“For as the body is one, and has many members, and all members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” 1 Corinthians 12:12
Anytime the word Church is mentioned in the New Testament, it is referring to believers – PEOPLE ONLY. Church does NOT – nor has it ever refer to organizations, home groups, or anything created by man. The word “church” and its meaning cannot be found in the original scriptures. What we erroneously refer to as “church” today in the original scriptures was referred to as “The Ecclesia”, which always referred to people only – believers only. We will deal with the word “church” later, in another article. But do know this – the word “church” is not a translatable word of Greek or Hebrew origin – and it has an entirely different meaning than the word “Ecclesia.”
The Catholic Church is the first church in today’s vernacular and was started by Constantine, Emperor of Rome in 313 after his conversion to Christianity. After his so-called conversion, pagan temples that were all ready in existence in Rome, were referred to and used as “churches.” What we call and recognize as “church” originated out of the Roman Catholic Church, who created and manufactured “churches” (meaning created organizations and buildings) to support their authority and position.
Over 1,300 years after the birth of the Catholic Church, King James of the Anglican Church wanted to solidify his rule over England. He decreed that the word “church” was to substitute the word “Ecclesia” in his translation of the Bible. Not once have Ecclesia ever referred to what we in the world today call “church.” There are many historical documents to support this. But the most telling proof of all and the most ironic is God’s Word itself. Not only should this be clear by one reading the Bible on his or her own, but we have the original scriptures. The word “church” and its’ meaning are not found in God’s Word – absolutely NOWHERE in the original scripture.
In the New Testament, the word “Ecclesia” appeared 115 times in the original scriptures. As we stated before, King James substituted the word “church” in every instance except for three places. The word “church” is an English & German word in origin which means: something that pertains to, or belongs to a “lord” (not Jesus). King James knew the word “church” simply would not fit in place of the word “Ecclesia”, as in the original scriptures, so he kept the word “Ecclesia” in these 3 instances. His translators under the direction of Richard Bancroft, the Archbishop of Canterbury, were forced to abandon their false translation in these three instances. But, the Greek word Ecclesia is exactly in the same places where 112 entries were deliberately and falsely changed to “church.” The Greek word Ecclesia means “the called out ones.” Many words and intentionally misleading translations in the KJV were derived and influenced by Roman Catholicism. We will go into more depth about King James eventually.
Jesus Christ created only one Church –The Body of Christ. It is the ONLY Church He ever mentioned in the New Testament. Anything else is a product of man and is a counterfeit. Any believer who has declared Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior, is already a full, participating member of His Church. We have allowed church leaders to usurp Christ’s lordship in our lives. As church leaders exalt themselves by replacing the authority that only Jesus has, they would be nothing without us as their devoted followers. They are guilty of idolatry just as you are, and God will hold them accountable for deceiving His people. And He will hold you accountable as well. If a believer is truly following Jesus, he or she would not reject the precious gift He gave us, or willingly allow men to replace the authority that only belongs to Christ. You can not continue to function under the law, and receive grace.
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. Galations 5:4
Never, throughout the time of Jesus, the apostles, or even Paul, was the word “church” used among believers. Believers during this time period were referred to as “followers of the way.” All believers in a given community were referred to as what we call “church” – although it is not what they called it. An example would be as if Paul was writing to the Church of Boston, the Church of Venice, the Church of New York, or the Church of Ghana. He was not referring to a building or an organization; he was referring to all the believers in that area or city. Anytime the word “church” is used (which started with the Catholic and KJV Bibles), in the original Scriptures it always referred to people only. Jesus meant it when He said we are to be a “house of living stones.” Tragically, the word “church” quite simply, and intentionally, replaced the word “Ecclesia”, yet the two have entirely different meanings.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Because Satan has successfully compromised the Body of Christ with the world’s standards, we have reinvented what God intended us to be. In the original scriptures, Jesus said upon this rock He would build His Ecclesia. Although, today’s translations have erroneously transcribed the word “church” instead of Ecclesia, what Jesus said still stands true. Even with the mistranslated word “church”, it should be very obvious to any believer who is walking in the Spirit that Jesus meant believers only. Church is not an organization, or a building; it is now and have always been solely the followers and believers of Jesus. Christ only created one “Church” – He never intended for us to be part of two. And what’s even more unsettling, is how we attribute more power to man’s counterfeit system and esteem it over the very church Jesus Himself built. There is no way around this – our churches are idolatrous man-made institutions.