Articles
What is the Ekklesia of Christ?
Jesus said, "...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18, emp LS).
The ekklesia (church) of Jesus Christ, the "called out" of God is called by some other names:
1. The Body. "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18, emp LS). "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body‚ the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:22-23, emp LS).
Jesus is the HEAD of the "body" which is simply saying, Jesus is the head of the church. The ekklesia of Christ has ONLY one head, and that is Jesus Christ. My friend, where does that leave the Pope of Rome?
The "body" (ekklesia) of Christ has many members, "For as the body is one, and hath many members‚ and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ" (I Corinthians 12:12). Each member of the body is an individual that has obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was added to the body (church) by the Lord (Acts 2:37-47).
2. The Bride of Christ. "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" and "...there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride‚ the Lamb's wife" (Revelation 21:2, 9, emp LS). John uses the term "bride" to refer to the "called out" of God that we spend eternity in heaven.
Paul referred to the saints at Corinth as the wife of Christ, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (II Corinthians 11:2).
3. The House of God. "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Timothy 3:15, emp LS). Paul uses the term "house of God" to refer to the people of God as His family, "the church of the living God".
Paul again says, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19).
