No Church in Scripture

The English dictionary reveals that the English word "church" which is used in our English Bible is taken from the Greek word "Kyridakon." The Greek word "Kyridakon" is not found in the New Testament, and only came into being in the 16th Century long after New Testament times. Thus the English word "church" cannot be translated back into Greek because there is no word in the New Testament Greek that is the equivalent of the understanding of the English word.

In the minds of millions, the English word "church" has two major meanings of what comes to thought in human reasoning: (1) a building called a "church," and (2) a religious institution or corporate structure like Shoreline Community Church (in which I was an actual member) or First Baptist Church. Both are human institutions, corporate organizations, called "churches." Both basically have the same structure. Each is a legal entity 501(c)3, functioning under approved IRS regulations and government rules and principles. Simply put, a church is a man-made corporate institution with by-laws and a general statement of what they believe.

There is no such entity as "church" found anywhere in the Bible.

Hey, wait a minute, "that's heresy!" Didn't Jesus say He was going to build His church in Matt 16:18? No He did not! Jesus never ever used the word "church"...ever. The Lord never spoke in the English language. He spoke in a language other than Greek of which we have no record. So no one knows the exact words He spoke to Peter there in Matt 16. But God has given us His word in the form of manuscripts written in the Greek language. The original manuscripts which we no longer have, were the inspired word of God as the men who penned them were carried along by the Holy Spirit Himself (2 Pet 1:21).

But we no longer have these originals, they having been lost over the centuries of time. Therefore, all we have to go by are the Greek manuscripts available to us today...and everyone of them has the Greek word Ekklesia" in Matthew 16:18 as well as other Scripture usually translated as the English word "Church."

The Greek word "Ekklesia" is a compound word that means literally "called out of" or "called out from." In some instances it means a "gathered assembly; in others it can mean a company of "called out" ones whether assembled or not. At any rate the word in -No- wise means "church."

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. This phase "called you out of" is the two Greek words; EK and Kaleo, which mean exactly what this verse says they mean; called out of. They have nothing to do with any notion of "church" at all.

So the word "Ekklesia" is a reference to "people", who have been taken out of the mass of fallen human beings who deserve the wrath of God for their sins. And it refers to those people wherever they happen to be located at any given moment in time, whether they are assembled or not...they are and always will be the Ekklesia of the Lord Jesus Christ; the Called Out Ones, having been called out of the world of sin and darkness by the power of God in the Gospel.

Eph 1:22 And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Ekklesia.

Col 1:18 And He is the Head of the body, "the Ekklesia," who is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead, that He may be pre-eminent in all things.

Col 1:24 ...who now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and I fill up things lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the "Ekklesia."

Jesus said true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and they who worship Him worship in spirit and in truth (Jn 4: 23-24). True worship of God the Father happens in the realm of the Spirit and not in a "church building." Paul plainly says that God does not dwell in physical buildings made with men's hands.

Acts 7:48 But, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says.

Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Isa 66:1 So says the LORD, Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where, then, is the house that you build for Me? And where is the place of My rest?

The place where God dwells is with and in His People.

1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you [Christians] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own...

I've been in church where the pastor said "welcome to God's house" which in fact really has no scriptural basis. Therefore "church" has nothing to do with God's Ekklesia or Christianity. God's house or building is spiritual folks. That's His Ekklesia; not the local cathedral up the street. Can you see the meaninglessness of the phrase..."Go to church"? No one in the Bible ever "went to church." There certainly were no government sanctioned church buildings in the early New Testament era.

In the 30 plus years I've been a believer, I've been a member of a number of churches, including a couple of mega-churches. I'm all for fellowshipping, receiving a teaching, and praising God with fellow like-minded believers (Col 3:16). Today, I'm plugged into a small house group similar to that as mentioned in the book of Acts. I've got a personal library of teaching and books from men of God who have ministered to me over the years. This post is not meant to condemn or be judgmental against anyone who attends and loves their church. There has always been a remnant of true believers who will continue and remain faithful to the Lord. It is my belief that such a remnant are members of Living Faith Forum.