Articles
Gospel Basics: the Church (Part 1)
Gospel Basics: the Church (Part 1)
“I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” - 1 Timothy 3:15b
What is the church? The Bible calls it, among other things, “the household of God” (1 Timothy 3:15b) and the “body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). The Greek word ekklesia (translated church) literally means “called out” and is the root of the terms “ecclesiology” and “ecclesiastical.” Christians are called out from the world to God. The outcome is the church, the body of believers.
This lesson is a brief analysis of the Scriptural teaching on both local and the universal church. The lesson is split into part 1 and part 2.
THE WORK OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
Let’s start by examining the work of the local church as we find it in the New Testament. What is the mission and function of the local church? We can answer that question in four parts:
- Teaching the Truth. As we noted above, the local church is the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). It fulfills this role by teaching and preaching the gospel to both the saved and the lost, and by financially supporting those who preach God’s word (Philippians 4:15-16). This is the single most important work of the church.
- Collective activities. Members of a local church are supposed to do certain spiritual activities when they assemble for worship on the first day of the week. They are to be taught God’s word (Acts 20:7b), break bread / eat the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7a; Acts 2:42b), pray (Acts 2:42b), sing (Colossians 3:16), and contribute money (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). The early church worshiped together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) but did not limit its assemblies to that day. In fact, the church in Jerusalem met to worship every single day (Acts 2:46a).
- Help needy brethren. The money that a local church collects should be used, in part, to aid faithful brethren who are in need (Acts 11:29; 1 Corinthians 16:3; Romans 15:26; 1 Timothy 5:9-10). The early church was not a general benevolent society, distributing money to anyone in need. The funds used for benevolence were used exclusively for destitute saints.
- Corrective discipline. When a Christian stubbornly refuses to repent of sin, it is the responsibility of the local church to withdraw association from him until he repents (1 Corinthians 5; 2 Thessalonians 3). The church must not regard such a one as an enemy but must admonish him as a brother (2 Thessalonians 3:15).
In all of this, one important distinction must be made: there is a difference between the work of the church collectively and the work of the individual (see 1 Timothy 5:8, 16; Galatians 6:10; James 1:27). The church is not authorized to do everything that the individual can do, such as run businesses or build colleges. The individual can do those things but not the church. The church has a specific function that is entirely spiritual in nature.
