What Is The Church Of God?

by F. McCormick | Category: General | May 1944

The term "Church of God" is frequently used by religious writers and speakers with varying meanings attached to it, and in this article we venture to examine a few of these usages in order to help, if possible, our readers to judge of the scripturalness, or otherwise, of the use of this term as applied to things that differ. It is generally assumed that all religious organisations of whatever kind, professing Christianity, are the Church of God. It is asserted that these organisations are but different branches of something, toward which all are striving, that all are seeking the same goal though by different routes. One thing is certain in regard to this theory, that there is nothing in Scripture which answers to it, except it be the case that men are prepared to call spiritual Babylon" the Church of God."

In so-called Christendom there are hundreds of sects of various kinds, and to the casual observer the spectacle is one of utter confusion, and this state of affairs is undoubtedly a cause of reproach to Christianity.

How all these sects claim to be the exponents of Christianity, from the same book, the Bible, and yet are so diverse in teaching and practice, presents a problem which, to the ordinary man, is beyond solution. No doubt this fact has caused countless thousands to discountenance. the truths of the Scriptures, and they have no hesitation in correctly summing up the situation and saying that God is not the Author of this confusion. It is attributable to man's ancient errors of adding to or taking from the Word of God. It is Satan's way to confuse, blind and delude men in regard to the reality of Divine revelation, and, in the present dispensation of grace, to destroy and discredit the work and purpose of God. Others, who have known the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and rejoice in salvation from sin 5 penalty through the atoning death of Christ, use the term, "the Church of God," as including every blood-bought child of God in this dispensation. If true, this idea would embrace children of God who are now in heaven, and those now living upon the earth, who are members of the Church which is His Body. We would ask, "Where in Scripture is such a comprehensive company of believers spoken of as the Church of God"? Such a company is never seen together on earth, and it is of primary importance that we should lay hold of this fact if we are to understand what the Church of God is.

In Scripture, what is described as "the Church of God" is definitely confined to a given locality, as for instance, "the Church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Corinthians 1. 2), "in Jerusalem" (Acts 8.1-3; Galatians 1. 18): the Churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Revelation 1.11),, and so forth. Further, the whole church, as indicative of different churches in different parts, could be gathered together for special purposes as occasion required (Acts 15. 22; 1 Corinthians 14.28):

"If therefore the whole church be assembled together." It is obvious

that if, as is held by some, the Church of God comprises all the believers of this dispensation, the whole church could not be found together until. the coming. again of the Lord Jesus Christ. "The whole church" in the above quoted scriptures refers respectively to the Church of God in Jerusalem and the Church of God in Corinth (as also in Romans 16.28) each of these being a Church of God.

When Paul and Barnabas had fulfilled the work for which they had been committed to the grace of God we read, "when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them:" the church they gathered together unquestionably was the Church of God in Antioch from which they had been sent forth (Acts 13.1-3).

Again, there are believers who hold that the Church of God is simply a part of a greater thing called" the Church which is His Body," as though each gathered company were a section of the Body in a given place. In this idea there is a confusion of thought which can only be explained by a failure to grasp the significance of terms which apply to things that differ, a mixing of things which are conditional and unconditional in character.

Let us briefly examine the truth of "the Church which is His Body" (Ephesians 2.22, 28). Firstly, the building of this Church is the work alone of the risen Christ. No one else can build into it; nor can anyone take from it. In view of the work He was about to accomplish through His death and resurrection He said, "Upon this Rock L will build My Church (future); and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it,, (Matthew 16.18). John the Baptist said concerning Him, "He shall baptize you with (R.V. margin, in) the Holy Spirit " (Matthew 3.11). On the day of Pentecost Peter declared of Christ that " being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear" (Acts 2.38). Verse 4 of this chapter says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Thus was fulfilled the 'Lord's promise, "I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) unto you "(John 16.7); "that He may be with you forever" (John 14.16). Both Jew and Gentile were reached by sovereign grace, and Peter declared that "God, which knoweth the heart, bare them (the Gentiles) witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did unto us (the Jews); and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith " (Acts 15.8, 9). Paul writes, "In whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1.13). Again, in 1 Corinthians 12.18, we read, "For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit." From the foregoing it will be observed that entrance into the Body is effected by baptism in the Spirit, and that, in accordance with the word of, the Baptist, Christ is the Baptiser. The moment when a sinner puts faith in Christ as Saviour he is baptised by the Lord Jesus, in one Spirit, into the one Body. Apart from Divine revelation

this great and blessed fact could not be known. It is part of the present work of our exalted Lord in heaven. He is, building His Church and will continue doing so until the consummation of the age, for not until then will it be complete. His Church is heavenly in character and is described as "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1.28). He has p17edged His word that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. No power in the universe can binder the accomplishment of His gracious and glorious purposes concerning the Church, His Body. Christ is the Head, the Saviour, the Sanctifier, the Presenter and the Receiver of the Church in its completeness. "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it," and He will present it "to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5.27). This Church is an indivisible, inviolable unity. It matters not where the members of the Church, His Body, may be, physically or spiritually, obedient or disobedient, in heaven or on earth, all are one in life with Christ. They are "in Christ," in "one Body," by the Lord's own act on the sole ground of sovereign grace. As our conduct does not give us a place in the Church, the Body, so our conduct cannot remove us from it.

