Scripture's testimony to the church's importance

One of the struggles we seem to have in American Christianity is to gain a proper understanding of the significance of the church. We have to overcome the erroneous concept the church is a building or a meeting. We have to surmount the privatized nature of much of evangelical Christianity.

Fortunately, the tide has been turning in the last decade or two. Christians increasingly seem to understand the value and significance of the church to God – and to their lives.

The local church is integral to every Christian. To begin to understand the value of the local church, it helps to understand the value of the church in its fullness – what is referred to as the universal church.

Apart from many scriptural references that do not use the word "church" while clearly referring to it, here are four truths based on the New Testament's use of that word that demonstrate its importance:

1. The church is loved by Christ, who died to save her. “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25b).

2. The church belongs to Christ and is built by Him. “[U]pon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18b).

3. The church is the body of Christ, who is her head. “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23).

4. The church is the means by which God shows His wisdom to spiritual beings. “[T]he manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10).

May a growing comprehension of what the church is fuel a deepening love in us for Christ and His church.