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The 3 Ways the Bible Describes the Church and What That Means for You
We Need Each Other
Although culture increasingly values independence and self-sufficiency, Christians are taught throughout the pages of Scripture that dependence on God and his church is a good and right thing. Paul teaches us in Galatians that we “fulfill the law of Christ” when we “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). Paul also calls the church to “love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10). It is evident that we desperately need one another. In order to understand how we practically fulfill our calling as the church, it is important to first have a biblical understanding of what the church is. Scripture uses three analogies to describe the church: the family of God, the body of Christ, and the bride of Christ.
The Church as the Family of God
When we are justified, we are also adopted by God (Rom. 8:14–15). We are instantly made children of God and therefore coheirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). This is an eternal identity that unites the church—we will always be brothers and sisters. We share a heavenly Father, a sacrificial and perfect older brother, the Spirit of adoption, and an eternal inheritance. The church is bound up together by unbreakable bonds.
Through the course of our lives we unfortunately often lose family. Our grandparents, parents, and children can pass away at any moment. We can become estranged through conflict, or we can move far away and not be as near to our loved ones as we would hope. When we lose our earthly family, the church can step in and become closer than a brother. Through the church, we receive a sense of community and belonging that has eternal value. When we gather as sons and daughters of God on Sundays, we receive a foretaste of the joy and bond that we will experience more fully in eternity. It is as John Fawcett’s famous hymn (1782) says, “Blest be the tie that binds / our hearts in Christian love; / the fellowship of kindred minds / is like to that above.” There is a familial bond that we receive when we are adopted by God, which creates an eternal tie and fellowship.
ESV Applying the Gospel Study Bible for Women
Featuring gospel-centered study notes, daily devotionals, articles, and engaging book introductions, this Bible is designed to help women discover Christ in Scripture and apply the gospel to their everyday lives.
The Church as the Body of Christ
First Corinthians 12:27 states, “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” The church in Corinth was at war within itself, envious of each other’s gifts. Paul encourages them with an illustration that shows how the church entails diversity and unity. God has given each of us different gifts and talents with which to bless each other and the world, and we are all in Christ and share a common love. This analogy emphasizes two aspects of what it means to be the church: being individually gifted so that we can serve one another and being in union with Christ collectively. It is an undeniable fact that every person in the church has been created purposefully by God. People not only look different but also have diverse personalities, senses of humor, preferences, gifts, talents, and occupations; the list could go on. The church is a conglomeration of unique individuals that transcends personality and culture. First Corinthians 12:7 states, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The manifestation of the Spirit, Paul then elaborates, involves the gifts of the Spirit such as teaching, helping, healing, and administration. These gifts are not to be wasted, hidden, or something to be envious of. Just as a body has many parts, so the church has many individuals with different giftings. We bless each other and the world through our diverse giftings.
Though there is great diversity, Christ has made us one by reconciling us all to God in one body through the cross (Eph. 2:14–16). Our differences do not seem so significant when we recognize that the most important thing about us is what Christ has accomplished. We were all strangers once, but now we “have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). Paul describes how the church is “one body and one Spirit” (Eph. 4:4) brought together under one head, which is Christ (Eph. 4:15). Through this unification, “when each part is working properly,” the body grows “so that it builds itself up in love” (Eph. 4:16). We are unified in mind, spirit, and hope because Christ as the head rules over the church and grows us together through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Church as the Bride of Christ
Scripture also depicts the church as the bride of Christ. This analogy is primarily in Ephesians 5. In this chapter Paul is teaching about marriage and the way husbands and wives ought to love one another; he uses Christ as an example of the sacrificial love that a husband ought to have for his wife. In this analogy Christ is the husband of the church, sacrificing himself for her well-being. Marriage is a blessing here on earth, but it is first and foremost a reminder of Christ’s love for us. Although marriages will always be imperfect because it is the union of two sinners, we are still able to glean imperfect glimpses of the Son’s love for his church.
In this marriage Christ is the perfect husband: self-sacrificing to the point of death (Rom. 5:8; Eph. 5:25), endlessly patient (1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Pet. 3:9), gentle (i.e., withholding the strength that he possesses; Isa. 53:7; Matt. 11:29), loyal (Deut. 31:6; John 13:1; 2 Tim. 2:13), and attentive (Ps. 139:1; 1 John 5:14). In response, the church ought to be the perfect bride: submissive (Eph. 5:24; James 4:7), faithful (Heb. 10:23; Rev. 2:8), peaceful (Matt. 5:9; Rom. 12:18), loving (Luke 10:27; 1 John 4:7), and obedient (John 15:10; James 1:22–25).
The culmination of this relationship is revealed in Revelation 16:6–9. When Christ returns and is reunited with the church, there will be a great celebration: a feast that will put every wedding buffet to shame. A voice will come from heaven and proclaim, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3). The sanctified church will be made whole as our God will come to dwell with us after spending history preparing us for this beautiful reunification. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
We All Need Reminders!
