Purpose of the Church

Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

According to this verse, the immediate position of every person who is saved is the Church. This is the place destined by the Lord Himself so that His divine will towards a person is fulfilled. This divine will is seen in Ep 4:11-13 as follows:

1. We come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God.

Faith and the Knowledge of Christ should never bring a person to confusion. Doctrines do that job because we read in Ep 4:14. Doctrines point at problems at others’ faith and keep promoting portions of doctrine that the promoter has learnt. This is in no way useful in building a person’s faith. There was one single faith in the early Church where they said that Jesus has risen and faith in Jesus is the only way that can lead to salvation. We read the term as unity of faith and not unity in faith which means that there is only one faith and that faith should bring us to unity. That faith is a clear understanding or knowledge of Christ. 1 Tim 6:10 speaks about drifting away from faith which is very much possible to believe in a God who provides more and more money.

The traditional church had failed in this one area where people were not brought to this knowledge of the Son of God. For those believers, Jesus was a person who had unjust demands for salvation and then it was because of many important men like Luther, unity of faith was achieved. The protestant reformation had taken place and in just twenty eight years 349 people were burnt and killed and this is just documented history. The unity of faith was brought to us with that much of blood and burnt bodies.

But this reformation was just the beginning of a pure Church and traditions popped up inside reformed or Protestant churches also causing them to fallback away from their original purpose and drift towards worldly survival. The Church should focus on building a clear faith among believers and encouraging a proper knowledge of Christ to them.

2. Equipping Saints for the work of Ministry

The problem is that saints have a tendency to remain inactive. But the verse says that it is required for saints to be trained well for ministry. We can read a similar phrase in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 where the Bible is given to us for this very purpose. It is not that pastors only should minister. A pastor is essentially a leader who feeds the congregation with spiritual food. There is a large difference between a priest and a pastor where a priest serves God representing people and so a mediator. But we should have only one mediator who is Jesus Christ according to 1 Timothy 2:5. This clearly means that treating a pastor as a mediator between God and us is clearly a sin.

Every saint in the church should be trained for ministry so that the love of Christ would effectively be seen in the world. The call follow me, I will make you fishers of men is not only for ministers but everyone. As per Mathew 16:25 and most other verses, Jesus has called everybody for full time ministry and that is the only way for progressing in Christ. We read in Revelation 1:1 that everybody is a bond-servant of God and that means loving God with all our strength. Jesus has been setting a very right standard for Christians where they have to lose their lives according to 2 Corinthians 4:11,12 so that the precious gospel will be shown in us, earthy vessels (v 7). Martin Luther’s one very important teaching is priesthood of everyone.

In Mathew 6:24 when Christ spoke about serving two masters, he continues to ask everybody to not worry about tomorrow and toil for mammon but seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness.

3. Edifying of the Body of Christ

The church as it has been formed has become the body of Christ and we are all members of it. But this body is not perfect and has to be edified or grown as required. We read in the following verses (Ep 4:16,17) that the whole body when grows causes the body to grow. Many organs may not become a beautiful body but a body where every organ grows proportionately is a treat to the eyes.

This growth and edification is brought to us by love. This love would ensure that every person or organ in the body would grow and we are willing to hold them throughout our lives. This is the reason why people were willing to give up their lives for Christ and the reformation. People like Anne Askew, a 24 year lady who was tortured on the rack but still stood up for Christ and then carried to a stake and burnt. William Hunter was a simple 19 year old who was visiting his parents but stood up for Christ and he was offered a great government position or death where he embraced death.

In Ep 4:17-20, we learn that it is possible to understand Christ for greediness and selfish needs, but it is fatal to the Church and us. According to verses 22-24, we have to put off the old man who is selfish and pride and put on the new man who renews, regenerates and was created according to God, in righteousness and holiness.

Measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

This is the destination of the Church where we grow according to the mature fullness that is the Christ who is resurrected and sitting at the throne. Leading people towards anything less takes the church to a different destiny and does not make it worthy.

Amen.