of the body of Christ receive their spiritual nourishment and directions from the Holy Spirit. Thus we see that all people baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ (people that have experienced salvation) are combined into the one living spiritual entity called the body of Christ, which is also called the church. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:24)

The church of God is also a biblical doctrine. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus made the statement that He would build His church. Jesus was not thinking of building and ecclesiastical organization when He made this statement but rather was speaking of the spiritual entity that is referred to in other passages as His body and the church. The fact that Jesus spoke of a church He would build requires a doctrine, a teaching, that gives the orthodox description of this church because it is important for Christians to understand what Christ's church is and what it is not. This doctrine can be pieced together from several texts throughout the New Testament but Ephesians 2:13-22 and Colossians 1:14-24 are two complementary passages that encapsulate the whole doctrine of the church.

Ephesians 2:13-22

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:14-24

¹⁴[Christ] in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

¹⁹For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled ²²in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—²³if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

²⁴I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.

The doctrine of the Church is quite simple containing essentially three points, which illustrate both its spiritual nature and its physical nature.

The first point is that the church exists because of the fact of redemption. Having been brought near by the blood of Christ, we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. It must therefore be a holy institution and all who are made members of the biblical church are holy, blameless, and above reproach in the sight of God. It is recognized as the dwelling place of God in the Holy Spirit. So, we see here that the proof of membership in the biblical church is holiness and not a church register or roll-book. The only roll-book that is recognized and valid is the Book of Life according to Revelation 20:11-15.

The second point is that the theology of the biblical church is the Bible, specifically that which is known as the Gospel. The authoritative writings accepted by the biblical church are the writings of the Apostles and the Prophets. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, the head of the church, indicating that the writings of the Apostles and Prophets must be interpreted in a sense that is guided by the atonement. There can be no room for denominationally distinct doctrines or theology in the biblical church; all its theology must relate to the atonement because nothing else matters.

The third and last point is that the biblical church exists in a state of unity. This can be the only outcome if people have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit. We have been "fitted together" and "built together" for a dwelling place of God. The experience of salvation brings people into a state of peace with each other. As those that have been saved from sin, we empathize with all others who have the same experience. As those that are called saints, holy ones, all enmity has been done away and there can be no basis for discrimination against other saved people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, social status, and all the other things people use as a basis to discriminate against their fellow creatures.

There is one more fundamental point to the doctrine of the church that is not stated in the two texts presented. The biblical church has a name, and it can have only this name. Acts 20:28 refers to "the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." This is clearly not a denominational title, but rather a name that describes character and ownership: Character in that it has been purchased by the blood of Christ making its members holy; and ownership in that it is the purchased possession of God.

The church of God is also a visible fellowship of people that comprehend the doctrine of the church and have experienced salvation (i.e, they are part of the living entity, the body of Christ, which is the church). The New Testament description of the church shows us people that possessed salvation and who came together in assemblies and fellowships called the church of God. The New Testament records that the original church of God existed in the forms of local congregations, regional fellowships, and as the church universal. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul addresses the epistle to "the church of God which is at Corinth." This is an example of a local congregation called the church of God. In Galatians 1:2 Paul addresses the epistle to "the churches of Galatia." Galatia was a province or region in Asia Minor, much like Oklahoma is a state within the United States. That the churches in Galatia called themselves by the name church of God can be seen by the fact that Paul refers to his persecuting the "church of God" in verse thirteen. The fact that he had persecuted the church of God would mean little to the Galatians if they were themselves not the church of God. Paul's commend would have had more meaning if he had said that he persecuted other Christians. In 1 Thessalonians 2:14 Paul speaks of the "churches of God which are in Judea"; clearly a statement of churches within a region. The universal name for the church can be seen in such texts as 1 Corinthians where Paul speaks of the churches of God not having a certain custom. The most convincing text as to the universal name of the church is found in Acts 20:28, "the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." This verse indicates that all people who are among the redeemed are known as the church of God.

Is it appropriate for a body of Christians to call itself the church of God? A better question would be, is it appropriate for a body of Christians to call itself something other than the church of God? The Christian world is divided into a multiplicity of church names, ecclesiastical organizations, and theological perspectives. This mess cannot be undone, but that does not make that which is unscriptural scriptural. God alone decides whom He accepts and whom He rejects but it behooves all that name the name of Christ to obey what is plainly taught in the word of God. On the issue of the biblical church, it is better Christians to stand apart as a body from denominations and churches and to come together in congregations established on a biblical foundation. Yet considering that most sincere Christians might not have this understanding, such congregations of the church of God must accept Christians within the denominations and churches as fellow believers and on an equal basis until such time as their lives would prove them not to be Christians according to the atonement. Mere disagreements on theology, doctrines, and practices cannot justify divisions among Christians. The only thing that can separate between professors of the Christian faith is the same thing that separates people from God and that is sin.

Of The Church

This sermon by John Wesley is an excellent and authoritative discourse on the biblical doctrine of the church. It must be remembered that, while Wesley is looked upon as the founder of the Methodist Church--which he was not--and the grandfather of the modern Holiness Movement, he was actually a minister of the Church of England during the Eighteenth Century.

Although Wesley's language is that of an educated clergyman of his time, his works are still readable by Modern Americans. some people may object to his use of the word "catholic" in reference to the Church of God. By "catholic" he does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but instead he uses the word in the true sense of its meaning: universal, the whole Christian body.

Some may be offended at Wesley's including such denominational names as the Church of England, the Church of Scotland and others, within the scope of his definition of the Church of God. The offended reader should continue reading through the entire sermon and he will find that while the Church can and will have a national identity, it is limited only to those within the nation that have been born from above. In fact, Wesley states explicitly that members of the biblical Church are limited to those that exhibit the traits mentioned in his opening text, Ephesians 4:1-6.

In sections 16 through 19 of this sermon, Wesley brings up a certain Article of the Church of England to show in what manner the Article agrees with the biblical teaching on the Church and where it falls short. This is not an uncommon technique employed by Wesley in his sermons. Wesley continually defended himself against accusations of radicalism and he used this technique to demonstrate that he was teaching doctrines that were actually part of the theology of the Church of England.

Towards the end of section 21, Wesley, the champion of holiness, appears to make allowance for sin in the Christian life. He does not; the comments in this section lead into the next section, et seq., where he firmly avows holiness and the carefulness with which holy people must live.

Wesley wraps up his sermon with the necessity for unity of the spirit among those who profess to be the Church of God. His idea of unity exceeds the limits of the local congregation and encompasses all that look to Christ for their hope and assurance of salvation. He claims that "the Church is called holy, because it is holy; because every member thereof is holy."