The Christian…and The Church

Written by Christopher Mentzer

Since I became a Christian, I stopped going to church. I still attend worship services but I don’t go to church. I don’t forsake the assembling of the saints (Heb. 10: 25) but at the same time I don’t go to church. Confused?

For most people this statement sounds absurd. It sounds like I’m contradicting myself; saying one thing and then reversing it in the very next breath. So how can a believer in God, who follows the Bible, not go to Church? This answer is that no matter where I am or what I am doing, I’ll always be in the church. I once mentioned this to a co-worker saying, “Right now, while we’re talking in the break room, I’m in the church. When I go home, when I eat, when I sleep, even when I’m in the shower, I am in the church.” His response was, “Yeah, I feel that way too.” But it’s not a feeling, it’s a fact!

The church is the body of Christ of which He is the head (Eph. 1: 22; Col. 1: 18). It is not the building, but the people of the congregation. Those who are called Christians are the church also referred to as the “Called Out”(1 Pet. 2:9).

When a person is baptized, it is then they become a Christian and are added to the church. (Acts 2: 41, 47 NKJV). An individual is born into God’s family as Jesus states in John 3:5, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!” You do not join the church by walking into the building a requesting to place membership. You do that after you become a Christian and want to join a local congregation. It’s all in the wording.

Below are some facts straight from the Scriptures:

SOME FACTS ABOUT THE CHURCH

1) Belongs to God – 1 Tim. 3: 15

2) The body of Christ – Eph. 1:23; Col. 1:24

3) Christ, the foundation-stone of – Mt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:11

4) Christ, the head and Savior of – Eph. 1:22, 5:23

5) Loved by Christ – Eph. 5: 25

6) Purchased by the blood of Christ - Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25

7) Sanctified and cleansed by Christ – Eph. 5: 26, 27

8) Subject to Christ – Eph. 5: 24

9) The object of the grace of God – 2 Cor. 8: 1

10) Displays the wisdom of God – Eph. 3: 10

11) God defends – Mt. 16:18; Rom. 8:31-39

12) God provides for it – Eph. 4: 11, 12

13) Glory to be ascribed to God by – Eph. 3: 21

14) Elect – 1 Pet. 2: 9

15) Glorious – Eph. 5: 27

16) Unity of – Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 1:10, 12:12; Eph. 4:3-4

17) Baptized into – 1 Cor. 12: 13

18) Added to by the Lord - Acts 2: 47

19) Is edified by the word – 1 Cor. 14:4; Eph. 4: 15, 16

20) The wicked persecute - Acts 8:1-3; Mt. 5:10-12; 1 Thess. 2: 14, 15

21) Not to be despised – 1 Cor. 11: 22

22) Defiling of, will be punished – 1 Cor. 3: 17

23) Extent of, predicted – Isa. 2:2; Dan. 2: 34, 35, 44