The Church… Ekklesia

The Church… Ekklesia

I was asked about how I derived that “church” means "Called out Ones to perfection"….


Let me explain this a bit…


First off in Matthew 16:16 -18 Jesus states this:

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.


My focus in on verse 18….

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome (NIV)

The literal translation is: I also and to you say, you are Peter, and upon this bedrock {statement} I will build of me the community and {the} gates of Hades not will prevail against her.

It is a little hard to read but you can see that there is an interesting change in the literal… the word “church” is “community”.



Strong's Ref. # 1577

Romanized ekklesia
Pronounced ek-klay-see'-ah
from a compound of GSN1537 and a derivative of GSN2564; a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both):
KJV--assembly, church.

From this you can see that the word can be a calling out… to a specific place… like a popular meeting, religious congregation and at least in the KJV it is translated as assembly or church.

I do not see Jesus talking about “church” as we use it today… meaning “a building”, nor that it means “the people in the building”. At the time of Christ it was used mostly for political meetings. It may have been used in the case of Jews going to synagogue. Many claim this is where Jesus commissioned Simon, and renamed him Peter and installed him as the leader of the “church”… do not see that. I do see that Jesus is stating after Peter’s declaration He is Messiah, that on that statement of faith, Jesus will build a community of Believers…

Ekklessia is a compound word which “ek” means “out” and “kaleo” means to call out to or bid… So in the usage we see Jesus calling this community called out one…

Another word that is close to this is “eklektos” which it the word for the “Elect” of Christ. These are the ones promised to be the descendants of Abraham…it is the stars God showed to Abraham… it is those of the faith of Abraham… who is the father of our faith. The usage of this word is also used very specifically of Jesus as the Chosen One… (Luke 23:35). This is also of the promise of Abraham of his Seed, or Offspring would come and bless all nations… (Genesis 22:17-18)


Now how are these two things connected to have me say Church means “called out ones to perfection”?

Easy… The Elect of God are the Chosen ones… Jesus is the first fruit. First it is Israel… who are the Called out ones of God… then the gentiles have been engrafted into Israel…

The Elect are the house of Israel as a whole… as Paul states the two men are now one. No longer Jew and Gentile. These are the one who by faith have turned to Christ.

We are then “in Christ”…

Some claim that the church is not the Body of Christ… yet the scripture is clear that it is…

Ephesians 5:22 - 23. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

Notice in the next few verses that it tells us that Jesus will present the “Church” in verses 25- 27:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

This church seems to be called out to perfection if you ask me….

Also, Jesus cares for the Church… as if it was His own Body… and that is because it is…
Ephesians 5:29 - 30
After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his body.

Again if this is not clear enough… Colossians 1:24 is pretty clear in what it says concerning the Church being Christ’s Body…

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Colossians also states in verse 28 “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”

The whole goal of God is to make the Called out Ones perfect in Christ…


I hope that clears up some of the question as to why I state Church as 'The chosen ones called out to perfection'.

I had one person who mocked me and accused me of claiming to know Greek… I have never made that claim nor would I… ( BTW, the update is only the link as I had this in the orignal... it only shows ben2590 can't read and comprehend english...)

In fact I think the real issue is that that person has very poor theology and needs to not worry about “declining” his words… and focus on the Truth in the scripture. To claim we are not called out to perfected in Christ is a slap in the face to Jesus… It is denying the very reason God sent His Son to save us.


It is a denial of Christ’s works in us…

Romans 8: 28 - 30. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

I suggest before you judge and condemn me… you look at the scripture you claim to believe and try to grasp and understand it… I would first start out in English as it seems you understanding of Greek is very weak.

So do you still question if you are a “Called out One to perfection?” If you want to become one and find out what I am saying about becoming “in Christ” please look at this link… Though some of the presentation I think is a bit oversimplified, I do think it is a very good presentation of the Gospel. Please feel free to contact me by email if you have questions or want more info in how you can find New Life in Christ.

Blessings,
iggy

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