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The Bible Definition of Church - Part II

The specific question we are attempting to answer in this series of lessons is 'what difference does it make which church I join?' And as with all our lessons we will do our utmost to let God tell us through His Word exactly what He wants us to understand on this or any subject.

In the first lesson we laid down some foundational truths from the Bible which would guide us in our research. We also discussed the fact that today there are two predominant views concerning the church: 1. The church, or body of Christ, is comprised of all born again believers and that each local congregation is a picture of that universal body, 2. The church of the New Testament is a geographically local congregation of baptized believers and that each church is a body of Christ.

We studied Christ's own words related to this subject and saw that His words could only be applied to a local body of believers. We looked specifically at Matthew 16:18 and Matthew chapter 18, two places where Jesus spoke specifically about the church. We applied the principles of proper Biblical interpretation we learned in the first series ('How to Find the Right Church', Lesson One) and established  that in these two occasions Christ was speaking to His already founded first church and that His lesson in Matthew 18 about church discipline could only be applied to a local assembly of believers.

Now in this second lesson we will look at the New Testament church from a grammatical stand point. Specifically, the generic and specific use of the noun 'church'. To do this correctly we are going to look at every reference containing the words 'church' and 'body of Christ'.

First lets talk a little about the generic versus the specific use of a noun. Lets take the noun 'marriage' as an example. Paul wrote in Hebrews 13:4 that 'marriage is honorable in all.'  But to which marriage was he referring? Was he referring to a specific marriage? The answer to both questions is that he was speaking of the institution of marriage. He was addressing every single marriage. In this verse he used the noun 'marriage' generically and thereby referenced every specific marriage. All marriages are covered by that verse. We could also use the noun 'car' generically by saying that 'the car is a wonderful invention.' Which car? Ford, General Motors, American Motors? The answer is 'any car' regardless of make.

Now lets look at an example of the noun 'marriage' used in a specific sense in the New Testament. In John chapter 2 verse 1 a specific marriage in Cana is mentioned. This is the occasion of Christ's first miracle: turning water into wine. In this verse the noun 'marriage' is used in a specific sense to identify a single marriage. We could also use the noun 'car' specifically by adding the pronoun 'my' in front of it: 'my car'.

Now, it is very important to remember that although a noun can be used generically or specifically, when it is used generically it always refers to the specific. When we say that 'the car is a great invention' the generic use of the noun 'car' refers specifically of every automobile. When we say 'the cow gives milk' the generic use of the noun 'cow' refers specifically to each cow. And when Paul said 'marriage is honorable in all' he was using the noun 'marriage' generically to refer to all individual marriages. To say this point in other terms, the generic use of a noun never refers to something other than the specific.

This fact is the case with the noun 'church' in God's Word. It is used generically and specifically and the generic uses always refer to the specific. For example, in Acts 8:1 Luke mentions 'the church which was at Jerusalem' (this was the church which Jesus started back in Mark chapter 13). This is a specific use of the noun 'church'. Christ used the noun 'church' generically referring to all local churches such as the Jerusalem church in Matthew 16:18 where He said 'I will build my church'.

If we look at every occurrence of the word 'church' we see that this noun is used either specifically or generically in reference to each specific local church. In fact the noun 'church' is used in my KJV Bible 77 times: 68 times specifically and 9 times generically. I've listed all these references in their respective groups below.

Specific uses of the noun 'church': Acts 2:47; 5:11; 8:1; 8:3; 11:22; 11:26; 12:1; 12:5; 13:1; 14:23; 14:27; 15:3; 15:4; 15:22; 18:22; 20:17; 20:28, Romans 16:1; 16:5; 16:23, 1 Corinthians 1:2; 4:17; 6:4; 10:32; 11:18; 11:22; 12:28; 14:4; 14:5; 14:12; 14:19; 14:23; 14:28; 14:35; 15:9; 16:19, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:13, Philippians 3:6; 4:15, Colossians 4:15; 4:16, 1Thessalonians 1:1, II Thessalonians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:5; 5:16, Philemon 1:2, James 5:14, 1 Peter 5:13, 3 John 1:6; 1:9; 1:10, Revelation 2:1;  2:8; 2:12; 2:18; 3:1; 3:7; 3:14.