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Application
Now that we know what the church is and how Scripture talks about the church, we can better reflect on the church-related commands that are given in Scripture.
Worship Together
Monday to Saturday, we often worship God privately. We pray personal prayers, listen to our favorite hymns, and read God’s Word in the early hours of the morning. All these good spiritual practices are enriched on the Lord’s Day. Instead of praying quietly on our own, we pray in unison alongside our many brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead of humming along to the hymn on the radio, we all in imperfect harmony cry out to our Lord. Rather than reading God’s Word silently to ourself, the majestic Word of God is preached with power from the pulpit. When we are so broken that we cannot utter a prayer, sing a song, or read Scripture, the Lord’s Day ensures that our brothers and sisters will pray for us, sing to us, and remind us of the gospel. Together we, “lift [our] drooping hands and strengthen [our] weak knees” (Heb. 12:12).
When Scripture commands us to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8), it is a reminder that our lives ought to be marked by both corporate and individual worship. Together, we give the first day as a tithe to the Lord to remind our hearts that our time is a gift and the only reasonable response is worship. When we gather in our individual churches around the world, just like all the saints before us, we worship the Lord as one and cry out together, “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Ps. 145:2–3).
Practically, what should Christians do to prioritize worship? At the very least, it means attending a local worship service at a church where you are a member (Heb. 10:25). If going to church feels like a chore rather than a privilege, pray that the Lord gives you a deep affection for your church. Outside of the worship service, Scripture calls us to spend time with fellow Christians. This can look like a conversation over coffee, a meal (do not underestimate the significance of a shared meal!), or an afternoon spent together at someone’s home or out doing an activity. Encourage one another, discuss what the Lord has been teaching you, pray for one another, weep over suffering, and celebrate God’s faithfulness.
We share a heavenly Father, a sacrificial and perfect older brother, the Spirit of adoption, and an eternal inheritance. The church is bound up together by unbreakable bonds.
Love for One Another
Second, we love one another. John writes, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11). This echoes Jesus’ teaching to the disciples in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” We are a people who have been forgiven much, so when our brothers and sisters inevitably sin against us (although our sinful nature’s reflex is to respond in sin), we respond in grace, mercy, and love.
Love can manifest itself in many ways in the church. First, we can love each other by rejoicing in one another’s successes and blessings (Rom. 12:15). Refuse to play the comparison game, which is tarnished by envy and pride, and be the first to celebrate and congratulate. By being unified in our thanksgiving, we “live in harmony with one another” (Rom. 12:16). Pray for an empathetic heart, and seek to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thess. 5:11).
Second, and directly related, we seek to honor one another with our speech. We are called to “let no corrupting talk come out of [our] mouths” (Eph. 4:29) and to speak “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). When we gossip and lie, we spread our disapproval like a disease rather than repenting of our lack of love toward the victim. Christians ought to be marked by self-control, uplifting speech, and truthfulness. James writes, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:10). Love by laboring to bless rather than curse.
Finally, love with a fully engaged servant’s heart. Rather than approaching church hoping to receive a blessing, seek to be a blessing. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others (Gen. 12:2–3), but it is difficult to know how to serve the church if we are not actively part of a church. We have a responsibility to know one another so that we can better care for one another. Cultivate a deep desire to know and serve the children, the singles, the elderly, the college students, the single moms, the widows, the fathers, the elders, and the new believers in your church.
Look Forward to the Second Coming of Christ
Finally, in deep and unshakable hope, look toward our destiny: the new heavens and earth, where we will dwell with one another and with our Lord in perfect peace and harmony. Although the earthly kingdoms that we now reside in will rise and fall, we are citizens of an eternal “kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb. 12:28). As fellow citizens, loyal to our king Jesus, we look forward to inheriting in full all the heavenly blessings that belong to the church triumphant. The hope of the whole church rests on the future that Christ earned on our behalf.
On Sunday, when we sing, greet one another, pray, listen to the Word of God read and preached, and take communion, meditate on how all these good things are simply shadows of a bright future. We will sing perfectly and our worship will be pure. We will greet one another with pure joy, seeing each other finally in the way God calls us to see another. We will no longer pray with our heads bowed and eyes closed, but instead we will speak to God face to face. Our prayers will no longer be full of petitions because we will need nothing. God will speak to us, and we will know him perfectly. We will be together, and we will lack nothing. We will finally love each other as we ought to and will be unable to sin against one another. We will no longer have miscommunications that cause grief and pain. The church will be restored to an Eden-like community in the presence of our returned King. For now, we wait.
This article is by Amy Warren and is adapted from the ESV Applying the Gospel Study Bible for Women.
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