In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build His church, “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Peter had just confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Upon this bedrock foundational fact, Jesus made His promise. There can be no other foundation for the church than Jesus, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11); therefore, any church that is founded on someone else has a faulty foundation and is headed for ultimate demise (Matt. 7:24-27). When the Pharisees tried to bind their man-made traditions over God’s commandments (Matt. 15:1-12), Jesus said, “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matt. 15:13). To opt for a man-made church instead of the Lord’s church is a critical error.
The promise Jesus made was, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). The singular form of the word church ought to be glaring to the religious world that hosts thousands of different churches. The church is Christ’s body (Eph. 1:22, 23; Col. 1:18). Coupled with the plain statement of Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body,” it is clear that Jesus built only one church which is to be united in teaching and practice. The body/church is where all people are reconciled together unto God, “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph. 2:16). Jesus did not build different churches for different ethnic groups. He built one church for all men. Later in the same epistle, Jesus is called the “head of the church” and “the Savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23). Christ is the one head over His one body, the church. No mention of different worldwide churches can be found in the pages of the New Testament. When a man is saved, God adds him to Christ’s one church (Acts 2:47).
However, one may be curious about the mention of “churches of Christ” in Romans 16:16. Does this indicate a multiplicity of churches? Though the New Testament records that there is only one worldwide church which was built by Christ, all the members of this universal organization could not meet regularly in the same geographical location. Therefore, the word church in the New Testament many times refers to local congregations of which Christians in each locale were a part. The churches at Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi are examples of this. The seven churches in Asia Minor, to whom the book of Revelation is addressed are also examples of local congregations (Rev. 1:4). Each of these local congregations had elders, also known as bishops, (Acts 14:23; Phil. 1:1) who would watch for the souls in their local congregation (Heb. 13:17). Each member is to follow the example of the elders of the congregation as they shepherd the flock among them (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:3).
The meeting of the local congregation on a regular basis was an important part of the church in the New Testament and is just as important today. Acts 20:7 mentions the disciples being called together to break bread (observe the Lord’s Supper). James 2:2 refers to the assembly of the church. This occurred regularly for some had made a habit of forsaking it: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25). Notice the word in Hebrews 10:25 is “assembling” not merely “assembly.” It was a frequent practice some were habitually neglecting. Sometimes the word church is used in the sense of the assembly. When Paul says, “Let your women keep silence in the churches” (1 Cor. 14:34) and “it is a shame for women to speak in the church” (1 Cor. 14:35) he is not referring to a building, nor to the church in the universal or local sense. Women are to keep silence in the assemblies, when the whole church is gathered into one place (1 Cor. 14:23).
The phrase “come together” appears six times in this section of the letter (1 Cor. 11:17-14:40). The inspired instructions and corrections Paul gave here to the first-century congregation at Corinth provide insight into what worship ought to look like when the whole church comes together into one place (1 Cor. 14:23). The Lord’s supper was to be observed (1 Cor. 11:17-29), prayers were offered (1 Cor. 14:15), psalms were sung, and public teaching occurred (1 Cor. 14:26). All this was to be done in an orderly manner (1 Cor. 14:40). This assembly occurred on the first day of the week when Christians would also give of their means to support the work of the church (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7).
The church is so important to Christ that He purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28). Those that would please Christ would be added to His one church by obeying the gospel (Acts 2:37-47), be part of a local congregation where faithful elders can watch for their souls (Acts 20:28; 1 Thess. 5:12; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-4), and faithfully attend the assemblies of the church for their own spiritual edification and to encourage others (1 Cor. 14:4, 5; Eph. 4:15, 16).
The church of Christ at Shelbyville Road is not a denomination. As a congregation of the Lord’s church, we follow the New Testament for all we teach and practice. We seek to follow the pattern set forth in the Scriptures, without addition, subtraction, or alteration. May the Lord help us to continue to follow His will until He returns.
–Mark Day