Additionally there are several verses which use the noun 'church' in a specific sense but which do not refer to the institution of the church here on earth. These are: Ephesians 5:23; 5:24; 5:25; 5:27, 5:29; 5:32 and Hebrews 12:23 which refer to a future time in glory when all churches will be united into one, Acts 7:38 and Hebrews 2:12 which refer to the OT congregation of Israelites (compare Hebrews 2:12 with Ps 22:22).

Generic uses of the noun 'church': Matthew 16:18; 18:17 (twice), Ephesians 1:22; 3:10; 3:21;   Colossians 1:18; 1:24, 1 Timothy 3:15,

Out of the 77 times the noun 'church' is used it refers to a specific congregation in 68 cases. In only 9 places is the noun not used to identify a specific congregation. In those 9 times the noun is used generically to refer to all specific congregations. Remember, the generic use of a noun can only refer back to its specific counterpart.

When Paul teaches about the marriage relationships of husband to wife and wife to husband he uses the generic versions of the nouns 'husband' and 'wife'. And none of us reads those generic terms and thinks that all husbands are married to all wives or that there is some symbolic universal marriage. We all recognize that Paul is speaking of each marriage. He does the exact same thing with the noun 'church'. He uses it to refer to all individual congregations because that is the only other use of the noun in existence.

The church is also referred to in the New Testament as 'the body of Christ'. In 1 Corinthians 12:27 Paul told that congregation, 'now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.' He identified that congregation as a body of Christ. Does this mean that only that congregation fit that description? No. He also told the Roman church that they too were 'one body in Christ' (Romans 12:5).

Then in his exhortation to the Ephesian congregation to grow in Christ and act like mature Christians he said that God gave each member a gift for the express purpose of 'perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ' (Ephesians 4:11-12). Now, since he had already defined the specific use of 'body of Christ' (the Roman church and the Corinthian church) what else could he have meant here when he used the term generically? To be faithful to the rules of grammar and to the principles of proper Bible study we can only apply the generic use of a noun to its specific use. And, as in the case of the noun 'church', the term 'body of Christ' is also used specifically and generically. And when it is used generically it represents its specific counterpart which is the local church.

In closing lets look at some church related scriptures which could not possibly be fulfilled or complied with by a universal world wide body or church. If the church is made up of all Christians then how could it:

1. Assemble? Paul told the church in Hebrews 10:25 not to forsake the assembling of themselves together.

2. Assemble on the Lord's Day? Acts 20:7

3. Observe the Lord's Supper? 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

4. Administer church discipline? Matthew 18:15-18.

5. Receive teaching from its pastor? Acts 20:28

6. Have a pastor? Ephesians 4:11

7. Operate in a coordinated fashion? 1 Corinthians 12:26

(and there are many more such problematic verses for those who contend that the church is made up of all Christians).

Yet all these problems are satisfied by a local church. There are no verses concerning the church or body of Christ that are problematic to or which cannot be applied to a local, specific congregation. But as we've seen there are many which cannot be applied to a universal, all Christians are the church, type of definition.

SUMMARY:

The fact is that the Bible speaks of only one type of church: local. And the noun 'church' is used in a specific sense to refer to a specific congregation and generically to represent all specific or local congregations. God the Holy Spirit was very careful and exact in His revelation of church teachings, and the confusion which exists today is not His fault but of the men who down through the ages have misinterpreted and misapplied His words to teach something He did not intend. There is only one church in God's Word and it is local.

NEXT LESSON:

Now that we understand what the church is we can get on with answering our question 'What Difference Does it Make Which Church I Join?' In the next lesson we will look at how important it is to God which church you join.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"