Ever wonder what the biblical definition of the church is? In the hectic world around us, it is often easy to miss God's original plan for building the Church. This article will cover two important ways the Bible has defined the Church: the Family of God and the Body of Christ.
Note: This material was originally published as two shorter articles in the 2019 issues of the Christian's Expositor, which have been revised and combined to be republished here on the Norman Church of Christ website. The original titles of the articles were "The Church Is...Body of Christ" and "The Church Is...Family of God".
Table of Contents:
The Church is…The Family of God
Famous actor Michael J. Fox said, “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” The importance of the family is difficult to overstate because of the central role family plays in every life. For some, this role is largely positive, resulting in lasting bonds of affection. For others, this is not the case. Some families are not healthy and thus do not provide what God intends.
Yet for each of us, no matter our experience, the New Testament reveals that God has invited us to be part of something greater planned. Through the gospel, we are each invited to be part of God’s family. Nothing compares to the opportunities provided for us now and forever in the family of God.
The Household of God
In Ephesians 2:19-22 Paul says,
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22 NKJV).
Within this context, Paul is addressing those who were Gentiles by birth. During the time of the Law of Moses, their relationship with God would have been characterized by distance and exclusion. Now, in the days of the new covenant, their relationship with God could be different because of God’s plan for the church. Specifically, Paul teaches that all who are in the church are “members of the household of God.”
The Members of The Family
To be members of God’s household is to be part of God’s family. Our understanding of the family begins by understanding the Father. He is the impartial (1 Peter 1:17) father of mercies (2 Corinthians 1:3) from whom we seek grace and peace (1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:2). It would be difficult, if not impossible, to completely describe the goodness, wisdom and power of the Father of the family.
We also know that God has children. Who are these children? To begin with, Jesus is God’s “only begotten son” (John 3:16). His special role as God’s Son is forever declared for all to know by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Romans 1:4; Acts 13:33-34; Hebrews 1:5).
Jesus also has “brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). Who are these brethren of Jesus? Jesus explains that it is those who “do the will of the Father” (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:34-35). Doing the will of God requires more than just calling on God or even doing good things in God’s name (Matthew 7:21-23). How can a person know if they have done the will of the Father and are thus members of God’s family? We find the answer to this question in the book of Galatians where Paul explains,
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27).
Paul was absolutely confident that the Galatians were members of the family of God because they had been baptized “into Christ.’ Why did being in Christ make them part of the family? Paul details the connection when he says,
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise…Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 3:29; 4:7).
Once they were baptized into Christ they were all considered by God to be sons and heirs. God’s will is that once a person is in Christ, they are part of the family of God. The Galatians had “done the will of the Father” by obeying the gospel and were, without question, members of the family of God. If we want to be part of the family of God, we must also “do the will of the Father” (Matthew 12:50) and be “baptized into Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
The relationship between baptism and becoming part of the church becomes so clear when studying these images of the church. Remember, individuals are added to the body of Christ is by baptism (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). Likewise, individuals are added to the family of God is through baptism (Galatians 3:27). Baptism is the final step of God’s plan of salvation. Once a person takes this final step, they are added to the church. It has been this way from the very beginning (Acts 2:47). Based upon the teaching of the Bible we must therefore conclude that if a person wants to be part of the Lord’s church, the person must be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins.
According to Paul, when we go through this process of obeying the gospel, we are “receiving the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). Jesus is “the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16). The rest of the children are adopted. According to Paul, God chose, “adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5-6). This has been part of God’s plan from the beginning of time.
The Family Rule Book
Like every healthy family, this family also has rules. Writing to the young evangelist Timothy, Paul explains, “but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). God reveals the family rules through the writings of the New Testament. If we desire to know the family rule book, we must read our Bibles. Conversely, if we do not read the Bible, we will not understand the family rules. When we neglect the family rule book, we will have problems. Where we follow the family rule book, the church will have certain characteristics that God wants His family to have.
Among the most prominent characteristics is “brotherly love.” Peter teaches,
“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing” (I Peter 3:8-9).
Within the family, we are to “love as brothers.” This should be commonly found among God’s family. We “love as brothers” by being tenderhearted, courteous and by blessing others instead of doing or speaking evil. Where God’s rule book is the guide, these characteristics prevail. Sadly, there are some places where this part of the rule book is too easily ignored. This ought not to be so among God’s family.