It is important to note also that the Church, the Body, is never presented in Scripture in sections. It is one organic whole; "there is one Body" (Ephesians 4.4) which is animated with a life imparted to each member thereof, even as in the human body the blood imparts life and flows through each member of that which is one organic whole. It must be observed from what we have written that, whilst each believer who is in the Church of God in a given locality is a member of "the Church which is His Body," the "Body" is not composed of the Churches of God in the aggregate, with each such Church regarded as one of many parts forming the whole. The Church of God in Ephesus was warned, "I will move thy candlestick (lampstand, R.V. margin) out of its place, except thou repent" (Revelation 2.5. See also 3, 16). If this were part of the Church, the Body of Christ, as such, could this be "moved out of its place"? Would it not leave a maimed Body? Again, in the Church of God in Corinth there was leaven, sin seen in one of their number: this must be " judged and the wicked man put out of the church " (1 Corinthians 5.7-18). We ask, Was he put out of the Church of which the Lord had said, "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it? Surely not!

Now let us examine briefly what the Church of God is, and note particularly its conditional character. Under God, the Church of God in any place is built by human instrumentality. Paul says, "I laid a foundation" (1 Corinthians 3.10), "I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3.6). The word was preached in Corinth " and many of the Corinthians, hearing believed, and were baptized" (Acts 18.8). Through the faithful God they "were called into the Fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1.9). Obedience to that call brought them out, and brought them together into the place of divine testimony, and thus they are described as "the Church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Corinthians 1.2). It should be observed that they were brought into the Church which is His Body by the Lord's own act the moment they believed on Him, and this was prior to their being baptised in water and their being "planted" as the Church-of God in that city. They could only be together as the Church of God on the ground of their obedience to the revealed will of God, in subjection to the one Lord (Ephesians 4.5). This clearly establishes the absolutely conditional character of the Church of God. It is God's will that all the members of "the Church which is His Body" who are alive on the earth should be found conforming to His will in the Churches of God in the locality where they reside.

The original pattern of the Church of God in any place is seen in Acts 2. 41, 42, which involves human responsibility in response to divine claims. "The breaking of the bread" in remembrance of the Lord Jesus is one of the responsibilities of the Church of God. Yet how many believers err in thinking that this is the privilege of all who are saved, no matter what their ecclesiastical associations may be! God has made full provision for all His children in that He has legislated for Churches of God; and it is the individual responsibility of each disciple to find a place in that company where His will can be done. In the Church of God divine rule and government can be carried out. Individuals may be put away for sin, or some may go out; events that cannot take place at all in connection with the Church, the Body. It will be noted also that each Church of God, having the power to excommunicate, when necessary, those of its own number, its position is not imperilled by such excommunication. There may be many Churches of God (1 Thessalonians 2.14), but as already shewn from the Scriptures, there is only one Body.

Whether a company of believers is a Church of God is not determined by such a company assuming that name. The Scriptures must be the test in such a matter, and all companies of professedly gathered out Christians should ask themselves whether or not they conform to the pattern of Acts 2. 41, 42.

A Church of God does not come into existence by believers nominally subscribing to a set of doctrines. It must of necessity have a divine origin; as the term implies its origin must be "of God," and it is composed of such disciples as have had soul exercise before God as to the doing of His will, and are prepared to take their place outside all organisations of human origin in obedience to the call of God,

"Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate"

(2 Corinthians 6.17),

and to whom the words of Romans 6.17 can be applied, "Ye became obedient from the heart to that form (pattern, R.V. margin) of teaching whereunto ye were delivered."

The Church of God in any locality is the term used in the Scriptures to describe a called out and gathered together company of obedient disciples of the Lord, who acknowledge His supreme authority and seek collectively to do His will according to the "one faith" (Ephesians 4.5), that faith being "the faith once for all delivered unto the saints ".(Jude 8), and such churches together form, NOT " the Church which is His Body," BUT, the House of God (Ephesians 2.21; 1 Timothy 3.15).

F. McCormick | May 1944
General