He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” (16) Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (17) Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (18) And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:15-18 NKJV
Jesus said that he was starting a church. This is the first time the word ‘church’ is used in the New Testament. The Greek word (ekklesía) signifies ‘those called out’ or a ‘called-out assembly’. In ancient Greece, it was used to describe an assembly, gathering, or congregation of people convened for a specific purpose. It often referred to a meeting for political or governmental purposes. Eligible citizens were ‘called’ by a herald in the streets, who announced the location and purpose of the assembly.
Jesus chose this word to describe the ‘assembly’ he planned to establish. He sent a group of messengers to announce the gathering, its purpose and who was invited. Whether universal, regional or local, the church is a group of people called out of the general population to conduct the business of the kingdom.
As a believer in Christ, you are called to leave one thing behind in order to become part of something else. You are supposed to be different. I realized that it might help us to consider what we are called out of and what we are called into. Here’s a quick summary:
- “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2).
- If you have called on the name of Jesus Christ as your Lord, you are called to be a saint. The word ‘saint’ means ‘one who is set apart, holy’. It is the antithesis of being contaminated by the world, or ‘unclean’. We are called to be different. ‘God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness’ (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
- God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)
- You are called to walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord, sharing everything with him. You are not alone.
- But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. (1 Corinthians 7:15)
- You are called to live in peace with others. Although he was referring to marriage here, this idea was expanded in the rest of the New Testament to encompass peace with all people, particularly those who share your faith. (Romans 12:18)
- For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)
- You have been called to live free from the bondage of religious form, but you are not to use that freedom to serve yourself and your desires. You are free to serve, not to sin.
- Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)
- You have been called out of eternal death and into eternal life. It’s yours now. It brings with it a battle, so grab hold and hang on!
- But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9)
- You have been called out of darkness and into the light of glory that emanates from the risen Christ. You are a lamp in the glorious array of lights that the shines in this darkened world. Paul told the Ephesians, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (5:8).
Here’s the point: We are the Church: a gathering of people who have been called out. Although the calling is individual, when we receive it we become part of the assembly. You are called out of the filth of this world and into His holiness; out of separation and into fellowship; out of strife and into peace; out of bondage and into freedom; out of eternal death and into eternal life; and out of darkness and into His marvelous light. You are lit. Shine!
In Ephesians 1:18 Paul prayed for the church that God would reveal to them the hope that is in the calling. I pray that for you today that you will know what you are called from and what you are called to. That calling is the source of hope, both for now and for eternity. Because as he said to the church at Thessalonica, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (5:24).
Have a blessed Sunday hanging with the assembly of the saints.
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