The Bible is precious. It is a lifeline for every soul sinking in sin and struggling with temptations. It is an instruction manual about how to live.

This is one of the distinctive characteristics of Bible believers. They want to do what the Bible says. They are fundamentally convinced, filled with conviction, that the Bible is right. It tells us how to think, what attitudes are right, and how to live.

If we want to learn how to think about the church, the book of Ephesians is a good book to go to. It is a book that speaks of the mystery (the church) that was not revealed to the prophets prior to Christ’s time on earth.

Ephesians 3:1-6 says,

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

Ephesians 3:9 says,

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 3:21 says,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Ephesians 5:32 says,

This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The doctrine of the church is vital to understanding your responsibility as a Christian and what God expects of you.

It is a resource that is available to the saints and has the power of God associated with it. Even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

It is a resource that God has given to us in order to fulfill His commission of winning souls. Ephesians 4:11–12 tells us that leaders are given in the church for the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, and the edifying the body of Christ.

The church is empowered from on high through the anointing presence of the Spirit of God.
Just as the other two resources (the Spirit of God and the Word of God), the church of God has been attacked and its doctrine twisted. False doctrine and incorrect thinking has caused saints to falter in benefiting from the church.

In order to fully equip ourselves with God’s resource and to help others too, we need to understand the Biblical perspective of the church and to rebut the false teachings about the church.

A correct understanding of the church will help us understand the book of Ephesians and its application.

We see the word church first mentioned in Matthew 16:18, which says,

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.

The church did not exist yet; therefore, it is not found in the Old Testament. Believers before Christ were not in the church.

This may come as a shock to some, especially if you think that the church is the family of God. It is not. This confusion has led to two fundamentally flawed doctrines about the church.

First, some think that if the family of God was built after Jesus came as a man, then salvation was not available to people until Christ died and paid for sins.

However, Hebrews 4:2 says,

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

In the verse, the saints of today are being compared with those of the past who heard the same message. The Gospel was preached to those before Christ.

Why is the Gospel the same? Very simply because the problem in man is the same, God is the same, and therefore the solution is the same. The work of God was done before the foundation of the world, and the Gospel of salvation was preached before the foundation of the world. The Gospel of salvation by grace was used by Christ to preach salvation by grace through faith.

Revelation 13:8 says,

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Luke 1:70 says,

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began.

Luke 24:44 says,

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Luke 24:27 says,

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Acts 3:21 says,

Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Titus 1:2 says,

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.

Second, some think that all believers are in the church. This is not the case. All believers are in the family of God, but only baptized believers are church members.

First Corinthians 5:11-13 says,

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

You cannot take someone’s salvation away. So those born-again believers who were put away, or put “without,” are still saved but no longer in the church.

The family of God includes all believers of all ages. The church includes only baptized believers in good standing with their church.

The second occurrence of the word church is in Matthew 18:17, which says,

And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

The Biblical church (local assembly of believers) is small enough to discipline its individual members.

The word church derives from the Greek word ecclesia, which refers to a local assembly of people. Ek means “out of,” and kaleo means to “call by name.” Therefore, ecclesia is a gathering of people called out personally by name to assemble together.

Church at Jerusalem,
Acts 11:22 says,

Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

Acts 13:1 says,

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Romans 16:4 says,

Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

Romans 16:5 says,

Likewise greet the church that is in their (Priscilla and Aquilla) house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

Other examples of local churches include the church at Corinth, Thyatira, Ephesus, Laodicea, Philadelphia, Sardis, Mission Blvd. Baptist, etc.

There is no universal, invisible church of God.

What about references such as To God be glory in the church? The word church here is being used generically, just as we use the word Bible to say that the Bible is God’s inspired message to man. Obviously, we are not confused about there being a universal, invisible Bible or a universal, invisible man. So why be confused in thinking that there is a universal, invisible church?

Ephesians 5:23 says,

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

There is no universal, invisible church any more than there is a universal, invisible husband and wife.

Here is an abbreviated history of the universal, invisible church doctrine origin:

1. During the first four centuries, there gradually developed a trend toward external unity.
2. Larger churches and metropolitan bishops formed a hierarchy among churches.
3. A concept of universal (catholic) developed.
4. Catholicism developed the concept of individual churches being part of a universal, visible church rather than remain as individual, sovereign units.
5. Baptism was a prerequisite to being in the church, so then it became a prerequisite for salvation too. This led to works of various sorts being a part of salvation, and then infants had to be baptized.
6. Augustine invented the invisibility doctrine of the church to explain the presence of reprobate priests in the Catholic church.
7. The Protestant Reformation broadened the definition to include all baptized church members.
8. Eventually, the definition of the word church was broadened to include believers into the universal, invisible church.

The notion of the universal, invisible church is so ingrained into the teachings of theology that even the late Dr. Earl Radmacher, President of the Southwestern Conservative Baptist seminary, accepted it, even though he wrote of the Biblical teaching, saying,

… there was no single comprehensive organization of the churches; nor can a universal pattern of organization be traced among all the churches severally…

Not only was there no such thing as organic union; there was a great amount of regional, even local, independence….

Conclusion

The word church refers to localized, individual, sovereign assemblies of baptized believers.

This is the way to understand it throughout the Bible. There is no other correct way to interpret the word church in the Bible.