Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Friday, 06 September 2024 09:12

The Church, Part 3
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

The last two weeks I have tried to explain what being the “the church of God” means. I used the analogy of buildings to help us see that sometimes we carry the attitude of ownership into God’s church. Another useful analogy would be that of an event planner or organizer. From fundraisers to social events, we all enjoy interesting speakers, fun entertainment, cool music, and great friends. Scottsboro certainly has its share of talented event planners and fun events. But hopefully, those do not share the same goals of the church. Remember the church is His, and it should be a reflection of who He is and His glory – not who we are and what our culture is becoming.
The revelation of God is the purpose of the Bible. It explains to us who He is, His character, His purposes, and His ways. He defines for us what He has done and what He has promised to do. Furthermore, everything He has done, He has done in, through and for His Son, Jesus Christ. In the Bible, God also defines and describes who we are. In 1 Corinthians, Paul uses three phrases to define who we are, as the church of God.

The first phrase that defines who we are as the church is “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2, NASB). It defines who we are “possession-ally” or who owns us. “Sanctified” is translated from a Greek root word which means “holy.” It communicates an Old Testament Hebrew idea of being consecrated or set apart. In other words, Paul first describes us as having been consecrated or set apart for God. This word is followed by the wonderful phrase that describes where God has put us when He set us apart for Himself. He placed us “in Christ Jesus.” God has safely and securely set us apart for Himself through the person and work of His Son. Without faith in the Son, we do not belong to God. But because of what God has done through His Son, we, as the church, are God’s treasured possession.

The second phrase that defines the people comprising the church is “saints by calling” (1 Corinthians 1:2, NASB). It defines who we are positionally. Again the word “saint” has the word “holy” as its root. Just as the Lord our God is holy, so are His people. Now if you are like me, someone referring to you as being holy will make you cringe a bit. And if you know me very well, you would immediately argue against anyone referring to me as holy. But God tells us how we achieved such a status as being that of a saint. It was “by calling,” meaning when God effectually called us to Himself, He did so through the work of His Son. And so because of our faith in Jesus, His holiness has become as ours. Remember, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB). So now, by the work of the Holy Spirit, we are being made into what we already are – God’s holy people.

The third phrase that defines us as the church is those who “call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2, NASB). It is who we are practically. We are the people who recognized the grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus and called out to Him in faith and were saved. But there is more. “Call” is a present tense verb meaning this is our continual habit of life. We first understood grace when we called to Jesus and were saved, but we began to see our desperate need for grace everyday. And so we call and call and call. The more mature in my faith I have become, the more I have understood my need for God’s grace in every matter of life. I call to Him day and night. In fact, we are encouraged by the writer of Hebrews to “let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NASB). May we go before His throne continually and call to Him.
God’s word defines the church for us. Rather than redefining it to fit our desires, we would be much better off to allow His word to shape our understanding of His church.