On a broader scale, Peter also teaches that we are to “Love the brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17). Love should characterize the universal brotherhood. We should have a care and concern for our brothers, no matter where they are from. Some “progressive” brethren seem to have little concern about the brotherhood, or what influence their decisions might have on others. This kind of me-first behavior should not be part of God’s family. May we all renew our love of the brotherhood as we attempt to honor the will of the Father in all that we do!
Another important characteristic for the family is separation from evil. Paul appeals to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:17-18.
Therefore
“ Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “ I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)
Separation from evil does not mean leaving the world (1 Corinthians 5:10). However, while living in the world, God does not want His family joining itself to evil organizations which promote evil teachings and thus support evil deeds. As His children, we must be careful be live in a way that promotes the light while exposing the futility and hopelessness of living in the darkness (Ephesians 5:11-13).
The family of God is designed by God Himself to be characterized by love for one another and separation from evil. Therefore, when we follow the family rule book these characteristics will be found wherever God’s family is found.
A Privileged Family
In addition to these characteristics, the family of God also enjoys some incredible privileges. For instance, the family has great wealth. Our Father is very wealthy and is happy to constantly share this wealth within the family. This wealth is not physical, but spiritual. God shares the riches of His goodness, forbearance, longsuffering (Romans 2:4), the riches of His glory (Romans 9:23), the riches of His wisdom and knowledge (Romans 11:33), and the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). Having access to these spiritual riches of the Father is a great privilege for the family.
Another privilege for the family is power. John teaches,
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
As members of His household we have overcome the world! What does John mean by this? John explains that all that is in the world is “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). These are the devils tools for tempting men to leave a relationship with God for temporary pleasures on earth. The devil has been very successful in doing this with most residents of the earth. However, God’s family is able to overcome these tactics through our faith. Faith is the belief and action that results from correctly understanding the truths of God’s word (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1-3). Through faith, God’s family has overcome the schemes of the devil and found life in Christ.
A final privilege enjoyed within the family is prayer. Jesus taught His followers to pray to “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). As God’s children, we can cry out to the creator of the universe as “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:9) just as Jesus Himself did in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36). In fact, throughout the New Testament we are encouraged to be, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). Why? Because prayer works! James teaches, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). God pays attention to the prayers of His people and responds. It is true, God does not always respond as we would like, but He does respond. Consequently, it is natural that God’s children would make sure to spend time with the Father in prayer.
The Church is…The Body of Christ
One of the most common metaphors in the New Testament for the church is that the church is the body of Christ. As we will see, this metaphor helps illustrate several principles that we must understand in order to correctly understand the nature of the Church.
Jesus is The Head of The Body
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explains that God, “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). Paul also teaches, “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body (Ephesians 5:23). In both of these passages, Paul clearly teaches that Jesus is the head of the body.
In the physical realm, we understand the importance of the relationship between the head and the body. The body receives all instruction from the head. Every movement of the body is a result of direction from the head. Movement of limbs happens because the mind tells them to move. Breathing happens because the mind tells the body to breath. Every action, no matter how big or small, occurs because of direction from the head of the body.
Similarly, Jesus is the head of the church. This means that every movement, every decision, everything that the church does should be done because of direction from the head. How does the church receive direction from the head? Paul teaches us that “we have the mind of Christ” in the inspired writings of the New Testament (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Jesus directs His body through the writings of the New Testament. That means that every function, activity, decision, and word should be the result of His direction. The body of Christ can only function well when we follow His direction in everything.
As a word of caution, we do well to remember the cockroach. The body of the cockroach is able to move for days after it has lost its head. The activity makes it seem that the body is alive and functioning. However, the truth is that the body’s movements are futile because the body is detached from the head. The same can happen to the church. Paul warns,
“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:18-19).
According to Paul, a church severs its relationship with the head by accepting false doctrine. It may continue functioning, but all of those movements are futile because it no longer has a relationship with the head. This dangerous possibility ought to motivate all of us to cling with all of our might to the truths of scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
How to Become Part of The Body of Christ
Individuals make up the body of Christ. This fact naturally leads us to the question, how does a person become a member of the body of Christ? Paul answers this question by teaching, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). We become members of the body of Christ through baptism.
We must remember that baptism is part of a process. In the New Testament we are taught that God has a plan of salvation with several steps, the final step being baptism. Notice that the Bible teaches that we must hear (Romans 10:17), believe (Mark 16:16), repent (Acts 2:38), confess (Acts 8:37), and be baptized (Mark 16:16) in order to be saved. I Corinthians 12:13 teaches that when one takes the final step of baptism they are added to the body.
