WHAT IS THE NAME FOR GOD’S CHURCH?
Matthew 16:18 (KJV) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. In this verse Jesus tells the disciples that He will build His
church, not churches. Why then are there more than 30,000
denominations claiming to be Christian churches? Let’s take a look at
one aspect of this very complicated question.
What’s in a name? One’s name denotes its difference from all
others. Does God have a name for His church and if so what is it?
First let’s get a good definition of the word church. The word church
comes from the Greek word ekklesia, ek-klay-see’-ah; from a compound
of Greek 1537 (ek) and a derivative of Greek 2564 (kaleo); a calling out,
i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation
(Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or
saints in heaven or both): – assembly, church. Too many times people
associate the word church to the building in which we worship. The
church Jesus was going to build was not a building on Main St. but the
people with whom He has a personal relationship. It is not a
geographic location but rather the state of being called out. Called out
from what you might ask. First, called out from sin and all that is in
the world. Second, called out from sectarianism. God only has one
body. Ephesians 4:4 (KJV) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling; 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6. One
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Back to the question of the name: Ephesians 3:14-15 (KJV) For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named. First we must establish the
obvious question, which is, who is the Father of Jesus? All would
have to agree that God is the Father alluded to here. Next, Paul
mentions the family of God: all those who are born again are born into
the family of God. Lastly, here Paul says that they are named after the
Father. The family or church is named after God: simply put the
church of God.
Many times the Bible refers to the bride of Christ. When a bride
marries a groom she becomes one family but she doesn’t take the
groom’s first name but she takes His Father’s name. We established
that the Father of Christ was God so that is the name that she takes.
Let me simplify it for you. My wife’s name is Regina. My name is
Preston Sanders. When I married her she didn’t become Regina
Preston, she became Regina Sanders. She took the family name. The
bride of Christ should also take the family name.
Acts 20:28 (KJV) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of
God (emphasis mine), which he hath purchased with his own blood. Notice
He purchased it. Why then would we ascribe any other name to His
church?
1 Corinthians 1:2 (KJV) Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to
them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
1 Corinthians 10:32 (KJV) Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the
Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
1 Corinthians 11:22 (KJV) What? Have ye not houses to eat and to drink
in? Or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What
shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
1 Corinthians 15:9 (KJV) For I am the least of the apostles, that am not
meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1 Timothy 3:5 (KJV) For if a man know not how to rule his own house,
how shall he take care of the church of God?
These are but a few of the references to the church of God to which
the Bible was written. If you will notice the “c” in all of these
references is lower case because the term is used to show to whom it
belongs rather emphasize the church itself.
God gives this name to the family but many have used it. Isaiah 4:1
(KJV) And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We
will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy
name, to take away our reproach. This is the condition we find ourselves
today. Many want to be called God’s people but they say we want to
wear our own apparel and do our own thing but let us be call God’s
people. Not all that take this name are truly the family of God. The
opposite is just as true, just because someone has not seen the truth
about this name does not mean they are not God’s people. The true
church of God is made up of every blood washed one, who is living
free from sin, and walking in all the light they have. We will have
more instructions to those people in a later article.
The intention of the writer was not to belittle, degrade, or in any
way put any one down, but rather, it was written to expose the devil in
any form where we see him working. May God bless His church.