In the last set of lessons on Basic Christian Beliefs, we looked at the Order of Salvation and explained what each member of the Trinity contributed to each step of the Redemption process. In the next set of lessons we want to look at the Church.

The Church

When Jesus Christ was here, he said “I will build my Church” in Matthew 16:18 (ESV). The Church is the name that Jesus Christ chose for the group of people who God has led through the Order of Salvation because they believed the Message of Christianity.

In this lesson we want to examine what the Bible says about the nature of the Church. There are actually two points of view on the nature of the Church: 1) We can talk about the Church as God sees it, and 2) we can talk about the Church as Mankind sees it.

Let’s start with looking at the Church as God sees it. The Church as God sees it is a group of people that God has redeemed and is currently leading them through the Order of Salvation. In the Gospel Jesus Christ spoke of this when he said this in John 17:12 (ESV):

“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.”

Reading comments like this one are enough to make us think that there is a sense in which God will personally guarantee the completion of our journey through the Order of Salvation.

That brings us to the second point of view on the Church: we need to talk about the Church as Mankind sees it. The Church on earth is still a human institution, and it is possible for people who have not gone through the Order of Salvation to be accepted as Church members.

The Bible warns us about this. In 1 Timothy 1:5-7 (ESV), the Apostle Paul said:

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.”

James also comments on this in James 1:22-24 (ESV):

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For is anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

In 2 Peter 2:1-3 (ESV), the Apostle Peter gives this warning:

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

So there are people who God is not leading through the Order of Salvation wanting to be recognized as Christians who have received FORGIVENESS AND FREEDOM FROM THEIR SINS. We can and will talk more about this when we begin exploring the Bible together.

Discussion Questions:

#1. Have you ever thought about people pretending to be Christians joining Churches just to keep people away from FINDING FORGIVENESS and FREEDOM FROM THEIR SINS?

The Church on Earth

At this point in time, the Church can be divided up into three parts. The first part is composed of all the people who God led through the Order of Salvation that have died in the past. This portion of the Church has been taken to Heaven and is no longer allowed to participate in what is happening on the earth.

The rest of the Christian community on earth that can still participate in what is happening is described in the New Testament in two ways. The first way is known as 1) the Local Church, and the second way is known as 2) The Worldwide Church.

The Local Church

The Local Church is a group of people living in a single city or town that God is using to accomplish his goals in that area. On a side note, we will talk more about what those goals are later in this lesson.

According to the New Testament, a local Church can be a group of believers living together in a single house according to Romans 16:3-5 and 1 Corinthians 16:19, which say this:

“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the Churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the Church that meets in their house…” (Romans 16:3-5 ESV)

“The Churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the Church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 16:9 ESV)

The local Church can be also be thought of as a group of believers living in a single city or town because we see the apostle Paul wrote a letter “to the saints who are in Ephesus” (Ephesians 1:1 ESV) and also “to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi” (Philippians 1:1 ESV).

The Worldwide Church

The second way of thinking about the Church in the New Testament is The Worldwide Church. Simply put, there are local Churches found in every language group and every ethnic group that all belong together.

In Matthew 28:19 (ESV) Jesus Christ said we should “Go therefore, making disciples of all the nations” and the Worldwide Church that exists in several different ethnic and language groups scattered all over the world is the end result of that.

Discussion Questions:

#1. Do you understand the difference between a local church and the worldwide Church?

The Purpose of the Church

So what exactly are God’s goals for having local Churches scattered all over the world in every different language and ethnic group? The New Testament identifies three basic tasks that each one of these local Churches is supposed to be doing.

The three tasks are as follow: 1) ministering to an Unbelieving World in Evangelism and Mercy, 2) ministering to Christians in Discipleship and 3) ministering to God in Worship. Let’s take a look at each one of these carefully.

Ministering to an Unbelieving World in Evangelism and Mercy

The first task the local Church has to perform involves ministering to an unbelieving world. We have an obligation to make sure people who do not believe in Jesus Christ are given a chance to make a well informed decision about whether or not they want to follow Him.

In Matthew 28:19 (ESV) Jesus Christ told his followers to “make disciples of all nations.” This command given to the first generation of the Church meant they had to go to every other language and ethnic group in the world where no one had heard of Jesus Christ and give them a chance to be led through the Order of Salvation.

At the time Jesus gave this command to his Church, no language and ethnic groups outside of first century Israel had heard anything about Jesus Christ. Today things are different. Today we are very close to having a local Church set up in every language and ethnic group around the world.

