Why do I need to join a church?
Can’t I simply accept Jesus as my Savior and not be part of any church?
In this and the following video segments we will learn what the Bible teaches about
the church and our relationship to the church.
Meaning of “Church” in the Bible
When we hear the word “church,”
images of chapels with steeples or beautiful cathedrals may come to mind.
That is because we often associate the word with buildings where people gather to worship.
But when the Bible speaks about the church, it hardly ever mentions any physical building.
Instead, when we come across the word “church” in the Bible,
it is about the people who belong to Jesus Christ.
So when Paul writes to the church in Corinth, his opening words read,
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:”
(1 Corinthians 1:2)
As we can see, the church is not a building,
but those who have been made holy in the Lord Jesus Christ
and who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Bible, the word for “church” means “assembly.”
So a church is an assembly of believers of Christ who have been made holy in Jesus Christ.
A church can be local, referring to a congregation of believers in a certain locale.
But it can also be a term for believers of all times and places.
In short, the church is the collective body of all the believers of Jesus Christ.
The Body of Christ
According to the Bible, the church is more than the gathering of believers.
The church is closely connected to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul tells his Christian readers in his letter:
“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
Believers are the body of Christ.
Every individual believer is a member of this body of Christ.
The collective body of all the believers is joined to our Lord Jesus.
Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 says this about Christ and His church,
“And he is the head of the body, the church...”
Christ is the head of the body, the church.
The church is a spiritually living body that is inseparable from the Lord Jesus.
Just as the body is connected to the head, and the head directs the entire body,
the church is connected to the Lord Jesus and He is the Lord of the entire church.
In light of this biblical teaching, we know that once we become a believer of the Lord Jesus
and are baptized into Christ, we become members of the body of Christ.
Any individual member of the body cannot be separated from the body and belong only to the head.
so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:5)
Just as we are joined to Christ, believers are also joined to one another.
We cannot say I belong to the Lord Jesus only and have nothing to do with the church.
To belong to Christ is to also belong to His body, the church.
The Church and Salvation
Before the Lord Jesus returned to heaven,
He gave His disciples the commission to bring the good news of salvation to the whole world.
He told them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
(Matthew 28:19)
Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples by baptizing them.
This is exactly what the disciples did.
After they had received the Holy Spirit,
the disciples baptized converts in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins.
Those who were baptized were saved and added to the church.
So the church is the means by which our Lord Jesus Christ imparts His salvation to us.
For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body,
and is himself its Savior. (Eph 5:23)
Christ is the head of the church.
The church is His body,
and Christ is the Savior of the church.
If Christ is the Savior of the church,
all the believers together receive salvation from Christ,
not only as individuals, but also as a collective body.
For this reason, the Bible also teaches that
Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
that he might sanctify the church, having cleansed the church
by the washing of water with the word.
Likewise, the Bible also tells us that God obtained the church with His own blood.
In all these biblical teachings,
we see that the salvation that the Lord Jesus gives us is inseparable from His church.
We who are saved by the Lord are already brought into His church and joined together as His body.