The Purity Of The Church

Introduction

My message for this morning is entitled, “The Purity Of The Church.” Whenever I preach, I usually pick a particular passage to speak on. But today, I’m going to be all over the place.

However, I do want to turn your attention to , which will become the springboard for our topic. READ.

It may be odd that I chose this passage because the immediate context is talking about the roles of husband and wife in marriage. However, the Apostle Paul wants to paint a picture of marriage that reflects the relationship between Christ and the church.

When I use the word, “church,” there may be many ideas flowing in your mind about what “church” is. My concern is that there may be misconceptions of what a church is. Let me explain what a church is NOT and what the church.

What The Church Is NOT

First, the church is NOT a building. The Chinese translation of the word, “church,” makes it sound like it is a building. Indeed, we have a church sign that indicates this building as “Oakridge Baptist Church.” But the New Testament does not associate “church” with the building.

Second, relating to first one, the church is NOT the temple building. Do not confuse the Temple or the Tabernacle in the OT with the New Testament Church. The New Testament does not equate “church” with the temple building of the OT.

Third, the church is NOT an event. It’s not the time of the service. It’s not something that happens only on Sunday. The New Testament never indicates that church is an event that happens only on Sundays.

What The Church Is

The word “church” in the original language literally means the “called out ones.” The church means the gathering or the community of true believers called from the world by God to serve and worship Him.

The New Testament gives us metaphors of what the church looks like.

First, the church is made up of many members of the body of Christ.

Second, the church is a family of God.

Third, the church is a temple of the living God. This sounds like I contradicted myself, but I’m not. I did not say the church is the temple building, but the church (the gathering the true believers) is the temple of the living God. God’s temple resides not in a building, but God’s temple is actually in you, if you are a Christian. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, built with living stones, with Christ as the foundation and cornerstone, and the Holy Spirit indwelling it.

Fourth, the church is the Bride of Christ, which is clearly described in Ephesians.

The role of the church is to submit to Christ because He is the head of the church. Jesus plays an important role in loving the church with sacrificial love, sanctifying love, nourishing love and cherishing love.

There is no doubt that Jesus loves His church by giving himself up for her through His death on the cross.

Big Idea: Jesus Loves His Church.