Interestingly, this is just as it happened in Acts 2, the birthday of the church. After hearing the first gospel sermon, 3,000 souls obeyed the gospel. According to Luke, those that were baptized and were added by the Lord to the church (Acts 2:41). In fact, Luke teaches us that this process continued to daily (Acts 2:47). When a person obeys the gospel, the Lord adds them to the body of Christ, which is the church.
Relationship to One Another Within The Body of Christ
The fact that the church is the body of Christ also teaches us that we have a relationship with other individual members of the body. As members of the body of Christ, we are responsible for working together in a way that He desires. Paul outlines how we ought to relate to one another within the body when he writes to the Romans:
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness (Romans 12:3-8)
These passages teach several important things about our relationship to one another within the body. First, we learn the importance of humility within the body. No one person is more or less important than another. In fact, everything we are in the body is because of God’s grace. Whatever we are in the body of Christ is a result of God's grace.
These verses also teach us about our harmonious roles. Each individual member has various talents and interests and thus will have differing roles. Each of us, according to God’s grace, must pursue our role within the body. The various roles outlined in Romans 12 harmonize well. If carried about properly, we can all work together very well.
In 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul offers a longer and more detailed explanation of this image, Paul identifies two potential problems as we work together within the body. The first problem occurs when individuals believe that they are not needed. Sadly, sometimes individual members do not recognize the important role they play in their home congregation. Paul illustrates the flaw in this kind of thinking when he says,
If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased (1 Corinthians 12:15-18).
We can all understand what Paul is saying in these passages. No one would ever think that their eye is more important than their ear. No one would ever think that their ear is more important than their nose. When thinking about our own physical bodies, we realize that each part of our body plays a different role and that we desire each of them in order to live our lives. In the same way, each member of the local congregation is important. The role that each member plays is important. There is no such thing as an expendable part of the body of Christ. Within our local congregations, each individual member should know that they an important and needed part of the congregation!
The second potential problem focuses on how we view others. Sadly, sometimes members look around at other members with sinful attitudes. This arrogant view is exposed and criticized by Paul when he writes,
And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:21-25).
Using God’s word, we must make sure to view others the way God does. Each individual member is of vital importance to God and, therefore, should be to us. As we look around at others within our local congregation, we must remember to honor those God honors as we care for each other.
Why do we need each member? Why must each member play their role? Because each member has a work to do! Paul explains the importance of each individual member working within the body when he writes, “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). The body of Christ will only achieve its potential when each individual member does its share. When each member does its share, the body will grow!
Conclusion: The Future of The Body of Christ and God's Family
The final, glorious point to consider is the future of this body. To the Ephesians, Paul promises, “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). Jesus is the savior of the body. The last day will be a glorious day for the body of Christ. On that day, along with the faithful of all the ages, the body will be saved forever. However, we also know that the church is the future of the family.
As a result of the relationship the family has with the Father, John also teaches that the family has a great future.
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
God’s family does not have all of the details of the future, but we do know that the future looks great. We have the hope that we shall one day be with our Father forever in heaven. While we wait, we prepare by continually growing. In this way we will be ready to meet our Father and His only begotten Son on the last day when all will clearly see: family is not an important thing. It’s everything.
In short, the church will be taken to heaven. This is the glorious future of the body of Christ and God's family. This future can and will be your future if you are a faithful and active member of the body of Christ and the Lord's family on that last day.
Bible Verses Referenced:
Ephesians 2:19-22
1 Peter 1:17
2 Corinthians 1:3
1 Corinthians 1:2
Ephesians 1:2
John 3:16
Romans 1:4
Acts 13:33-34
Hebrews 1:5
Hebrews 2:11
Matthew 12:50
Mark 3:34-35
Matthew 7:21-23
Galatians 3:26-27
Galatians 3:29
Galatians 4:7
1 Corinthians 12:12-13
Acts 2:47
Galatians 4:5
Ephesians 1:5-6
1 Timothy 3:15
1 Peter 3:8-9
1 Peter 2:17
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
1 Corinthians 5:10
Ephesians 5:11-13
Romans 2:4
Romans 9:23
Romans 11:33
Ephesians 1:7
1 John 5:4
1 John 2:16
Romans 10:17
Hebrews 11:1-3
Ephesians 6:18
James 5:16
Ephesians 1:22-23
Ephesians 5:23
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Colossians 2:18-19
2 Timothy 3:16-17
1 Corinthians 12:13
Romans 10:17
Mark 16:16
Acts 2:38
Acts 8:37
Acts 2:41
Romans 12:3-8
1 Corinthians 12:15-18
1 Corinthians 12:21-25
Ephesians 4:16
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