The Members of the Church. The church is not a building; it is a gathering. The Greek word used for church is ekklesia, and this word, in the ancient world, literally referred to a gathering of people called out from their homes to a public place to meet for an assembly. When St. Paul applies this word to Christians, he is speaking of members of God’s covenant who are gathering together; thus, while the dictionary proposes first-and-foremost that the church is a building for public Christian worship, the original sense of the church is the gathering itself. Who, though, are the members of the Christian church? When talking about members of the church, we are talking about those who are participants in the gatherings. In the days of the New Testament, there were gatherings spread all throughout the Mediterranean world, from the hills of Judea to—eventually—the mountains of Spain. These churches gathered, for the most part, in homes, and they were comprised of those who had come to faith in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote letters to several different churches, especially around Greece and Turkey, and even to Italy (i.e. his epistle to the Romans). In Romans 1.7, as we have already seen, Paul identifies the members of the Roman church as those who are “loved by God and called [to be] saints.” Remember, the “to be” was added into the text (in the original Greek, it is not present). Paul is not advocating that the Christians in Rome need to start living holier and holier in order to become saints; he is not advocating the Catholic doctrine of “infused righteousness”; in the Greek, Paul is calling the Christians in Rome “loved by God and called saints.” Thus he is calling the Christians “saints.” They don’t need to work to be saints; they already are saints. In Ephesians and Philippians, Paul again uses this terminology. The Greek word for “saints” is hagios, and in the Jewish world, it meant something “set apart for God”; in the Greco-Roman world, it referred to “a holy thing.” Christians, then, are “holy people, set apart for God.” Paul identifies the members of the church as “saints”, and this term—used for those who are “in Christ”—influences the identity of the church itself.
The Identity of the Church. In 1 Corinthians 14.33, Paul reveals the identity of the church; in this text, he advocates orderly worship in all the churches of the saints. Thus, for Paul, the church is a gathering of saints. It has been said, in popular Christian culture, that the church is a hospital for sinners, not a sanctuary for saints. This is witty, but it is ultimately flawed. The church is not a hospital for sinners—interestingly, in the lens of Judaism and in the lens of which the New Testament was written, a “sinner” is not one who sinned, necessarily, but one who is outside God’s covenant. For someone in New Testament times to make the claim that the church is a hospital for sinners, the person would basically be saying that the church is a gathering of those outside God’s covenant! However, as Christians, who have shared in Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism, the members of the church are members of God’s covenant, called saints.
The Purpose of the Church. The church is a gathering of the saints, who are joining together for a purpose. That unifying purpose is the advancement of the gospel. The gospel’s advance is not limited by how many people come to Christ; rather, the advancement of the gospel is measured by how many people hear the gospel message and are given the opportunity to respond. Their response—whether positive or negative—does not affect whether or not the gospel message has advanced. A negative response by a person is not an indictment upon the gospel’s advance. The ultimate purpose of the church is the advancement of the gospel, and everything that takes place within the assemblies—from fellowship to service, etc.—falls under the pail of the advancement of the gospel. Sometimes, churches are unable to function correctly; that is, they are unable to proclaim the gospel and to make an impact on the society and culture in which the church exists. This was quite a concern of Paul; one brilliant example of this is the Corinthian church. The Corinthians were failing to live as a reconciled community, erecting divisions between various social classes, taking one another to court, etc. On top of all this, they were indulging in all kinds of wickedness that made even the pagan world shake their heads in shock and awe! The result of these divisions, conflicts, and immoralities was that the gospel message, though being proclaimed, was having no affect. No one had any desire to partake in the new religion of the Corinthian Christians; the Corinthian Christian community was one of divisions and immorality, and the Corinthians had enough of that, with social barriers erected all over town and hundreds of prostitutes waiting at the Temple of Aphrodite, asking for not even a penny for their services. St. Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians—1 Corinthians—deals with these issues. When it comes to his letter to the Romans, it is obvious that the Roman church is failing to operate in such a way that the gospel message can be communicated; when the church is rife with disorder and disunity, such as is the case with the Roman church where Gentiles lord over the Jews and the sync of community is shattered, the church is unable to do its job. St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans deals with this in a practical manner throughout Romans 12.1-15.7.
The Identity of the Church. In 1 Corinthians 14.33, Paul reveals the identity of the church; in this text, he advocates orderly worship in all the churches of the saints. Thus, for Paul, the church is a gathering of saints. It has been said, in popular Christian culture, that the church is a hospital for sinners, not a sanctuary for saints. This is witty, but it is ultimately flawed. The church is not a hospital for sinners—interestingly, in the lens of Judaism and in the lens of which the New Testament was written, a “sinner” is not one who sinned, necessarily, but one who is outside God’s covenant. For someone in New Testament times to make the claim that the church is a hospital for sinners, the person would basically be saying that the church is a gathering of those outside God’s covenant! However, as Christians, who have shared in Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism, the members of the church are members of God’s covenant, called saints.
The Purpose of the Church. The church is a gathering of the saints, who are joining together for a purpose. That unifying purpose is the advancement of the gospel. The gospel’s advance is not limited by how many people come to Christ; rather, the advancement of the gospel is measured by how many people hear the gospel message and are given the opportunity to respond. Their response—whether positive or negative—does not affect whether or not the gospel message has advanced. A negative response by a person is not an indictment upon the gospel’s advance. The ultimate purpose of the church is the advancement of the gospel, and everything that takes place within the assemblies—from fellowship to service, etc.—falls under the pail of the advancement of the gospel. Sometimes, churches are unable to function correctly; that is, they are unable to proclaim the gospel and to make an impact on the society and culture in which the church exists. This was quite a concern of Paul; one brilliant example of this is the Corinthian church. The Corinthians were failing to live as a reconciled community, erecting divisions between various social classes, taking one another to court, etc. On top of all this, they were indulging in all kinds of wickedness that made even the pagan world shake their heads in shock and awe! The result of these divisions, conflicts, and immoralities was that the gospel message, though being proclaimed, was having no affect. No one had any desire to partake in the new religion of the Corinthian Christians; the Corinthian Christian community was one of divisions and immorality, and the Corinthians had enough of that, with social barriers erected all over town and hundreds of prostitutes waiting at the Temple of Aphrodite, asking for not even a penny for their services. St. Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians—1 Corinthians—deals with these issues. When it comes to his letter to the Romans, it is obvious that the Roman church is failing to operate in such a way that the gospel message can be communicated; when the church is rife with disorder and disunity, such as is the case with the Roman church where Gentiles lord over the Jews and the sync of community is shattered, the church is unable to do its job. St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans deals with this in a practical manner throughout Romans 12.1-15.7.
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