At the same time, there are a lot of people in your area who have never had a chance to make a well informed decision to follow or reject Jesus Christ. God has a plan to reach the people living in your area who have never had a chance to choose or reject Jesus Christ, and the local Church should help you learn how to reach people who have the same cultural habits that you grew up with.

When someone decides they want to follow Jesus, there is a chance that they will end up being homeless and having to hide from their family. When that happens, our Local Churches will need to have a plan to have mercy on that person by providing food, water, shelter and clothing as needed.

This goal is often referred to as Evangelism and Mercy.

Discussion Questions:

#1. Have you ever ministered in the areas of Evangelism and Mercy to others in the past?

Ministering To Christians in Discipleship

The second task that the local Church has to perform is Ministering to Christians in Discipleship. This task involves nurturing faith in the lives of others. This is important because Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) says “and without faith it is impossible to please God.” The reason we need our local Churches to nurture faith is so that we can “present everyone mature in Christ” according to Colossians 1:28 (ESV).

In Ephesians 4:12-14 (ESV) we are told that God has a plan for each local Church to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, building up the body of Christ until we all attain  to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”

So the second task of the local Church is to help nurture faith in the lives of younger people who have less experience in Christian maturity and service to God and to others in this world.

This particular task involves learning how to share Jesus within the language and ethnic group we are more familiar with. We need people who have proven character and lots of experience in sharing their faith to provide guidance to those who have less experience and are learning to develop character.

Discussion Questions:

#1. Does your Local Church have a plan to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” by nurturing faith in the lives of younger people?

Ministering To God in Worship

The third task the local Church has to perform is Worshiping God. In Ephesians 1:12 (ESV) we are told that the local Church exists “to be praise of his glory.” To state it simply as I know how, the local Church exists to proclaim how much God is “worth” – that is the whole point of worship. We proclaim His worth.

The Apostle Paul told the local Church in the city of Colossae to proclaim God’s worth by singing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 ESV)

This particular task is important because in Matthew 10:16 (ESV) Jesus Christ said “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” and there are going to be times when we, as sheep cannot avoid get eaten alive by the wolves.

When that happens, the members of the local Church who have a lot of experience in suffering persecution will have to meet with those members of the local Church that have little to no experience in suffering persecution to help remind them of how much God is “worth” in the face of such losses.

Discussion Questions:

#1. How mentally and emotionally prepared are you to proclaim God’s “worth” when you are suffering?

#2. How can you help others be prepared to proclaim God’s worth when they are suffering?

The Health of the Local Church

Now we can look at the last thing I want to share in this lesson. We need to talk about the health and vitality of our local Churches. Now that I have described briefly what God’s three goals for a local Church are, we have to ask ourselves how much work is being done in these three areas.

This emphasis on accomplishing God’s three goals can divide up all of our local Churches scattered all over the world into one of three groups. The three groups are as follows: 1) Faithful Churches, 2) Compromised Churches, and 3) False Churches.

1) Faithful Churches

Faithful Churches are able to help people develop the kind of character traits described in the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5 so they can be mentally and emotionally prepared search for and invite people using their own language and cultural habits to talk to their neighbors about Jesus Christ.

Faithful Churches have plans in place to help people become prepared to serve God in evangelism and mercy, in making disciples, and in worshiping God in the face of persecution.

2) Compromised Churches

Compromised Churches are not able to help people develop the kind of character traits described in the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians chapter five. A Compromised Church will also not be able to help people serve God in evangelism and mercy, in making disciples, and in worshiping God in the face of persecution.

A Compromised Church will only be able to help people with one or maybe two of these three tasks, and will have a leadership system and rules in place that will reject anyone who comes along and wants to begin working on adding the missing parts needed to become a faithful Church.

3) False Churches

False Churches are local Churches that do not help people develop the character traits described in Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5, and are not making any serious attempts at serving God in evangelism and mercy, in making disciples, and in worshiping God in the face of persecution.

A false Church has none of the three parts required to build and maintain a faithful Church, and their leaders openly and actively oppose anyone working to create any kind of change that would cause the growth of a faithful or compromised Church within their congregation.

Discussion Questions:

#1. Have you ever heard of faithful churches, compromised churches and false churches before?

#2. Have you ever been a part of a faithful Church? (What was it like?)

#3. Have you ever been a part of a Compromised Church? (What was it like?)

#4. Have you ever been a part of a False Church before? (What was it like?)