Amen!
The only church in scripture which has "members" is the church which is Christ's Body! (Eph.1:22,23) membership is always related to the Body! There are not many bodies (baptist bodies, presbyterian bodies, pentecostal bodies etc etc.)! if there were we would have the awful monstrosity of a "many bodied Head"! God has only ever given One to be Head of the Church and that is Christ! Col.1:18 and Ephesians 5:23.)To get back to the original question: What is the church?
The Greek word EKKLESIA, "an out calling" or "a called out company" is used of 4 specific groups of the people of God in scripture:
(1)The church in the wilderness. Acts 7:38 The nation of Israel was "called out of Egypt".
(2)Churches in houses of believers. Acts 2:2,46; 8:3; Rom.16:5; Pilemon 1;2 etc etc.)
(3)The church of God, or churches of God. Always one such church in each city! It is God's church, not that of any denomination! And it includes every person who is sanctified in Christ Jesus who lives in that town or city! See I Cor.1:2 etc.
(4)The church which is the Body of Christ. Includes every saved person who is in Christ. Ephesians 1:22,23
No organization, denomination, federation, or association of congregations is a church as far as scripture is concerned!
God's purpose in calling out such companies is found in Acts 15:14 "God did visit the Gentiles (the nations) to take out of them A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME!"
We miss God's purpose altogether when we gather "churches" together around our chosen names!!! Denominationalism is and always has been diametrically opposed to the church of the living God! It is not a recent phenomenon at all. Denominationalism was already full blown at Corinth when Paul wrote I Corinthians (possibly the very first N.T. book which was penned!) See I Cor.1:10-13. This is one of the many passages of this epistle that you seldom if ever hear being read in any "church"! Another such neglected passage is I Cor.14;23-40 which is the Holy Spirit's rules of order for the church of God in any city when they come together in one place. I'll bet none of us have ever yet seen and experienced such a gathering! Denominationalism has seen to that!
But brethren, and sisters, will you begin to pray that God will change your own heart and attitude toward other truly born-again believers in your own community (regardless of their backgrounds) and be willing to receive such brothers and sisters into your homes and gatherings in your homes? Only as we allow God to change our hearts (one by one) without demanding change of others, will God have liberty in our communities to gather HIS CHURCH! When that happens and we function according to Holy Spirit given commandments of the Lord (I Cor.14:37) will we see the kind of effect and conviction upon unbelievers that God intended them to have! (I Cor.14:23,24)
Churches of God in cities are guided by I Cor.14:23-40 and I Tim.2 & 3. See I Tim.3:14,15. But gatherings of saints in house churches are to function on radically different terms. See hebrews 10:24,25 (notice the emphasis on "one another"! Also I Pet.4:10,11. There are clear gender distinctions operational in gatherings of the whole church in a city. But no gender distinctions at all in meetings of believers in homes! It would be impossible to eat the Lord's Supper in a gathering of a whole church in most cities, that is why breaking of bread in scripture is always in houses, rooms of houses, or in peoples' normal dwelling places! There is no such thing as a "church building" of brick and mortar in the N.T. Neither is there any semblance of a distinct priestly class which is salaried by the serfs!
The Old Covenant had both a distinct Holy priesthood and distinct holy buildings which were maintained by compulsory tithes and offerings. Because the N.T. knows nothing of such a priesthood and nothing of such buildings, it also knows nothing of any corporate collections!!! The collections of I Cor.16:1,2 are PERSONAL! "Let each one of you lay BY HIM in store as God has prospered him!" Thus each believer, as he or she sets aside what they have purposed in their own hearts (II Cor.9:7), they too have the joy of hearing from God regarding the needs of others to which they are to give personally!
N.T. house churches have no building funds, no utilities, no mortgages, and no salaries to pay! Therefore there is absolutely no need of corporate collections!!! Now your friends who visit can relax and not have to worry about any "collection plate" going by!!!!
Sorry for my rambling, but I am so excited about the liberties that N.T. believers have in Christ, if we will just "go by the Book"!!!
Hope you all have a great day!
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