What Makes A Church, A Church?

How was the original church in New Testament times established? Matthew 16:13-19 gives the answer. Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responded, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus was not calling Peter the rock, but rather the rock referred to an unmovable “foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Another thing that makes the church, a church, is the indwelling of God‘s Holy Spirit in the heart and soul of each individual believer. We read in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “ do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God.” Every time the church gathers whether in a building or home, the Holy Spirit is in the midst.

The third element of the true body of believers is that it is centered around the resurrection of Christ and the gospel. What is the gospel? It is defined in 1 Corinthians 15 1-4. “ Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you stand… For I delivered to you as of first importance, what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance to the Scriptures, that he was buried and was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:14, 17, and 19 all emphasize this. These versus say that without the resurrection our faith is in vain, we are still in our sins, and we have no hope.

The fourth aspect is that the church worships the living God and is a pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

With all that has been said, a true church is a congregation where people are in indwelt by the Holy Spirit, worshiping the living God, centered around the gospel and the Resurrection, and teaching biblical truth, along with the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper.

Anything other than all of the above is not a church. Some congregations who have left the faith today need to remove the word “church” from their name. There are those who are teaching prosperity theology. I have seen videos of some congregations celebrating the gay agenda complete with a drag queen.  What an abomination to do this and call it a church! “Now the spirit expressly says that in the latter days some will depart from the faith, devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

The true church will stand “Firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in any way by your opponents” (Philippians 1:27-28).